The Bank of England has responded to pressure over production techniques of the country’s new £5 note which entered in effect in September.

The new fivers are made from polymer plastic which has animal fat as an ingredient.

The Royal Bank of Scotland has vowed to improve after it failed the Bank of England’s stress test.

The Bank in its third annual test found that RBS could struggle to meet its responsibilities in the case of a future financial crisis or recession.

From December 1st, all transfers equal to or greater than €15,000 to an offshore account will be reported by the bank to the Bank of Portugal.

This rule results from notice No. 8/2016 from of the banking supervisor resulting from existing legislation under the Legal Regime of Credit Institutions and Financial Companies (RGICSF).

Paulo Macedo may be the next president of Caixa Geral de Depósitos. The former health minister, between June 2011 and October 2015, in the Pedro Passos Coelho government is likely to be appointed the new president of Caixa Geral on Friday December 2nd.

Macedo has been invited by the Government to take on the top job at Caixa Geral after the departure of António Domingues who, along with members of his board, refused to submit tax and asset statements as is normal for those in significant positions in State-run companies.

The importer of the first shipment of Italian garbage due to be buried in a Portuguese landfill site near Setúbal is owned by a former member of the Passos Coelho Government.

For the former Secretary of State for the Environment, Dr Pedro Afonso de Paulo, the wait is over as his company has been shown to have imported not domestic household rubbish, but a mixture of detritus that is too toxic to be buried and must be incinerated.

The side of an historic building on Rua 18 de Junho, off the Avenida da República, in Olhão, collapsed into the street early on Thursday morning due to heavy rainfall further destabilising an already weak structure.

The collapse at around 01:00 on Thursday December 1st, caused no casualties but the resulting rubble blocked a side road and badly damaged a neighbouring Art Deco building.

Albufeira councillors unanimously decided on November 28th, to approve a proposal to purchase the bankrupt estate of Faceal - Fábrica de Cerâmica do Algarve and turn the old building into a school.

This purchase will cost local taxpayers around €2 million but that’s OK, the council says that the building has come down in price by €1.5 million so ratepayers are getting a bargain. This sum is only for the site, not to build a school whcih will cost millions more.

Bernardo Campos Pereira - a Portuguese architect and bicycle mobility planning and policy expert - in this article shares the best practice examples from Portugal, demonstrating the increasing popularity of cycling in this country. 

"At a first glance Portugal is not an obvious choice for a bicycle nation. But that's only at a first, very superficial glance. Look at what's going on right now, and decide for yourself...