Since 2009, there has been a significant reduction in lending from banks to the Spanish economy, intensified during the years 2012 and 2013. In this context, the effect of this reduction on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is particularly remarked.

The Cortes Generales approved in April 2015 the Ley de fomento de la financiación empresarial, which includes a set of measures with a dual purpose: to make SMEs financing more accessible and flexible, and to move forward in the development of alternative mechanisms of financing.

The Ley incorporates three important developments:

  • Credit institutions are required to notify SMEs sufficiently in advance their decision to cancel or significantly reduce the flow of funding previously granted. In addition, credit institutions are also required to make a report available to the SMEs including their financial information.
  • The legal regime of mutual guarantee institutions is modified.
  • It establishes the new legal regime for credit institutions (EFC), according to which the EFC lose their status as lending bank but retain their inclusion in the scope of supervision and strict financial regulation.

The technical note prepared by Management Solutions’ R&D department analyses the main regulatory developments concerning the financing of SMEs introduced by this Ley, as well as its main implications.

Executive summary


The main changes introduced by the Ley 5/2015 de fomento de la financiación empresarial affect the legal regime of SMEs, mutual guarantee institutions and EFC.

Scope of application:

SMEs, defined as in the Recomendación 2003/361/CE, mutual guarantee institutions and EFC.

Main content:

  • SMEs rights, including the notification process and the right to financial information.
  • Mutual guarantee institutions and their new legal regime.
  • EFC, including their definition, legal regime, constitution, supervision and penalty system.

Download the technical note by clicking here (only in Spanish).