IBEX 35 today, Thursday, August 13: remains at historical highs with increases from BBVA, Unicaja, and Bankinter

Spanish regulation of stock markets currently revolves around Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets and Investment Services and its regulatory development from November 2023, which is already fully in force, but it is undergoing reform to adapt to the new European capital markets package. As of August 13, 2026, the core of this reform has not yet reached Parliament (it remains in the draft bill phase within the Government), while a Bill on the digitization and modernization of the financial system that adjusts the sanctioning regime and crypto-asset regulations of Law 6/2023 is already under parliamentary processing. Meanwhile, the CNMV and Government have deployed in 2024-2026 a broad package of royal decrees, orders, and circulars updating prospectuses, market infrastructures, investor protection, and post-trade processes.

Current framework: Law 6/2023 and 2023 regulations

The basic regulation is Law 6/2023, which replaces the previous consolidated text of the securities market. It structures the system into sections on the primary market, trading venues (regulated markets, MTFs, and SMNs), market abuse and conduct rules, guarantee funds, and CNMV inspection and sanctioning.

Its key regulatory development arrived on November 8, 2023, with three royal decrees:

• Royal Decree 814/2023, on financial instruments, admission to trading, securities registration, and market infrastructures, which unifies and modernizes the regulations on prospectuses, admission, and post-trade.
• Royal Decree 813/2023, on the legal regime of investment services firms.
• Royal Decree 815/2023, on official CNMV registers, cooperation with other authorities, and supervision of investment services firms.

These are complemented by Royal Decree 1180/2023 on investor compensation systems, Circular 3/2022 on IICs, Circular 3/2016 on fees and contracts, and related rules such as Royal Decree 571/2023 on foreign investments, or Royal Decree 668/2023 on pension plans and funds.

Recently approved reforms

Several relevant regulatory developments have occurred in recent months:

• Post-trade reform (Reform 3): the CNMV announced the completion of harmonization of settlement and registration with European standards, eliminating the obligation to notify transactions to Iberclear's PTI, under the fourth transitional provision of Law 6/2023 and Royal Decree 814/2023.
• BME Easy Access: a new IPO modality allowing direct admission without prior free float and up to 18 months to place shares. It was presented by CNMV and BME in May 2025 (note) and later approved by CNMV (approval), anticipating measures from the European Listing Act package; the newspaper Demócrata contextualizes its impact in this analysis.
• Prospectuses: CNMV updated the “questions and answers” document to adapt it to Regulation (EU) 2024/2809 (Listing Act), introducing the concept of a shortened document when a prospectus is not required (Q&A prospectuses).
• Loan of IIC securities: the Ministry of Economy finalized Order ECM/1155/2025, regulating the loan of certain securities and financial instruments of IICs (consultation, publication).
• MiCA and crypto-assets: CNMV has published guides and communications on the application of the MiCA Regulation and the transitional period in Spain (communication to the sector, communication to investors).

Initiatives under parliamentary processing

There is not yet a specific bill to reform the Securities Market Law in Parliament, but several initiatives touch this framework:

• Bill on digitization and modernization of the financial sector: approved by the Council of Ministers on July 14, 2026, with an urgency request (official reference), registered on July 17 and text sent to Congress on July 27 (details). According to Demócrata (article), it updates the sanctioning regime of Law 6/2023 and strengthens CNMV's role in authorizing and supervising crypto-asset service providers.
• Bill on administrators and buyers of credits: under urgent processing with an extended amendment phase until September 2, 2026 (agreement 11-02-2025, agreement 04-03-2025); it affects several financial regulations, including Law 6/2023.
• Bill on the Independent Administrative Authority for Financial Customer Protection (121/000018), in Congress with published amendments; its final provision 18 modifies article 197 of Law 6/2023 to reinforce diligence and transparency obligations in investment services (BOCG amendments, initial text).
• Bill on company size criteria for financial reporting purposes (121/000075), in Congress with an extended amendment deadline until September 2, 2026 (file), affecting the scope of reporting obligations relevant to markets.

Reforms in draft bill and regulatory development phase

The bulk of the adaptation to the new European capital markets package is still in the pre-legislative phase:

• Draft bill to transpose European securities market rules: agreed by the Council of Ministers on March 24, 2026 (reference), subjected to public consultation from March 26 to April 30, 2026 (consultation). It modifies, among others, Law 6/2023 and its royal decree developments (813, 814, and 815/2023) to incorporate the Listing Act package, the revision of MiFID II/MiFIR, the AIFMD/UCITS directives, and EMIR 3.0; Demócrata explains it in this piece.
• Draft Royal Decree on financial instrument markets, modifying RDs 1066/2007, 1082/2012, 813/2023, 814/2023, and 815/2023, in public consultation since March 2026 (consultation).
• 2026 Annual Regulatory Plan: includes a future “Law for the transposition of regulations and directives in the field of capital markets,” as Demócrata recalls in this summary.

