Do you know how to spot an unauthorised financial operator?

30/10/2025

In a previous post, we looked at what “reserved activities” are and identified the main areas monitored and supervised by the Banco de España, such as taking repayable funds from the public, payment services, issuing electronic money and foreign exchange services.

In this post we explain how to check which firms and individuals are allowed to provide these services and what risks you face if you do business with an unauthorised operator.

• How can I check whether a bank is authorised to carry out reserved activities?

The reserved activities mentioned above may only be carried out by firms or individuals that appear in the Banco de España’s registersAbre en ventana nueva (link in Spanish) or by those operating in Spain with an authorisation granted in another European Union country. In the latter case, they can be found be in the European Banking Authority’s registers.Abre en ventana nueva

These registers can show you which reserved activities each bank is authorised to carry out, along with other useful information, such as the countries in which it can operate.

• What are the risks of doing business with an unauthorised provider?

Only registered individuals and firms have demonstrated that they meet certain requirements, such as having enough capital and the appropriate organisation and resources. They are also subject to the monitoring set out in the relevant legislation.

If you do business with an unauthorised and unregistered individual or firm and you later have a dispute, you won’t be able to file a complaint with the Banco de España’s Complaints Service.

You also won’t be protected by mechanisms such as the Deposit Guarantee Scheme for Credit InstitutionsAbre en ventana nueva (which covers up to €100,000 per depositor and bank) or the separate safeguarding account or equivalent guarantees that payment institutions and electronic money institutions are required to have in place (to protect funds taken from customers to perform payment operations or issue electronic money). Nor will you benefit from the transparency rules that apply to banking products and services.