JOHN CARLOS I

KING OF SPAIN

To all who present it and understand it.

Sabed: That the General Courts have approved and I come to sanction the following law.

PREAMBLE

I

Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation lays down the basis for the harmonisation of insurance mediation activities in the European Union. This Directive responds to the need to establish a Community legal framework enabling insurance intermediaries to exercise freely throughout the Union in order to contribute to the proper functioning of the single insurance market, without Never forget the protection of consumers in this area.

In relation to the first of the above mentioned objectives, the Directive establishes the principle of registration by the competent authority of the home Member State of all persons who access or exercise the mediation activity of insurance and reinsurance, provided that they meet minimum professional requirements which relate primarily to their professional competence, good repute, the existence of professional civil liability insurance and their capacity financial.

With regard to the other fundamental aspect, which refers to the protection of the customers who have recourse to the services of the insurance intermediaries, the obligations of information prior to the subscription of the insurance contract are established. fall on insurance intermediaries, as well as the need to establish out-of-court mechanisms for the settlement of disputes between insurance intermediaries and their clients, and the obligation to sanction conduct is also established. contrary to the rules governing this activity.

The incorporation of this Directive into the Spanish legal order makes it necessary to make important amendments to the Law 9/1992, of 30 April, of mediation in private insurance.

In addition, the evolution in recent years in the activity of mediation in private insurance has determined the appearance of some practices not provided for in the current regulations, the consolidation of new forms of (a) mediation in the insurance market, as well as the need to overcome the deficiencies revealed in the years of validity of Law 9/1992 of 30 April.

These circumstances suggest that a new law should be drawn up, which, without prejudice to the provisions of Law 9/1992 of 30 April, will replace this provision to regulate in a unitary manner the activity of insurance mediation in the the European Union's scope and to adapt the new legislation to the real market situation.

II

Law 9/1992, of April 30, gave recognition to the economic and social importance of the insurance mediation activity. This led the legislator to increase the demands required to act as an insurance mediator for the purpose of improving the quality of service and protecting policyholders and policyholders.

These protective measures were accompanied by others aimed at achieving greater liberalisation in this sector; however, the reality of the market has shown that such liberalisation has led, in certain assumptions, a lack of transparency in insurance mediation. In order to improve this transparency and to ensure the protection of consumers and users, this new law is established, the regulation of which is based on three basic principles:

(a) The regulation of new forms of mediation, with the incorporation of insurance agent figures linked to several insurance companies and the reinsurance broker.

(b) The principle of equal treatment of the different classes of mediators, for which equivalent professional requirements are foreseen for all of them, taking into account their special nature.

c) The principle of transparency that adequately ensures the protection of consumers in this area.

III

Thus, in relation to the first principle, the Law regulates the figure of the insurance agent linked to several insurance companies, referring to those mediators who, in accordance with the previous legislation, did not fully adapt. the figure of the insurance broker, because it lacks the necessary independence, or the insurance agent, because it is not allowed to be linked to several insurance companies, so a figure that was claimed by the insurance company is thus collected. reality of the market. This regulation also has the purpose of placing insurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in Spain on an equal footing with mediators from other Member States of the European Union, in which they are permitted to form of mediation. This is without prejudice to the provision of the figure of the exclusive insurance agent of an insurance company already regulated in the previous legislation.

Within the insurance agents, special mention is made of the regulation of mediation through the distribution networks of credit institutions, reserving the name of operators of the insurance to this form of mediation, whose regulation is intended to provide for a consolidated reality in the Spanish market and provide this form of distribution of greater transparency.

The figure of the reinsurance broker is also regulated, which was not included in the previous legislation, in order to adapt the new law to the requirements of the Directive.

IV

The Law establishes, in accordance with the Directive, minimum professional requirements for the various mediators and provides for their implementation for each class.

Thus, in relation to insurance agents, a differentiated regime is established on the basis of its possible linkage with one or more insurance entities.

For the exclusive insurance agent, the existing regime in the legislation that is repealed is maintained, in general terms; it will be up to the insurance companies to respond to their action, as well as to provide the training the necessary technical and verification of their good repute, and shall verify compliance with these requirements prior to the conclusion of the agency contract and their registration in the register of agents of the insurance company.

In the case of insurance agents linked to several insurance companies, it is up to the agent himself to prove that the required requirements are met and to ensure that he has the necessary knowledge to exercise his or her activity, as well as good repute and financial capacity when handling foreign clients ' funds. In the case of civil liability arising from its action, the possibility of the latter being assumed by the entities in whose name it has been mediated, or alternatively, the subscription by the agent of a insurance company is provided for. professional civil liability or other financial guarantee, without prejudice to the possible criminal liability or liability in which the staff member may have incurred the administration.

In relation to insurance operators, the same scheme is established for insurance agents, whether they are exclusive or linked to a number of insurance companies, and it also highlights the obligation to train insurance companies. the distribution networks, which are the responsibility of the insurance companies with which the insurance agency contract has been concluded and also in the credit institutions through which the insurance contracts are distributed.

With respect to insurance brokers, the arrangements for this kind of mediators are maintained in the legislation that is repealed, and the necessary independence of these mediators from the insurance institutions is highlighted, a principle that is In the new Law on the need to provide the client with an objective advice on the products available on the market. In addition, the required financial guarantees are adapted to the requirements of the Directive, for which there is a need to have a financial capacity only in the case of those brokers who handle funds from their customers.

Finally, the same requirements for insurance brokers are established for reinsurance brokers, except for the requirement to credit their infrastructure and to have financial capacity, as they are mediators that advise insurance entities, which do not require special protection.

V

The Law also establishes a series of demands aimed at ensuring transparency in this area. In this sense, the obligation to establish a single point of information containing the data from the State Register and the Registers which, where appropriate, exist in the Autonomous Communities is an indispensable mechanism for the Consumer protection, as only mediators who have accredited the required professional requirements may be included in it. This single point should be updated and easily accessible to the public.

Another aspect highlighted by the Law is the information that, prior to the subscription of the insurance contract, must provide the insurance mediator to his client, so that he can have knowledge of the mediator class which advises him and his or her situation of dependence or, where appropriate, of independence in respect of the insurance institutions which are on the market.

It is also required for customers to be able to obtain sufficient information to make their assurance decisions that the insurance mediator, based on the client's requests and needs, specify the which lead you to propose a certain insurance contract.

The mechanism through which an attempt is made to guarantee the independence that the entire performance of the insurance brokers must preside over is that of the so-called objective analysis. It shall be understood that the assessment complies with this requirement provided that the insurance broker base its performance on an analysis of a sufficient number of insurance contracts; to that end, the Act specifies when it is presumed to have existed analysis.

Also, the Law has an impact on the protection of the clients of the mediation services by establishing the requirement to provide for procedures to address and resolve complaints and complaints that the clients ' clients may have. present in accordance with the provisions of this Law and in the rules on the protection of the client of financial services, including rules for the protection of consumers and users. For these purposes, the Law establishes for all insurance intermediaries operating in Spain the obligation to have a department or service to the client or to a defender of the insured person.

VI

Other aspects of the new regulation that deserve to be highlighted are:

(a) The Law leaves out of its scope certain activities which, although qualified as mediation, are excluded for their consideration as complementary to other principals, provided that certain circumstances.

b) The regulation of a single figure, the external auxiliaries of insurance intermediaries, who for not having the status of insurance intermediaries have limited their functions to the mere collection of customers and acting under the responsibility of the insurance mediator for whom they work. This regulation is due to an attempt to clarify the confusion generated in the market in recent years by the action developed by the so-called subagents and collaborators provided for in the legislation to be repealed.

(c) The requirement for the related insurance agents, insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers to be able to act on the market in the mediation is given in the way that a course or aptitude test is exceeded. The content of this test or course may be modulated according to whether or not the applicant has previously held a university degree.

d) The remuneration system of insurance brokers seeks to ensure the necessary independence that should govern their performance, as well as transparency in the relationship with their clients.

(e) With regard to the activities under the right of establishment and freedom to provide services in the European Union, the notification procedure is regulated prior to its initiation, both for the purposes of the resident or resident intermediaries in Spain, who intend to operate in other Member States of the European Union, as well as those from other Member States intending to operate in Spain.

(f) The regime of specific administrative sanctions and infringements of the mediation activity in insurance is collected and establishes new infringements in accordance with the Directive and with the requirements laid down in this Law.

(g) Furthermore, taking into account the existence of a register in which all insurance and reinsurance intermediaries are to be registered, which is accessed on the basis of accreditation of minimum requirements, and in particular, In the case of a sufficient knowledge according to the different classes of mediators, the Register of diplomas of qualified insurance intermediaries is deleted to avoid unnecessary duplication.

In line with the above, the above is deleted as a diploma of "Insurance Mediator Titled", a requirement that is replaced by the accreditation of a previous training that is concrete in the overcoming of a course of training or aptitude test.

h) Finally, it should be noted that the territorial scope of the provisions of the Law, as provided for in the Directive, covers the entire European Economic Area, in accordance with the Decision of the Joint Committee on Space European Economic and Social Committee of 26 September 2003 amending Annex IX to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.

VII

The Law is articulated in 68 articles, grouped in three Titles.

The text is supplemented by 11 additional provisions. In the first, the Recast Text of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by Royal Decree-Law 6/2004 of 29 October, is hereby established; the second is the condition of exclusivity of all agency contracts concluded prior to the entry into force of the Law. The third additional provision clarifies the legal nature of the subscription agencies and establishes rules of transparency as regards their identification in advertising and commercial documents, with the responsibility for their action being imputed to the insurance entities for which they operate. In the fourth, the rate is regulated by the registration of the mediators in the Registry of the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds. In the fifth, the diploma of insurance mediator entitled to the requirement to pass a training course or aptitude test is validated. The additional sixth provision amends the name of the Colleges of qualified insurance intermediaries and of their General Council. The seventh regulation regulates the application of the legislation of foreign nationals to insurance and reinsurance intermediaries. The eighth amendment to the Law on Value Added Tax on insurance and reinsurance mediation activities is amended. The additional provision novena relates to the processing of data in the case of a reinsurance contract. In addition, the Law on Insurance Contract is amended as regards the need for the contract to be referred to the mediator involved in the contract, communications to the broker and treatment in the case of a contract. reinsurance. Finally, in the 11th additional provision, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds is enabled to lay down the basic requirements and principles of the training programmes of insurance intermediaries and persons who participate in the mediation of insurance and reinsurance.

Finally, the Law contains six transitional provisions that regulate in detail the transit to the new legal regime established, a derogation provision and three final provisions in which the legislation is declared State basic, is enabled for the regulatory development of the Law and the date of its entry into force is fixed.

TITLE I

General provisions

Article 1. Object of the Law.

This law is intended to regulate the conditions under which commercial activities of private insurance and reinsurance mediation must be ordered and developed, establishes the rules on access and exercise by the natural and legal persons who carry out them and the supervisory and administrative discipline arrangements that apply to them.

Article 2. Scope and definitions.

1. The activities referred to in Article 1 shall include mediation between insurance or reinsurance policyholders and insured persons, on the one hand, and the insurance or reinsurance undertakings authorised to carry out the insurance business or private reinsurer, from another. For such purposes, mediation shall mean activities consisting in the presentation, proposal or carrying out of work prior to the conclusion of an insurance or reinsurance contract, or the conclusion of such contracts, and the assistance in the management and implementation of such contracts, in particular in the event of a disaster.

Likewise, the commercial activities of insurance distribution that the insurance companies perform through other channels other than the mediators of the insurance.

2. The provisions of this Law shall apply to:

(a) Natural and legal persons who, in exchange for remuneration, undertake or carry out insurance or reinsurance mediation activities as defined in the previous paragraph.

(b) Those under any title shall be charged with the administration or management of legal persons who carry out insurance or reinsurance mediation activities; insurance and reinsurance undertakings, entities that subscribe to the documents provided for in this Law or in their complementary development provisions and those persons for whom a prohibition or mandate is legally established in relation to their scope.

3. The activities and operations defined in paragraph 1 shall comply with the provisions of this Law:

(a) Where they are made by insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain.

(b) When carried out in Spain by insurance and reinsurance intermediaries domiciled in the territory of any of the other Member States of the European Economic Area.

4. For the purposes of this Act, it shall be deemed to be:

(a) Member State of origin: the State of the European Economic Area in which the insurance intermediary of the reinsurance undertaking has his residence and carries out his activities, if he is a natural person, or his registered office, if the mediator is a legal person. In the latter case, if under its national law it has no registered office, the Member State of the European Economic Area in which it has its head office.

(b) host Member State: the Member State of the European Economic Area in which an insurance or reinsurance mediator has a branch or provides services.

Article 3. Exclusions.

1. Private insurance or reinsurance mediation activities shall not be considered:

a) The performance of the insurance entities as an abridor in the co-insurance operations.

