How to find company information in Spain

In Spain, information on a particular company can be accessed through a variety of both public and private sources. The public sources are the following:

• “Registro Mercantil” (Commercial Register) - Colegio de Registradores de España: Registrars' Certification Service: The “Registro Mercantil” is a public office, dependent on the General Directorate of Registries and Notaries of the Ministry of Justice and exists in all provincial capitals and in some other cities. There also exists a “Registro Mercantil Central” Central Commercial Register): https://sede.registradores.org/site/home
• “Registro de la Propiedad” (Property Registry). There is one in every judicial district. They provide information about the properties and real estate assets, their charges and liens and their titleholders. Link to the e.g. Barcelona Registry: https://www.registradores.org/directorio//registros/propiedad/barcelona/barcelona/registro-de-la-propiedad-de-barcelona-n-01
• “Registro Público Concursal” (Insolvency Public Registry). There is only a Central one in Madrid and it provides information about ongoing insolvency proceedings and judicial and extrajudicial decisions related with them: https://www.registradores.org/registro-publico-concursal
• “Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores - CNMV” (The National Securities Market Commission): The CNMV is the public body responsible for the supervision and inspection of the Spanish securities markets and the activity of all those involved in them. It collects information on companies that issue or offer securities for public placement, on secondary securities markets, and on companies that provide investment services and collective investment institutions: https://www.cnmv.es/Portal/Consultas/BusquedaPorEntidad.aspx
• “Cámara de Comercio de España” (Spanish Chamber of Commerce): The Spanish Chamber of Commerce is a public law corporation with consultative and collaborative functions with the Public Administration and it is in charge of representing, promoting and defending the general interests of commerce, industry, services, and navigation: https://www.camara.es/funcion-consultiva/consulta-del-censo-publico-de-empresas
• “Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas” (Spanish Patent and Trademark Office or SPTO). The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office is an autonomous public body that carries out the administrative activity that corresponds to the State in matters of industrial property, and therefore collects information on trademarks, patents, designs, company names: https://www.oepm.es/es/index.html
• “Registro de Bienes Muebles” (The Movable Assets Registry”). There is a Central one in Madrid and another one in each province capital. They provide information about certain movable assets, their charges and liens and their titleholders: https://www.registradores.org/el-colegio/registro-de-bienes-muebles

With certain exceptions, most information registered in the abovementioned Registries is available to the public through payment of the corresponding fees. Furthermore, the web pages aren’t always available in English but in some cases, you can request a translation into English of the information provided.

There are also private companies offering different types of company records and information. These companies provide a search engine by company name or VAT number that offers a wide range of company reports. Examples: Informa (https://www.informa.es/en) or Infoempresa (https://www.infoempresa.com/en-in/es/).

The Central Commercial Register provides general information on each company and the following certificates can be obtained:

• “Nota Informativa Mercantil” (Commercial Informative Note): The purpose of this note is to provide general information on companies. The commercial information note may contain the following segments of information, provided that the company allows it:
  - basic data such as company name, VAT number, national classification of economic activity (C.N.A.E.), list of domains in the network, address, corporate purpose, registration data, current filing entries, special situations, and last available deposit
  - list of Acts registered in the Official Gazette of the Commercial Register (BORME)
  - list of deposited accounts
  - share capital and share representation (directors and officers)
• risk position report. This contains basic information on the company, its economic and financial position in relation to the sector in which it operates, as well as a measure of its insolvency risk
• certification of validity and specific position. This is the certification of the validity of a company and of a specific representative in that company
• certification of powers of attorney. This certifies that a certain person is an attorney-in-fact of the company and what powers he/she has
• certification of powers of the Chief Executive Officer. This certifies the current position of Chief Executive Officer of a specific person, stating the form of action (joint or several) in the case of several persons and the powers delegated.

The issuance of the certificate shall be subject to the fees established in the tariff for Mercantile Registrars (RD 757/1973 of 29 March 1973).

