Royal Decree-Law 34/2020 of 17 November on urgent measures to support corporate solvency and the energy sector, and on tax matters

OFFICIAL STATE BULLETIN No. 303 Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Sec. I. Page 100489 I. GENERAL PROVISIONS HEAD OF STATE 14368 Royal Decree-Law 34/2020, of 17 November, on urgent measures to support corporate solvency and the energy sector, and on tax matters. I The health crisis caused by COVID-19 has completely changed the global economic scenario. The measures of physical distancing and limitations on mobility, necessary and effective to control the transmission of the virus, are having a huge impact on productive activity, with a very significant reduction in income received by companies and self-employed individuals. This situation has increased the liquidity needs of self-employed individuals and companies, which have been covered, to a large extent, thanks to the guarantee lines made available to them by the Government of Spain, which, according to various international organizations, are among the most successful in the European Union. Indeed, since the beginning of the crisis, measures have been adopted aimed at resolving the liquidity problems of companies and self-employed individuals, first, and at supporting their investment decisions, through the new investment guarantee line, and their solvency, through the creation of the Fund for the Support of the Solvency of Strategic Companies, more recently. With this Royal Decree-Law, the line of supporting the solvency of companies in the face of the prolongation of the effects of the crisis is continued, through the adoption of measures in the financial and insolvency fields. The deadline initially established for the granting of those guarantees ended on 31 December 2020, in accordance with what was initially established in European Union regulations on State Aid. However, in the fourth amendment of the Temporary Framework for State Aid, the European Union has extended the availability period of the guarantees released under its scope until 30 June 2021. The evolution of the pandemic has led to the establishment of a new state of alarm that extends beyond 2020 and to restrictive measures on activity both in Spain and in other European countries that extend the exceptional situation for business decision-making. In this context, it is appropriate to align Spanish regulation with this new deadline. Consequently, through this Royal Decree-Law, the same date of 30 June 2021 is established as the limit for the granting of public guarantees to meet the liquidity needs of self-employed individuals and companies, thereby modifying what is provided in Article 29 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, and Article 1 of Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July. Furthermore, to reinforce the measures of support for liquidity and solvency and to expand their scope, this Royal Decree-Law establishes that promissory notes incorporated into the Alternative Fixed Income Market (MARF) may benefit from the guarantees, as Royal Decree-Law 15/2020, of 21 April, already did with respect to the guarantee line included in Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March. In this way, the maintenance of financing sources provided by capital markets is encouraged, and not only through traditional banking channels. In this case, as in the previous ones, the conditions of the guarantees will be established by Agreement of the Council of Ministers. On the other hand, in order to promote access to financing for companies and self-employed individuals and to prevent potential liquidity tensions from turning into solvency problems, this Royal Decree-Law provides that debtors who benefit from a loan with a public guarantee granted under Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, may request an extension of its maturity, which will be accompanied by an extension of the same term for the public guarantee. In this way, financial entities must extend the maximum term of guaranteed loans by up to three additional years for those debtors who meet a series of requirements and request it. Loans from this same line that may be granted in the future will also see their maximum term increased to 8 years, under the conditions established by the corresponding Agreement of the Council of Ministers. The guarantees that are granted within the framework of the line of 40 billion euros, approved by Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July, can already reach a maximum maturity of 8 years. The possibility is also foreseen that customers who meet the eligibility requirements marked in this Royal Decree-Law obtain an extension of the grace period on the payment of the principal of the guaranteed loan for a maximum of 12 months, thus establishing a maximum total grace period of 24 months. This measure will apply both to loans with a released guarantee under Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, and to those granted on the basis of Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July. Finally, the obligation is established for financial entities to maintain the limits of current lines until 30 June 2021 for all those customers who meet the eligibility requirements and benefit from a guaranteed loan both under Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, and Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July. In order to minimize the costs derived from this extension, this Royal Decree-Law provides for a reduction in notarial and registry fees, in cases where these had to be paid for the novation, postponement, registration, or elevation to public deed or intervention of the corresponding operations. Finally, the possibility is introduced that the Official