SIGI – New vehicle in Portugal for real estate investment

Following international trends, Decree-Law no. 19/2019, of 28 of January (which comes into force on the 1st of February 2019) brings a model of REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) into the Portuguese legal framework, by creating the so-called Real Estate Investment and Asset Management Companies (Sociedades de Investimento e Gestão Imobiliária) or SIGI. SIGIs are vehicles designed for real estate investment, with the particularity that the shares representing their share capital must be listed and subject to specific free-floating requirements. SIGIs also need to comply with strict requirements as regards composition of portfolios, limits on indebtedness and mandatory distribution of profits. From a tax perspective, SIGIs benefit from the favourable tax regime currently applicable to real estate investment funds, although they are not subject to the legal framework applicable to collective investment vehicles (CIVs) nor to the supervision of the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM).