Banco Comercial Português

BCP was founded in 1985 by Jardim Gonçalves and a group of investors from the Porto region.

Capital Consolidation

In 2012, Millennium in the middle of the European sovereign debt crisis, BCP received €3 billion in state support through the issuance of contingent convertible bonds with an interest rate of around 10%.

In 2014, Millennium BCP raised €2.25 billion in fresh capital through a rights issue reserved for shareholders. With the results of that the bank repaid €2.25 billion of the CoCo bonds.

As of 2015, Millennium BCP reported a profit of €235.3 million euros, returning to profits after four years of losses.

In 2017 the bank raised another €1.5 billion through a rights issue for shareholders as well as the direct sale of shares to Chinese conglomerate Fosun International. Immediately after that capital raising, Millennium BCP paid off the remaining €700 million in CoCo bonds, thereby regaining its autonomy from the state and ending any possibility of nationalization through a forced conversion of the bonds. The remaining funds from the rights issue will be used to strengthen the bank's capital ratios.

The bank estimates it has contributed more than €1 billion to state coffers since 2012, mainly interest paid on the CoCo bonds.

Millennium BCP also operates in Africa through Millennium bim (Banco Internacional de Moçambique) in Mozambique and Banco Millennium Atlântico in Angola. One BCP branch is open in Macau, representative offices operate in Brazil, Switzerland, China, and the UK. As of 2023, BCP also owns 19% of Banque BCP in France (80% owned by Caisse d'Epargne Île-de-France).

Previously BCP operated in Greece (Τράπεζα Millennium Bank), Romania (sold to OTP Bank), and Turkey (Fibabanka). Banque Privée BCP (Suisse) was sold to Union Bancaire Privée in 2021.

Millennium BCP Brand

The introduction of the new Millennium BCP brand, in 2004, represented the final stage of a process that formally began with the implementation of a new business model by the end of 2001, but had been triggered by the merger by incorporation of the Banks Atlântico, Mello and SottoMayor into BCP, in 2000, unifying 4 brands in one only brand known to the public—the Millennium brand.

The brand, at the time of its launch, came to break with the standards implemented at the level of the Portuguese banking sector: a differentiating color, demonstrating innovation, modernity/youth, dynamism, and quality.

In one single night, BCP rebranded its entire commercial network, reopening in the next day surprising the market with its new color and designation.

The strategic option to implement a single brand was fundamentally due to efficiency reasons, as it would allow rationalizing the investment in several brands and the back offices to support each brand and ensure a designation that could be implemented in all geographies (one common identity).