(b) the activities of presentation, proposal or work prior to the conclusion of an insurance or reinsurance contract, or the conclusion of such contracts, or the assistance in the management and execution of such contracts; contracts, in particular in the event of a disaster, where such activities are carried out by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking, or an employee of the insurance or reinsurance undertaking acting under the responsibility of that entity, without prejudice to Article 2.1; Second paragraph of this Law.

c) the information provided on an ancillary basis in the context of other professional activity, provided that this activity does not aim or to help the client to conclude or subscribe to an insurance or reinsurance contract, or has as its purpose the management of claims of an insurance undertaking or reinsurer in a professional capacity, or the carrying out of expert assessment and settlement activities.

2. This Act shall not apply to persons performing the insurance mediation activity when all of the following circumstances are present:

(a) That the principal professional activity of the person concerned is different from that of insurance mediation.

b) That the insurance contract only requires the insurance coverage to be known to be known.

(c) That the insurance contract is not a life insurance contract, does not cover any risk of civil liability and that insurance is complementary to the good or service provided by any provider, when such insurance covers:

1. The risk of damage, loss or damage to goods supplied by that supplier.

2. Damage to baggage or loss of baggage and other risks related to a trip contracted with such a provider, including when insurance covers the risks of accidents or illness, or those of civil liability, provided that such coverage is ancillary to the principal coverage of the risks related to such travel.

(d) The amount of the annual premium is not more than EUR 500 and the total duration of the insurance contract, including any carry-over, shall not exceed five years.

3. They are expressly excluded from the scope of this Law:

(a) The insurance and reinsurance mediation and insurance distribution services provided in relation to risks and commitments located outside the European Economic Area.

(b) the insurance or reinsurance mediation activities carried out in third countries and those carried out by insurance or reinsurance undertakings through intermediaries established in third countries.

Article 4. Distribution of insurance products through the networks of the insurance entities.

1. Insurance institutions may accept risk coverage without intervention by private insurance intermediaries.

Without prejudice to agency contracts concluded under this Law, insurance entities that comply with the legally required requirements to operate in Spain may also conclude contracts consisting of the provision of services for the distribution, under its civil and administrative liability, of its insurance policies through the distribution networks of other insurance entities.

Such contracts must be submitted by the entities that hold them in the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds for their reason in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law, and must indicate, to the less, underwritten insurance undertakings, the scope, duration, classes or contracts of insurance or class of transactions which it comprises, the obligations of the parties, the economic and financial movements of the transactions and the particulars which they must be included in the contract and advertising documents.

2. Without the need for an agency contract and without prejudice to the possibility of holding it, employees who are part of the templates of the insurance institutions may promote the hiring of insurance in favour of the institution which they are dependent on, either in the offices of the latter, either by means of distance communication or distance contracts. Such insurance shall be deemed to be carried out by that insurance undertaking for all purposes, and this activity shall not alter the relationship between the undertaking and the employee on the basis of the employment contract.

3. Any other insurance or reinsurance distribution activity other than that of insurance or reinsurance mediation as defined in this Law shall be understood, for all purposes, carried out directly by insurance or reinsurance entities.

Article 5. Prohibitions.

1. Persons who do not appear on the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law shall not be able to engage in the activity of private insurance and reinsurance intermediaries.

They may also not exercise the activity of private insurance mediator, neither by themselves nor by means of an individual person, persons who are generally or especially prohibited from the exercise of trade. Likewise, the activity of insurance mediation may not be exercised, either by itself or by means of an intermediary, in relation to the persons or entities subject to a special relationship of dependency or subjection with the mediator, the reason for the specific powers or powers of the latter's management, which may jeopardise the freedom of the persons concerned in the procurement of insurance or in the choice of the insurance undertaking.

2. Private insurance and reinsurance intermediaries may not:

a) To assume directly or indirectly the coverage of any kind of risks or to take into his or her capacity, in whole or in part, the sinister object of the insurance, being null every pact to the contrary.

b) Conduct mediation activities for societies, mutual societies and cooperatives at variable premiums.

c) Conduct mediation in favor of entities that do not comply with the legally required requirements to operate in Spain, or that act in violation of the limits of the authorization granted.

(d) Use in the social name and in the advertising and identification of their business operations expressions that are reserved for the insurance or reinsurers that may lead to confusion with them, without prejudice to the provisions of Article 17 (1), Article 22, Article 25 (3) and Article 33.3 of this Law.

e) To directly or indirectly impose the conclusion of an insurance contract.

f) Add surcharges to the premium receipts issued by the insurance entities, with no pact to the contrary being null.

g) Celebrate on behalf of your client an insurance contract without the consent of the client.

3. Except for the assumptions provided for in Article 3.2 of this Act, insurance or reinsurance undertakings may not accept services provided by insurance or reinsurance intermediaries which are not registered in a Register legally. eligible under the rules of a Member State of the European Economic Area.

TITLE II

The activities of insurance intermediaries and private reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain

CHAPTER I

Of insurance mediators

Section 1. General Obligations and Mediator Classes

Article 6. General obligations.

1. Insurance intermediaries shall provide accurate and sufficient information in the promotion, offering and underwriting of insurance contracts and, in general, in all their advisory activities.

2. The insurance intermediary shall in any event be deemed to be a depositary of the amounts received from his clients in respect of the payment of insurance premiums and of the amounts paid by the insurance institutions in respect of compensation payments. or refund of premiums to your customers.

3. In all commercial advertising and documentation of private insurance mediation, whether on paper, using any distance communication technique or distance contract, they should highlight the expressions and mentions that are established in this Law for each class of insurance mediator, and in any case the registration number in the Register referred to in Article 52 shall be entered.

4. Insurance intermediaries shall, before commencing their business, be entered in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials, as referred to in Article 52.

Article 7. Classification.

1. Insurance intermediaries are classified as insurance agents, whether exclusive or linked, and in insurance brokers. Insurance agents and insurance brokers may be natural or legal persons.

The condition of the exclusive insurance agent, linked insurance agent, and insurance broker are incompatible with each other as to their exercise at the same time by the same natural or legal persons. Any insurance intermediary may change its registration in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and senior insurance intermediaries to exercise another class of insurance mediation if it previously credits the compliance with the requirements that are required for it.

2. The names "exclusive insurance agent", "related insurance agent" and "insurance broker" are reserved for the mediators defined in this Law.

Credit institutions and, where appropriate, commercial companies controlled or engaged by them when carrying out the activity of an insurance agent shall adopt the name of "exclusive insurance operator" or, where appropriate, the "linked-insurance operator", which shall be reserved for them.

Article 8. The external auxiliaries of the insurance intermediaries.

1. Insurance intermediaries may enter into commercial contracts with external auxiliaries who cooperate with them in the distribution of insurance products acting on behalf of such intermediaries and may carry out work on the recruitment of customers, as well as ancillary administrative processing functions, without such operations involving the assumption of obligations.

2. The external auxiliaries shall not have the status of insurance intermediaries nor may they assume functions reserved by this Law to the mediators. Under no circumstances may they be assisted in the management, execution and formalisation of insurance contracts, nor in the event of a disaster.

3. Insurance intermediaries shall keep a record book in which they shall record the personal data identifying the external auxiliaries, indicating the date of discharge and, where appropriate, the date of discharge.

4. The functions of the auxiliaries of insurance intermediaries may be specified by the Order of the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance, without including advice.

Section 2. Of Insurance Agents

Subsection 1. First General Regime of Insurance Agents

Article 9. Concept and classes of insurance agents.

1. Insurance agents are the natural or legal persons who, through the conclusion of an agency contract with one or more insurance institutions and the registration in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, brokers the reinsurance and its senior officials, they undertake to carry out the activity defined in article 2.1 of this Law.

2. Insurance agents are classified into exclusive insurance agents and linked insurance agents.

Article 10. Insurance agency contract.

1. Under the agency contract, the insurance agent status of the insurance institution with which it is held is acquired.

In order to conclude an agency contract with an insurance institution, it will be necessary to have legal capacity to exercise the trade in the terms provided for in the commercial law and to be a person with commercial good repute and professional.

For such purposes, commercial and professional honorability in those who have been observing a personal trajectory of respect to the commercial laws or others that regulate the economic activity and the life of the business, thus as well as good business, financial and insurance practices.

In no case shall they be able to exercise as insurance agents or as administrators or as persons exercising the management of insurance agency companies, nor as a staff directly involved in the mediation of insurance, those who have a criminal record for crimes of falsehood, violation of secrets, discovery and disclosure of secrets against public finances and against social security, embezzlement of public funds, and any other crimes against property; those disabled for public office or administration or management in financial institutions, insurance companies or insurance or reinsurance undertakings; those suspended by a firm sanction for the exercise of the mediation activity as provided for in Article 56 of this Law; those who are disabled in accordance with the provisions of this Law; provided for in Law 22/2003, of 9 July, Insolvency, until the period of disablement fixed in the judgment of qualification of the contest has been completed, and, in general, the incourses in incapacity or prohibition under the law in effect.

2. The contract of insurance agency shall always be of a commercial nature, shall be entered in writing and shall be understood as having regard to the contracting persons.

3. The content of the contract shall be that the parties agree freely and shall be governed by Law 12/1992, of 27 May, on the agency contract.

4. Insurance agents may use the services of the external auxiliaries referred to in Article 8 of this Law, which cooperate with them in the distribution of insurance products, in the terms in which they are agreed with the insurance undertaking. in the insurance agency contract.

Article 11. Economic content and extinction of the insurance agency contract.

1. Insurance agents shall not be able to promote the change of an insurance undertaking in whole or in part of the portfolio of insurance contracts that have been concluded with their mediation. They shall also not, without the consent of that insurer, carry out acts of disposition on their mediating position in that portfolio.

2. The insurance agency contract shall be remunerated and shall specify the commission or other economic rights which the insurance undertaking shall pay to the insurance agent through the insurance mediation during the term of the contract and, if applicable, once extinct.

3. In the event of the termination of the agency contract, the insurance undertaking must inform those who appear as insurance policyholders in the contracts concluded with the intervention of the agent and, where appropriate, the change in the contract. Mediator position in favour of another agent. The insurance agent shall be able to communicate that circumstance to those who appear as insurance policyholders in the insurance contracts concluded with their mediation.

Article 12. Obligations towards third parties.

1. The communications made by the insurance policyholder to the insurance agent that he or she has mediated in the contract shall have the same effects as if they were made directly to the insurance undertaking.

2. The insurance undertaking which underwrite an insurance agency contract with a person who is a debtor of another entity of the same class by reason of own operations of an insurance agent shall be obliged to cancel that debt, without prejudice to its right of redress.

Subsection 2. Unique Insurance Agents

Article 13. Concept and requirements of the unique insurance agents.

1. Exclusive insurance agents are the natural or legal persons who, through the conclusion of an insurance agency contract with an insurance undertaking and the registration in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, brokers of reinsurance and of its senior positions, are engaged in front of that insurer to carry out the activity of insurance mediation defined in article 2.1 of this Law, in the terms agreed upon in that contract.

Exclusive insurance agents in the exercise of the insurance mediation activity shall be subject to the general scheme of insurance agents which is regulated in Subsection 1. of this Section

.

2. Once the insurance agency contract has been concluded, the insurance undertaking shall register the exclusive insurance agent in the Register of exclusive insurance agents which it shall carry out in accordance with Article 15 of this Regulation. Law.

3. The amounts paid by the customer to the exclusive insurance agent shall be considered to be paid to the insurance undertaking, while the amounts paid by the insurance undertaking to the agent shall not be considered to be paid to the customer until the latter is receive effectively.

4. Exclusive insurance agents, natural persons and at least half of the persons who are members of the management of the exclusive insurance agency companies shall have the necessary knowledge for the exercise of their work, on the basis of the insurance that you measure. Also, those persons who are directly involved in the mediation of insurance under the guidance of those persons shall be in possession of the necessary knowledge for the exercise of their work.

5. The insurance institutions shall check in advance of the conclusion of the insurance agency contract the fulfilment of the requirements set out in the previous paragraph, as well as the commercial and professional good repute referred to in the Article 10.1 in accordance with the information provided by the insurance agent. To this end, they shall verify the completion of those requirements by the insurance agent and shall issue certification certifying that the agent possesses the necessary knowledge for the exercise of his work. Such certification shall be attached to the insurance agency contract and shall be made available to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

Article 14. Acting on behalf of another insurer.

1. The insurance undertaking with which the exclusive insurance agent is subscribed to the insurance agency contract may authorise the insurance agent only for the conclusion of a separate insurance agency contract with another insurance undertaking to operate in certain classes of insurance, risks or contracts in which the authorising entity does not operate.

The authorising insurer shall report in writing to the entity with which the insurance agent intends to enter into another agency contract of the terms in which the authorisation is granted, and shall make its entry into the Registration of agents referred to in Article 15 of this Law.

The authorization must be granted in writing in the insurance agency contract or as a post-contract modification by the person who exercises the legal representation in his/her condition as administrator of the authorizing entity, with express indication of the duration of the authorisation, of the insurance undertaking to which it relates and of the classes or contracts of insurance or class of transactions which it comprises.

2. The scheme provided for in the preceding paragraph shall not apply where several insurance undertakings have agreed in writing to use their distribution networks or part of them together in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.1 of this Regulation. Law.

Article 15. Registering unique insurance agents.

