Legal advice

Customer service and customer ombudsman

• Order ECO/734/2004 of 11 March on customer-care departments and the ombudsman of financial institutions.
• Order ECC/2502/2012 of November 16, which regulates the procedure for submitting claims to the claims services of the Bank of Spain, the Spanish National Securities Market Commission and the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds.
• Law 7/2017 of 2 November transposing into Spanish law Directive 2013/11/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes.
• Law 44/2002 of 22 November on measures to reform the financial system, as amended by Law 2/2011 of 4 March on the sustainable economy.

Transparency of transactions and customer protection, and other consumer protection legislation

• Order EHA/2899/2011 of 28 October of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (B.O.E. of 29 October), on transparency and customer protection in banking services.
• Bank of Spain Circular 5/2012 of 27 June to credit institutions and payment service providers on the transparency of banking services and responsibility in granting loans.
• Law 22/2007 of 11 July on remote marketing of consumer financial services.
• Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007 of 16 November approving the revised text of the General Law for the Protection of Consumers and Users and other additional legislation.

Advertising

• Order EHA/1718/2010 of 11 June on the regulation and control of the advertising of banking services and products,
• Order EHA/1717/2010 of 11 June on the regulation and control of the advertising of investment services and products.
• Circular 4/2020 of 26 June on the advertising of banking products and services
• Circular 2/2020 of 28 October from the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on advertising of investment products and services.
• Law 34/2002 of 11 July on information society services and electronic commerce.

Mortgage lending

• Law 5/2019 of 15 March, regulating real estate credit agreements.
• Law 2/1994 of 30 March on subrogation and modification of mortgage loans.
• Royal Decree-Law 2/2003 of 25 April on economic reform measures.
• Royal Decree Law 6/2012 of 9 March on urgent measures for the protection of mortgage debtors without resources.
• Royal Decree-Law 1/2017 of 20 January on urgent measures to protect consumers with regard to floor clauses.
• Royal Decree 536/2017 of May 26, which creates and regulates the Monitoring, Control and Evaluation Commission provided for in Royal Decree-Law 1/2017 of January 20.
• Royal Decree-Law 5/2017 of 17 March, amending Royal Decree-Law 6/2012 of 9 March on urgent measures for the protection of mortgage debtors without resources, and Law 1/2013 of 14 May on measures to reinforce the protection of mortgage debtors, debt restructuring and social renting.
• Law 1/2013 of 14 May on measures to reinforce the protection of mortgage debtors, debt restructuring and social renting.
• Law 2/2009 of 31 March, which regulates entering into mortgage loans or credits with consumers and intermediation services for the conclusion of loan or credit contracts (BOE of 1 April).
• Law 41/2007 of 7 December, amending Law 2/1981 of 25 March on the Regulation of the Mortgage Market and other rules of the mortgage and financial system, on the regulation of reverse mortgages and dependency insurance, and which establishes certain tax rules.
• Law 1/2012 of 26 March for the Protection of Consumers’ Rights through the Promotion of Transparency in Mortgage Contracting in the Community of Madrid.
• Law 3/2016 of 9 June for the protection of the rights of consumers and users in contracting mortgage loans and credits on housing (Andalusia)
• Law 25/2015, of 28 July, on the second chance mechanism, reduction of the financial burden and other measures of a social nature.

Consumer credit

• Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC.
• Law 16/2011 of 24 June (B.O.E. of 25 June) on Consumer Credit Contracts.

General terms and conditions

• Law 7/1998 of 13 April 1998 on general contracting conditions.

