Credit intermediary: how many FINE documents must I present?

Is there a minimum number of FINE documents that a credit intermediary must present to each client? The short answer is no: the legislation currently in force does not establish a general quota of two, three or five FINE documents per client.

The legal rule works differently. Whenever a mortgage or other property-secured credit simulation is carried out, the lender or, where involved in presenting it, the credit intermediary must provide the client with the corresponding European Standardised Information Sheet, known in Portugal as the FINE. If the lender approves the loan, it must deliver a new FINE with the approved conditions, together with the draft agreement.

This distinction prevents the number of documents from being confused with the number of proposals or banks consulted.

The obligation arises with the simulation

Article 13 of Decree-Law 74-A/2017 governs personalised pre-contractual information for credit relating to immovable property.

It requires lenders or credit intermediaries to provide consumers with a standardised sheet containing the simulation of the proposed credit conditions. That information must be provided through the FINE.

The Banco de Portugal Client Portal states the rule plainly: whenever a simulation is performed, the credit institution or intermediary must provide a FINE based on the information supplied by the client.

In practice:

• if the intermediary presents a simulation, it must provide the corresponding FINE;
• if new simulations with different conditions are presented, each must be accompanied by the corresponding standardised information;
• the final number of FINE documents depends on the simulations actually presented, not on a quota applying equally to every client.

After approval, the duty belongs to the lender

When the loan is approved, the law expressly assigns responsibility to the credit institution. The lender must give the client a new FINE containing the approved conditions and the draft agreement.

The lender remains bound by those conditions for at least 30 days. The client also has a minimum seven-day reflection period during which the proposal cannot be accepted. Banco de Portugal explains these steps on its official How to contract page.

The intermediary may assist with delivery and explain the document, but the approval and final contractual proposal belong to the lender.

Fixed, mixed and variable rates do not mean three banks

There is an additional requirement for credit used to purchase or build an owner-occupied primary residence. The FINE must include simulated conditions for fixed, mixed and variable interest-rate options. The lender then presents the proposal corresponding to the option selected by the client.

This requirement, explained by Banco de Portugal on its Mortgage interest rates page, compares rate structures. It does not require the intermediary to consult three banks or establish three separate FINE documents for every client.

What about a minimum number of proposals?

A FINE and a credit proposal are not equivalent concepts. The FINE is the standardised document setting out the conditions of a simulation or approval. A proposal is the contractual offer submitted to the client.

The legal framework for credit intermediaries contains a specific rule for untied intermediaries:

• they must impartially present a number of products representative of the market or of the relevant type of credit;
• their intermediation agreement with the consumer must state the minimum number of proposals to be presented.

The law therefore requires that number to be specified in an untied intermediary’s agreement, but it does not set a nationwide figure of two, three or five proposals. Nor does it automatically turn that contractual number into a minimum number of FINE documents for all intermediaries.

What should be recorded in the case file

As an operational practice, the case file should clearly identify:

• the date of each simulation;
• the responsible institution;
• the interest-rate option analysed;
• the version of the FINE delivered to the client;
• the FINE and draft agreement received after approval.

This record does not change the number required by law, but it helps show that the information was provided and explained at each relevant stage.

Conclusion

There is no general rule requiring a credit intermediary to present a fixed minimum number of FINE documents per client.

The correct rule is: each simulation presented must be accompanied by the corresponding FINE and, when the credit is approved, the lender must provide a new FINE with the final conditions.

If a future amendment establishes a minimum number of proposals, the final text will need to be examined to determine who it applies to and how it interacts with the FINE. Until then, a number that does not appear in the current legislation should not be presented as a legal obligation.

Official sources

• Portuguese Official Gazette — Decree-Law 74-A/2017, Article 13
• Portuguese Official Gazette — Decree-Law 81-C/2017, Articles 60 and 62
• Banco de Portugal — When am I entitled to receive a FINE?
• Banco de Portugal — How to contract a mortgage
• Banco de Portugal — Mortgage interest rates

Related reading

• Tied and untied credit intermediaries: what are the differences?
• Credit intermediation commissions: how to manage them in a CRM