Credit Institute may directly request information from the Risk Information Center of the Bank of Spain, with the aim of speeding up the procedures related to the verification of defaults in the Risk Information Center communicated to it by the financial entities granting the loans related to the COVID-19 guarantee lines. On the other hand, in order to promote access to capital for SMEs, it is considered appropriate to introduce measures that incentivize the development of alternative financing markets and, in particular, of expansion SME markets, to guarantee adequate access to non-bank financial resources. With this object, the consolidated text of the Securities Market Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015, of 23 October, is modified, and the capitalization threshold from which a company is obliged to request that the trading of its shares pass from being carried out exclusively in an expansion SME market to being carried out in a regulated market is raised. It is considered that this increase will stimulate the depth and liquidity of the expansion SME markets and increase their attractiveness, which will result in greater resources for these companies and contribute to fostering the variety of financing sources available to them. At the same time, the COVID-19 health crisis may mean that many Spanish companies suffer a drop in their income that leads, on a transitory basis as a consequence of the exceptional situation, to meeting the conditions that normally reflect a situation of insolvency and would lead to entering one of the causes that would require requesting the declaration of creditors' insolvency proceedings. The generalized application of these requirements in an exceptional and transitory context, which does not reflect the asset situation of the companies, could trigger a process of paralysis of economic activity with potential negative impact on financial stability. In this context, it was necessary to approve a series of measures in the field of the Administration of Justice, first approved within the framework of Royal Decree-Law 16/2020, of 28 April, on procedural and organizational measures to face COVID-19 in the field of the Administration of Justice, and subsequently, after parliamentary processing, confirmed with the approval of Law 3/2020, of 18 September, on procedural and organizational measures to face COVID-19 in the field of the Administration of Justice. These rules introduced a series of measures that have proven fundamental from a procedural and protection point of view for companies and the economy in general. The measures adopted in the insolvency and corporate law fields have managed to avoid declarations of insolvency or the opening of the liquidation phase regarding companies that could be viable under general market conditions (going concern value higher than liquidation value). This has avoided a possible chain effect, with the corresponding economic paralysis, restriction of liquidity, destruction of productive tissue and jobs, allowing, ultimately, companies that can refinance or restructure their debt, to obtain liquidity and compensate for the decrease in their net equity, thus protecting a base for the restoration of asset equilibrium once the exceptional situation derived from the pandemic ends, thereby reinforcing the continuity and solvency of the entire economic system and financial stability. With this Royal Decree-Law, some of the measures adopted by Law 3/2020, of 18 September, are extended, which are considered necessary to preserve with the following objective: Maintain the economic continuity of companies, professionals, and self-employed individuals who suffer economic difficulties derived from the exceptional situation caused by the pandemic or who, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, had been regularly meeting their economic obligations, as well as those derived from an agreement, an out-of-court payment agreement, or a refinancing agreement. In this way, on the one hand, the suspension of the duty to request the declaration of creditors' insolvency proceedings is extended to 14 March 2021, as well as the judge's obligation to admit for processing the requests for necessary insolvency presented by creditors. Also, the temporal scope of the measures of non-admission for processing of a declaration of breach of refinancing agreement, convention, or out-of-court payment agreement is expanded, always conditioned to the renegotiation of a new agreement or convention. This regime, which was in force for breach requests presented until 31 October, continues to apply in its same terms. What this Royal Decree-Law establishes is the possibility of applying it to requests for declaration of breach that are presented between 31 October 2020 and 31 January 2021. Another issue to highlight lies in Chapter V of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, on urgent extraordinary measures to face the economic and social impact of COVID-19, which in its Articles 40 and 41 established a series of extraordinary measures applicable to the functioning of administration and government bodies and to the convening of general meetings and assemblies of private law legal entities, simultaneously establishing extraordinary measures applicable in the field of listed joint-stock companies during the 2020 fiscal year. Some of those extraordinary measures were associated with the duration of the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, by which the state of alarm and its extensions were declared, or had a validity period ending on 31 December 2020. The different typology of private law legal entities subject to our legal system made it necessary to regulate these aspects in two distinct provisions, Articles 40 and 41 