The Transparency Act, which came into force on 19 July 2003, has amended the Securities Market Act (Ley del Mercado de Valores) and the Public Companies Act (texto refundido de la Ley de Sociedades Anónimas), in a bid to improve the transparency of listed public companies. It also adopted many of the corporate governance recommendations contained in the recent Report of the Special Commission for the Improvement of Transparency and Security in Markets and Listed Companies (Aldama Report). While the Report recognises the importance of self-regulation, it also underlines the need for an additional regulatory basis for some of its recommendations, namely:
The obligation to explain the extent of compliance with the criteria for good corporate governance.
A more complete definition of the duties of company directors.
The need for listed companies to draft procedural regulations for the general shareholders meeting and for the board of directors.
The Transparency Act has implemented these recommendations and, in addition, includes rules relating to the governance of Spanish savings banks.
Source: Act 26/2003 of 17 July 2003. Uría & Menéndez email: ALL@uria.com