Noticias de la Cámara
New System for Screening Foreign Direct Investments in Certain Sectors in Spain | Latham & Watkins
18/03/2020
Given COVID-19 crisis in Spain, the government has adopted a Royal Decree-Law of extraordinary and urgent measures to deal with the economic and social impact.
Note: Please see Latham’s related Client Alert, “Spanish Government Approves Urgent and Extraordinary Measures to Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19”, for a description of the economic measures adopted to deal with the crisis.
The Royal Decree Law 8/2020, of 17 March (the RDL) amends Act 19/2003, 4 July, which is the legal framework for movements of capital and foreign investments in Spain.
The main change adopted by the RDL is to suspend the liberalization of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Spain in certain sectors.
FDI are now subject to the requirement to obtain a previous authorization. Any FDI made without obtaining authorization will be invalid and with no legal effect, and the infringing person may be fined.
The government justifies this new system of FDI screening, which suspends the previous liberalized regime, on the grounds of security and public order derived from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the value of Spanish companies in strategic sectors. In addition the Spanish government is adopting this FDI screening system in anticipation of the entering into force in October 2020 of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 of the European Parliament and the Council of 19 March 2019 establishing a framework for the screening of FDI into the EU.
This new Spanish FDI screening scheme came into force on 18 March 2020. It will remain in force until the government decides otherwise.
Read the full alert at the document attached.
Documentos adjuntos:
New System for Screening Foreign Direct Investments in Certain Sectors in Spain | Latham & Watkins
Spain Imposes Royal Decree 463/2020 to Manage COVID-19 Health Crisis | Latham & Watkins
Spanish Government Approves Urgent and Extraordinary Measures to Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 | Latham & Watkins