1. Exclusive insurance agents must be registered in the Register of insurance agents of the insurance undertaking with which they have concluded an insurance agency contract. This Register shall contain the data identifying the data, the registration number, the dates of discharge and the discharge dates and the authorisations which, where appropriate, were granted in accordance with the provisions of Article 10 (4) and Article 14 (1) of the Treaty. This Law. In the case of legal persons, in addition, the names of the natural persons, including the address, who are responsible for the mediation activity, shall be indicated.

This Register will be subject to the supervision of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

2. The data contained in the Register of exclusive insurance agents shall be up to date and shall be forwarded by each insurance institution to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds by means of telematics for registration in the Register administrative provisions laid down in Article 52 of this Law. The exclusive insurance agent shall not be able to start its business until the Insurance and Pension Funds Directorate-General has registered it in that Register.

3. The General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds will determine the content and form in which this information should be sent.

Article 16. Training of the exclusive insurance agents.

1. Insurance institutions shall take the necessary measures for the continuous training of their exclusive insurance agents and for the external auxiliaries of such insurance agents. To this end, they shall establish training programmes setting out the requirements to be met by the insurance agents for which they are intended and the means to be used for their implementation.

2. The documentation relating to the training programmes shall be made available to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, which may require the necessary modifications to be made to the content of the programme for bring it into line with the training requirement referred to in paragraph 1.

3. The General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the general lines and the basic principles to be met by the training programmes of the exclusive insurance agents.

Article 17. Advertising and private insurance mediation mercantile documentation of the exclusive insurance agents.

1. The term 'exclusive insurance agent' or 'exclusive insurance agency' shall be included in all the advertising and in all the commercial documents of private insurance mediation carried out by the exclusive insurance agents. natural or legal persons, followed by the social name of the insurance undertaking for which they are carrying out the mediation operation in question, under the agency contract with it, or the contract concluded between entities insurance for the provision of services for distribution by means of the transfer of their networks, as the registration number in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law.

2. The external auxiliaries of the exclusive insurance agents shall be identified as such and shall inform the customer of the registration data for the insurance agent on behalf of the insurance agent.

Article 18. Professional civil liability and in front of the Administration of the exclusive insurance agents.

Without prejudice to criminal or other liability in which the exclusive insurance agent may incur in the exercise of its private insurance mediation activity, the insurance entities shall be charged with the a professional civil liability arising from his/her performance and from his/her external auxiliaries and infringements of the private insurance mediation legislation that they had committed would have been concluded by an insurance agency contract.

Article 19. Incompatibilities of the unique insurance agents.

Exclusive insurance agents will not be able to exercise as linked insurance agents, either as insurance brokers or as external auxiliaries of them or other exclusive insurance agents.

Nor shall they be able to exercise as a third expert, or as an insurance expert or a failure commissioner, to appoint insurance policyholders, insured persons, and beneficiaries of insurance contracts in which they have intervened as agents. insurance.

Subsection 3. Attached Insurance Agents

Article 20. Concept.

These are insurance agents linked to natural or legal persons who, through the conclusion of an insurance agency contract with several insurance institutions and the registration in the special administrative register of Insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials, undertake to carry out the insurance mediation activity defined in Article 2.1 of this Law, in the terms agreed in the contract of insurance agency insurance.

Article 21. Requirements for exercising as a linked insurance agent.

1. Insurance agents linked in the exercise of the private insurance mediation activity shall be subject to the general scheme of insurance agents which is regulated in subsection 1 of this Section

.

2. In any event, the exclusive insurance agent who wishes to operate as a related insurance agent will need the consent of the insurance undertaking with which he would have entered into a contract of insurance agency exclusively to subscribe to others. agency contracts with other insurance entities.

In all other cases, it will be sufficient to include in the agency contracts that the status of agent linked to other insurance entities is subscribed.

3. In order to be registered as a related insurance agent, the following requirements must be met and maintained at all times:

(a) Related insurance agents, natural persons, must have legal capacity to exercise trade, and, in the case of legal persons, must be commercial or cooperative societies registered in the Register Trade prior to the application for administrative registration, the statutes of which provide, within the paragraph corresponding to the social object, the carrying out of insurance mediation activities as a related insurance agency. When society is by actions, these will have to be nominative.

(b) Linked insurance agents, natural persons, must prove that they have passed a training course or an aptitude test in private insurance and financial matters which meet the requirements laid down by resolution of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds. Persons directly involved in the mediation under the management of the related insurance agent shall be in possession of the necessary knowledge and skills for the exercise of their work.

In related insurance companies, a management body responsible for the insurance mediation must be appointed and at least half of the persons who compose it, and, in any case, the persons carrying out the insurance (a) technical management or equivalent position shall prove that they have undergone a training or aptitude test in private financial and insurance matters which meets the requirements laid down by resolution of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Funds of Pensions.

In addition, any other person directly involved in the mediation of insurance shall provide proof of the knowledge and skills necessary for the exercise of his or her work.

c) Linked insurance agents, natural persons, as well as persons who are members of the management body in legal persons, and all staff directly involved in the mediation of insurance, shall be persons with commercial and professional honorability, as provided for in Article 10.1 of this Law.

d) Present a memory in which the insurance classes and the insurance companies for which the insurance is measured are indicated; the territorial scope of action, and the mechanisms adopted for the solution of conflicts by complaints and complaints from customers. It shall also include an express reference to the training programme referred to in point (e) of this paragraph.

(e) Linked insurance agents shall have a training programme for persons who are members of the management body provided for in the second subparagraph of point (b) of this paragraph and for employees and auxiliaries. external.

Also, the insurance entities shall take the necessary measures for the training of their insurance agents linked to the insurance products mediated by them.

The documentation for the training programmes will be available to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, which may require the necessary modifications to be made.

The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the general lines and the basic principles to be met by the training programmes of the related insurance agents in terms of their content, organization and execution.

f) Do not incur the causes of incompatibility provided for in Article 24 of this Law.

(g) To provide for a financial capacity which must at all times reach four per cent of the total of the annual premiums received, in the form that is regulated, unless contractually agreed to it expresses with the insurance institutions that the amounts paid by the customers will be made directly through direct debit in the accounts opened in the name of those, or that, where appropriate, the linked insurance agent offers the (i) taking immediate coverage by delivering the receipt issued by the insurance institution; and one and another case, that the amounts paid in compensation shall be delivered directly by the insurance undertakings to the policyholders, insured persons or beneficiaries.

(h) Credit that the insurance institutions with which he is to conclude an insurance agency contract assume the professional civil liability arising from his or her performance as a related insurance agent, or that such agent has of a professional liability insurance or any other financial guarantee covering throughout the territory of the European Economic Area the responsibilities which may arise from professional negligence, with the amount Regulation is determined.

4. The application for registration as a related insurance agent shall be addressed to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds and shall be accompanied by the documents proving that the requirements referred to in the previous one are met. paragraph 3. The maximum period for notification of the express decision of the application shall be six months from the date of submission of the application. The registration shall specify the insurance entities for which the linked insurance agent may carry out the insurance mediation activity. In no case shall registration be produced by virtue of the administrative silence, and the application for registration shall be refused if the fulfilment of the conditions required for its granting is not established.

Article 22. Documentation and commercial advertising of the private insurance mediation activity of the linked insurance agents.

In the documentation and commercial advertising of the private insurance mediation activity, the related insurance agents must be prominently included in the expression "related insurance agent" or "agency company". 'related insurance', in the case of natural or legal persons, except as provided for in Article 25.3 for insurance operators. They shall also record the fact that they are registered in the register provided for in Article 52 of this Law and, where appropriate, have a civil liability insurance or other financial guarantee, as well as the availability of the financial, in accordance with Article 21 of this Law.

In the advertising which the linked insurance agent carries out on a general basis or through telematic means, it must also make reference to the insurance companies with which it has concluded an insurance agency contract.

Article 23. Liability of the related insurance agents in relation to the Administration.

1. Without prejudice to criminal or other liability, related insurance agents, related insurance agency companies, as well as persons who are members of the management and management body of the latter, shall be responsible for the Administration of the offences established in this Law which they would have committed in the exercise of the private insurance mediation activity.

2. The related insurance agents who use the services of the external auxiliaries referred to in Article 8 in the course of their business shall be responsible to the Administration for the performance of the latter.

Article 24. Incompatibilities of the linked insurance agents.

1. Tied insurance agents, whether natural or legal persons, may not exercise simultaneously as exclusive insurance agents or as insurance brokers or as auxiliaries of one or more other persons.

Nor shall they be able to exercise as a third expert, or as an insurance expert or a failure commissioner, to appoint insurance policyholders, insured persons, and beneficiaries of insurance contracts in which they have intervened as agents. insurance.

2. In the case of insurance agencies linked to persons who are members of the management body responsible for the mediation of insurance, they may not exercise as exclusive insurance agents either as insurance brokers or as external auxiliaries. of some or all. They shall also not be able to carry out management or administration positions in exclusive insurance agency companies or in insurance brokerage companies.

Subsection 4. Third-Insurance Operators

Article 25. Exercising the insurance agent activity as a bank-insurance operator.

1. Credit institutions and commercial companies controlled or participated in by such operators shall be considered to be of a banking-insurance operator in accordance with the provisions of Article 28 of this Law which, by the conclusion of an agency contract, insurance with one or more insurance institutions and the registration in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior members, perform the insurance mediation activity as an insurance agent using the distribution networks of credit institutions. The credit institution may place its distribution network only at the disposal of a single operator of insurance.

When the insurance mediation activity is carried out through a trading company controlled or participated by the credit institution or group of credit institutions, relations with that trading company shall be regulated by a contract for the provision of services consisting in the transfer of the distribution network of each of those credit institutions to the insurance company for the mediation of the insurance products. In that contract, credit institutions shall assume the appropriate training obligation for persons who are part of the network and who are directly involved in the mediation of insurance for the performance of their duties.

The insurance intermediary operator in the exercise of the insurance mediation activity shall be subject to the general scheme of insurance agents which is regulated in Subsection 1. and shall be adjusted to the rules of the insurance Subsection 2. or Subsection 3. of this Section 2. th, as you exercise as an exclusive-insurance operator or as a linked-insurance operator.

2. In order to be registered as a bank-insurance operator in the Special Administrative Register of insurance intermediaries, insurance brokers and their senior officials, the following requirements shall also be met:

(a) To be a credit institution; in such a case, the provisions of Article 21.3 (a) of this Law shall not apply. It may also be a trading company controlled or owned by credit institutions; in this case, the social object shall provide for the performance of the private insurance agent activity as an exclusive or linked insurance operator.

(b) a management body responsible for the insurance mediation must be appointed and at least half of the persons who make up the insurance mediation and, in any case, persons carrying on the technical or similar management shall be required to to prove that they have passed a training or aptitude test in private financial and insurance matters which meet the requirements laid down in the resolution of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

In addition, any other person directly involved in the mediation of insurance shall provide proof of the knowledge and skills necessary for the exercise of his or her work.

(c) A training programme that credit institutions shall provide to persons who are part of their distribution network and who are directly involved in the mediation of insurance.

For these purposes, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the general lines and the basic principles to be met by these training programmes in terms of their content, organisation and implementation.

(d) When exercising as a linked insurance operator, the memory referred to in Article 21.3.d) of this Act shall also indicate the network or networks of the credit institutions through which the operator of the credit institution Insurance will measure insurance.

3. The expression 'exclusive insurance operator' or, where appropriate, the expression 'operator of a private insurance undertaking' shall be prominently displayed in the documentation and commercial advertising of the private insurance mediation activity of the banking-insurance operators. linked insurance. ' They shall also record the fact that they are registered in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law.

In the advertising which the linked insurance operator carries out on a general basis or through telematic means, it must also make reference to the insurance companies with which they have concluded an agency contract insurance.

4. The distribution networks of credit institutions involved in the mediation of insurance shall not be able to exercise simultaneously as an auxiliary of other insurance intermediaries.

Section 3. Of Insurance Brokers

Article 26. Insurance brokers.

1. Insurance brokers are the natural or legal persons who carry out the commercial activity of private insurance mediation as defined in Article 2.1 of this Law without maintaining contractual links which involve medical entities, and offers independent, professional and impartial advice to those who demand the coverage of the risks to which their people, their assets, their interests or responsibilities are exposed.

For these purposes, independent, professional and impartial advice shall be understood to be carried out in accordance with the obligation to carry out an objective analysis in accordance with the provisions of Article 42.4 of this Law.

2. The insurance brokers must inform anyone who tries to arrange insurance on the terms of the contract that they agree to subscribe to and offer the cover which, according to their professional criteria, best suits the needs of the Member States shall ensure that the insurance policy meets the requirements to be met by the insurance policy for its effectiveness and its full effect.

3. They shall also be obliged to provide the insurance contract in which they have intervened to provide the policyholder, the insured and the insurance beneficiary with the information they claim on any of the terms of the policy and, in the case of disaster, to assist and advise them.

4. The payment of the amount of the premium made by the insurance taker to the broker shall not be understood as being made to the insurance undertaking, unless the broker, in return, gives the insurance taker the premium receipt of the insurance undertaking.

Article 27. Requirements for exercising insurance broker activity.

