Publications

Insolvency Law Reform Bill published

On December 21, 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the Insolvency Law Reform Bill, which was published in the Official Gazette of the Spanish Parliament on January 14, 2022 (available here), and then initiated its passage through parliament as fast-tracked legislation.

This legislation aims to transpose into Spanish law the European directive on restructuring, insolvency and discharge of debt, and is set to bring about sweeping reforms to the Spanish insolvency legislation providing swift and efficient mechanisms that will improve insolvency proceedings and help businesses to continue trading.

At Garrigues we have analyzed and reported on the main new legislation that this Bill has added to the initial preliminary bill approved on August 4, 2021, after including the contributions gathered in the public comments and consultation phase (see here).

Approval of European Directive on credit servicers and credit purchasers

Directive 2021/ 2167, of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EC was published on December 8, 2021. It can be read here.

The aim of this directive is to incorporate a common legislative framework for credit servicers and purchasers throughout the European Union in order to facilitate the transfer of loans that become nonperforming, by improving the conditions for selling the loans to third parties and enabling and fostering the development of secondary markets for NPLs in the European Union.

Attorney General’s Office publishes information notices on collection system applicable to ICO loans

On February 1, 2022, the Attorney General’s Office published an Information Notice on the collection system applicable to the guarantees provided under Royal Decree-Laws 8/2020 and 25/2020, which was drawn up to explain the rules and principles applicable to the collection system for guarantees relating to ICO Loans where the guaranteed debtor goes into insolvency.

New ICO guarantee facility approved amounting to €10,000 million

Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 of March 29, 2022 adopting urgent measures as part of the National Plan in response to the economic and social consequences of the war in Ukraine was published on March 30, 2022 in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Among the measures approved in that decree-law a new guarantee facility was opened for up to €10,000 until December 31, 2022.

The terms and conditions of that guarantee facility are set out in a decision delivered on May 10, 2022 by the Office of the Secretary of State for Economy and Business Support, and published in the BOE the following day.