Bill would align several Spanish laws with EU directives

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

1. The bill would regulate covered bonds, debt securities issued by credit institutions and backed by a pool of assets that guarantees payment to investors. It would distinguish several types, such as mortgage, regional and internationalization cédulas.
2. Bondholders would have a preferential right over a coverage pool of assets, recorded in a special register, which would survive even if the issuer goes bankrupt. A minimum overcollateralization level and a liquidity buffer for the first 180 days would also be required.
3. Each covered bond program would need authorization from the Bank of Spain (Banco de España) and a monitoring body overseeing the coverage pool. The Bank of Spain would supervise the programs and the CNMV would supervise their marketing.
4. The laws on collective investment schemes and venture capital would be amended to make it easier for funds to be marketed in other EU countries without a local physical presence, and the pre-marketing of funds to professional investors would be regulated.
5. The law on the reuse of public sector information would be reformed: reuse would generally be free, documents would be published in open, machine-readable formats, and public trading companies and research data would be included.
6. On intellectual property, text and data mining, digital educational use, heritage preservation and pastichePastiche A work that takes characteristic elements of another work and combines them as its own creation, without confusing or harming the original (for example, memes). would be allowed without authorization. Online content-sharing platforms would have to negotiate licenses with rights holders and remove unauthorized content.
7. VAT exemptions would be extended to purchases by EU bodies responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, with retroactive effect from January 1, 2021, and the consumer protection sanctioning regime would be strengthened, with fines of up to €1 million and new information duties in online marketplaces.
8. Minimum percentages of clean and energy-efficient vehicles would be set for public procurement of road transport vehicles and certain services such as waste collection or parcel transport.

Who it affects

• People with a mortgage and investors in mortgage cédulas: Their securities would move to the new covered bond regime, with stronger guarantees and protection if the issuer fails.
• Credit institutions and appraisal companies: They would need Bank of Spain authorization for their programs, build coverage pools and comply with a sanctioning regime.
• Creators, artists and press publishers: They would gain rights to remuneration, transparency and control over the online use of their works and publications.
• Consumers: They would get more information in online purchases (reviews, rankings, personalized prices) and companies would face higher fines.
• Public administrations: They would have to publish their information in open, reusable formats and buy a minimum share of clean vehicles.

Words worth knowing

Bono garantizado (covered bond)

A debt security issued by a bank and backed by a pool of assets (for example, mortgages) that guarantees payment to the investor even if the bank goes bankrupt.

Conjunto de cobertura (coverage pool)

A group of assets kept separate from the rest of the bank that serves as exclusive collateral for the covered bonds.

Sobregarantía (overcollateralization)

Extra asset value that must exceed the minimum required to cover the bonds issued.

Minería de textos y datos (text and data mining)

Automated analysis of large amounts of digital text or data to find patterns, trends or conclusions.

Pastiche

A work that takes characteristic elements of another work and combines them as its own creation, without confusing or harming the original (for example, memes).

It summarizes the text as it was introduced. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries