Bank moratoriums extended until September 30th, 2021
Vida Imobiliária
· 29 Sep 2020
Beneficiary entities that, on October 1st, 2020, are covered by any of the moratorium provided for in the law, benefit from the supplementary and automatic extension of these measures for a period of six months, between March 31st, 2021 and September 30th, 2021.
Decree-Law No. 78-A/2020, of 29th September, was published in Diário da República, which changes the exceptional credit protection regime for families, companies, private institutions of social solidarity, and other entities of the social economy, and it will remain in force for an additional period of six months, until September 30th, 2021.
According to this amendment, with effect from September 30th, 2020, credits granted to natural persons, such as housing or education loans, and credits granted to companies belonging to the sectors most affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 disease, such as tourism, culture, the social sector, commerce, accommodation, restaurants, transport or the repair and rental of motor vehicles, continue to benefit from the suspension of the payment of capital, interest, commissions or other charges during this additional six-month period, that is, until September 30th, 2021.
On the other hand, companies in the most affected sectors also start to benefit from an extension of the maturity of their credits, for a period of 12 months, which adds to the period in which these credits were deferred due to the legal system of the moratorium. In the case of credits with partial repayment, the installments falling due must be adjusted proportionally and recalculated according to this new maturity.
The rest of the business fabric will resume the payment of interest from April 1st, 2021, benefiting from the suspension of the payment of capital until September 30th of the same year.
It should be noted that this extension covers all elements associated with the contracts covered by the support measures.
According to the new rules, the distribution of profits, in any form, the repayment of credits to the partners and the acquisition of own shares or quotas, by the beneficiary companies, determines the cessation of the effects of the support measures provided for in the legal regime of the moratorium.
These measures apply automatically to credits already covered by the moratorium regime, and the beneficiary entities may oppose this extension or the extension of maturity, when applicable, or request the application of the moratorium for a period shorter than that currently provided for in the law, and for this purpose, communicate this intention to the banking institution at least 30 days in advance of the date on which they intend to terminate the respective effects.
Note that the deadline for communicating new adhesions to the moratorium ends on September 30th.
