As cartas de conforto em Portugal
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Data
2022
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As cartas de conforto surgiram no seio dos grandes grupos societários com a função de
agilizar o processo de financiamento de uma empresa recente ou desconhecida no mercado,
cuja confiabilidade apenas resultava do facto de pertencer a uma sociedade de reconhecida
solvabilidade. Deste modo, esta sociedade holding, munida do seu estatuto e posição no
mercado, auxilia, assim, a entidade-filha no processo de obtenção de financiamento através
da emissão de uma carta de conforto dirigida a uma instituição de crédito, geralmente um
banco, a fim de criar a confiança necessária para a concretização da operação, sem que para
isso seja necessário a prestação de garantias típicas.
Se por um lado a instituição de crédito pretende obter a garantia mais forte possível de
modo a conceder, manter ou renovar o crédito à patrocinada, o objetivo da emitente recaí,
tão somente, em conseguir a concretização da operação vinculando-se o mais tenuemente
possível, resultando este conflito de interesses em cartas de conforto em declarações
ambíguas e com duplos sentidos, de modo a que os intervenientes consigam retirar da
interpretação das declarações contidas a confiança e o conforto necessários à satisfação dos
seus interesses.
Deste modo, o valor e a eficácia jurídica das cartas de conforto depende do sentido das
declarações concretamente emitidas por quem as subscreve, ou seja, trata-se,
fundamentalmente, de um problema de interpretação e até de integração negocial. Assim,
pelas dificuldades e controvérsias inerentes a esta modalidade de garantia atípica cada vez
mais utilizada, entendemos desenvolver algumas questões pertinentes, tendo como base o
estudo, análise e debate da doutrina e sua aplicação, na prática, na jurisprudência portuguesa.
The letters of comfort letters emerged within large corporate groups with the function of expediting the financing process of a new or unknown company in the market, whose reliability resulted only from the fact that it belonged to a company of recognized creditworthiness. Thus, this holding company, armed with its status and position in the market, assists the subsidiary company in the process of obtaining financing by issuing a letter of comfort addressed to a credit institution, usually a bank, in order to create the necessary confidence to carry out the operation, without requiring the provision of typical guarantees. While on the one hand, the credit institution intends to obtain the strongest possible guarantee in order to grant, maintain or renew credit to the sponsored party, the issuer's objective is only to achieve the completion of the transaction by binding itself as tenuously as possible. This conflict of interests in letters of comfort results in ambiguous and double speaking statements, so that the parties involved are able to draw from the interpretation of the statements contained the trust and comfort necessary to satisfy their interests. Thus, the value and legal effectiveness of comfort letters depends on the meaning of the statements concretely issued by those who sign them, that is, it is fundamentally a problem of interpretation and even of negotiating integration. Thus, due to the difficulties and controversies inherent in this atypical form of guarantee that is increasingly used, we intend to develop some pertinent issues, based on the study, analysis and discussion of the doctrine and its application in practice by the Portuguese Courts.
The letters of comfort letters emerged within large corporate groups with the function of expediting the financing process of a new or unknown company in the market, whose reliability resulted only from the fact that it belonged to a company of recognized creditworthiness. Thus, this holding company, armed with its status and position in the market, assists the subsidiary company in the process of obtaining financing by issuing a letter of comfort addressed to a credit institution, usually a bank, in order to create the necessary confidence to carry out the operation, without requiring the provision of typical guarantees. While on the one hand, the credit institution intends to obtain the strongest possible guarantee in order to grant, maintain or renew credit to the sponsored party, the issuer's objective is only to achieve the completion of the transaction by binding itself as tenuously as possible. This conflict of interests in letters of comfort results in ambiguous and double speaking statements, so that the parties involved are able to draw from the interpretation of the statements contained the trust and comfort necessary to satisfy their interests. Thus, the value and legal effectiveness of comfort letters depends on the meaning of the statements concretely issued by those who sign them, that is, it is fundamentally a problem of interpretation and even of negotiating integration. Thus, due to the difficulties and controversies inherent in this atypical form of guarantee that is increasingly used, we intend to develop some pertinent issues, based on the study, analysis and discussion of the doctrine and its application in practice by the Portuguese Courts.
Descrição
Orientação: Nuno Francisco de Sá e Melo Castro Marques
Palavras-chave
MESTRADO EM DIREITO, DIREITO, EMPRESAS, CARTAS DE CONFORTO, GARANTIAS DE CRÉDITO, CRÉDITO, LAW, COMPANIES, COMFORT LETTERS, CREDIT GUARANTEES, CREDIT