Other entities

Licensed appraisal companies

• These companies value real estate and often certify the resulting value as part of the mortgage arranging process.
• They are registered and supervised by the Banco de España.
• They are regulated by Royal Decree 775/1997 (in Spanish)Abre en ventana nueva, with the aim of enhancing the quality and transparency of the valuations

Mutual guarantee societies

• These are variable capital companies specialising in granting guarantees to their members (which are usually small businesses or SMEs).
• They obtain financing under more favourable conditions, they are usually linked to a territory or sector and their activity is supported by their public backers (regional or local administrations), savings banks or other private entities institutions with local or sectorial roots.
• They are backed by a counter-guarantee system through the state-owned company “Compañía Española de Reafianzamiento, S.A. (CERSA)” whose coverage helps manage the risks incurred, as well as giving financial backing to the loans.
• They have been under the supervision of Banco de España since 1988. The applicable legal regimne is defined by Law 1/1994Abre en ventana nueva, of March 11, and its implementing regulations.

Representation offices of foreign credit institutions not authorized in European Union Member States

• These are offices that depend functionally and hierarchically on credit institutions authorised in another country, and perform information and marketing activities relating to banking or financial matters as a support for the provision of services without a permanent establishment and without charging for these activities. However, the payments made to associated third parties may be passed on to the client.
• They cannot carry out credit operations, receive deposits or engage in financial intermediation. Nor may they provide any other type of banking services except for channelling third party funds to their parent institutions through credit institutions operating in the country in which the representation office is established.
• They are regulated by Royal Decree 84/2015, of February 13 2015 (in Spanish).Abre en ventana nueva