Additionally, Economy and CNMV have opened or closed other consultations on sanctioning powers, anti-money laundering, and supervisory powers with indirect market impact (AML consultation, AML draft bill, financial sector RD project).

European pressure and CNMV's role

At the EU level, Demócrata has reported that the European Commission has opened an infringement procedure against Spain for failing to complete the transposition of the so-called “European Listing Act” and the EMIR update (news). Meanwhile, CNMV is focusing its 2024-2025 activity plan (2024 plan, 2025 plan) and its “CNMV 2030” strategy (document) on revitalizing markets, strengthening protection against market abuse, and preparing the sector for this new wave of regulation, including crypto-asset regulation and changes in prospectuses and market abuse.

The CNMV president does not have specific powers over the IBEX 35 as an index itself, since the IBEX is a private index managed by BME, but as the highest authority of the CNMV, he exercises supervisory and control functions over the securities markets and the listed issuers that are part of the index. His powers are mainly defined in Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets and in the CNMV's Internal Regulations, complemented by successive delegation agreements. In practice, his role regarding the IBEX 35 is indirect but very relevant: he leads the institution that oversees transparency, price formation, and investor protection in the markets where the index companies are listed.

Basic regulatory framework

The structure and functions of the CNMV, including its president, are set out in the Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets. This law assigns the CNMV the mission to supervise securities markets for the benefit of transparency, proper price formation, and investor protection, objectives that fully affect the markets where IBEX 35 shares are traded.

The internal development of this structure is detailed in the Internal Regulations approved by Resolution of December 19, 2019, of the CNMV Council, published in the BOE (Internal Regulations), later amended. Additionally, the Council periodically adopts delegation agreements and resolutions, such as the April 26, 2017 Agreement (2017 delegation), the May 31, 2018 Resolution (2018 delegation), or the November 17, 2022 Resolution on delegation of powers to the president regarding contracting, expenses, and personnel (2022 delegation). The most recent scheme is updated with the March 5, 2025 Agreement on delegation of powers (2025 delegation).

Formal functions of the CNMV president

Law 6/2023, in the chapter dedicated to CNMV governing bodies, specifies the president's functions. Among them are:

• Legal representation: he holds the legal representation of the CNMV before third parties, other authorities, markets, and operators.
• Internal governance: convenes ordinary and extraordinary sessions of the Council and Executive Committee and directs and coordinates the activities of all governing bodies.
• Economic-administrative management: authorizes expenses, orders payments, and enters into contracts and agreements on behalf of the CNMV.
• Personnel leadership: exercises the superior leadership of all CNMV personnel, including the senior management of technical services supervising issuers, intermediaries, and markets.
• Delegated powers: executes powers expressly delegated by the Council, which in practice includes much of the ordinary processing of authorizations, supervision, and sanctions.
• Other legal functions: exercises other functions attributed by current legislation, including those established by regulatory norms or Council agreements.

The Internal Regulations complement these functions, specifying that the president is part of the governing bodies (Council and Executive Committee) and plays a central role in preparing and presenting the CNMV's annual report to Parliament, where he accounts for the state of securities markets and supervisory actions, naturally including the behavior of major IBEX 35 issuers.

Projection on the IBEX 35 and its components

The IBEX 35 is a benchmark stock index grouping the main listed companies. The CNMV does not set its composition or calculation rules, which depend on the market operator. However, the CNMV's supervisory activity – led by the president – directly affects:

• Issuing companies whose shares are part of the IBEX 35 (financial and non-financial information, corporate governance, prospectuses, material events, etc.).
• Official secondary markets and other trading venues where those securities are traded (Stock Exchanges, multilateral systems, markets for expanding SMEs, etc.), regulated by Law 6/2023 and its regulatory development.
• Prevention of market abuse and price manipulation, essential for the correct formation of the index.
• Supervision of intermediaries and investment services firms that channel trading of IBEX 35 securities.

In all these areas, the president does not act as an individual technical supervisor but as the ultimate responsible for supervision policy, approval and application of circulars and technical guides, and coordination of services that inspect and sanction irregular conduct. Through Council-approved delegations, he can concentrate or redistribute operational powers, but always under the powers granted by Law 6/2023.

In summary, the CNMV president is the figure who directs and represents the body that ensures that trading of IBEX 35 shares and the behavior of their issuers occur transparently and in compliance with securities market regulations, although he does not have specific competence over the IBEX index as an autonomous financial product.

