Nuno Ferreira Lousa

Nuno is the firm’s Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe and leads the Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations practice in Lisbon. He also heads the Restructuring & Insolvency practice in the Lisbon office.

Nuno has acted as counsel and arbitrator (as president and co-arbitrator) in numerous domestic and international arbitration cases under the rules of the ICC, LCIA, OHADA, the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and others, as well as in several ad hoc arbitrations. He further provides strategic pre-litigation advice, encompassing crisis prevention and crisis management advice and compliance.

He also has significant experience of dealing with contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency issues, having handled numerous domestic and cross-jurisdiction insolvency and pre-insolvency proceedings over the past 20 years.

Nuno’s experience extends to Lusophone Africa, advising in particular in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

Recommended by the main legal directories, Nuno is ranked as a Band 1 lawyer by Chambers Global and a Global Leader in Arbitration by the Who’s Who Legal.

Work highlights

Nuno has advised on many major domestic and cross-border disputes. Public matters that can be disclosed include advising or representing:

• Advising and acting on behalf of Novo Banco in several disputes related to its incorporation as the first bridge bank in Portugal following the banking resolution of Banco Espírito Santo, S.A. (BES), as well in various arbitrations related to its sale to a leading international private equity firm.
• Advising and representing Big Four accounting firms in investigations (often following a whistleblower complaint or leakages) and compliance issues. Nuno also represents the firms and those responsible for reporting in parliamentary inquiries, including the inquiries into the banking resolution of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) and Banif - Banco Internacional do Funchal, and into the nationalisation of Banco Português de Negócios (BPN), among others.
• Advising and acting on behalf of three of the world's largest commercial banks in pre-litigation and settlement with State-owned companies, in the context of the pre-litigation settlements related to swap contracts.
• Advising and representing the Municipality of Lisbon in arbitration proceedings concerning an agreement for the exchange of land plots in the city centre and challenging the administrative decisions imposing the payment of a compensation, which resulted in a ground-breaking decision from the Portuguese courts in setting aside an arbitration award that had previously ruled against the municipality.
• Advising ECS - Sociedade de Capital de Risco (now DK) on the €1bn restructuring of CS Hotels, Golf & Resorts Group, the largest corporate and balance sheet restructuring in Portugal using the revitalisation proceedings (PER) framework at the time.
• Advising PwC as insolvency administrators of MG Rover Portugal and of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE).
• Successfully advising and representing Normetro, the concessionaire of the concession for the construction, maintenance and operation of the Oporto light rail train system, in a major arbitration against Metro do Porto, resulting in what is believed to be the largest compensation ever awarded in construction litigation in Portugal.

Nuno served as Vice-President of the Commercial Arbitration Centre of ICC Portugal (2019-2022) and as Chairman of ICC’s Corporate Responsibility Anti-Corruption Commission in Portugal (2014-2019). He also joined ICC’s international task forces on Corruption in Arbitration and Arbitration of Climate Change Related Disputes.

He is member of the Portuguese Arbitration Association (APA), where he served as Board member from 2017 to 2021.

Nuno is a listed arbitrator of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Sports Arbitration Court (TAD), the Oporto Commercial Arbitration Institute, the Spanish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (CCILE), the British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre (BVI IAC), the Luanda Arbitration Centre (CREL Angola) and the Brazilian Chamber of Corporate Mediation and Arbitration (CAMARB).

He further integrates the Experts Panel for the Development Centre for Insolvency Administrators in Portugal, within the governmental agency to supervise the activity of these professionals (CAAJ).

Nuno lectures on international arbitration and insolvency law at the most prestigious universities in Lisbon, namely the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, the NOVA University of Lisbon and of the Catholic University of Portugal.

He contributes regularly to national and international publications in his fields of specialisation. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Insolvency Review (in Portuguese, Revista de Insolvência), which is the most reputable publication in this field in Portugal.

Nuno studied law at the University of Lisbon and holds a postgraduate degree in company law from the Institute for Higher Management Studies, Lisbon.

He speaks Portuguese and English.

• "COVID-19: Fundamental Change of Circumstances or Force Majeure? Insights from Portugal" (as co-author), in Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2024
• "Lei da Arbitragem Voluntária Anotada" (as co-author), Almedina, 2021 (5th edition, revised and updated) and 2023 (6th edition).
• "What to expect from experts? The Portuguese Arbitration Association’s Code of Best Practice for Arbitration Experts", in Young Arbitration Review, 2021
• "Jurisdiction Issues and State Courts", in International Arbitration in Portugal, Wolters Kluwer, 2020
• "Cross-examination em arbitragem internacional", in XII Congresso do Centro de Arbitragem Comercial, Almedina, 2020
• "Mozambique" (as co-author), in Global Arbitration Review, 2016 and 2017
• "The Southern African development community and its protocol on finance and investment" (as co-author), in TDM - Transnational Dispute Management, No. 4, 2016
• "International Arbitration in Brazil" (as co-author), in International Commercial Arbitration, 2016;
• "Anotação ao acórdão proferido no processo Brisal vs. Estado Português: a introdução de portagens nas vias SCUT", in Revista Arbitragem Administrativa, CAAD (Centre for Administrative Arbitration), 2016
• "Arbitrating Intellectual Property Disputes in Portugal: A Case Study" (as co-author), in Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2015
• "Produção de prova em arbitragens internacionais: em especial, a apresentação de prova documental em poder da parte contrária", in VII Congresso do Centro de Arbitragem Comercial: intervenções, 2014
• "A escolha de árbitros: a mais importante decisão das partes numa arbitragem?", in V Congresso do Centro de Arbitragem Comercial: intervenções, 2012
• "Portuguese Arbitration Law: A Gateway to Portuguese-Speaking Countries?" (as co-author), in Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2012
• "Crónica de Jurisprudência dos Tribunais da Relação" (as co-author), in Revista de Direito da Insolvência, Almedina, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021
• "Os Créditos Garantidos e a Posição dos Garantes nos Processos Recuperatórios de Empresas", in Revista de Direito da Insolvência, Almedina, 2016
• "O incumprimento do plano de recuperação e os direitos dos credores", in I Colóquio de direito da insolvência de Santo Tirso, Almedina, 2014