SMEs and self-employed workers

Banks must notify small businesses (SMEs) at least three months in advance if they intend not to continue the credit they have been giving or to reduce it by 35% or more (Article 1 of Law 5/2015 (in Spanish). 

When your bank approves your request for a credit facility, it is considered good banking practice for it to notify you of the approval within a reasonable period of time, and you should also be notified of refusal of a request for a credit facility as soon as possible so you can seek finance elsewhere.

Current regulations on transparency (Ministerial Order EHA/2899/2011, of 28 October 2011 on transparency and protection of customers of banking services (in Spanish) which came into force on 29 April 2012, are not applicable to customers that are legal entities. However, the Banco de España’s Market Conduct and Claims Department considers that legal persons should also benefit from the traditionally held view that customers should not pay account maintenance or transaction fees when a bank requires an account to be held that is solely used for payment of the interest accruing on a deposit, for servicing a personal or mortgage loan, or for payments arising from other types of operation. In such cases, customers would be paying to comply with an obligation (to open an account for the bank’s convenience), imposed by the bank in its own interest, which is considered contrary to the principle of reciprocity and good banking practices.