Cuerpo sees "in the last phase" the agreement to create the financial customer authority

The bill to create the Independent Administrative Authority for the Defense of the Financial Customer that interests you is the Bill 121/000018 (Congress of Deputies, XV Legislature). As of today, it remains in the Congress, in the Committee on Economy, Trade and Digital Transformation, with the amendment period already closed and all amendments to the articles published, but the working group has not yet met nor has the Committee report been approved.

1. Where exactly the bill is now

The sequence of key events for file 121/000018 is as follows:

• 19‑03‑2024: the Council of Ministers approves the bill and sends it to the Cortes (note from the Ministry of Economy).
• 05‑04‑2024: the text of the bill is published in the BOCG Congress as Series A, no. 18‑1, it is admitted for processing and its processing is entrusted to the Committee on Economy, Trade and Digital Transformation, by urgent procedure, opening the first period for amendments to the articles.
• Between April and autumn 2024, the amendment period is extended up to 19 times, according to parliamentary processing and agenda summaries from the Congress and Demócrata.
• 06‑11‑2024: the total return amendment from the Popular Group is published in the BOCG (Series A, no. 18‑2).
• 21‑11‑2024: the Plenary of the Congress rejects the total amendment (170 yes / 178 no / 1 abstention), so the bill continues its course. That same day, the Plenary also approves the referral to Plenary, meaning the final vote will not remain in Committee but will go to the Plenary (note from the Congress).
• 03‑12‑2024: the amendment period to the articles closes, as agreed by the Board of the Congress and reported by Demócrata.
• 13‑12‑2024: the BOCG Congress publishes the amendments to the articles submitted by the groups (Series A, no. 18‑4), so the amendment phase is normatively closed.

From there, and according to press releases and subsequent analyses from Demócrata and the Ministry itself (note of 24‑07‑2026 on financial inclusion), the bill:

• Has not yet reached the Senate nor the Plenary report phase.
• It is pending the convening of the working group of the Economy Committee, which must study the text and the amendments.
• Minister Carlos Cuerpo has acknowledged that the law is “blocked” in the Economy Committee and has committed to reactivate the processing from September 2026, resuming work in the Committee and the working group.

In summary: today the bill is in the Congress, in the internal work phase in Committee, with amendments to the articles already published and pending the establishment or meeting of the working group and the preparation of the report that will allow moving to the Committee report.

2. Expected next steps until final approval

If the processing resumes, the remaining parliamentary path is as follows:

• Working group in the Economy Committee: appointment of rapporteurs and preparation of a report that integrates, modifies, or rejects amendments.
• Report of the Economy Committee: debate and vote on the working group report and the maintained amendments; approval of a report as the text of the Congress.
• Plenary of the Congress (referral already agreed): final debate, possible vote on live amendments, and vote on the report. If approved, the text is sent to the Senate.
• Processing in the Senate: admission for processing, amendment period and possible veto, working group and Committee, and vote in the Senate Plenary. The Senate may:
  • approve the text without changes (it would then go to the BOE),
  • approve it with amendments, or
  • issue a veto.
• Second reading in the Congress (if there are changes from the Senate): the Congress decides whether to accept the amendments and, if applicable, whether to lift a possible Senate veto with the required majorities.
• Sanction, promulgation, and publication in the BOE: once the final text is approved by the Cortes Generales, the King sanctions it and it is published in the Official State Gazette. The law comes into force on the date set in its final provision.

Only when these phases in Congress and Senate are completed and the law is published in the BOE will it be definitively approved and in force. Until then, the Financial Customer Defense Authority remains a projected, non-operational body.

The functions and powers of the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Trade and Business derive from the Constitution, Law 50/1997 of November 27, on the Government, and several royal decrees organizing the Executive, particularly Royal Decrees 829/2023 (restructuring of ministerial departments), 830/2023 and 1231/2023 (Vice Presidencies), and Royal Decree 1/2024 (Government Delegated Commissions).

