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Who we are

About Mission, principles and governance structure. Board Who leads the association, on video. Governance The five bodies, what each decides and their limits. APMLS and Sync MLS Who sets the rules and who runs the platform.

Governance

Statutes The full text approved by the General Assembly. Code of Ethics and Conduct The ten articles every member commits to. General Assembly Notices, minutes and voting rules. Competition How we cooperate without restricting competition.

Transparency

Report and Accounts Accounts, budget and transparency commitments. Public Positions What we advocate with the regulator.

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Code of Ethics and Conduct

Ten binding articles and three levels of sanction — this is what separates an association from a club.

Read the code →

Compliance

Cooperating without ever restricting competition.

An MLS brings together companies that compete with each other. That is why APMLS operates under strict compliance rules: cooperation is about information sharing and service standards — never about prices, clients or territories.

Why this is essential

Sharing properties between competitors is legitimate and good for consumers — provided it is properly framed. Without clear rules, a cooperation system can drift into practices that restrict competition. APMLS treats that risk as a governance matter: it sets explicit limits, trains its members and submits its activity to permanent legal counsel.

What APMLS does — and never does

✓ What we do

✓ Set technical data standards and information-quality criteria.

✓ Establish cooperation rules and remuneration sharing freely negotiated between the parties.

✓ Accredit companies on objective, public and non-discriminatory criteria.

✓ Keep membership open to any professional who meets the criteria.

✓ Publish aggregated, historical statistics without revealing individual commercial strategies.

✕ What we never do

✕ Fix, recommend or suggest commissions, fees or price lists.

✕ Allocate markets, geographic areas or client types between members.

✕ Promote boycotts or concerted refusals to deal with third parties.

✕ Exchange commercially sensitive information, current or future, between competitors.

✕ Impose exclusivity to APMLS or penalise those who cooperate outside the system.

How we ensure compliance

Permanent legal counsel

Every standard and decision of the association is reviewed by specialised competition-law advisers.

Meeting protocol

Written agendas, minutes and a list of prohibited topics for any meeting between competing members.

Mandatory training

All members receive compliance training at accreditation and in each renewal cycle.

Reporting channel

Anyone can confidentially report practices suspected of restricting competition.

Spotted a practice that concerns you?

Report it confidentially. All communications are reviewed by the board with external legal support.

Report confidentially Read the compliance document

An independent non-profit association. We set the rules of real-estate cooperation in Portugal and publicly verify who follows them.

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