1. In order to carry out the activity of insurance broker, the prior registration in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials will be required. The following shall be required to obtain and maintain the registration in the Register as insurance broker:

(a) Insurance brokers, natural persons, must have legal capacity to exercise trade, and in the case of legal persons, must be commercial or cooperative societies registered in the Commercial Registry prior to the application for administrative registration, the statutes of which provide, within the paragraph corresponding to the social object, the carrying out of insurance brokerage activities. When society is by actions, these will have to be nominative.

They shall also provide information on the existence of close links with other persons or entities in accordance with Article 28 of this Law.

(b) Insurance brokers, natural persons, must prove that they have passed a training course or an aptitude test in private financial and insurance matters which meets the requirements laid down by the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds. Persons directly involved in the mediation under the direction of the insurance broker shall be in possession of the knowledge necessary for the exercise of their work.

In insurance brokerage companies, a management body responsible for the insurance mediation must be appointed, and at least half of the persons who make up the insurance broker and, in any case, the persons carrying out the management (a) a technical or financial training course or an aptitude test in private financial and insurance matters which meets the requirements laid down in the resolution of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Funds of the European Pensions. In addition, any other person directly involved in the mediation of insurance shall provide proof of the knowledge and skills necessary for the exercise of his/her work.

(c) In insurance brokerage companies, at least half of the administrators shall have adequate experience to perform administration functions.

For these purposes, they have experience, for a period of not less than two years, of administration, management, control and advisory functions in public or private entities with a similar dimension to the project. business to engage in the activity of insurance brokerage or similar functions as an individual entrepreneur.

(d) Insurance brokers, natural persons, administrators and persons exercising the management of insurance brokerage companies and all staff directly involved in the mediation of insurance shall be persons with commercial and professional repute, as provided for in Article 10.1 of this Law.

(e) Conform professional liability insurance or any other financial guarantee covering throughout the territory of the European Economic Area the responsibilities which may arise from professional negligence, with the amount that you regulate is de-terminated.

(f) Dispose of a financial capacity that must at all times reach four percent of the total of the annual premiums received, in the form that is regulated, unless contractually agreed to it expresses with the insurance institutions that the amounts paid by the customers will be made directly through direct debit in the accounts opened in the name of those, or that, where appropriate, the insurance broker offers the holder immediate coverage by delivering the receipt issued by the insurer, and, in one and the other (a) that the amounts paid in respect of compensation shall be delivered directly by the insurance undertakings to insurance policy holders, insured persons or beneficiaries.

(g) to present a programme of activities to indicate at least the insurance classes and the class of risks in which they are intended to mediate, the guiding principles and the territorial scope of their action; the structure of the organisation, including the marketing systems, the personal and material resources to be available for the implementation of the programme and the mechanisms adopted for the settlement of disputes over complaints and complaints by the Commission. customers. In addition, for the first three social exercises, it shall contain a plan indicating in detail the estimates of revenue and expenditure, in particular current general expenditure, and the forecasts for insurance premiums which they are to be mediated, with the justification of the forecasts that it provides and the adequacy to these of the resources and resources available.

It should also include the training programme which is committed to applying to those persons who, as employees or external auxiliaries of the latter, have to assume a more direct relationship with the potential policyholders and policyholders. For these purposes, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the general lines and the basic principles to be met by the training programmes for the external employees and auxiliaries of the insurance brokers. as to its content, organization, and execution.

h) Do not incur the causes of incompatibility provided for in Articles 31 and 32 of this Law.

2. The application for registration as an insurance broker shall be addressed to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds and shall be accompanied by the supporting documents relating to the fulfilment of the requirements referred to in the previous paragraph. The maximum period for notification of the express decision of the application shall be six months from the date on which the application for registration is lodged. In no case shall registration be produced by virtue of the administrative silence, and the application for registration shall be refused if the fulfilment of the conditions required for its granting is not established.

Article 28. Close links and regime of significant shareholdings.

1. Insurance brokerage companies shall report to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds of any relationship they intend to establish with natural or legal persons that may involve the existence of close links. as to the projected transmission of shares or units which could result in a regime of significant shareholdings. Prior authorisation from the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds to carry out these operations will be required.

2. Natural or legal persons who have been suspended in their functions as the management of insurance companies, of mediation companies, may not have close links or significant participation in insurance brokerage companies. in insurance or as insurance brokers, or separate from those functions.

3. For the purposes of this Law, it is understood by means of a close link and by significant participation that defined in Articles 8 and 22, respectively, of the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by Royal Decree-Law 6/2004 of 29 October, of which its provisions will apply, but the reference to insurance companies by the insurance brokerage company is understood to be replaced.

Article 29. Relations with the insurance companies and the clientele.

1. The relationship with the insurance entities arising from the mediation activity of the insurance broker shall be governed by the covenants that the parties agree to freely, without such pacts being in any way liable to affect the independence of the broker. insurance.

2. The insurance mediation relationships between insurance brokers and their clients shall be governed by the covenants that the parties freely agree upon and supplanted by the precepts that the Trade Code devotes to the merchant commission.

The remuneration that the insurance broker of the insurance institution receives for its insurance mediation activity described in Article 2.1 of this Law will be in the form of commissions.

The broker and the client may agree in writing that the remuneration of the broker includes professional fees that are invoiced directly to the client, in this case issuing an independent invoice for such fees separate form to the premium receipt issued by the insurer. If, in addition to the fees, part of the remuneration of the broker is met on the occasion of the payment of the premium to the insurance institution, only in this case shall the amount of the premium and the name of the broker be indicated on the receipt of the premium. corresponds.

The insurance broker shall not be able to perceive any remuneration other than the fees from the insurance institutions.

Article 30. Liability of insurance brokers against the Administration.

1. Without prejudice to criminal or other liability, insurance brokers, insurance brokerage companies, as well as those who are in charge of administration or management of insurance brokers, when they infringe rules on mediation in private insurance, incur administrative liability.

2. In the course of their activities, insurance brokers may use the services of the external auxiliaries referred to in Article 8 of this Law, whose action shall be held accountable to the Administration.

Article 31. Incompatibilities of insurance brokers.

1. It shall not be able to carry out the activity of a insurance broker, either in itself or through an intermediary, who, by reason of its position or function, may be limited in its capacity to provide an objective assessment of the insurance undertakings which they are on the market and the different types of policies, covers and prices offered by those to the mandants.

2. In particular, the following natural persons shall be considered as incompatible with the activity as insurance brokers:

(a) Administrators, delegates, directors, managers, general proxies or those under any title carry the direction of insurance or reinsurance entities, as well as employees of such entities.

(b) Insurance agents, whether exclusive or linked, and administrators, delegates, directors, managers, general proxies or persons under any title, carry the direction of the companies carrying out the activity of insurance agency, whether exclusive or related, as well as the employees and external auxiliaries of such agents and agency companies.

(c) Insurance experts, breakdown stewards and breakdown liquidators, unless they limit their activity as such to provide services to the insured customers.

(d) Administrators, delegates, directors, managers, general proxies or those under any title carry the direction of banks, savings banks, other credit and financial institutions, and banking-insurance operators, as well as the employees of these.

Article 32. Incompatibilities in insurance brokerage companies.

1. In the case where the insurance brokerage activity is carried out by a legal person, that person may not be involved in the insurance or reinsurance business, the subscription agency, the insurance agent, whether exclusive or linked, (a) of a bank-insurance operator, or of any other for the exercise of which the exclusive social object is required. It shall also not be combined with the assessment of insurance, breakdown or breakdown of breakdowns, unless these activities are carried out exclusively for the advice of insurance policy holders, insured persons or beneficiaries of insurance.

2. Directors, managers, delegates, general proxies or persons under any heading shall have the general direction and the technical direction of the insurance brokerage companies to be applied to them in the exercise of that function. of incompatibilities provided for in Article 31.2 of this Law.

Article 33. Obligations towards third parties.

1. Insurance brokers shall highlight in all advertising and commercial documentation of insurance mediation the expressions "insurance broker" or "insurance brokerage", as they are natural or legal persons, as well as the circumstances of being registered in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law, having a civil liability insurance or other guarantee, and, where appropriate, having the financial capacity, in accordance with Article 27.

2. In the event that the insurance broker carries out its business in certain products under the direction of another broker taking full responsibility for the acts of that broker, it shall inform its customers in advance in writing.

3. In insurance brokerage companies where there is a presence on the board of directors of persons who are in one of the cases provided for in Article 31.2 of this Law, or where in the capital they have a significant participation by insurers or reinsurers or insurance agents, natural or legal persons, or where the insurance brokerage company is present, by itself or through representatives, on the board of directors of an insurance or reinsurance undertaking or have a significant share in its share capital they must make a prominent statement of this link in all advertising and in all commercial documents of private insurance mediation.

The provisions contained in Article 28 of this Law shall apply to these cases.

CHAPTER II

Of the reinsurance brokers

Article 34. Concept.

reinsurance brokers are the natural or legal persons who, in exchange for remuneration, perform the reinsurance mediation activity, as defined in Article 2.1 of this Act.

Article 35. Requirements for the exercise of reinsurance corridor activity.

1. In order to carry out the activity of a reinsurance broker, it shall be necessary to be registered in the Special Administrative Register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials. In order to be registered in the Register as a reinsurance broker, compliance with the requirements laid down in Article 27.1 (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this Law shall be maintained and maintained at all times. reinsurance brokers the references that are made to the insurance brokers in that provision.

2. The application for registration as a reinsurance broker shall be addressed to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds and shall be accompanied by the documents supporting the fulfilment of the requirements referred to in the previous paragraph. The maximum period for notification of the express decision of the application shall be six months from the date of entry into any of the records of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. In no case shall registration be produced by virtue of the administrative silence, and the application for registration shall be refused if the fulfilment of the conditions required for its granting is not established.

3. The registration shall only enable to exercise as a reinsurance broker. If the reinsurance broker intends to exercise the insurance mediation at the same time, it must also be registered as an insurance mediator.

Article 36. Content of business relationships with reinsurers.

1. The relationship between the reinsurance brokers and the reinsurer entities shall be governed by the contract which the parties agree freely, which shall be of a commercial character, and shall be applied in a manner which provides for the provisions of the Trade Code the mercantile commission.

2. The contract shall be remunerated and shall specify the fees for premiums or other economic rights that correspond to the reinsurance broker during the term of the contract and, if applicable, after the contract is extinguished.

Article 37. Obligations towards third parties.

1. The reinsurance brokers shall highlight in all the advertising and commercial documentation of reinsurance mediation their status as a reinsurance broker, as well as the circumstances of being registered in the Register provided for in Article 52 of the this Act, and have a civil liability insurance, or other financial guarantee, in accordance with Article 35.1.

2. The reinsurance brokers shall inform the party concerned to arrange for reinsurance on the terms of the contract to be concluded and shall ensure that they meet the requirements to be met for their effectiveness and full effect. In any case, they shall be deemed to be a depositary of the amounts they have received on behalf of those for whom they act.

Article 38. Liability of the reinsurance brokers against the Administration.

Without prejudice to criminal or other liability, reinsurance brokers, as well as those who exercise management or management positions in reinsurance brokerage companies, shall be liable to the Administration of the infringements committed in the exercise of the private reinsurance mediation activity.

CHAPTER III

Training courses and aptitude tests in private insurance and financial matters

Article 39. Requirements and organization.

1. For the purposes of the provisions of this Law, related insurance agents, insurance brokers, reinsurance brokers and, at least, half of the persons making up the management body of the legal persons of such intermediaries insurance, related insurance operators, and reinsurance brokers and, in any event, those exercising the technical direction of all of them must prove that they have passed a training course or an aptitude test in matters financial and private insurance which meets the requirements laid down by resolution of the Directorate General Insurance and Pension Funds.

2. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall lay down the basic requirements and principles to be met by training courses in financial and private insurance matters in terms of their content, organisation and implementation, must be programmed according to the degree and prior knowledge accredited by the assistants.

The most representative organisations of insurance intermediaries and insurance companies, as well as public or private university institutions intending to carry out the courses referred to in the previous paragraph, they must first apply to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds. These organizations will issue certifications that demonstrate the improvement of the courses.

3. The General Council of the Colleges of Insurance Mediators shall organise the aptitude tests upon application to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds and shall issue the certificates certifying that such evidence is exceeded.

4. The provisions of the preceding paragraph, in the field of competence of the Autonomous Communities, shall be carried out in accordance with these provisions.

CHAPTER IV

The activity of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain under the right of establishment and under the freedom to provide services in the Economic Area European

Article 40. Activities under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services.

1. Any insurance mediator or reinsurance broker resident or domiciled in Spain who intends to pursue for the first time in one or more Member States of the European Economic Area activities under the right of establishment or under freedom to provide services must inform the Directorate-General of Insurance and Pension Funds in advance of your project and provide the documentation that establishes the maintenance of the requirements that were required to carry out the activity mediation.

2. Within one month of receipt of the information referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall communicate this to the Member State (s) on whose territory the insurance intermediary or broker is situated. (a) a resident or resident reinsurance undertaking in Spain expresses the intention to carry out its activities under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services.

