History of Portugal (1640–1777) put to the test in 1762 when Spain invaded aided by France, during the Seven Years' War. Britain invoked its alliance with Portugal and sent troops. Several months later, the conflict was settled with comparatively little fighting. In 1777, Spain and Portugal signed the Treaty of San Ildefonso, which mainly resolved a number of border disputes between their South American colonies. During the Age of Enlightenment, Portugal was considered one of Europe's unenlightened backwaters; it was a country of three million with 200,000 people in 538 monasteries in 1750. Melo seems to have been deeply embarrassed by Portugal's much lamented
Cross border listings Cross border listings A commercial company may choose to list its shares in a stock exchange of a country other than that in which the company is based. This practice is known as "cross-border listing" or "cross-listing". Firms may adopt cross-border listing to obtain advantages that include lower cost of capital, expanded global shareholder base, greater liquidity in the trading of shares, prestige and publicity. Decision makers also need to be satisfied that the benefits exceed possible costs, such as listing costs, exposure to legal liabilities, taxes and various trading frictions, and reconciliation of financial statements with varying national standards.