Payment Services

• Directive (EU) 2015/2366 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 on payment services in the internal market, amending Directives 2002/65/EC, 2009/110/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010, and repealing Directive 2007/64/EC.
• Royal Decree-Law 19/2018 of 23 November on payment services and other urgent measures in financial matters.
• Order ECE/1263/2019 of 26 December on transparency of conditions and information requirements for payment services.
• Regulation (EU) No 260/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2012 establishing technical and business requirements for credit transfers and direct debits in euro and amending Regulation (EC) No 924/2009.
• Law 2/2011 of 4 March on Sustainable Economy.
• Royal Decree 736/2019 of 20 December on the legal regime of payment services and payment institutions.
• Royal Decree-Law 19/2017 of 24 November on basic payment accounts, transfer of payment accounts and fee comparability
• Order ECE/228/2019 of 28 February on basic payment accounts, payment account transfer procedure and comparison website requirements
• Royal Decree 164/2019 of 22 March, establishing a free regime for basic payment accounts for the benefit of people in a vulnerable situation or at risk of financial exclusion.
• Bank of Spain Circular 2/2019 of 29 March on the requirements of the Information Document on Fees and the Statement of Fees, and payment account comparison websites, and amending Circular 5/2012 of 27 June to credit institutions and payment service providers on the transparency of banking services and responsibility in lending.
• Royal Decree-Law 11/2015 of 2 October to regulate fees for cash withdrawals from ATMs.
• Exchange and Cheques Law 19/1985, of 16 July.

Investment Services

• Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015 of 23 October, approving the revised text of the Securities Market Law.
• Royal Decree 217/2008 of 15 February on the legal regime for investment services companies and other entities providing investment services and partially amending the Regulations of Law 35/2003 of 4 November on Collective Investment Schemes, approved by Royal Decree 1309/2005 of 4 November.
• Circular 7/2011 of 12 December from the Spanish National Securities Market Commission on tariff prospectus and content of standard contracts.
• Royal Decree-Law 21/2017 of 29 December on urgent measures for the adaptation of Spanish law to European Union regulations on the securities market.
• Royal Decree-Law 6/2013 of 22 March on the protection of holders of certain savings and investment products and other financial measures
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/565 of 25 April 2016 supplementing Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards organisational requirements and operating conditions for investment firms and defined terms for the purposes of that Directive.
• Order ECC/2316/2015 of 4 November on information obligations and classification of financial products.

Deposit Guarantee Fund

• Royal Decree-Law 16/2011 of 14 October, creating the Deposit Guarantee Fund for Credit Entities.
• Royal Decree 628/2010 of 14 May, amending Royal Decree 2606/1996 of 20 December on deposit guarantee funds in credit institutions and Royal Decree 948/2001 of 3 August on investor compensation schemes.
• Royal Decree 2606/1996 of 20 December 1996 on deposit guarantee funds for credit institutions (amended in part by Royal Decree 1012/2015 of 6 November).

Regulations with various purposes and scopes

• Law 10/2014, of 26 June, on the organisation, supervision and solvency of credit institutions.
• Law 5/2015, of 27 April, on the promotion of business financing.
• Law 2/2011, of 4 March, on Sustainable Economy. Bank of Spain Circular 6/2001, of 29 October, on owners of currency exchange facilities, modified by Bank of Spain Circular 3/2009, of 18 December.
• Bank of Spain Circular 6/2001, of 29 October, on owners of currency exchange facilities, modified by Bank of Spain Circular 3/2009, of 18 December.

Tax Information Exchange

• Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America for the improvement of international tax compliance and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA, signed in Madrid on May 14, 2013.
• Order HAP/1136/2014, of 30th June, which regulates certain issues relating to the information and due diligence obligations established in the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America in order to improve tax compliance and the application of the United States law on tax compliance of foreign accounts, and which approves the annual informative declaration of financial accounts of certain United States persons, model 290.
• Directive 2011/16/EU, of 15th February 2011, regarding administrative cooperation in the field of taxation.
• Royal Decree 1021/2015, of 13th November, which establishes the obligation to identify the tax residence of the persons who hold ownership or control of certain financial accounts and to report on them within the framework of mutual assistance.
• Order HAP/1695/2016, of 25th October, which approves model 289, on the annual informative declaration of financial accounts in the field of mutual assistance, and which modifies other tax regulations.
• Luxembourg Law of 18th December 2015 on the exchange of tax information within the OECD (CRS) and its implementing regulations.
• Agreement between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States of America for the improvement of international tax compliance and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA, signed on 28th March 2014.
• Luxembourg Law of 24th July 2015 which ratifies the aforementioned agreement (IGA Luxembourg).

