Nuno Ferreira Lousa

Nuno leads the firm’s Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations department in Lisbon. He also leads the Restructuring & Insolvency practice in the Lisbon office. He is a renowned disputes lawyer, advising on the full range of financial disputes, as well as having extensive experience in regulatory investigations covering compliance, fraud and anti-corruption. Nuno has developed significant experience in contentious and non-contentious restructuring and insolvency issues, having handled numerous domestic and cross-jurisdiction insolvency and pre-insolvency proceedings.

Nuno acts as counsel in both domestic and international arbitration cases before tribunals. He has advised on a wide range of commercial disputes, including SPAs, shareholders’ agreements, construction contracts and public contracts.

Nuno also advises on disputes in Lusophone Africa, in particular in Mozambique, Angola and Guinea-Bissau.

Work highlights

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

• Novo Banco, in several disputes related with its incorporation as a bridge bank in the context of the banking resolution of Banco Espírito Santo (BES)
• PwC as insolvency administrators of MG Rover Portugal and of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE) 
• 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
• ECS - Sociedade de Capital de Risco on the €1bn restructuring of CS Hotels, Golf & Resorts Group, at the time the largest corporate and balance sheet restructuring in Portugal using the revitalisation proceedings (PER) framework
• Normetro (the former concessionaire of the sub-concession for the construction, maintenance and operation of the Oporto light rail train system) on the arbitration between Normetro and Metro do Porto resulting in what is believed to be the largest compensation ever awarded in Portugal in construction litigation
• Several financial institutions and audit firms in parliamentary enquiries on the banking resolution of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) and Banif - Banco Internacional do Funchal and on the nationalisation of Banco Português de Negócios (BPN)

Nuno is the former chairman of the corporate responsibility and anti-corruption commission at ICC Portugal (2014-2019). He also a member of ICC’s international task forces on Corruption in Arbitration and Arbitration of Climate Change Related Disputes.

Nuno serves as director of the Portuguese Arbitration Association (APA) and as Vice-President of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAC). He integrates the list of arbitrators of Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Oporto Commercial Arbitration Institute, the Sports Arbitration Court (TAD), the Spanish-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (CCILE), the Luanda Arbitration Centre (CREL Angola), the British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre (BVI IAC) and the Brazilian Chamber of Corporate Mediation and Arbitration (CAMARB).

Nuno lectures on international arbitration and is a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, the NOVA University of Lisbon and of the Catholic University of Portugal. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Insolvency Review and regularly contributes to Portuguese and international publications.

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.