SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Alla Serebrianskaia, Marta de Francisco, Sara Lao and Laura Llorca, Asensi Abogados
The main application requirements are as follows. • It must be a corporate entity with minimum share capital and an exclusive corporate purpose. • There must be corporate documentation in order to accredit compliance with all the requirements. Among these documents, both the regional and federal regulator request the submission of an offi- cial public deed identifying the ultimate beneficial owner. • If the entity is not based in Spain, it must have a permanent representative in Spain for notification purposes. • It must be up to date with the Tax Agency and social security authorities. • To prove economic solvency, notwithstanding the submission of other documentation, the applicant must deposit an economic guarantee and pro- vide annual accounts or other declarations in this regard. • Other documentation must also be submitted, such as: (a) an AML policy; (b) the responsible gambling policy; (c) a business plan; (d) agreements with providers; and (e) a fraud prevention manual. • Certain declarations must be signed by the direc- tors and shareholders of the applicant entity (ie, that they have not been convicted of a criminal offence). The Spanish Gambling Act also requires the directors and shareholders of the applicant entity to disclose information about their relatives (spouse, cohabitant, ascendants and descendants older than 18) in order to inscribe them in the registry of individuals linked to the operator, since these individuals cannot gamble on the relevant operator’s website. 4.7 Application Timing The timing of the application process depends on the applicable regulation, type of licence and condi- tions approved by the corresponding public tender, if applicable. For instance, the last window to apply for general licences for online gambling at a federal level was opened for one year, with interested parties being entitled to apply for their licences between December
2017 and December 2018. The DGOJ had a term of six months from the submission of the relevant appli- cations to issue or refuse the licences. Initially, the licences are granted with a provisional nature. To obtain definitive licences, operators must submit the definitive certification report of the tech- nical systems to the DGOJ within a maximum term of four months from the provisional granting. Once the certification documentation is submitted, the DGOJ proceeds with the review and the granting of the definitive licences within a maximum term of two months. Operators can start operating with the pro- visional licence. The duration of regional licences depends on each regional regulation and, if applicable, on the condi- tions of the public tender process. Customarily, it takes between three and six months from the sub- mission of the application for the regulator to review and proceed with the granting of the relevant licence. 4.8 Application Fees For online gambling licence applications at a federal level, entities must pay the following administrative fees: • EUR10,615.20 for each general and single licence that the entity is applying for; • EUR2,653.81 for each general and single licence for the inscription in the General Registry of Gam- ing Licences; and • a one-off fee of EUR40,337.76 for the homologa- tion of the licences by the DGOJ. For regional licence applications, the cost depends on the region and the type of licence applied for. 4.9 Ongoing Annual Fees For online gambling licences at a federal level, there is an annual fee of 0.075% of turnover, which operators need to pay by January 31st each year. For regional licences, the ongoing annual fee depends on the region and type of licence.
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