FATCA

The main objective of the so-called “FATCA” (“Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act”) regulation is to advance in the fight against international tax fraud by establishing a system for the automatic exchange of information between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America, and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States of America, by which financial institutions must identify and report (to the Tax Authorities) any information associated with accounts whose holders are a "U.S. Person" (North American Persons) or " U.S. Entity” (North American Entities). For these purposes, Banca March, as a financial institution, must comply with the obligations derived from the Agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United States of America for the improvement of international tax compliance and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Law), signed in Madrid on 14th May 2014, and the Agreement between the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the United States of America for the improvement of international tax compliance and the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act), signed on 28th March 2014.

For these purposes, the following are considered U.S. Person and U.S. Entity:

• Citizens with tax/permanent residence in the US or North American territorial countries (American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).
• Citizens born in the U.S. or North American territorial countries.
• Citizens with US nationality or that of US territorial countries.
• Entities incorporated or from the US or North American territorial countries.

If you have questions about these criteria or their consideration for these purposes, please visit the following web page https://www.irs.gov/

In order to proceed with your correct identification, Banca March will require you to complete and sign the following forms, depending on every case:

• W9 to provide the tax identification number (TIN) of those persons considered U.S. Persons and U.S. Entities. If you do not provide it, you may be subject to additional tax withholdings.
• W8 Ben to certify your status as a foreigner with respect to the US and thus have the double taxation agreement with Spain or Luxembourg applied, as the case may be.
• W8 Ben – E for those entities that must prove their foreigner status and for legal entities that do not have the status of a US person for these purposes. This form is intended for entities located outside of the US.

Classification as a U.S. Person has the following impacts on the services that Banca March can provide you:

• You will not be able to open an account or operate with our branch in Luxembourg.
• You will not be able to sign an advisory contract, be it for one-off or recurring advice.
• You will not be able to sign a discretionary portfolio management contract.
• You will not be able to contract those instruments that in their issuance brochure restrict their commercialisation to U.S. Persons (this mainly occurs with foreign investment funds).

CRS

On the other hand, the Common Financial Reporting Standard (“CRS”), prepared by the OECD and the G20 countries, aims to prevent tax evasion and avoidance abroad. It is based on the information exchange system between the participating countries, which allows the corresponding tax administrations to obtain tax information on their taxpayers relating to financial institutions located abroad.

Therefore, reports will be sent for these purposes:

• Individuals whose tax residence is located in a participating jurisdiction.
• Legal entities whose fiscal residence is located in a participating jurisdiction.
• Control persons of those passive non-financial entities when their fiscal residence is abroad.

As a result, Banca March has the obligation to periodically identify and report the information relating to the accounts of those holders whose tax residence is that of a participating country (for example, a tax resident in France who opens an account in Spain, or a tax resident in Spain who opens an account in Luxembourg), as well as that information on beneficial owners of passive non-financial entities for CRS/FATCA purposes.

In relation to the identification and communication of information on legal persons and the CRS/FATCA obligations that apply to them, Banca March will ask you, as the entity’s real owner, to declare its nature as either active non-financial entity or passive non-financial entity. To do this, please note that passive companies are those that meet some of the following requirements:

• Entity whose corporate purpose is to carry out investments;
• Entities in which more than 50% of the gross income obtained is passive income (for example, dividends, interest, income from rentals);
• Entities in which more than 50% of their owned assets come from assets that generate passive income (for example, stocks, bonds, current accounts, real estate);
• Those entities that are not “active”.