As a consequence, the following information is available through the Commercial Registry:

• Company’s name
• registered office
• share capital
• sole shareholder if appropriate
• VAT number
• registry information (Volume, Sheet, Page)
• management Body regime (Sole Director, joint and several Directors, joint Directors or Board of Directors): Names, Positions, Appointment public deed information
• annual Accounts of Company
• proxies of the company: Names, Appointment public deed information
• registry Books filed: Registry Book of Minutes, Registry Book of Shareholders, Registry Book of Contracts with the Sole Shareholder, Accounting books
  
• special situations (i.e. Registry page closed)

The following information is available through the Insolvency Public Registry:

Information about the ongoing insolvency proceedings of the company and other related insolvency situations as well as any judicial and extrajudicial decisions related with them.

The following information is available through the Movable Assets Registry:

Information about the company’s movable assets (such as vehicles, aircrafts, ships, machinery) registered to its name, as well as the corresponding charges (such as mortgages, reservation of title, pledges).

The CNMV provides a search engine that provides all the information registered in the official registers of an entity authorised to provide investment services free of charge. Depending on the entity we are looking for, we can obtain the following information:

• entity data
• book-entry deeds
• admission brochures
• Prospectuses and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
• significant events of issuers of securities
• Remuneration Scheme Significant Events
• additional information on Audits
• Information on Corporate Governance
• interim financial information
• annual financial reports
• other regulated and corporate information
• short positions
• Internal Rules of Conduct
• ISIN codes

The Spanish Chamber of Commerce offers a public census of companies that contains all the legal and physical entities of the Official Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Services, and, where appropriate, Navigation of Spain. The file contains a register by activity and collects data such as the company name, full address, activities (IAE) and main activity, legal form, number of branches, website, and number of employees, turnover, registration fees, and year of incorporation.

The following documents can be obtained through the certifications issued by the Commercial Register.

• Certification of Articles of Association. This certifies the literal content of the company's current Articles of Association
• Certification of Board Regulations: This certifies the literal content of the company's current Board Regulations
• Certification of Board Regulations: Certifies the literal content of the company's current Board Regulations
• Certification of Shareholders' Agreements: This certifies the literal content of the company's current Shareholders' Agreements
• Deposit of Accounts. Contains the company's general economic data, balance sheet, profit, and loss account, notes to the financial statements, and changes in equity and cash flows.
  

In the database of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO) we can find:

• information on trademarks and trade names
• inventions
• designs

Through the location note of the Property Registry we will obtain purely instrumental information that aims to facilitate the location of the Registry, province, and municipality where a particular individual or legal entity has property or rights registered. In order to request a location, one should note that it is essential to identify yourself with an electronic certificate. This can be requested via the following link: https://sede.registradores.org/site/invitado/propiedad/busqueda?nr=true#noback

The following information must be provided: Holder about whom the information is to be obtained (name or company name and/or tax identification number). As was the case for the previous certifications of the Commercial Register, in order for the request to be processed, it is necessary to express the interest that motivates the consultation, so that this expression can be qualified and considered legitimate by the Registrar who will issue the information.

Finally, we can obtain the certificate of ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) from the Commercial Register. This certifies the person or persons who are the beneficial owners of the company, by a personal contribution of more than 25% of the share capital (direct beneficial owner) or through another entity (indirect beneficial owner) or, failing this, the person or persons who form part of the administrative body (assimilated beneficial owner), indicating their name and surname, ID card number, date of birth, nationality, country of residence and, where applicable, the percentage of beneficial ownership they hold in the company.

Information on pending litigation against a company, its shareholders or legal representatives is not accessible to outsiders, i.e. it is not public information. In order to consult a judicial file, it is essential that the interested party is part of the judicial process to have the right to consult its status telematically.

That information would only be available after judgement and its publication in databases. As an example here there is a public database of case law can be found on the website of the General Council of the Judiciary, National Centre for Judicial Documentation (CENDOJ): https://www.poderjudicial.es/search/indexAN.jsp

Therefore, besides insolvency proceedings published by the mentioned Insolvency Public Registry, no other information regarding past or pending litigation against a company, its shareholders or legal representatives is publicly available.

Private companies (i.e. Axesor) offer this information after paying a fee, although such information is not completely reliable in most cases.