José Leitão

Bio

As head of the construction & infrastructure practice area, José has extensive experience in advising infrastructure clients in tendering for public and private works in a variety of Macau projects. He is an expert in administrative tender law and dispute resolution having assisted local and international companies in all their ongoing issues of performance of private and public work contracts. José has also represented local and international companies and consortia in injunctive and post-injunctive administrative proceedings in some of the biggest public tenders in Macau as well as local operators of public facilities in administrative disputes, regarding contractual and legal fines and other issues pertaining to enforcement and performance of public contracts. José’s team has an extensive track record of success in litigious proceedings for the annulment of contract awards on behalf of clients. He acts as the firm’s liaison in MdME Lawyers’ capacity as official counsel to the Macau Construction Association, the largest and most representative trade association for contractors in Macau.

José heads the firm’s regulatory & compliance practice, focusing on advisory and compliance work and assisting with issues such as data privacy, anti-money laundering, anti-corruption, consumer protection, and general compliance with local regulations as well as international standard agreements and treaties with local applicability, such as FATCA or CRS. José has led a number of cross-border compliance exercises for global entities and has strong expertise in regulator-driven procedures, such as data privacy authorizations and notifications.

José co-heads MdME Lawyers’ banking & finance practice, where he advises major Macau licensed banks in their regulatory concerns and in the revision, localization, and modernization of their standard banking documentation for compliance with local laws. He also regularly assists several financial institutions with legal advice on financial regulations and has advised on the Macau aspects of worldwide reorganizations of banks and financial institutions.