Law 5/2015 was enacted in Spain on 27th April, with the intention of encouraging access to funding for SMEs. Issue 2 of Progreso already described the core points in the bill. It aims to give SMEs easier access to more flexible funding. Thus, the law regulates methods of non-bank funding, such as crowdfunding and crowdlending, so that direct investment can be raised over internet.

There are some aspects that the law brings in relating to crowd finance that are different from the bill originally put to parliament:

• The Spanish securities exchange commission (CNMV) is established as the body charged with supervision, inspection and sanction of projects financed this way.
• A minimum share capital of €60,000 is required to set up a crowdfunding platform. This must be fully paid up in cash.
• The reporting requirements for such IT platforms are limited, so that they must only make the information available on their websites.

The limits for investment in projects financed through crowdfunding have been pushed back. The amounts that professional or registered investors may invest have increased from €2m to €5m. Limits for unregistered investors have increased from €6,000 to €10,000 for any one-year period.

Investing in projects through crowdfunding in Spain is still a relatively new activity. However, the latest precepts brought in by parliament represent a major step forward in giving SME’s easier access to such finance.