The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall inform the insurance mediator or reinsurance broker resident or domiciled in Spain of such communication, and the mediator may start its activity within one month of the reception of that. In the event that the host Member State does not wish to be informed, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall communicate to the mediator that circumstance, and the mediator may start his activity immediately from the date of receipt. of such communication.

3. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall inform the competent authority of the host Member State of the cancellation of the registration of an insurance or reinsurance intermediary resident or domiciled in Spain operating in the right of establishment or the freedom to provide services, as well as whether it has been the subject of a firm sanction or any measure involving the cancellation of the registration in the special administrative register of mediators of insurance, reinsurance brokers and their senior positions. In addition, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may provide the information it considers relevant at the request of any of the supervisory authorities of the Member States of the European Economic Area.

Article 41. General remission.

In all other cases, insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain operating under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services shall comply with the provisions of this Directive. provisions of this Title II.

CHAPTER V

Duty of information and protection of the customers of insurance mediation services

Section 1. th Obligation of information for insurance mediators

Article 42. Information to be provided by the insurance mediator prior to the conclusion of an insurance contract.

1. Before an insurance contract is concluded, the insurance mediator shall at least provide the client with the following information:

a) Your identity and your address.

b) The Register in which you are registered, as well as the means to be able to check that registration.

(c) If it has a direct or indirect share of more than 10 per 100 in the share capital or voting rights in a given insurer.

(d) If a particular insurer or parent undertaking of such an entity has a direct or indirect holding of more than 10 per 100 of the voting rights or capital of the insurance intermediary.

(e) The procedures provided for in Article 44, enabling consumers and other interested parties to lodge complaints about insurance and reinsurance intermediaries and, where appropriate, on the procedures for resolution Articles 45 and 46 of this Law, provided for in Articles 45 and 46.

f) The processing of your personal data, in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.1 of the Organic Law 15/1999 of 13 December on the Protection of Personal Data.

2. In addition, in accordance with the practice of mediation in insurance practice and also prior to the conclusion of an insurance contract:

(a) Exclusive insurance agents must inform the customer that they are contractually obliged to carry out mediation activities in insurance exclusively with an insurance undertaking or, in the case of due authorised, with another insurance institution. In that case, at the request of the taker, they shall report the name of that insurer.

Linked insurance agents must inform the customer that they are not contractually obliged to carry out mediation activities in insurance exclusively with one or more insurance entities and that they do not facilitate advice on the obligation to carry out an objective analysis which is imposed on insurance brokers. In this case, at the request of the customers, they must inform the names of the insurance companies with which they can perform or, in fact, perform the mediation activity in the insurance product offered.

In order for the customer to exercise the right of information about the insurance entities for which they mediate, the insurance agents must notify you of the right to request such information.

(b) Insurance operators, in addition to the provisions of the above, must inform their customers that the advice provided is provided for the purpose of hiring insurance and not for any other product which may be market the credit institution.

(c) Insurance brokers shall inform the customer that they provide advice in accordance with the obligation set out in paragraph 4 of this Article to carry out an objective analysis.

3. The duty of prior information regulated in the two preceding paragraphs shall also be required when the insurance contract is modified or extended if there have been alterations in the information initially provided.

4. The advice under the obligation to carry out an objective analysis to which the insurance brokers are obliged will be provided on the basis of the analysis of a sufficient number of insurance contracts offered on the market in the the risk of hedging, so that it can make a recommendation, subject to professional criteria, in respect of the insurance contract that would be appropriate to the client's needs.

In any case, it will be assumed that there has been objective analysis of a sufficient number of insurance contracts in any of the following cases:

(a) Where insurance contracts offered by at least three insurance entities operating in the market on the risks covered by the insurance cover have been analysed by the insurance broker.

(b) Where insurance is specifically designed by the insurance broker and negotiated its recruitment with at least three insurance entities operating on the market in the risks covered by the insurance broker to offer it in exclusive to its client according to the general characteristics or needs of the client, based on the professional criterion of the insurance broker.

5. In particular, on the basis of information provided by the client, insurance intermediaries must specify the requirements and needs of the client, in addition to the reasons for any advice they may have given. give you a certain insurance. Such clarifications shall be at least in response to all the issues raised in the client's application and shall be modulated in accordance with the complexity of the proposed insurance contract.

6. It shall not be mandatory to provide the information provided for in the preceding paragraphs in the case of the mediation of a high risk; in such cases, the reinsurance brokers shall also not be required to provide the information provided for in the previous paragraphs.

7. Insurance intermediaries in the European Economic Area who are employed in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services shall inform their customers on the same terms as provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2. above, whether they conduct an assessment based on an objective analysis or whether they are contractually obliged to carry out insurance mediation activities exclusively with one or more insurance entities.

Article 43. Modes of transmission of the information.

1. Any information provided to customers under Article 42 of this Law must be communicated:

a) On paper or on other durable medium that allows you to save, easily retrieve, and reproduce information without changes.

b) Clearly and accurately, understandable to the client.

c) At the choice of the policyholder, in any of the official Spanish languages in the place where it is provided or, if the client so requests, in any other language agreed by the parties.

2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 (a), the information referred to in Article 42 may be provided orally where the client so requests or where immediate coverage is necessary. In such cases, the information shall be provided to the customer in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article immediately after the insurance contract is concluded.

3. In the case of a contract by telephone or, in general, by any distance communication technique, the prior information provided to the customer shall be in accordance with the rules applicable to the distance hiring of insurance. In addition, the information shall be provided to the customer in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article immediately after the contract has been concluded. For this purpose, "distance communication technique" means any means that can be used for the provision of a mediation service between the insurance mediator and the client without the existence of a simultaneous physical presence of the parts.

Section 2. Security Mediation Services Client Protection

Article 44. Obligation to address and resolve complaints and complaints.

1. The insurance companies, in respect of the performance of their insurance agents and banking-insurance operators, insurance brokers, whether natural or legal persons, branches in Spain of insurance intermediaries and mediators of others Member States of the European Economic Area acting in Spain in the freedom to provide services are obliged to address and resolve complaints and complaints which their clients may submit, relating to their interests and legal rights. recognised, in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the regulations on the protection of the customer financial services.

2. The departments and customer services of the insurance companies will address and resolve complaints and complaints that arise in relation to the performance of their insurance agents and insurance operators, in the terms of the setting the financial services client protection regulations.

3. Insurance brokers, insurance brokerage companies and insurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in other States of the European Economic Area who are employed in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services service delivery must have a department or customer service to address and resolve complaints and complaints, except that they entrust the attention and resolution of all complaints and complaints to a client. client advocate in the terms set out in Article 45 of this Act.

For these purposes, they may contract externally the performance of the functions of the department or customer service with another person or entity outside the structure of their organization, provided that the holder of the department or service meets the requirements laid down in that regulation.

Article 45. Client defender.

The insurance companies, in relation to their insurance agents and banking-insurance operators, and insurance brokers may designate either individually or grouped by insurance classes, geographical proximity, volume of insurance, business or any other criteria, a client defender, which must be an independent entity or expert of recognized prestige, to whom it will be responsible to attend and resolve the types of complaints and complaints that are submitted to its decision in the framework (i) of the provisions of the Rules of Procedure, as well as the promotion of compliance with the rules on transparency and customer protection and on good practices and financial uses.

The decision of the customer advocate in favour of the claim will bind the mediator, or the insurer in the case of actions of insurance agents or insurance operators. This linkage will not be an obstacle to the fullness of judicial protection, to the use of other mechanisms of conflict resolution or to administrative protection.

Article 46. Financial services client administrative protection.

The client of the insurance mediation services may lodge complaints and complaints, relating to their legally recognised interests and rights, to the administrative body and in accordance with the procedure laid down in the rules on customer protection of financial services.

Dealing with complaints and complaints concerning the performance of insurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in Spain and branches in Spain of insurance intermediaries in other countries of the European Economic Area, will be You must prove that you have made the complaint or claim in advance, in writing, to the department or customer service of the entity or, where appropriate, to the client's defender.

CHAPTER VI

Ordering and monitoring competencies

Section 1. State and Autonomous Communities Competences

Article 47. Distribution of competencies.

1. The powers of the General Administration of the State in mediation in private insurance shall be exercised through the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

2. The Autonomous Communities which, in accordance with their Statute of Autonomy, have assumed competence in the management of insurance, will have it in respect of the tied insurance agents, the operators of linked insurance, the brokers of insurance, reinsurance brokers and colleges of insurance intermediaries whose domicile and scope of operations are limited to the territory of the Autonomous Community. Those powers shall be exercised in accordance with the following criteria:

(a) In the field of regulatory competence, the legislative development of the bases for the management and supervision of the mediation of private insurance contained in this Law and the basic regulatory provisions that complement them. In addition, they will have exclusive competence in the regulation of their organisation and operation.

(b) In the field of implementing powers, they are the ones for the management and supervision of the related insurance agents, the related insurance brokers, insurance brokers and the insurance brokers. Reinsurance, which are granted to the General Administration of the State in this Law, the references which are contained in it to the Ministry of Economy and Finance and to the Directorate General of Insurance and Funds are made to the competent regional authority. Pensions, except those provided for in Chapter IV of Title II and Title III.

In relation to exclusive insurance agents and exclusive insurance operators, it is for the Autonomous Communities to exercise the powers over them, provided that the insurance undertaking for which they provide their It is subject to the supervision and supervision of the Autonomous Community, as provided for in Article 69 of the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 6/2004, of October 29.

3. In accordance with the provisions of Article 149.1.6., 11. and 13. of the Constitution, the State is responsible for the high economic and financial control of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers. The necessary collaboration between the General Administration of the State and that of the Autonomous Community should be maintained for the purposes of homogenizing the documentary information and coordinating, where appropriate, the activities of management and supervision. of both Administrations.

For these purposes, the Autonomous Communities shall provide the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds with access by means of telematic means to the information relating to their administrative registers of insurance intermediaries and of the reinsurance brokers, which shall be up to date, and shall forward to it, on an annual basis, the accounting statistical information referred to in Article 49 of this Act concerning insurance brokers and brokers Reinsurance entered in those Registers. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the minimum information or data which the Autonomous Communities must necessarily transmit to it.

Section 2. Third Powers of the General Administration of the State

Article 48. Control of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers.

1. The Ministry of Economy and Finance, through the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, shall exercise control in this Law on insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain, including activities carried out under the right of establishment and under the freedom to provide services.

2. Insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers shall provide the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds with the documentation and information necessary to comply with the provisions of the previous paragraph by means of their periodic presentation in the form that is regulated or determined by the attention of the individual requirements addressed to them by the aforementioned Directorate-General.

3. The inspection of insurance intermediaries and private reinsurance brokers shall apply to the inspection of insurance undertakings in accordance with Article 72 of the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Insurance private, approved by the Royal Decree-Law 6/2004 of 29 October, and will be understood as references to the mediators that in this precept are made to the insurance companies.

4. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may give the information it deems necessary for information from the public when it has evidence of insurance intermediaries or reinsurance brokers operating in Spain without being legally resident. enabled for this.

Article 49. Accounting obligations and the duty of statistical and accounting information of insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers.

1. Once the insurance or reinsurance mediation activity has started, the insurance and reinsurance brokers must carry the accounting records and forward the information to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds. statistics-accounting with the content and periodicity to be determined.

2. The Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance shall determine the circumstances and conditions under which insurance and reinsurance brokers shall submit by telematic means to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds the documentation and information that they are required to supply in accordance with their specific regulations.

Article 50. Duty of professional secrecy.

1. Except as provided for in Article 52 of this Law, the data, documents and information held by the Ministry of Economy and Finance under the terms of the duties entrusted to it by this Law shall have a reserved character and all persons who exercise or have exercised supervisory activity in the field of insurance or reinsurance mediation, as well as those to whom the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance has entrusted functions with respect to those, shall be required to keep secret professional information on the confidential information which they receive in the course of their exercise of such a function.

2. The obligation of professional secrecy shall be required in the terms of Article 75 of the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by Royal Decree-Law 6/2004 of 29 October, and shall be The references to insurance and reinsurance intermediaries shall be construed as references to insurance and reinsurance intermediaries to insurance undertakings.

Article 51. Duty to cooperate with the Member States of the European Economic Area and reporting obligations.

The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall cooperate with the supervisory authorities of the other members of the European Economic Area and shall exchange with them all the information required for the financial year. of their respective roles in the field of supervision of insurance and reinsurance mediation operations.

Section 3 of the Special Administrative Register of Insurance Mediators, Reinsurance Brokers and High Charges

Article 52. Registration.

1. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall bear the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials, in which they must register, prior to the commencement of their activities, insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers resident or domiciled in Spain subject to this Act. In the case of legal persons, in addition, administrators and persons who are part of the management, who are responsible for the mediation activities, shall be registered.

The insurance and reinsurance intermediaries domiciled in other Member States of the European Economic Area acting under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services shall also be taken services.

The distribution contracts referred to in Article 4.1 of this Law shall also be taken into account in this Register.

This administrative register will express the circumstances that will be determined and the citizens will be able to access it in the terms regulated in Law 30/1992, of November 26, of the Legal Regime of the Public administrations and the Common Administrative Procedure.

2. Insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers entered in the Register referred to in the preceding paragraph shall provide the necessary documentation and information to enable them to be kept up to date. For these purposes, they shall send to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds the documents, data and other information in the form and time-limits which they shall determine, without prejudice to the obligation to comply with the requirements of this Regulation. individualised information that is formulated to them.

3. The information referred to in the preceding paragraphs may be transmitted by means of telematic means, in accordance with the procedures and in the manner determined by the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

4. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds will establish a single point of information which will allow easy and quick access to information from the register referred to in this Article, as well as from the information provided by the the Administrative Records of Insurance Mediators and Reinsurance Brokers to be carried out by the Autonomous Communities.

Article 53. Cancellation of registration.

1. The cancellation of the registration of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers entered in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials shall be agreed by the Management Board. General Insurance and Pension Funds when one of the following causes:

a) When the insurance agency has terminated the insurance agency contract and communicates the exclusive insurance agent or exclusive insurance operator's discharge in its registry.

(b) Where the insurance intermediary or the reinsurance broker ceases to fulfil any of the conditions required to appear in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their insurance intermediaries, high charges.

(c) Where related insurance agency companies, insurance brokerage companies or reinsurance brokerage companies incur a dissolution.

(d) Where insurance brokers or reinsurance brokers referred to in this Act have not commenced their business within one year of their registration or cease to exercise their activity for a period of more than one year.

This inactivity, due to a lack of initiation or cessation in the financial year, will be equated with the lack of effective activity of insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers, and will be understood to occur when appreciated during two financial years. In a row, the annual turnover is less than EUR 30,000 per year in intermediate insurance premiums.

This letter (d) shall not apply where the reasons for this lack of activity are justified on the basis of the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds and the measures taken to overcome that lack of activity. situation.

e) As a penalty.

(f) When the linked insurance agent, the linked-insurance operator, the insurance broker or the reinsurance broker expressly request the cancellation of their registration.

2. The cancellation of the registration will result in the exclusion of the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior posts. The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may give publicity to the decision which agrees to the cancellation of the registration if it appreciates that there is a danger that the exercise of the insurance or insurance mediation activity may continue. reinsurance.

Section 4. Responsibility for Administration and Regime of Infringements and Sanctions

Article 54. Responsibility vis-à-vis the Administration.

1. Insurance institutions, related insurance agents, related insurance brokers, insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers, as well as insurance and reinsurance intermediaries domiciled in another Member State of the European Economic Area, as well as those who are in charge of administration or management of all of them, who infringe rules on mediation in private insurance and reinsurance, shall be liable to be punishable under administrative responsibility provided in the following items.

They will be considered:

(a) Management charges, administrators or members of the collective management bodies; and management fees, their directors-general, technical director or assimilated persons, such persons being understood as develop in the mediation society senior management functions under the direct dependence of its administrative body, executive committees or delegated members of the latter.

(b) Rules on the mediation of private insurance and reinsurance, which are covered by this Law and its rules of law and, in general, those contained in laws and administrative provisions of a general nature containing precepts specifically referred to in private insurance mediation and for enforcement for those who participate in such activity.

2. The administrative liability regime shall be in accordance with the following:

(a) The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall apply in full to the related insurance agents, the related insurance brokers, the insurance brokers and the reinsurance brokers, whether they are persons physical or legal.

(b) To those who are in charge of administration or management of the related insurance agency companies, of the linked insurance and reinsurance undertakings, the insurance and reinsurance undertaking companies shall apply the the sanctioning regime provided for in Article 57 of this Law.

(c) To the insurance institutions and to those carrying out administration or management positions, the penalties which the commission of very serious, serious or minor infractions provide for the recast of the Law on the management and supervision of private insurance, approved by the Royal Legislative Decree 6/2004 of 29 October.

Article 55. Violations.

1. Breaches of private insurance mediation regulatory standards are classified as very serious, severe and mild.

2. They will have serious infringements to be considered:

(a) The exercise of the activity of mediation in insurance or private reinsurance brokerage without being registered as such in a Register legally admissible for that purpose in accordance with the rules of the Member State of origin of the European Economic Area, or exceeding the functions to which it enables it to be registered, as well as the exercise of such activity per person concerned. The assumptions provided for in Article 3.2 of this Law are excepted.

(b) Acceptance by insurance or reinsurance entities of insurance or reinsurance mediation services provided by persons who are not registered in a legally permissible register to the effect with the rules of the Member State of origin of the European Economic Area, or exceeding the functions to which it enables it to be registered. The assumptions provided for in Article 3.2 of this Law are excepted.

(c) Repeated performance of acts or operations prohibited by rules on private insurance and reinsurance mediation with a range of law or with non-compliance with the requirements set out therein.

(d) Failure to comply with the obligation to submit annual accounts to an audit of accounts in accordance with the relevant legislation.

e) The refusal or resistance to the performance of the inspector, provided that I measure the express requirement and in writing in this respect.

f) The execution of fraudulent acts or the use of natural or legal persons brought in to achieve a result whose direct obtaining would involve the commission of at least one serious infringement.

g) The commission of serious infringement, when a firm sanction for the same type of infringement was imposed during the five years prior to that.

h) The repeated non-compliance with the agreements or resolutions emanating from the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds.

i) The acquisition or increase of significant participation in a insurance or reinsurance brokerage company in breach of the provisions of Article 28.1 of this Law.

(j) Co-action in insurance or reinsurance mediation, as well as inaccurate or inappropriate information to policyholders, policyholders, beneficiaries of insurance policies or insurers, provided that by the the number of persons concerned or the importance of the information such non-compliance can be estimated to be particularly relevant.

(k) The repeated failure to comply with the obligation of information prior to the subscription of an insurance contract to the mediator's customers, as well as the inaccurate information without complying with the requirements laid down in Article 29.2 and in the Chapter V of Title II of this Law, where the importance of such information is of particular relevance.

l) In the case of insurance brokers the repeated loss of independence which, in accordance with Article 26 of this Act, is a requirement of the insurance broker condition.

m) Insurance or reinsurance mediation in favor of entities not legally authorized to operate in Spain, or exceeding the terms for which they are authorized.

(n) the use of names of insurance agents and operators of insurance and other persons liable to mislead them by natural or legal persons who have not concluded an agency contract; insurance, insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers, or other insurance brokers which may be confused by natural or legal persons who are not legally entitled to pursue such activities.

(n) the use by insurance intermediaries or private reinsurance brokers of names and expressions which are reserved for private insurers or reinsurers or which may lead to confusion with them; without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 17.1, 22 and 25.3 of this Law.

(o) the conduct of abusive practices which prejudice the right of policyholders, policyholders, beneficiaries of policies or insurers, unless such acts are of a purely occasional nature or isolate.

p) Carage of accounting and of the books and records required in the applicable commercial law and in the rules on insurance and private reinsurance mediation or the taking of these with essential irregularities which prevent the extent and nature of the operations performed.

q) The lack of referral to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds for how many data or documents are to be submitted, either on a permanent or periodic basis, or through the attention of individual requirements, as well as their lack of veracity when, with this, the assessment of the scope and nature of the operations carried out is difficult. It is understood that there is a lack of referral where it does not occur within the time limit granted to the effect by the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds when recalling in writing the obligation or reiterating the individual requirement.

r) The performance of several exclusive insurance agents of different insurance entities under conditions such that the joint result of their activities involves the exercise of an activity that appears as a brokerage insurance.

s) The delay or lack of referral by the insurance broker to the insurer of the amounts delivered by the policyholder for the payment of the premium when, as provided for in Article 26.4 of this Act, such conduct leaves the insured without insurance cover or causes injury to him.

t) Failure to comply with the special control measures adopted by the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds in accordance with Article 61 of this Law.

u) The delegation of insurance intermediaries in favor of their external functions auxiliaries that the law reserves for insurance intermediaries.

v) The client's lack of authorization for the conclusion of an insurance contract in whose mediation an insurance mediator has intervened.

3. They will be considered serious infringements:

(a) The mere occasional or isolated conduct of acts or operations prohibited by rules on private insurance and reinsurance mediation with a range of law, or with non-compliance with the requirements set out therein.

(b) The repeated execution of acts or operations prohibited by regulatory standards on private insurance and reinsurance mediation or with non-compliance with the requirements laid down therein.

(c) The execution of fraudulent acts or the use of natural or legal persons brought in for the purpose of achieving a result contrary to the rules of ordination and discipline, provided that such conduct is not referred to in point (f) of paragraph 2 above.

d) The loss of the independence required of insurance brokers under Article 26 of this Law that has a purely occasional or isolated character.

e) The commission of minor infraction when, during the two years prior to it, a firm sanction not prescribed for the same type of infringement had been imposed.

(f) Failure to comply with the obligation to provide information when the circumstances referred to in point (k) of paragraph 2 are not met.

g) The merely occasional or isolated realization of abusive practices that harm the right of policyholders, policyholders, policy beneficiaries or insurers or reinsurers.

(h) The lack of referral to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds for how much data or documents should be sent to them, either through their permanent or periodic submission, already through the attention of requirements (a) individualised, or lack of veracity in them, unless this is the result of the commission of a very serious infringement within the meaning of point (q) of paragraph 2 above. For the purposes of point (h), it is understood that there is a lack of referral where it does not occur within the time limit granted to the effect by the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds when recalling in writing the obligation or reiterating the requirement individualised.

(i) the irregular conduct of the books and records required in the applicable commercial law and in the rules on private insurance and reinsurance mediation where the special circumstances provided for in the paragraph 2 (p) above.

4. Occasional or isolated breaches of regulatory standards on private insurance and reinsurance mediation or non-compliance with the requirements laid down therein shall be considered to be minor infringements.

Article 56. Penalties.

1. For the purposes of the very serious infringements, it shall in any event be imposed on the tied insurance agent, the related insurance broker, the insurance broker and the reinsurance broker, whether natural or legal persons, any of the Following sanctions:

a) Cancellation of your registration in the Special Administrative Registry of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior positions.

(b) Suspension for a maximum period of 10 years for the exercise of the activity of a related insurance agent, linked-insurance operator, insurance or reinsurance broker.

c) Give publicity to the constitutive conduct of the very serious infringement.

d) Multa per amount from 15,001 up to 30,000 euros.

By way of derogation from the preceding subparagraph, in the case of the imposition of the penalties provided for in points (a), (b) and (d), the penalty provided for in point (c) may be imposed at the same time.

2. For the commission of serious infringements by related insurance agents, related insurance or insurance brokers, insurance or reinsurance brokers, whether natural or legal persons, shall be subject to one of the following penalties:

(a) Suspension for a maximum period of one year for the exercise of the activity of a related insurance agent, linked-insurance operator, insurance or reinsurance broker.

b) Give publicity to the constitutive conduct of a serious infringement.

c) Public assembly.

d) Multa for an amount from 6,001 up to 15,000 euros.

By way of derogation from the preceding subparagraph, in the case of the imposition of the penalties provided for in points (a), (c) and (d), the penalty provided for in point (b) may be imposed at the same time.

3. For the sake of the commission of minor infringements by the related insurance agents, the related insurance and insurance brokers, insurance and reinsurance brokers, whether natural or legal persons, shall be subject to one of the following: penalties:

a) The private assembly.

b) Multa for up to 6,000 euros.

Article 57. Liability of those who exercise management and management positions in the related insurance agency companies, linked-insurance operators, insurance brokerage companies and reinsurance brokerage companies.

1. Those who are in charge of administration or management shall be liable for the very serious or serious infringements committed by the related insurance agency companies, linked-insurance operators, insurance brokerage companies and reinsurance brokerage companies where they are attributable to their intentional or negligent conduct.

2. For the purposes of the foregoing paragraph, they shall not be held liable for the very serious or serious infringements committed by the associated insurance agency companies, related insurance operators, companies of the insurance brokerage and reinsurance brokerage companies, in the following cases:

(a) Where those who are part of the collective management bodies have not been assisted by reason of the corresponding meetings or have voted against or have saved their vote in respect of decisions or agreements which would have resulted in the infringements.

(b) Where such offences are solely attributable to executive committees, delegated members, directors-general or similar bodies, or other persons with managerial duties in the company.

3. In addition, and irrespective of the appropriate sanction to be imposed on the related insurance agency company, the linked-insurance operator and the insurance or reinsurance brokerage company for the commission of very serious infringements, One of the following sanctions shall be imposed on those who, in the exercise of administration, in fact or in law, or management in the company, are responsible for such offences:

(a) Separation of the charge with disablement to exercise management or management positions in any insurance mediation company or reinsurance brokerage, for a maximum period of 10 years.

(b) Temporary suspension in the exercise of the office for a period of not less than one year and not more than five years.

c) Multa, for each of them, for an amount between 30,001 and 60,000 euros.

By way of derogation from the preceding subparagraph, in the case of the imposition of the penalty provided for in point (a), the penalty provided for in point (c) may be imposed at the same time.

4. In addition, and irrespective of the appropriate sanction to be imposed on the related insurance agency, the related insurance operator and the insurance or reinsurance brokerage company for the commission of serious infringements, impose one of the following sanctions on those who, in the case of administrative, de facto or de facto charges, or of management are responsible for the infringement:

(a) Temporary suspension in the exercise of the term of office not exceeding one year.

b) Multa, for each of them, for an amount not exceeding 30,000 euros.

