Spain Ends Anti-Money-Laundering Exemption: Small Firms Must Also Appoint a SEPBLAC Representative by July 2027
The Spanish government adopted Royal Decree 813/2026 on October 7, amending a series of financial-sector regulations. Its most far-reaching practical change abolishes the exemption that allowed small obliged entities to skip appointing a representative before SEPBLAC, Spain's anti-money-laundering executive service. The decree was published in the Official State Gazette on October 8 and enters into force on October 28.
Until now, Article 31.1 of the regulation implementing Law 10/2010 on anti-money laundering exempted a class of small obliged entities from designating a SEPBLAC representative. These include estate agents and developers, tax advisers, external accountants and auditors, lawyers acting for clients in property or corporate transactions, credit intermediaries, dealers in jewellery, precious metals, art and antiques, money changers and gambling operators, provided they employ fewer than ten people including agents and have annual turnover or a balance sheet of no more than €2 million.
The new rules keep these entities' other internal-control exemptions but remove the representative exemption: every obliged entity must now appoint a SEPBLAC representative, who acts as the authority's interlocutor and is responsible for information obligations. Small entities and small insurance brokers have a nine-month transitional period and must notify the appointment by July 28, 2027. A representative may designate up to two authorised persons, or three within a business group.
The government says the reform updates Spain's anti-money-laundering rules for new risks, technologies and international requirements, as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) began its mutual evaluation of Spain in 2026.
(Source: Official State Gazette of Spain)
Source: Official State Gazette of Spain
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Banco de España (Madrid) 05.jpg。CC BY-SA 3.0 | Luis García (Zaqarbal)，Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Banco de España (Madrid) 05.jpg. CC BY-SA 3.0 | Luis García (Zaqarbal), via Wikimedia Commons.
