CNMV

The Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores (CNMV) supervises Spain's securities markets and the firms operating in them. Investment firms authorised by the CNMV — sociedades de valores, agencias de valores and empresas de asesoramiento financiero — hold MiFID rights across the EEA, and foreign EEA firms passporting into Spain are listed on the CNMV register as well.

What the authorisation requires

Capital requirements follow the EU Investment Firms Regulation and vary by firm type: a sociedad de valores dealing on own account carries the heaviest requirement, an agencia de valores acting only for clients a lighter one. The CNMV assesses shareholders, management suitability and organisational structure, and requires Spanish-resident senior management for locally incorporated firms. Client assets are held under MiFID segregation rules with regular reconciliation and reporting.

Leverage and retail protections

ESMA product intervention applies in full: 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on non-major pairs, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities and non-major indices, 5:1 on individual equities, 2:1 on cryptocurrencies. Margin close-out at 50% of required margin and negative balance protection per account are mandatory.

Spain went further than the ESMA baseline in 2021 with national rules on the advertising of CFDs to retail clients. Mass marketing of CFDs is restricted, and firms must obtain a specific handwritten or recorded acknowledgement from a retail client before opening a leveraged account. The rules also constrain sponsorship and celebrity endorsement — a response to how these products were being sold rather than to how they work.

If a broker fails

FOGAIN, the Fondo General de Garantía de Inversiones, compensates clients of failed Spanish investment firms up to a statutory maximum per claimant. Clients of an EEA firm passporting into Spain are covered by that firm's home-state scheme instead, which is a distinction worth confirming before you deposit — the CNMV register shows which category a firm falls into.

Verifying an authorisation

The CNMV publishes registers of authorised entities and a prominent list of unauthorised firms, the chiringuitos financieros, which it updates frequently. ProForexBrokers.com checks that list for any broker marketing to Spanish residents.

Who a CNMV broker suits

Spanish authorisation suits residents who want Spanish-language documentation, a domestic complaints route and FOGAIN cover. The advertising restrictions also mean the sales pressure a Spanish retail client encounters is materially lower than in most markets.