Financial regulatory lawyers in Spain: CNMV and Banco de España
You need a licence to operate in Spain and the CNMV (Spain's securities regulator) or the Banco de España (the Bank of Spain) is asking for more than you expected, or the problem has already arrived: enforcement proceedings, an inspection by SEPBLAC (Spain's anti-money laundering supervisor), an unauthorised-firm warning or a bank account frozen on money laundering grounds. Our financial regulatory lawyers prepare your authorisation and defend you before the regulator, all the way to the Audiencia Nacional (Spain's National High Court) if need be. You work with a lawyer registered with the Spanish bar, in English or in Spanish, whether you are a Spanish promoter or a foreign founder or fund manager choosing Spain as your gateway to the European Union.
What we handle
Your crypto-asset platform needs a MiCA licence
Authorisation as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) from the CNMV, which has 25 working days to deem the application complete and 40 to decide (article 63 MiCA). Since 1 July 2026 no one may operate without it; it requires own funds from 50,000 euros (article 67) and opens the whole EU by simple notification.
You want to launch a hedge fund or set up your own fund manager
In Spain a hedge fund is a fondo de inversión libre (FIL), and only a management company authorised by the CNMV may run it; the CNMV decides within three months of a complete file, extendable by a further three (article 41.4 LIIC, the Collective Investment Schemes Act), and the manager needs minimum capital of 125,000 euros (article 100 RIIC).
You want to operate as a payment or e-money institution
Authorisation comes from the Banco de España, after a report from SEPBLAC, within three months of a complete file, and silence means refusal. Initial capital runs from 20,000 to 125,000 euros depending on the payment service, and is 350,000 euros to issue e-money (articles 11 and 19 of Royal Decree-Law 19/2018 and articles 4 and 6 of Law 21/2011).
SEPBLAC is inspecting you or AML proceedings have been opened
Very serious infringements carry a minimum fine of 150,000 euros, and directors are personally liable where there was intent or negligence (articles 54 and 56 of Law 10/2010). The proceedings lapse if the decision has not been served within one year of notice of their opening, extendable by six months (article 61.4).
The CNMV has opened enforcement proceedings against you
Very serious infringements become time-barred after five years and serious ones after four, and the fine can reach 10% of annual turnover or 5,000,000 euros (articles 311 and 312 of Law 6/2023). The decision is administratively final and can be challenged before the Audiencia Nacional within two months (article 23 of Law 6/2023 and article 46 LJCA, the Judicial Review Act).
The CNMV has put you on its warning list of unauthorised firms
We apply for the warning to be withdrawn, showing that the activity is not reserved or is carried out through an authorised firm, and a refusal can be challenged before the Audiencia Nacional within two months (article 46 LJCA). While you remain on the list, search engines and social networks must check it before running your ads (article 246.3 of Law 6/2023).
Your bank has frozen your account on money laundering grounds
The bank may close the account if it cannot complete customer due diligence and will not tell you whether it has reported your transactions to SEPBLAC, but the law gives it no cover if it is unjustly enriched by keeping your balance (articles 7.3 and 24 of Law 10/2010). We complain to the bank first and, if the money is not returned, sue before the civil section of the Tribunal de Instancia (the first-instance court).
How we work on it
The starting point is to characterise your activity: which service you provide, on which asset and to which clients. That decides whether you need a licence, from which regulator, or whether a notification is enough. We then design the substance the regulator will expect (a Spanish company, effective management, fit and proper directors and shareholders, own funds and anti-money laundering controls) and file a complete application, because the decision deadline does not run until it is complete. Once there is a dispute (a refusal, no decision at all, a warning or enforcement proceedings), we fix the date of notification, obtain the file and check lapse and limitation before arguing the merits. On licensing, the Audiencia Nacional defers to the regulator's technical discretion and the case is won in the administrative file; on penalties, it is the authority that must prove the facts and the fault. Decisions of the CNMV and the Banco de España can be taken to the Audiencia Nacional within two months, and very serious money laundering fines, which are imposed by the Consejo de Ministros (the Council of Ministers), are challenged before the Tribunal Supremo (the Supreme Court). That route does not require the prior attempt at settlement under article 5 of Organic Law 1/2025, which applies only in civil cases: it is required to sue the bank that is holding your balance, although if you are a consumer your prior complaint to the bank satisfies it. The lawyer who studies your project signs the application and, if it comes to it, the appeal.
Your matter is quoted after the consultation, because every case is different. The consultation fee is credited in full against the engagement if you go ahead.
Frequently asked questions
Does my project need a licence from the CNMV or from the Banco de España?
It depends on what your project does, not on what it is called. The CNMV authorises crypto-asset service providers, investment firms and fund managers; the Banco de España authorises payment and e-money institutions. Some projects need two licences and others can operate on a notification or a registration, so we start by mapping the flow of money and assets, client by client.
I am a foreign founder. Can I passport a Spanish licence across the EU?
Yes, subject to conditions. A MiCA licence is passported by notifying the CNMV, which forwards the notification within ten working days, and you may start on the fifteenth calendar day at the latest (article 65 MiCA); payment institutions and fund managers have passports of their own. In return, the regulator expects real substance in Spain: registered office, effective management and part of the business here and, under MiCA, a director resident in the EU. A letterbox company is a ground for refusal.
I have been served with enforcement proceedings. Should I admit liability and pay at a discount?
Not before running the full numbers. Admitting liability and paying each cut the fine by at least 20%, but only where the penalty is purely financial and in exchange for waiving any administrative appeal (article 85 of Law 39/2015). And a serious or very serious CNMV penalty is published in the BOE, Spain's official gazette (article 335 of Law 6/2023), and counts against you for five years in setting any later one (article 329). Before deciding, we check limitation, lapse and the evidence.
What does a licence application or an enforcement defence cost?
There is no list price: a payment institution licence and the defence of enforcement proceedings have nothing in common. It starts with the consultation, 100 euros for thirty minutes or 200 euros for one hour, credited against the engagement if you go ahead, and the fixed quote for your matter comes out of it. In that consultation we also set out the regulatory costs to budget for: minimum capital, own funds, insurance and structure.
Law firm guides on this area
The dispute explained: what action lies, what deadline is running and what has to be proved.