According to the available state regulations, current Spanish legislation does not set specific requirements to "enter the IBEX 35" as such, but rather a general framework for companies to issue securities and be admitted to trading on regulated markets (for example, Spanish stock exchanges). This framework is mainly articulated through Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets and Investment Services and its regulatory development in Royal Decree 814/2023. These rules establish who can issue and trade shares, what controls the CNMV performs, and the role of market governing bodies in verifying admission requirements. No specific legal regulation on the composition of the IBEX 35 appears in the consulted sources, so only the general listing framework can be described, not the index's internal criteria.

1. Basic legal framework on securities markets

The main regulatory framework affecting companies wishing to list on a Spanish regulated market is as follows:

• Law 6/2023, of March 17, on Securities Markets and Investment Services (Law 6/2023). It largely repeals the previous consolidated text of the Securities Market Law approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015. It regulates:
  • The object and scope of application of the law and the notion of negotiable securities.
  • The nature, functions, and powers of the CNMV.
  • The primary market and different trading venues (regulated markets, multilateral trading systems, and organized trading systems), as well as clearing, settlement, and registration systems.
  • The regime of infractions and sanctions in securities markets.
• Royal Decree 814/2023, of November 8, on financial instruments, admission to trading, registration of negotiable securities, and market infrastructures (Royal Decree 814/2023).
  • Develops Law 6/2023 regarding:
    • Financial instruments and book-entry representation of securities.
    • Admission to trading of securities on regulated markets, public offers of sale or subscription, and required prospectus.
    • Clearing, settlement, and registration of securities.
    • Legal regime of trading venues and position limits in derivatives.
  • Replaces and reorganizes previous regulations such as Royal Decree 1310/2005 and Royal Decree 1464/2018.
• Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015, consolidated text of the Securities Market Law (RDL 4/2015), and Royal Decree-Law 21/2017 (RDL 21/2017), largely repealed or modified by Law 6/2023 but still relevant for certain transitional provisions.
• CNMV Circular 1/2016, on exemption from requesting admission to trading on a regulated market for certain companies with shares traded only on a multilateral system (Circular 1/2016), addressing specific cases of obligation or exemption to list on a regulated market.

2. General admission to trading requirements

Based on these rules, it can be generally inferred that for a company (Spanish or foreign) to list on a Spanish regulated equity market, at least the following framework requirements must be met:

• Existence of negotiable securities: According to Royal Decree 814/2023, negotiable securities include, among others, shares of companies and other equivalent securities, as well as depositary receipts representing such securities. Only these securities, by their legal configuration and transfer regime, are suitable for generalized and impersonal trading in a financial market.
• Subject to Law 6/2023 and CNMV supervision: Law 6/2023 establishes the basic regime for regulated markets and assigns CNMV supervisory functions over issuance, offering, and admission to trading of securities (including certain crypto-assets when offered or admitted).
• Verification of requirements by market governing bodies: Royal Decree 814/2023 indicates that governing bodies of regulated markets verify admission requirements of securities, particularly for non-participatory securities, avoiding duplication with CNMV and enhancing market competitiveness.
• Prospectus and public offers: Admission to trading is coordinated with the regime of public offers of sale or subscription and the prospectus regulated by Regulation (EU) 2017/1129. The royal decree reorganizes Spanish regulations to eliminate duplications with the European regulation and centralize prospectus verification with CNMV.
• Registration, clearing, and settlement regime: Regulations require admitted securities to be represented by book entries and integrated into regulated clearing, settlement, and registration systems, with intervention of central securities depositories according to Law 6/2023 and Royal Decree 814/2023.

The cited rules organize these requirements in detail in their respective titles on regulated markets, trading venues, and post-trade infrastructures, but no closed lists of numerical conditions (e.g., minimum issuance sizes) generally applicable to all companies are presented in the consulted information.

3. Specificity of the IBEX 35

In the search conducted in the Official State Gazette, no law, royal decree, or state circular directly regulates the composition of the IBEX 35 or the specific criteria for including a company in this stock index. The references found relate to general regulation of securities markets and collective investment institutions (Law 31/2011, Royal Decree 1082/2012, Circular 2/2013, Circular 3/2022), but do not define requirements for membership in specific indices.

Therefore, with the available regulatory information, it can only be stated that current legislation sets the general framework for issuance and admission to trading on regulated markets, under CNMV and governing bodies' supervision, while the specific criteria of the IBEX 35 are not included in the analyzed legal provisions. No further information on particular legal rules applicable to this index is available in the consulted sources.