Chapter VII · Civil liability for the incorporation, management and supervision of the company

Article 78 Liability to company creditors

Artigo 78.º · Responsabilidade para com os credores sociais

Código das Sociedades Comerciais · Decree-Law No. 262/86 · consolidated text checked 26 October 2026

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1. Managers and directors are liable to the company's creditors where, through a culpable failure to comply with provisions of the law or the articles intended to protect those creditors, the company's assets become insufficient to satisfy their claims.

1 - Os gerentes ou administradores respondem para com os credores da sociedade quando, pela inobservância culposa das disposições legais ou contratuais destinadas à protecção destes, o património social se torne insuficiente para a satisfação dos respectivos créditos.

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2. Where the company or its members do not do so, company creditors may exercise the company's right to compensation in accordance with Articles 606 to 609 of the Civil Code.

2 - Sempre que a sociedade ou os sócios o não façam, os credores sociais podem exercer, nos termos dos artigos 606.º a 609.º do Código Civil, o direito de indemnização de que a sociedade seja titular.

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3. As against creditors, the obligation to compensate referred to in paragraph 1 is not excluded by the company's waiver or settlement or by the fact that the act or omission was based on a resolution of the general meeting.

3 - A obrigação de indemnização referida no n.º 1 não é, relativamente aos credores, excluída pela renúncia ou pela transacção da sociedade nem pelo facto de o acto ou omissão assentar em deliberação da assembleia geral.

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4. In the event of the company's bankruptcy, creditors' rights may be exercised during the bankruptcy proceedings by the administration of the bankruptcy estate.

4 - No caso de falência da sociedade, os direitos dos credores podem ser exercidos, durante o processo de falência, pela administração da massa falida.

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5. The right to compensation provided for in this Article is subject to Article 72(2) to (6), Article 73 and Article 74(1).

5 - Ao direito de indemnização previsto neste artigo é aplicável o disposto nos n.os 2 a 6 do artigo 72.º, no artigo 73.º e no n.º 1 do artigo 74.º

What we checked in this article

Creditor-protection breach, asset insufficiency, derivative enforcement and preserved historical bankruptcy wording remain.

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Unofficial English translation prepared by BCA Portugal for reference. Only the Portuguese text published in the Diário da República has legal force. Editorial notes are ours and are not part of the statute.

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