1. Functions as First Vice President of the Government

The general regime of the Vice Presidencies is set out in Law 50/1997, whose article 3 establishes that their holders are responsible for exercising the functions entrusted to them by the President of the Government. This criterion is specified and reiterated in Royal Decree 830/2023, of November 20, on the Vice Presidencies of the Government, modified by Royal Decree 1231/2023, of December 29.

After this modification, article 1 of Royal Decree 830/2023 reads as follows: "The exercise of the functions entrusted to it by the President of the Government corresponds to the First Vice Presidency of the Government". That is:

• No closed catalog of specific powers of the First Vice Presidency is established.
• The effective content of the position depends on the political and coordination assignments the President assigns at each moment.
• It is a position of highest political rank, with a primary function of coordination and political leadership within the Government, but legally configured by referral to the President's instructions.

Additionally, according to Law 50/1997, the Vice Presidencies may assume coordination of governmental areas and certain presidencies of Delegated Commissions or other collegiate bodies if so provided by the corresponding royal decrees, although currently this specification is made case by case in sectoral regulations rather than in Royal Decree 830/2023 itself.

2. Functions as Minister of Economy, Trade and Business

Royal Decree 829/2023, of November 20, which restructures ministerial departments, modified by Royal Decree 1230/2023, creates the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business and determines its material scope.

In its corresponding article, Royal Decree 829/2023 establishes that:

• "The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business is responsible for proposing and executing the Government's policy on economic matters and reforms to improve competitiveness, and on trade" (article related to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business, as amended by Royal Decree 1230/2023, positions 7500‑15000 of the text).
• The ministry is structured into the following senior bodies:
  • The State Secretariat for Economy and Business Support.
  • The State Secretariat for Trade.

As minister, the holder of the department exercises the general functions that Law 50/1997 recognizes for all ministers (department management, proposal and execution of Government policy within its scope, regulatory power within the legal framework, sectoral legislative initiative, management of senior and executive bodies of the ministry, etc.), applied to the specific field of economic and commercial policy.

Additionally, Royal Decree 1/2024, of January 9, establishing the Government Delegated Commissions, assigns the Minister of Economy, Trade and Business a central role in the economic coordination of the Executive: he chairs the Government Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs.

3. Competences of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business

From the set of indicated norms, the major material areas that make up the department's competences emerge:

• General economic policy: definition and monitoring of the Government's general economic policy guidelines and structural reforms to improve the competitiveness of the Spanish economy.
• Business support: through the State Secretariat for Economy and Business Support, promotion of measures for business financing, improvement of the regulatory environment, and support for productive activity and SMEs.
• Trade policy: through the State Secretariat for Trade, management of trade policy (domestic and foreign), including the international projection of Spanish companies and participation in the European Union's trade policy.
• Interministerial economic coordination: through the chairmanship of the Government Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs, it is responsible for leading the collegiate body that, according to article 6 of Royal Decree 1/2024, studies the Government's general economic policy guidelines and ensures coordination and coherence of the policies of the different departments with those criteria, with special attention to measures with economic, financial, or budgetary significance.

These competences are developed in greater detail in the specific royal decree on the basic organic structure of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business (Royal Decree 410/2024, cited in the error correction of Royal Decree 867/2025), which distributes functions among general directorates and other executive bodies, but whose logic corresponds to the core defined in Royal Decree 829/2023: leadership of economic and trade policy, and support for the business fabric.

The “new authority” you refer to is the Independent Administrative Authority for the Defense of the Financial Customer, regulated in Bill 121/000018 (XV Legislature), still under parliamentary processing. What I explain below is, therefore, the projected regime, which is not yet fully in force.

1. What body it is and in what framework it acts

The bill (articles 1, 2, 5, 8, and 9) creates an Independent Administrative Authority, with its own legal personality and functional autonomy, responsible for:

• Extrajudicially resolving financial customer claims against financial entities (banking, securities, insurance, payment, etc.) for breaches of conduct rules, good practices, and abusive clauses.
• Integrating the institutional system together with customer service and customer ombudsmen regulated in Law 44/2002 and the future Law on customer service.

Access to the Authority is voluntary for the customer and mandatory for the entities, which must submit to the procedure and comply with resolutions that have binding character (article 5.2).

