2023-05-14 12:29:59
The bill creating the new Financial Client Authority, a new supervisory agency that will unify the criteria for managing claims between customers and banks, will face its last step in Congress this week with its debate and vote in plenary. Except for a last-minute surprise, the Lower House will approve this bill after having passed its phase in committee with the only rejection by Vox -which at the time presented an amendment to the entirety for not considering the Authority necessary- and the abstention from PP and Junts. Of course, in order to have obtained sufficient support, the original text has been amended by various groups during the parliamentary process.
The most relevant modification, and which was the one that raised the most obstacles at the beginning, was the rate at which it would be financed this new organism. Initially, the Government proposed a fixed rate of 250 euros that the banks would have to pay every time the Authority admitted for processing a customer complaint. This idea was rejected by several parliamentary groups and also by the banking sector.
However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs opened up to negotiating the financing of the entity, so that the final formula is quite different from the original approach. Thus, several groups reached an agreement through a transactional amendment to apply a new system that rewards the banks that reach more agreements with their clients and more punishes those that comply less. The new idea, which was already included in the report of the Presentation, will no longer be to demand 250 euros per claim, but rather that the Financial Authority will charge a annual rate that will vary depending on the entity and the agreements reached.
Late Payment Amendment
But the bill not only regulates the creation of this new entity. It also includes other legislative modifications related to the operation of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) and in matters of subsidies. On this last point, an amendment was introduced at the last minute to allow delinquent companies to participate in subsidies above the 30.000 euros from European funds.
Specifically, it is a new provision that modifies the General Subsidies Law 38/2003 to allow entrepreneurial companies to benefit from the aid deployed within the framework of the last anti-crisis decree, approved in December 2022. Of course, a review will be made after six months and if the company is not up to date with the payment, the effective collection of the subsidy will be required in full.
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This was not the only change introduced in commission. A new formula was also included to make the form of financing of the projects chosen within the framework of the aid of the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of Microelectronics and Semiconductors, known as Chip Loss.
On the other hand, modifications related to guaranteeing better attention in banks for people with disabilities and greater punishment in the form of fines for those claims that are presented in bad faith were included.
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