Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores

The National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) is the authority responsible for overseeing and supervising Spain's securities markets and related activities undertaken by all market participants.

Since then, the CNMV's regulatory framework has been delivered on a dynamic basis to reflect changes in the financial markets and introduce new protections to investors.

The CNMV's primary purpose is to ensure the transparency of Spain's securities markets, maintain fair pricing, and protect the rights and interests of investors.

Core Functions and focus on supervision

The CNMV obtains large amounts of information from and about market participants and makes much of this information public in its official registers.

• companies that are issuing or offering a publicly placed security on a secondary market

• investment service companies and collective investment schemes

For each of these participants, the CNMV prudentially supervises to promote transaction security and system solvency.

In addition, CNMV advises the Spanish Government and the Ministry of Economy on securities market matters and is involved internationally through organizations, including:

• IOSCO (International Organization of Securities Commissions)

• ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority)

• FSB (Financial Stability Board)

Also, it collaborates very closely with the Ibero-American Institute of the Stock Market.

Supervision of the Primary Market

The primary securities market includes:

• New issues of fixed income or equity securities

• Public offerings of securities that already exist, aimed at collecting public savings

To safeguard transparency in the primary market, the CNMV has the role of ensuring that sufficient and accurate information is available to the market regarding both the issuer and the securities being offered.

To fulfill this role, the CNMV requires the issuer to file certain documents, including:

• Supporting documents in relation to public offering or issuance contracts

• Audited financial accounts of the issuer

• A prospectus that provides all necessary information, in an organized manner, for the investors to assess the issuer's financial status and the rights associated with the securities

Exemptions from the above requirements may be justified by the type of issuer, type of security, size of the offering, and/or the type and number of offers made to investors.

Supervision of the Secondary Market

The oversight of Spain's official secondary security markets and multilateral trading facilities is the responsibility of CNMV to ensure the relevant market is transparent, prices are based on accurate assessments, and secure trades are generally in place.

Spain's regulated secondary markets include:

• The Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Valencia Stock Exchanges, and therefore include the Society of the Exchanges, managing the electronic trading platform (mercado continuo - SIB)

• The government bond market, at the state level, is represented through a bookkeeping entry.

• The futures and options market (MEFF Exchange)

• The corporate debt and private fixed income market (AIAF)

In overseeing these regulated markets, the CNMV has several powers that enable it to fulfill its regulatory role.

• The approval of securities at listing to ensure legal and regulatory obligations are correctly accounted for.

• The process of disclosure of information about issues that can affect the price on the market

• Financial and commercial data of the listed companies

• Reported changes in significant shareholdings of listed companies

• Authorisation of takeover bids