SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Gabriel Rodríguez-Ramos, RODRIGUEZ RAMOS ABOGADOS
spectuses for any financial instruments, or in the information that the company is required to publish and disseminate under securities market legislation regarding its resources, activities, and present or future business, with the aim of attracting investors or depositors, placing any type of financial asset, or obtaining financing by any means. 2.4 Public Officials Misappropriation of public funds is considered a crim - inal behaviour, with a new regulation having entered into force in January 2023 (LO 14/2022, published on 23 December 2023, and entered into force on 12 January 2024) including: • misappropriation of public assets (Article 432 CC); • use of public assets for private purposes (Article 432 bis CC); and • use of public assets for a purpose different from the one intended (Article 433 CC). Fraud in public procurement is also punished, includ - ing: • conspiring with interested parties or using any other means to defraud a public entity (Article 436 CC); and • demanding fees, charges, or tariffs that are not due or in amounts greater than those legally specified (Article 437 CC). Also introduced by the Organic Law 14/2022 (pub - lished on 23 December 2022, and entered into force on 12 January 2023), any authority who, during the performance of their function or position and up to five years after leaving them, has obtained an increase in assets or a cancellation of obligations or debts valued at more than EUR250,000 in relation to their accred - ited income, and openly refuses to comply with the requirements of the competent authorities aimed at verifying their justification, shall be punished with imprisonment for a period of six months to three years. 2.5 Intermediaries There is no specific provision for intermediaries, but non-public persons:
• can be considered a necessary collaborator (Article 28 CC) or accomplice (Article 29 CC) of the crimes committed by the public servant (with possible reduction of the imprisonment period; Article 65.3 CC); and • can be specifically considered as authors of: (a) improper influence over public officials and authorities (Article 429 CC); and (b) bribery of public officials and authorities to engage in improper conduct, who promotes or pays it (Article 424 CC), to gratify proper conducts (Article 421 CC) or due to his public position (Article 422). 2.6 Lobbyists There is no national legislation approved regarding lobbying activities. In 2022, the government proposed a Law on Transparency and Integrity in the Activities of Interest Groups that has not been approved. The parliaments of different regions of Spain have passed specific laws for their territories. • Aragón – Law 5/2017, of June 1, on Integrity and Public Ethics. • Asturias – Law 8/2018, of September 14, on Trans - parency, Good Governance, and Interest Groups. • Castilla-La Mancha – Law 4/2016, of December 15, on Transparency and Good Governance of Cas - tilla-La Mancha; Agreement of 9 May 2017, from the Governing Council, establishing the obliga - tion to publish the agendas of senior officials and equivalents within the Administration of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha and its autonomous bodies; Decree 7/2018, of February 20, from the Presidency of the Junta, approving the Ethical Code for Senior Officials or Equivalents of the Administration of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha; and Decree 8/2018, of Feb - ruary 20, from the Presidency of the Junta, creat - ing and regulating the Interest Groups Registry of Castilla-La Mancha. • Cataluña – Law 19/2014, of December 29, on Transparency, Access to Public Information, and Good Governance; Decree 171/2015, of July 28, on the Interest Groups Registry of the Administra - tion of the Generalitat and its public sector; Reso - lution JUS/2104/2015, of September 21, from the
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