About

The Spanish Deposit Guarantee Scheme (Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos de Entidades de Crédito), known as FGD, was set up with the aim of guaranteeing deposits and securities held by credit institutions and is responsible for carrying out any actions it considers necessary to reinforce the solvency and functioning of credit institutions. As such, the FGD is responsible for managing and funding the Asset Protection Schemes (“EPA”), one of the main legal resources implemented by the Spanish Government for the rescue of struggling banks. In this regard, the role of FGD’s legal team is twofold: on the one hand, it is responsible for drafting and negotiating the EPAs, which are atypical and very complex contracts subject to private law, while on the other hand, it controls and supervises the divestment on the assets protected under the EPA in, usually, very complex transactions involving many different parties. Among a multitude of achievements over the past few years, the legal team has been commended for showing an innovative approach in by protecting the interest and savings of approximately 15,000 customers during the bankruptcy proceedings of Banco de Madrid in 2015. Another key area of praise for the legal team has been its handling of the challenging financial regulations in Spain. Jointly with each member state’s counterparts, the FGD co-leads the adaptation and implementation of the new rules that arose from the creation of the European Deposit Insurance Scheme (“EDIS”), which aims to strengthen the Banking Union, buttress bank depositor protection and reinforce financial stability.