This sanction may be imposed simultaneously with the one provided for in point (a).

c) Public assembly.

d) Private assembly.

Article 58. Limitation of infringements and penalties.

1. Very serious infractions will be prescribed at five years, the serious ones at three years and the mild ones, at two years.

2. Penalties for very serious infringements will be prescribed at five years, the severe ones at three years and the penalties for minor offences, at two years.

Article 59. Administrative powers.

Competition for the instruction of the sanctioning files and for the imposition of the corresponding penalties shall be governed by the following rules:

(a) The body of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds which is to be determined shall be responsible for the instruction of the files.

(b) The imposition of penalties for serious and minor infringements shall be the responsibility of the Director-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

(c) The imposition of penalties for very serious infringements shall be the responsibility of the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance on a proposal from the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

Article 60. Referral to the sanctioning regime of insurance institutions.

In all the non-expressly provided for in this Law, the sanctioning regime that for insurance entities is provided for in the Recast Text of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by the Royal Decree-Law 6/2004 of 29 October, in particular with regard to the criteria for the graduation of penalties provided for in Article 43, to the measures inherent in the imposition of administrative penalties provided for in Article 43 thereof. Article 44, to the calculation and interruption of the limitation period laid down in Article 45 and to the rules complementary to the exercise of the sanctioning power of Article 47.

Article 61. Special control measures.

Regardless of the sanction that, where appropriate, apply, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may adopt, on the basis of the insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, any special control measures under to the provisions of Article 39 of the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, provided that they are in one of the situations referred to in points (d) to (g), both inclusive, of that Article 39.1; is applicable to them.

Section 5. Personal Data Protection

Article 62. Condition of the controller or processor.

1. For the purposes set out in Organic Law 15/1999 of 13 December on the Protection of Personal Data:

(a) Exclusive insurance agents and exclusive banking-insurance operators shall be in charge of the treatment of the insurance undertaking with which they have concluded the relevant agency contract, in the terms provided for in this Act.

(b) Linked insurance agents and related insurance operators shall have the status of the treatment of the insurance institutions with which they have concluded the relevant agency contract, in the terms provided for in this Act.

When the customer has signed an insurance contract, the linked insurance agents and the linked insurance operators shall process the contract data in such a way that they can only be known to the entity. the insurer with which the contract would have been concluded, without having access to such data by the other insurance entities on behalf of which they act.

(c) Insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers shall have the status of controllers in respect of the data of persons who come to them.

(d) The external auxiliaries referred to in Article 8 of this Law shall be in charge of the treatment of insurance agents or brokers with whom they have concluded the relevant commercial contract. In this case, they may only treat the data for the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 of that Article 8.

2. In the cases referred to in points (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 above, the agency contract must include the extremes provided for in Article 12 of the Organic Law 15/1999 of 13 December and, in particular, the indication of whether the Insurance agent is to enter into commercial contracts with the external auxiliaries referred to in Article 8 of this Law.

Similarly, in the case provided for in paragraph (1) (d) above, the ends provided for in Article 12 of the Organic Law 15/1999, 13 of 13, must be included in the commercial contract concluded with the external auxiliaries. December.

Article 63. Other data protection rules.

1. In the case of advertising referring to third parties, insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers through electronic communications shall be subject to the provisions of Articles 21 and 22.1 of Law 34/2002 of 11 July of the European Parliament and of the European Parliament the information society and electronic commerce.

2. Insurance agents and banking-insurance operators may only deal with the data of the persons concerned in the terms and with the extent to which the insurance agency contract is derived, and always on behalf and on behalf of the insurance undertaking with the one who had concluded the contract.

Insurance-banking operators will not be able to deal with data related to their mediation activity for purposes of their social object, without the clear and specific consent of those affected.

3. Insurance brokers may treat the data of persons who are directed to them, without the need for their consent:

(a) Before those conclude the insurance contract, for the purposes of offering them the independent, professional and impartial advice referred to in this Law and to provide such data to the insurance undertaking or reinsurer with which the relevant contract is to be concluded.

(b) After the conclusion of the insurance contract, exclusively to provide them with the independent, professional and impartial advice referred to in this Law or for the purposes set out in Article 26.3 thereof.

For the use and processing of data for any other purpose other than those set out in the previous two letters, insurance brokers shall have the consent of the persons concerned.

4. If the insurance contract has been terminated by an insurance broker or a reinsurance broker, the insurance broker shall proceed with the cancellation of the data unless the person concerned has authorised the processing of his data for the purposes of the insurance contract. other purposes and, in particular, for the conclusion of a new contract.

In any event, the insurance broker and the reinsurance broker shall not be able to provide the data of the data subject to another entity other than that with which the person concerned had concluded the contract, if not on average, Unambiguous consent for this.

CHAPTER VII

From the Colleges of Insurance Mediators and their General Council

Article 64. Colleges of insurance intermediaries.

1. The Schools of insurance intermediaries are corporations governed by public law, with legal personality and full capacity to act for the fulfillment of their purposes, to which the persons who voluntarily wish to join will be incorporated, provided they appear registered in the Special Administrative Register of Insurance Mediators, Reinsurance Brokers and their High Charges provided for in Article 52 of this Law.

2. The representation of such activity, without prejudice to the right of association enshrined in the Constitution, and the defense of the corporate interests of the collegians, are essential purposes of the Colleges of insurance intermediaries.

3. Schools of insurance intermediaries and, where appropriate, the autonomous councils of Colleges are related through the General Council of Colleges of Insurance Mediators with the General Administration of the State through the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds.

4. Those who are registered in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law and who meet the conditions laid down by law shall have the right to be admitted to the appropriate College.

5. In no case shall it be necessary for the exercise of the activity of the insurance mediator to be incorporated into any of the Colleges of insurance intermediaries, regardless of the territorial scope in which the profession is intended to be exercised.

6. The colleges of insurance intermediaries shall determine their territorial scope and there shall be a General Council of national level to which they correspond, in addition to those conferred by the legislation in force, the organisation of the tests provided for in Article 39 of this Law. In this case, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may carry out the supervision, with the cooperation of the competent Autonomous Communities, of the conduct of the tests by the appointment of representatives in the courts to judge them.

TITLE III

The activity in Spain of insurance and reinsurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in other Member States of the European Economic Area

Article 65. Start of the activity.

Insurance or reinsurance intermediaries who are registered in the Register of a Member State of the European Economic Area other than Spain where such registration is legally permissible under the rules of that Member State Member State of origin may initiate its activity in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services one month after the date on which the competent authorities of the Member State of origin informed that they have communicated to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds their intention to exercise the insurance mediation activity in Spain.

Article 66. Management and supervision of registered insurance and reinsurance intermediaries.

1. Insurance and reinsurance intermediaries referred to in Article 65 of this Law shall respect the provisions laid down for reasons of general interest and the protection of the insured which are applicable.

2. If the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds finds that an insurance or reinsurance intermediary referred to in paragraph 1 above does not comply with the Spanish provisions applicable to it, it shall require it to accommodate its action in the legal order. In the absence of the relevant adequacy by the insurance or reinsurance mediator, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall inform the supervisory authority of the home Member State in order to take the measures. relevant for the insurance or reinsurance mediator to put an end to that irregular situation and to notify them to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

Also, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may provide and request the supervisory authority of the home Member State for the information it deems appropriate.

3. The documentation and other information provided by the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall be submitted in Spanish and shall be entitled to require such insurance and reinsurance intermediaries or to be referred to them.

4. Such insurance and reinsurance intermediaries may advertise their services in Spain on the same terms as insurance or reinsurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in Spain.

5. Of these insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, as well as the holders of their departments or services to the customer and, where appropriate, the client defender of the insurance intermediaries, the administrative register shall be taken as a reason Article 52 of this Law, separately for those exercising their activity in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services.

Article 67. Intervention measures.

1. Where the supervisory authority of an insurance or reinsurance mediator resident or domiciled in a Member State of the European Economic Area other than Spain, operating under the right of establishment or free of charge provision of services, agree to the cancellation of their registration in the Register legally admissible under the rules of that Member State of origin, the Directorate General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall take the reason of such cancellation in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior charges.

The General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds may agree on the advertising deemed necessary for such cancellation.

2. Insurance or reinsurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in another Member State of the European Economic Area operating in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services are subject to the Sanctioning of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in the terms of Articles 54 et seq. of this Law, in so far as it applies and with the following details:

(a) The penalty of cancellation of the registration shall be understood as being replaced by the prohibition of the initiation of new operations in the Spanish territory.

(b) The initiation of the procedure shall be communicated to the supervisory authorities of the home Member State so that, without prejudice to the penalties provided for under this Law, they shall take the measures they deem appropriate. so that, if necessary, the mediator puts an end to his or her infractions or avoids his reiteration in the future. The Ministry of Economy and Finance will notify the decision taken to the authorities in the course of the procedure.

c) Charges of administration or management of branches are considered to be the proxy and other persons who run such branch.

Article 68. Information to be provided by the insurance mediator.

Insurance intermediaries resident or domiciled in another Member State of the European Economic Area operating in Spain under the right of establishment or under the freedom to provide services shall provide the client the information referred to in Articles 42 and 43 of this Law.

Additional disposition first. Supplementary legislation.

As not provided for in this Law, the recast of the Law on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by the Royal Decree of Law 6/2004, of 29 October, will be applied in an extra character.

Additional provision second. Agency contracts.

Insurance agency contracts concluded prior to the entry into force of this Law shall be governed by the law in force at the time they were entered into, having all the effects of consideration of contracts insurance agency exclusively on the terms regulated in this Law.

Additional provision third. Subscription agencies.

1. The activities carried out by the risk underwriting agencies on behalf of and on behalf of the insurance or reinsurance entities that comply with the requirements to operate legally in Spain shall be construed directly as such insurance or reinsurance entities and may not be considered to constitute private insurance or reinsurance mediation activities as defined in Article 2.1 of this Act.

2. In all the commercial documents of the subscription agencies, they must be identified as such and the name of the insurer or reinsurer on behalf of which they subscribe to the insurance contracts and in whose name and representation exercises the insurance activity.

3. Insurers or reinsurers shall be liable to the Administration of breaches of the mediation and private insurance legislation which such subscription agencies have committed in the exercise of their activities.

4. Subscription agencies seeking to subscribe to risks or commitments located in Spain must inform the Directorate General of Insurance and Pension Funds, prior to the commencement of their activity in Spain, the proxy powers granted by the insurance companies for the subscription of the insurance contracts on behalf and on behalf of the insurance contracts, specifying in addition the activities which those agencies are to carry out. They shall also communicate the revocation of such a proxy.

Additional provision fourth. Fee for the registration of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers in the Register of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.

1. Constitutes the taxable fact of the fee:

(a) Registration in the Special Administrative Register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior positions, of persons exercising as insurance agents or insurance agents, whether exclusive or exclusive linked, as insurance brokers or as reinsurance brokers.

(b) The registration of the administrative and management positions responsible for the insurance or reinsurance mediation activities of legal persons registered as insurance intermediaries or reinsurance brokers which, with under this Law and its regulatory provisions for development, must be entered.

(c) The registration of acts related to the foregoing, provided that they must be entered in accordance with the requirements of rules on insurance and private reinsurance mediation.

(d) The issue of certificates relating to the information contained in the Register referred to in point (a)

2. The fee will be regulated as provided for in this Law and by the other regulatory sources that are established for the fees in Article 9 of Law 8/1989, of April 13, of Public Fees and Prices.

3. The fee shall not be payable in the case of registrations relating to the cancellation of the registration.

4. The taxable person shall be the natural or legal person in whose favour the registration is carried out in the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials and the applicant legal or natural person. of a certificate of that record.

5. The amount of the fee shall be:

a) By the registration of an exclusive insurance agent, natural person, a fixed fee of 10 euros.

(b) By the registration of a related insurance agent, insurance or reinsurance broker, natural persons, a fixed fee of EUR 60.

(c) By the registration of an insurance agency company or a bank-insurance operator, whether exclusive or linked, of a insurance or reinsurance brokerage company, a fixed fee of EUR 140.

(d) By the registration of management and management positions responsible for insurance or reinsurance mediation activities of insurance agency companies or banking-insurance operators, whether or not they are exclusive or linked, insurance brokerage or reinsurance brokerage, a fixed fee of 10 euros for each high charge.

e) By the registration of any other registration or by the modification of the registered ones, a fixed fee of 10 euros for each one of them.

(f) For the issue of certificates relating to the information included in the said register, a fixed fee of EUR 10.

6. The fee shall be payable when the application is submitted, which shall not be processed without the payment being made.

7. The amount of the fee may be collected by means of self-validation, in the form and time limits to be determined by the Minister for Economic Affairs and Finance.

8. The fee corresponding to the registration of the exclusive insurance agents, the exclusive insurance operators and the management and management charges responsible for the insurance mediation activities shall be self-abolished by the the insurance institution in which the register of agents is registered, as a substitute for the taxpayer.

9. The administration, liquidation and voluntary collection of the fee corresponds to the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds.

