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What it is

How commercial agency contracts work in Spain

BOE step 7 of 7 · Passed

It is a government bill. Introduced by the Government. It was introduced on 14 October 1991. Introduced by: Gobierno.

Official title: Government bill on the Agency Contract.

Follow this law

Source: Congreso de los Diputados, file 121/000067· updated 11 Nov

Automatic summary, not yet reviewed

  1. It defines the agency contract: the agent promotes, or promotes and closes, commercial transactions on behalf of another, on a stable basis and for pay, as an independent intermediary.
  2. People with an employment relationship with the business are not agents, including dependent sales representatives and traveling salespeople. Dependence is presumed when a person cannot organize their work or time by their own criteria.
  3. The rules are mandatory and apply to all forms of the agency contract, unless a provision says otherwise. Agents operating in official or regulated secondary securities markets are excluded.
  4. An agent may work for several businesses, but needs consent to work with identical or similar, competing goods or services. The agent must act loyally and in good faith, follow reasonable instructions, and keep separate accounts for each business.
  5. Pay can be a fixed amount, a commission, or both. Without an agreement, pay follows local trade usage. Commission is earned when the business performs or should perform the transaction, and is paid no later than the last day of the month after the quarter in which it was earned.
  6. When the contract ends, the agent may be entitled to compensation for the customer base, capped at the average annual pay of the last five years. The claim expires after one year. A post-contract non-compete clause cannot last more than two years, or one year if the contract was shorter.

Who it affects

  • Independent commercial agents: They get specific rights and duties: pay, commissions, compensation when the contract ends, and duties of loyalty.
  • Businesses that hire agents: They must act in good faith, provide information and samples, pay the agreed compensation, and answer for commissions.
  • Dependent sales representatives and traveling salespeople: They are excluded from this law because they have an employment relationship with the business.
  • Securities market agents: The law does not apply to them if they operate in official or regulated secondary securities markets.

Words worth knowing

Agente (agent)
A person or company that, on a stable basis and for pay, promotes or closes commercial transactions on behalf of another.
Riesgo y ventura (risk and venture)
Taking on the chance that the transaction will not go through and losing the commission or money because of it.
Comisión (commission)
The variable part of the agent's pay, based on the volume or value of the transactions promoted or closed.
Devengo (accrual)
The moment the right to collect arises, even if payment comes later.
Prescripción (statute of limitations)
Losing the right to make a claim because too much time has passed.

It summarizes the law as published in the BOE. It is written by artificial intelligence and may contain mistakes: the official text is what counts. Read the official text · How we make summaries

Where it stands

How far did it get?

It took 7 of 7 steps. It reached BOE, and today it is passed.

  1. Introduced14 October 1991Someone registers the text in the Congreso.
  2. Admitted15 October 1991The Bureau of the Congreso accepts it and, for a members’ bill, the plenary decides whether to consider it.
  3. Amendmentsno dateGroups propose changes.
  4. Committeeno dateA committee goes through the text in detail.
  5. Plenaryno dateAll 350 deputies vote.
  6. Senateno dateThe Senate can pass it, amend it or veto it.
  7. BOEno dateIt is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force.
See the 2 official steps on a timeline
Oct 199111. 14 October 1991: Presentación22. 15 October 1991: Calificación

Was there a plenary vote?

We have no plenary vote linked to this law in the Congreso’s data.

What happens next

What happens now?

It is law, or will be once published in the BOE. It comes into force on the date its own text sets.

Published in the BOE: Law 12/1992, of 27 May, on the Agency Contract.

Sources

Where does all this come from?

  • The data comes from the open files of the Congreso, the Senate and the BOE, unaltered.
  • Each deputy’s province is the one of their seat on the day of the vote.
  • We only say “passed” or “rejected” when the majority needed is certain; otherwise we say which side had more votes.

Read the full method · Report an error