European Union
10-25-2019
The draft prepared by the european authority, pending publication of the final opinion, will apply to the remuneration of certain professionals of insurance and reinsurance companies.
10-15-2019
One way to boost the digital economy in the EU would be to help banks making loans to new businesses. To do this, the institutions themselves need to know about venture debt and other possible products, and the European and national authorities need to support a stable legal framework adapted to the business environment including the area of bank finance.
10-04-2019
The Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT) publishes new leaflets to assist operators with their obligations in relation to Brexit (see here).
10-02-2019
Ministry of Finance has published a draft law and a preliminary bill for a royal decree to implement in Spain the EU provisions introducing changes in relation to VAT in intra-Community trade in goods and opens the period for comments and public information. The time limit for sending comments on the instruments is October 18.
09-11-2019
On September 10, the Advocate General (AG) issued his opinion on a preliminary ruling to be rendered by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding a lawsuit in Spain over the validity, under the European directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts (Directive 93/13), of a contractual clause referencing a local interest rate benchmark in floating rate residential mortgage loans. The press has regarded the opinion as unfavorable to the banks. If upheld by the CJEU, it could mark a turning point in the underlying lawsuits. A final negative outcome could provoke massive losses for a number of Spanish banks with the possibility to accelerate a wave of domestic and European bank mergers.
09-04-2019
A no deal Brexit could prompt legal action by the European Union against the UK to claim payment of the financial obligations it assumed before its exit. This massive lawsuit, over a sum possibly in the region of 50 billion euros, could have extremely serious implications for the UK as a sovereign state.
06-06-2019
On Thursday, June 6, 2019, the European Commission decided to refer Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union for “imposing disproportionate penalties on Spanish taxpayers for the failure to report assets held in other EU and EEA States (Modelo 720)”, according to a press release just published.
06-18-2019
The court must rule on a number of questions referred to the CJEU by the Spanish Supreme Court, in a case in which Garrigues represents Club de Variedades Vegetales Protegidas.
05-06-2019
As a result of the transposition of Trademark Directive 2015/2436, both the Trademark Law as well as its implementing regulations have had to be amended accordingly. The reform of the implementing regulations, approved through Royal Decree 306/2019, of April 26, 2019 (published in the Official State Gazette last April 30), came into force on May 1, 2019.
07-24-2019
Two crucial steps for orderly implementation of a new EURIBOR benchmark compliant with the European Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) have just taken place. One is the authorization of EURIBOR administrator EMMI, and the other, the recent publication of the official statement describing the methodology and other technical specifications for the benchmark. These milestones are very important, but there continue to be legal risks and everyone would be well advised to pay more attention than ever before to how things unfold in the coming months.