2. Requirements for the claim to give rise to a binding resolution

The key is in article 42 (binding resolution), in connection with articles 3, 31 to 38, and 40. From these arise the following material and formal requirements:

• Adequate objective scope (art. 3 and 31): the claim must concern:
  • Breaches of conduct regulations regarding transparency and protection of the financial customer.
  • Good financial practices and usages established by supervisory authorities.
  • Abusive contractual clauses as defined in article 2.6 (clauses already declared abusive by courts or of identical significance).
• Economic amount (art. 42): only claims:
  • Regarding conduct regulations or abusive clauses whose claimed amount is less than 20,000 euros will be binding.
  • When the amount is “undetermined,” the rules established by regulation will be followed to decide if it is less than 20,000 euros.
  Claims for amounts equal to or greater than 20,000 euros will be resolved by non-binding resolution (art. 43.1).
• Prior claim before the entity (art. 32): it is an essential requirement:
  • Having previously submitted a claim to the customer service or customer ombudsman of the entity, or to the entity itself if it is not obliged to have such a service.
  • And that one month has passed, or there has been total or partial inadmission or dismissal.
• Deadline to go to the Authority (art. 38.2.e): the claim will be inadmissible if the customer goes to the Authority more than one year after having claimed before the entity or its customer service, except for transitional exceptions.
• Absence of parallel procedures (art. 3.3 and 38):
  • There cannot be a prior judicial or arbitration procedure on the same subject between the same parties, nor res judicata.
  • Use of the Authority is alternative to the civil route and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Correct standing (arts. 36 and 37): financial customers (natural or legal persons) and certain associations may claim; the claim must be directed against a financial entity as per article 2.2.
• Formal and admission requirements (arts. 33, 34, and 38):
  • The claim must be submitted through the channels and with the minimum content established by law and its regulatory development.
  • It must not be manifestly unfounded or vexatious; otherwise, it is inadmissible and small fines may be imposed on repeated claimants.
• Motivated resolution within the deadline (arts. 39 and 41): the Authority must issue a resolution within the maximum legal period, with sufficient reasoning and clear conclusions on the customer's claim.

3. Effects of the binding resolution and consequences of non-compliance

When the above requirements are met and, according to article 42, the claim ends in a binding resolution, the following effects occur:

• Direct obligation of compliance for the entity: the financial entity must execute the ordered measures:
  • Return amounts (principal, interest, undue commissions...).
  • Remove or not apply abusive clauses and redo settlements.
  • Cease conduct contrary to conduct regulations or good practices.
• Possibility of judicial review (final provision on the Civil Procedure Law and article 45 of the bill):
  • Both the customer and the entity may challenge the binding resolution before the civil jurisdiction by summary trial, within two months from notification (period incorporated into the Civil Procedure Law by the bill).
• Interruption of civil prescription (art. 40.2): filing the claim with the customer service and then with the Authority interrupts the prescription of judicial actions until the resolution.
• Sanctioning regime for non-compliance (arts. 59 to 65):
  • Non-compliance, late or defective compliance with binding resolutions constitutes an administrative infringement:
    • Serious if, due to number of affected parties, repetition, or effect on trust and financial stability, it is considered especially relevant (art. 59).
    • Minor in other cases (art. 60).
  • Fines are foreseen for entities and, if applicable, for administrators and executives (arts. 61 to 63), graduated according to severity, damages caused, repetition, etc.
  • Serious sanctions are published in the BOE with identification of the infringer and details of the infringement (art. 65), except justified exceptions.
• Enforceability of fines (additional provision 8): pecuniary sanctions imposed by the Authority must be paid to the Treasury and, if not paid on time, can be enforced through executive proceedings.

In summary, the bill establishes that only claims up to 20,000 euros, properly processed and within the deadline, after exhausting the entity's customer service and fitting within the scope of conduct rules, good practices, or abusive clauses, generate binding resolutions. These resolutions bind financial entities, whose non-compliance may be administratively sanctioned, without prejudice to the possibility of review by civil courts.