New Spanish Public Registry for Bankruptcy

The Official Spanish State Bulletin (BOE) published the Royal Decree 892/2013, which regulates the Public Registry for Bankruptcy. This new Decree will allow banks, consumers, partners, and creditors to have access to any official information about insolvencies online.

On December 3, 2013, the BOE published the Royal Decree 892/2013 of November 15, which became effective on March 3, 2014. This Decree regulates the Public Registry for Bankruptcy, making bankruptcy proceedings and their outcomes available to the public to guarantee transparency and legal certainty. Nevertheless, the Spanish Department of Justice will take the necessary measures to include in the Public Registry for Bankruptcy those resolutions relating to bankruptcy proceedings that are still incomplete as of March 3, 2014. Until the final implementation of the Public Registry for Bankruptcy, the soon-to-be former system of bankruptcy publicity will survive.

This Public Registry for Bankruptcy aims to solve the problems detected after the Spanish Insolvency Act became effective in 2003. The Spanish Insolvency Act of 2003 already paid close attention to the publicity of bankruptcy proceedings. The Spanish Public Registry of Insolvency Resolutions has existed since 2005; however, the information it offered was only partial and contained deficiencies.

The new Public Registry for Bankruptcy will provide information about both the procedural resolutions resulting from bankruptcy proceedings as well as the opening and closing of negotiations to reach extrajudicial agreements. It will also offer information about the corresponding Registry entries.

Note: The Public Registry for Bankruptcy is the instrument that ensures coordination between the Commercial Courts and the different public registries such as registrars and notaries. The goal is to prevent the presentation of judicial resolutions because they can cause issues regarding both registration and files on the extrajudicial settlement of payments.

Online Access and Publicity

• The bankruptcy resolutions published in the Public Registry for Bankruptcy will appear on a website located within an electronic venue that the Spanish Department of Justice determines.
• The Public Registry for Bankruptcy depends on the Department of Justice and is assigned to the Dirección General de los Registros y del Notariado (the Spanish General Directorate of Registries and Notaries). The Colegio de Registradores de la Propiedad, Mercantiles, y de Bienes Muebles de España (the Spanish Association of Land, Commercial, and Personal Property Registrars) carries out the material management of publication at its expense under the supervision of the Department of Justice.
• The communications made through the Public Registry of Bankruptcy must always be electronic. If using electronic media becomes impossible, communications will occur through other means according to applicable legislation that can ensure the security and integrity of the content.
• Access to the Public Registry of Bankruptcy must be public, free, and permanent — without a need to justify or prove a legitimate interest in the records.

Considering the above, the role of the Public Registry for Bankruptcy will become more important as a legal source to make daily paperwork easier for Spanish citizens, lawyers, public authorities, companies, and any other party interested in it. It will allow banks, creditors, commercial partners, and consumers to have access to official and trustworthy information about bankruptcy cases. Therefore, the now available information within the Registry online guarantees the principle of information unity regarding bankruptcies.

Structure and Content of the Registry

Article 198 of the Insolvency Act consists of three sections that establish the structure of the Public Registry for Bankruptcy. The first section will contain bankruptcy edicts; the second will deal with the registry publicity of bankruptcy resolutions; and the third one will concern extrajudicial settlements.

Personal data included in the bankruptcy resolutions and the entries of the Public Registry for Bankruptcy in any of its sections will be redacted within one month after they become effective.

For additional information regarding the new Spanish Bankruptcy Registry in Spain,