The Spanish government has very recently approved a reform of the Spanish Insolvency Law, which will enter into effect within 20 days of its publication in the Spanish Official State Journal (Boletín Oficial del Estado), except for the third book of the restated Spanish Insolvency Law, which will enter into effect on 1 January 2023.

Hace unos días se aprobó la reforma de la Ley Concursal, que entrará en vigor a los veinte días de su publicación en el «Boletín Oficial del Estado», con excepción del libro tercero del texto refundido de la Ley Concursal, que entrará en vigor el 1 de enero de 2023.

With the aim of managing the potential ramifications of the measures that have so far been implemented in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the Spanish Government has approved Royal Decree-law 16/2020, of 28 April, of procedural and organisational measures to tackle COVID-19 connected to the administration of justice.

Law 3/2020, of 18 September, on procedural and organisational measures to tackle COVID-19 in the area of the Administration of Justice entered into effect on 20 September 2020.

The new insolvency and corporate measures are brought in with three primary aims:

El pasado 20 de septiembre de 2020, entró en vigor la Ley 3/2020, de 18 de septiembre, de medidas procesales y organizativas para hacer frente al COVID-19 en el ámbito de la Administración de Justicia.

Según se establece, estas nuevas medidas concursales y societarias se llevan a cabo con una triple finalidad:

El pasado día 1 de septiembre entró en vigor el Real Decreto Legislativo 1/2020, de 5 de mayo, por el que se aprueba el texto refundido de la Ley Concursal (TRLC). De este modo, la Ley 22/2003, de 9 de julio, Concursal queda derogada casi en su totalidad.

Según se establece en el Preámbulo del TRLC, este texto refundido se ha creado ante la imprescindible necesidad de reordenación, clarificación y armonización tanto de la Ley Concursal como de las normas que con rango de ley que modificaron la misma.

Royal Legislative Decree 1/2020, of 5 May, which approves the Recast Spanish Insolvency Law (Texto Refundido de la Ley Concursal, or TRLC) entered into effect on 1 September. As a result, the former Insolvency Law 22/2003, of 9 July, has been derogated almost in its entirety.

According to the TRLC’s Preamble, Spanish insolvency legislation has been amended given the need to reorder, clarify and harmonise the former Insolvency Law and the provisions that have since amended it.

In Spain individuals and entities have an obligation to file for insolvency if they are unable to regularly meet their obligations within two months of the position of insolvency coming to light. Breach of that obligation could lead to civil (and even criminal) liability.

The legal obligation imposed by the Spanish Insolvency Law 22/2003, of 9 July (the “Spanish Insolvency Law”), has been modified by Royal Decree-law 8/2020 (the “RDL”), of 17 March, on extraordinary measures to tackle the economic and social impact of COVID-19.