Any natural or legal person, whether Spanish or foreign, wishing to conduct activities of the type carried out by credit institutions in Spain, in particular, receiving deposits and other repayable funds from the public, must have obtained authorisation and be registered in the Banco de España's official credit institutions registers.
Law 10/2014 of 26 June 2014
on the regulation, supervision and solvency of credit institutions and Royal Decree 84/2015 of 13 February 2015 implementing that law set out the legal framework applicable to banks, savings banks and credit cooperatives, without prejudice to other special rules regulating specific aspects in the case of savings banks and credit cooperatives.
The application for authorisation must be submitted by the promoters of the new credit institution to the Banco de España. The Banco de España and the European Central Bank (ECB) cooperate closely throughout this procedure, with the ECB taking the decision.
The documentation may be submitted in Spanish or English, although given that all the documentation will be sent to the ECB applicants are encouraged to submit it in English.
For the purposes of obtaining the authorisation, the following requirements, inter alia, must be met by the applicant:
- Adopting the prescribed legal form for the type of institution concerned,
- Having registered offices and effective management and administration in Spain,
- Limiting its corporate purpose to the activities of a credit institution,
- Having the share capital or minimum endowment fund envisaged for the type of institution in question,
- Its shareholders, managers or members owning qualifying holdings must be deemed suitable,
- Ensuring that its directors and general managers or similar officers are deemed suitable,
- Having appropriate administrative and accounting structures, and adequate internal control procedures,
- Having appropriate procedures and bodies for internal control and communication to prevent money laundering.
Also, for the purposes of assessing the application for authorisation, the Banco de España will request a report by the Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Monetary Offences, the National Securities Market Commission and the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds, in their respective areas of competence.
If the new credit institution were the subsidiary of a regulated financial group – whether a banking, insurance or securities group – the Banco de España will also verify the supervisory authority of that group, particularly if its parent company is authorised in Spain or in another EU Member State.
Authorisation to create banks
The application must be addressed to the Banco de España; the ECB is responsible for taking a decision on the application upon a proposal of the Banco de España.
The authorisation procedure, the prior steps to be taken, the documentation which must accompany the application and the time limit for a decision to be made are available in the section on authorisation for the creation of banks and other credit institutions of the Banco de España Virtual Office .
Authorisation for the creation of savings banks and credit cooperatives
The requirements for the creation of savings banks and credit cooperatives are similar to those established for the creation of banks, with the particular aspects inherent to their nature, purpose and operational limitations.
In addition to general regulations on credit institutions, the following are applicable in the case of savings banks: Law 26/2013 of 27 December 2013 on savings banks and banking foundations and Decree 1838/1975 of 3 July 1975 regulating the creation of savings banks and the distribution of their net profits. In the case of credit cooperatives, Law 13/1989 of 26 May 1989 on credit cooperatives and the implementing regulations approved by Royal Decree 84/1993 of 22 January 1993 apply.
The application must be addressed to the Banco de España unless it is for a credit cooperative that operates in only one specific region, in which case it will be submitted to the competent body of that regional government, which, in turn, will send it to the Banco de España. The ECB is responsible, in any event, for taking a decision upon a proposal of the Banco de España.
The application for authorisation must include the documentation mentioned in the section on the authorisation procedure for the creation of banks and other credit institutions of the Banco de España Virtual Office, adapted as necessary to conform to the legal structure and governing bodies envisaged for credit cooperatives.
