Maria Luis Albuquerque, the new Financial Services Commissioner who is causing controversy

This article was originally published in English

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has appointed former Portuguese Finance Minister Maria Luís Albuquerque to head the influential Financial Services portfolio, a proposal that has already raised concerns about conflicts of interest.

Commissioned on Tuesday by Von der Leyen of Unlocking private investment As part of plans to create an EU savings and investment union, Albuquerque, like all future commissioners, must now be approved by MEPs.

They are likely to look at your previous business work and the privatization of TAPthe Portuguese national airline, during her tenure as Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015.

The Brussels-based European Enterprise Observatory said Albuquerque’s appointment represents a “significant conflict of interest”, as she had left her post as finance minister to work for a UK-based agency managing €300m of bad debts linked to Banif, a Portuguese bank bailed out in 2015.

Von der Leyen defends her choice

Von der Leyen, who yesterday told reporters that the fact that she had experience in the private sector “strengthens Maria Albuquerque’s position,” something that the head of the Commission described of “very important”.

If elected, Albuquerque would succeed Ireland’s Mairead McGuinness at the head of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Financial Services (DG FISMA), and would be responsible for promoting some reforms long-stalled measures aimed at strengthening the bloc’s capital markets and safeguarding its banking system.

You will need to enter a savings product for the whole EU and to expand green financing, although the task of introducing a digital version of the euro has already been entrusted to Latvian Valdis Dombrovskis.

Albuquerque, 56, belongs to the European People’s Party (EPP)centre-right, and is often associated with fiscal conservatism, favouring budgetary discipline, public debt reduction and economic stability.

In 2016 he joined Arrow Global, the London-based European fund manager specialising in lending, and in 2022 he started working for Morgan Stanley Europein both cases as non-executive director.

As Minister of Economy, Alburquerque was also a member of the board of governors of the African Development Bank, the European Stability Mechanism, a permanent rescue fund created in 2012and the European Investment Bank.

The opposition accused Alburquerque of plunging the country into poverty

Her political mandate was marked by the admiration of her allies and the contempt of the opposition, who accused her of plunging the country into poverty, rescuing the banks and ruin social services such as health and education.

Reacting to the “crucial portfolio” assigned to Albuquerque, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said it is a “central issue for Europe and Portugal” with a view to diversifying sources of financing to promote economic growth and investment.

“This is essential for progress, for the sustainability of Europe’s social and economic project and for the Union’s ability to respond to the expectations, needs and interests of European citizens and Portuguese,” Montenegro said in a statement released Tuesday.

Deputy Catarina Martins (Portugal/Left) criticized Alburquerque on Tuesday for being “agent of the troika and the financial system“, referring to the trio of the Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which is implementing austerity programmes across the bloc.

“After Durão Barroso left the Commission for Goldman Sachs, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) shames the country again“with another revolving door scandal,” Martins added, referring to the former Portuguese prime minister who was president of the Commission between 2004 and 2014.

Promoting responsible investment

Maria van der Heide, Head of EU Policy at ShareAction, a charity that promotes responsible investmentsaid the new Financial Services Commissioner has a key role to play in accelerating Europe’s transition.

“This means Recognize the crucial role of the financial sector in this transition and ensure that investments are directed towards activities that drive real positive change,” said van der Heide.

“There is a lot at stake, and his (Albuquerque’s) leadership will be crucial for the EU to meet its ambitious climate goals and social needs and remain competitive without sacrificing environmental and social needs,” he added.

The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA), a Brussels-based lobby group, said: “The importance of his mandate cannot be overstated.” and pointed out the need for private investment to boost the European competitiveness and finance the shift to a green and digital economy.

“It will be essential lay the appropriate regulatory foundations for the future success of capital markets, and the next five-year term is a golden opportunity that should not be wasted,” EFAMA added.

The new commissioner graduated in Economics in 1991 from the Lusíada University of Lisbon and in 1997 obtained a master’s degree in Monetary and Financial Economics by ISEG of the Technical University of Lisbon.