The collection in executive period corresponds to the State Tax Administration Agency, in accordance with the current legislation.

10. The fee amounts may be updated by the General State Budget Law.

Additional provision fifth. Validation of the Diploma of Insurance Mediator Titled.

The Diploma of the Insurance Mediator Titled in the legislation to be repealed shall have the effect of having passed the training or aptitude test course provided for in Article 39 of this Law.

Additional provision sixth. Transformation of the Colleges of qualified insurance intermediaries and their General Council.

1. The colleges of qualified insurance intermediaries and their General Council are transformed, with a change of denomination, into the Colleges of Insurance Mediators and their General Council, respectively.

2. The transformation thus effected will not change the legal personality of the entities concerned, which will continue to remain in the new form with all their rights and obligations, and will continue in the ownership of their assets and maintain all their legal relations.

3. Those persons who are not registered in the Register provided for in Article 52 of this Law and are incorporated in the Colleges provided for in the legislation repealed at the date of entry into force of this Law may remain in such situation, but without the character of eligible.

Additional provision seventh. Application of the legislation of aliens.

The provisions of this Law will be without prejudice to the provisions of the Organic Law 4/2000 of 11 January on the rights and freedoms of foreigners in Spain and their social integration, in particular in Article 36 thereof. on the need to have an administrative authorisation for the exercise of gainful activities, as well as in its Regulation, approved by Royal Decree 2393/2004 of 30 December.

Additional disposition octave. Amendment of the Law on Value Added Tax.

The wording of Article 20 (1) of Section 20 of Law 37/1992 of 28 December of the Value Added Tax is amended as follows:

" 16. º Insurance, reinsurance and capitalization operations.

Also, mediation services, including the collection of clients, for the conclusion of the contract between the intervening parties in the performance of the previous operations, regardless of the condition of the employer or professional who provides them.

Within the insurance operations, the forecast modes are understood. "

Additional provision ninth. Data processing in the case of a reinsurance contract.

The direct insurer may communicate to the reinsurer, without the consent of the policyholder or the insured person, the data that is strictly necessary for the conclusion of the reinsurance contract, as provided for in the 77 of Law 50/1980, of 8 October, of Contract of Insurance.

Additional provision 10th. Amendment of Law 50/1980, of 8 October, of insurance contract.

One. Article 8 (9) of Law 50/1980, of 8 October, of a contract of insurance, has the following wording:

" 9. If a mediator is involved in the contract, the name and type of mediator. "

Two. Article 21 of Law 50/1980 of 8 October of the insurance contract is amended as follows:

" Communications made by an insurance broker to the insurer on behalf of the policyholder shall have the same effects as if it was made by the policyholder, unless otherwise indicated.

In any case, the express consent of the policyholder to subscribe to a new contract or to modify or terminate the insurance contract in force shall be specified. "

Additional provision eleventh. Basic requirements and principles of training programmes for insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers and other persons involved in the mediation of private insurance and reinsurance.

1. Within one month of the entry into force of the Act, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds will issue a resolution laying down the general lines and the basic principles to be followed by the courses and programmes of the training required in this Law in order to establish the knowledge necessary for the exercise of the functions of the insurance and reinsurance intermediaries, of the persons who are part of the distribution networks of the operators of the insurance and reinsurance undertakings, (a) insurance, and of the employees and auxiliaries of the insurance and reinsurance intermediaries participating in the insurance directly in the mediation of insurance or reinsurance.

To ensure the appropriate level of professionalism of the persons referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds shall establish the general lines and the basic requirements to be met. comply with the training programmes in terms of their content, duration, precise means for their organisation and control systems.

2. For the purposes of Article 39 of this Law, in addition to the provisions laid down in the preceding paragraph, persons participating in training courses and in the tests of aptitude for private insurance and financial matters shall, in accordance with Article 39 of the the time of commencement, the minimum requirement to be in possession of the bachelor's degree or equivalent.

The content and duration of courses in insurance and financial and private insurance courses will be modulated according to the qualifications and knowledge acquired through the improvement of training programmes and/or training programmes. professional experience in private insurance and reinsurance, which credit such persons at the time of their commencement.

The Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds may require the necessary modifications to be made in order to adapt the courses to the duty of training provided for in this Law.

First transient disposition. Adaptation of the unique insurance agents.

Insurance companies must adapt to the provisions of Article 15 within one year of the date of entry into force of this Law, for which they will be required to refer to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Fund Pensions the data corresponding to the registration of its exclusive insurance agents in the manner in which it is determined.

It shall be exempt from the registration fee of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers the registration made to comply with the adjusted adjustment in this transitional provision first.

Second transient disposition. Adaptation of the banking-insurance operators, insurance brokers and reinsurance brokers.

1. Credit institutions and commercial companies controlled or engaged by them who have been engaged in insurance mediation activities in accordance with Law 9/1992 of 30 April of mediation in private insurance may exercise as operator of a bank-insurance, whether exclusive or linked, as from the entry into force of this Law, for which it will have a one-year period from the date of its entry into force to adapt its situation to the provisions of Subsection 4. Section 2. of Chapter I of Title II; for this purpose, they shall provide in advance in the case of as a linked-insurance operator, to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, the information and documentation necessary for its registration in the Special Administrative Register of insurance intermediaries, of brokers reinsurance and their senior positions.

The provisions of Article 11.3 of this Law shall not apply where, within the said period, the social object or the dissolution of an insurance agency company controlled or participated by the company is modified. credit institution or by entities in its group with a transfer to the insurance portfolio rights-insurance operator up to that time.

2. The natural or legal persons who, at the date of entry into force of this Law, were legally exercising the activity of insurance broker under the previous legislation which is now repealed, within one year from the date of entry into force of this Law, that date, accredit to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds meeting the conditions required by Article 27.1.e) and f) of this Law for the granting and preservation of the registration to exercise the mediation activity of insurance as an insurance broker.

3. Those natural or legal persons who have been exercising the activity of reinsurance mediation prior to the date of entry into force of this Law may request within one year from that date to be entered in the Register (a) special administrative arrangements for insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials, once previously accredited to the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, the fulfilment of the requirement laid down in Article 27.1.e) of this Law and provided the information and documentation necessary for its registration in the record.

4. On the expiry of the period laid down in the preceding paragraphs, those who have not established that they have adapted to this Law in accordance with the provisions of this transitional provision may not engage in the activities of insurance or reinsurance mediation private.

5. The registration of insurance intermediaries and reinsurance brokers shall be exempt from the registration fee for compliance with the regulated adaptation in this transitional provision second.

6. It shall also be exempt from the registration fee for the application of those insurance brokers who choose to become tied insurance agents within one year of the entry into force of this Act.

Transitional provision third. Provisional rules on the requirements for exercising as a related insurance agent, linked-insurance operator, insurance broker and reinsurance broker.

1. As long as the Ministry of Economy and Finance does not set standards in this respect, it shall apply to related insurance agents, related insurance and insurance brokers and reinsurance and reinsurance brokers:

(a) Professional civil liability insurance covering the entire territory of the European Economic Area or other financial collateral, in terms of the terms that are regulated, for the liabilities that may be arising from professional negligence, shall be at least EUR 1 million per claim and, in sum, EUR 1,500,000 for all claims relating to a given year.

(b) The financial capacity referred to in Articles 21.3 (g) and 27.1 (f) may not be less than EUR 15 000, and may be credited by means of the endorsement issued by a financial institution or a security insurance undertaking, with the purpose of protecting customers against the inability of the related insurance agents, related insurance operators and insurance brokers to transfer the premium to the insurance undertaking or to transfer the amount of the insurance compensation or reimbursement of the premium to the insured person.

2. The amounts referred to in points (a) and (b) of the previous paragraph shall be reviewed with effect from 15 January 2008 and every 5 years from that date, to take account of the evolution of the European Consumer Price Index, published by Eurostat.

The amounts shall be automatically adjusted by increasing their base in euro by the percentage of variation of the said index in the period from 15 January 2003 to the date of the first revision, or between the date of the latest revision and the date of the new revision, and shall be rounded off to the higher euro.

To facilitate their knowledge and implementation, these updates will be made public by resolution of the General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds.

Transitional disposition fourth. Adaptation of the current administrative register to the special insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior officials.

1. All the particulars contained in Article 124 of the Regulation on the Management and Supervision of Private Insurance, approved by Royal Decree 2486/1988 of 20 November 1988, to the Special Administrative Register of Insurance Brokers, insurance brokerage companies and their senior positions shall be construed as being made to the special administrative register of insurance intermediaries, reinsurance brokers and their senior positions which is regulated in this Act. Furthermore, all the particulars and requirements laid down in that Article shall also apply to insurance agents, insurance operators, whether exclusive or linked, and to reinsurance brokers.

2. It shall also be entered in that Register, the reference to the insurance undertaking with which the exclusive insurance agents and the exclusive insurance agents and the exclusive insurance agents are signed and, in the case of being authorised to exercise its mediation activity with another insurance undertaking, indicating the products in which it can mediate for it, as well as the dates for the commencement and termination of such authorisation.

3. It shall also be acts which are listed in the Register as those relating to the right of establishment or the exercise of the freedom to provide services of insurance and reinsurance intermediaries resident in Spain in each of the Member States. Member States of the European Economic Area. In addition, the designation of the holder of the department or customer service and, if appropriate, the client's defender of the insurance intermediaries, and, where appropriate, the mention of the domain or the address of the Internet, shall be registered.

Transient disposition fifth. Aptitude tests and training courses.

The approved courses provided for in the previous repealed legislation whose partition was initiated at the date of entry into force of this Law, will continue until the conclusion of the examinations in accordance with the provisions of the those rules. Until the resolution of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds setting out the requirements for the training of insurance intermediaries, the General Council of Insurance Mediators will be able to continue with the organisation of the selective aptitude tests for obtaining the Diploma of Insurance Mediator Titled.

The provisions of the preceding paragraph, in the field of competence of the Autonomous Communities, shall be carried out in accordance with these provisions.

Transitional disposition sixth. Information to the customers of the insurance broker's remuneration.

The insurance brokers shall have a period of six months from the date of entry into force of this Law to issue the supporting document referred to in Article 29.2 concerning the obligation to inform the customer of the amount of the Total of its remuneration.

Repeal provision.

All provisions of equal or lower rank shall be repealed as opposed to the provisions of this Law, and in particular the following:

(a) Law 9/1992, of 30 April, of mediation in private insurance.

(b) The seventh additional provision of Law 30/1995 of 8 November for the management and supervision of private insurance.

(c) The first provision of Law 34/2003 of 4 November, amending and adapting to the Community rules of private insurance legislation.

Final disposition first. Competence enablement and basic legislation.

The regulation of the insurance agency contract is established by virtue of the exclusive competence of the State in the field of commercial law in accordance with Article 149.1.6. of the Constitution.

The fourth additional provision, the eighth additional provision, and paragraphs 5 and 6 of the second transitional provision are dictated by the provisions of Article 149.1.14. of the Constitution.

For the purposes of the provisions of Article 149.1.11. of the Constitution, the provisions contained in this Law have the consideration of the basis of the ordination of private insurance, except the following precepts or sections of these:

(a) Article 64, which shall not be of a basic nature, except as regards the nature and denomination of the Colleges of insurance intermediaries, the voluntary nature of the incorporation into them and the existence of its General Council, which has the consideration of the basis of the legal regime of public administrations under Article 149.1.18. of the Constitution.

(b) Article 21 (4); Article 27 (2); Article 35 (2); Article 39 (3); Article 52 (3); and the fourth transitional provision, which shall not be of a legal nature basic and only apply in the field of the General Administration of the State.

In cases where the Autonomous Communities exercise the powers in the field of private insurance and reinsurance mediation referred to in Article 47.2 of this Law, the references made to the bodies of the The General Administration of the State shall be construed as being made to the competent authority of the Autonomous Community.

Final disposition second. Regulatory authority.

1. It is up to the Government, on the proposal of the Minister of Economy and Finance and after hearing the Advisory Board of Insurance and Pension Funds, to develop this Law in matters which are expressly attributed to the regulatory authority, as well as, in general, in all those susceptible to regulatory development in which it is necessary for its proper implementation, by the adoption of its regulation and any subsequent amendments to it that are necessary.

2. It is up to the Minister of Economy and Finance, on a proposal from the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds and after hearing the Advisory Board of Insurance and Pension Funds, to develop this Law in matters that specifically attributes to the regulatory authority of that Minister and, in addition, to develop his/her regulation as soon as necessary and to provide for it.

It also has the power to carry out the necessary modifications in the regulation of the book-registration and the annual statistical-accounting information models, in order to adapt the Royal Decree 301/2004, February 20, by which the book-registration and the duty of statistical-accounting information of insurance brokers and insurance brokerage companies are regulated, to the provisions of this Law in relation to insurance brokers and those of reinsurance, whether natural or legal persons.

Final disposition third. Entry into force.

This Law shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the "Official Gazette of the State".

Therefore,

I command all Spaniards, individuals and authorities, to keep and keep this law.

Madrid, 17 July 2006.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The President of the Government,

JOSE LUIS RODRIGUEZ ZAPATERO