Lawyers and economists from all over the country have mobilized en masse to modify the new regulations that regulate the figure of the bankruptcy administrator, the professional appointed by the judge to supervise bankruptcy proceedings. A regulation that is the result of the reform of the bankruptcy law, which came into force last year, adapting Spanish legislation to European legislation.
Over the last few days, the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, the General Council of Economists of Spain and several associations of bankruptcy administrators – among which Anepri and Aspac – have presented allegations to the royal decree that develops the bankruptcy regulations. “Despite the political situation, the predisposition of the Ministries of Justice and Economy has been good, better than we expected. We trust that our proposals will be attended to,” say sources from the sector who met with technical and political representatives last week. Among the many allegations that have been presented, those that affect the entrance test, the fees and the qualifications of professionals trained to perform this function stand out in particular.
Regarding the access test (to obtain a new professional title of bankruptcy administrator), more details are requested about the conditions and greater laxity in the exemption from taking the test, for those professionals who already have experience in this field. According to some entities, the minimum of 20 competitions completed to be exempt from this exam is too high. According to the General Council of Economists, only a few large firms located in the main provinces would be exempt since three quarters of the bankruptcy proceedings in Spain are concentrated in Madrid, Catalonia and Andalusia. “This situation could lead to a concentration of the sector, leaving a significant number of perfectly prepared administrators out of the market,” says president Valentí Pich. In the same sense, the General Council of Spanish Lawyers has stated in a statement: “the new regulations are elitist, they aim to move from a current balanced model to a closed and exclusive model, expelling from the practice the vast majority of professionals who currently "They are developing these functions in a solvent manner."
Furthermore, the Anepri association believes that the requirement of 20 completed competitions should be eliminated in favor of only 20 competitions, whether they are concluded or not, since the judicial system usually works slowly.
Regarding fees, the entities consider it absurd that remuneration has remained unchanged since 2004, despite price inflation over the last 19 years. Among the measures proposed by the Aspac association, the establishment of a minimum tender fee of 2,565 euros stands out. Furthermore, the General Council of the Legal Profession requests that compensation be within standards consistent with the dedication of each of the cases, whether they are more or less complex.
Sharedly, the different groups consider it nonsense that the regulations do not specify the necessary university qualification and, even less so, that it is not even requested to be an official degree qualification.
For this reason, it is proposed that the university degree takes the form of studies related to the development of administration functions such as lawyers, economists, business graduates or account auditors.
Among other requests, the General Council of Economists proposes the requirement of continuous training, a requirement established by European Union regulations.
