Spanish Royal Decree-Law 4/2014, passed on March 7 2014, has considerably changed the rules for the court-sanctioning of so-called Spanish schemes of arrangement. Amongst those changes, the reform has lowered the majorities required to achieve a Spanish scheme. Currently, a majority of at least 51% of the financial liabilities held by all creditors at the time of the refinancing agreement (acuerdo de refinanciación) approval, will suffice to request the insolvency judge to sanction the agreement, so it is considered ringfenced and protected from any challenge for rescission.

La reforma aparecida en el BOE del sábado 6 de septiembre plantea problemas sistemáticos y de fondo que no pueden ser tratados en esta nota, con la que se pretende orientar a los operadores en las reglas y problemas que prima facie sugiere la lectura de la norma. Evidentemente, hay que esperar nuevos productos legislativos, de ajuste de la presente reforma con la que se introdujo por el RD 4/2014.

The fourth additional provision of the Spanish Insolvency Act (IA) provides for homologation (court sanctioning) of a refinancing agreement signed by creditors representing at least 51 per cent of financial liabilities whilst meeting certain conditions set out in article 71 bis at the time of adoption of said agreement.

Exposición de la doctrina de la rescisión aislada del derecho de garantía 1. Establece el art. 73 LCon que (1) la sentencia que estime la acción (rescisoria) declarará la ineficacia del acto impugnado y condenará a la restitución de las prestaciones objeto de aquél (…). (3) El derecho a la prestación que resulte a favor de cualquiera de los demandados como consecuencia de la rescisión tendrá la consideración de crédito contra la masa, que habrá de satisfacerse simultáneamente a la reintegración de los bienes (…). 2.

The new amendments carried out in the BankruptcyProceedings Act by virtue of the Royal Decree 4/2014,dated March 7, aims to introduce a viable restructuringof corporate debt, trying to streamline BankruptcyProceedings and prevailing primacy of will.

In homologated refinancing agreements

For insolvency purposes, the concept of “group” is defined in article 42 of the Spanish Commercial Code, which refers only to groups subject to control that have the legal obligation to consolidate their accounts, while excluding horizontal or co-ordinated groups.³

Assignment of a credit with recourse transfers ownership of the credit to the assignee when the transfer is approved and allows the assignee to request that it is separated from the assignor’s insolvency assets.

In both rulings, the Supreme Court stated the effects of assignment of a credit with recourse on the assignor’s declaration of insolvency.

Royal decree-law 4/2014, on urgent measures for refinancing and restructuring corporate debt: amends the Insolvency Act and the exemption on mandatory takeover bids for rescue operations, and extends the special regime for calculating losses due tue impairment

On March 18, 2014, the Bank of Spain gave credit institutions consistent criteria to apply the provisions of Circular 4/2004 to restructuring transactions resulting from the refinancing agreements regulated under the Insolvency Act, complying with the stipulations of Additional Provision One of Royal Decree Law 4/2014, which assigned the drafting of those criteria to the Bank of Spain.