Financial Regulation 2011

In 2011 Q2 a relatively small number of new financial provisions was promulgated in comparison with previous periods.
In the field of financial institutions, Spanish solvency law was amended to adapt it partially to recent Union legislation. The opportunity was taken to introduce a new legal regime governing additional contributions to credit institution deposit guarantee fund based on the remuneration of these instruments.
Also, amendments were made to adapt Spanish law on payment and securities settlement systems to Union legislation, particularly to recognise so-called “interoperable systems” and to extend to them the legal provisions on settlement finality in credit transfer orders.
In the European Union area, there were four notable new provisions: the amendment of TARGET legislation to enable the ECB to provide overnight credit to certain counterparty institutions not licensed as credit institutions; the regulation of mergers of public limited companies in order to unify the protection of shareholders’ and third parties’ interests in these processes in Member States; the updating of legislation on purchases of euro banknotes; and the amendment of the EU regulation on credit rating agencies to include the functions acquired by the new European Securities and Markets Authority.
Within the securities market, there were three new pieces of legislation: the adaptation of Spanish law to EU legislation on credit rating agencies; certain changes to the information required of foreign collective investment institutions registered in the CNMV registers; and the updating of collective investment institution categories based on investment policy.
Finally, a new law on consumer credit agreements writes into Spanish law the recent European legislation in this connection.