On September 22 2011 the lower house of Parliament approved the reform of the Collective Investment Undertakings Law (35/2001), with the main objective of implementing various EU directives, particularly the EU Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities IV Directive, into Spanish law. The reform will also introduce other amendments to bolster the competitiveness of the Spanish financial services industry.
The main changes fall under four areas:
- Under the new management company passport, Spanish management companies can manage funds domiciled in other member states, while management companies belonging to other member states can manage Spanish funds. The rules on cross-border marketing are also simplified.
- Investor protection will be strengthened by:
- strengthening the mechanisms for cooperation, consultation and exchange of information among the competent supervisory authorities; and
- introducing a new information document (the 'key investor information document').
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- Industry competitiveness will be increased by:
- introducing the possibility of using global accounts to market Spanish-domiciled funds in Spain;
- allowing collective investment undertakings to use part of their assets as collateral; and
- decreasing bureaucracy and increasing flexibility in procedures.
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- The reform also introduces various mechanisms to facilitate and strengthen supervision by the Spanish securities market regulator (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) and technical improvements aimed at achieving greater legal certainty, thereby facilitating economic transactions.
For further information on this topic please contact Javier Ybáñez or Luis de la Peña at Garrigues Abogados & Asesores Tributarias by telephone (+34 91 514 5200), fax (+34 51 399 2408) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]).