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, basically differentiating the exceptional regime applicable to listed joint-stock companies (Article 41) and the regime of the rest of private law legal entities (Article 40). As mentioned above, the current situation of the COVID-19 health crisis and the declaration of a new state of alarm by Royal Decree 926/2020, of 25 October, extended by the Congress of Deputies until 9 May 2021 –although with a different scope than that declared last March–, along with the decisions adopted in numerous Autonomous Communities and other European countries, makes it necessary to extend the duration of some of the exceptional measures adopted by Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March. In particular, it is considered essential that all capital companies regulated in the consolidated text of the Capital Companies Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010, of 2 July, and the rest of private law legal entities (civil societies, cooperative societies, and associations) that have not been able to modify their bylaws to allow the holding of general meetings or assemblies of members or shareholders by telematic means, may continue to use these means during the 2021 fiscal year, thus guaranteeing the rights of minority members or shareholders who could not travel physically to the place of holding the meeting or assembly. The requirement that the secretary recognize the identity of the members or shareholders, and thus express it in the minutes, is maintained, and in the case of listed joint-stock companies, the holding of the general meeting in any place on national territory continues to be permitted. Likewise, and for the same reasons, the possibility of holding by telematic means the meetings of the board of trustees of foundations is extended for the year 2021. In another order of things, the impact of the global crisis triggered by COVID-19 makes it necessary to protect the strategic sectors of our economy. This situation motivated the modification of Law 19/2003, of 4 July, on the legal regime of capital movements and economic transactions with the outside, adding a new Article 7 bis suspending the liberalization regime of certain foreign direct investments in Spain. Since the situation caused by COVID-19 persists, through the single transitional provision, a transitional regime is established until 30 June 2021 by which the suspension of liberalization regime of certain foreign direct investments regulated in paragraphs 2 and 5 of the aforementioned Article 7 bis, will also apply to foreign direct investments on companies listed in Spain, or on unlisted companies if the value of the investment exceeds 500 million euros, carried out by residents of other countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. For these purposes, companies listed in Spain will be considered those whose shares are, in whole or in part, admitted to trading on a Spanish official secondary market and have their registered office in Spain. For the purposes of this transitional regime, foreign direct investments will be understood as those investments as a result of which the investor comes to hold a participation equal to or greater than 10 percent of the share capital of the Spanish company, or when as a result of the corporate operation, act, or legal transaction, control of said company is acquired in the sense of Article 7.2 of Law 15/2007 on the Defense of Competition, whether they are carried out by residents of countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association other than Spain, or if they are carried out by residents in Spain whose real ownership corresponds to residents of other countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. It will be understood that there is that real ownership when the latter possess or control, directly or indirectly, in the last instance, a percentage greater than 25% of the capital or voting rights of the investor, or when by other means they exercise direct or indirect control of the investor. Additionally, through the fourth final provision, Article 7 bis of Law 19/2003, of 4 July, on the legal regime of capital movements and economic transactions with the outside, is modified to adjust procedural issues and clarify the definitions of sectors affected by the suspension of the liberalization regime of foreign direct investments in Spain. On the other hand, the reform of letter a) of paragraph 1 of Article 28 of the consolidated text of the Securities Market Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015, of 23 October, aims to guarantee continuity in the functions of the National Securities Market Commission. Specifically, it is foreseen that after the end of the mandate of the President, Vice President, and non-ex officio Councilors, they may continue in the exercise of their functions until the appointment of those who succeed them. To conclude, Article 25 of Law 46/1998, on the Introduction of the Euro, establishes that from 1 July 2002, the exchange of banknotes and coins denominated in pesetas for banknotes and coins in euros will be carried out exclusively by the Bank of Spain, after the corresponding rounding in accordance with what is provided in Article 11 of this Law. It also establishes that the period for the exchange of peseta banknotes and coins for euros at the Bank of Spain will end on 31 December 2020, so that after this date it will not be possible to exchange peseta banknotes and coins for euros. Despite the time elapsed since the issuance of banknotes and coins in euros in Spain, there is still a significant number of citizens who possess banknotes and coins in pesetas pending exchange for euros. The expansion of the pandemic and the necessary measures to prevent and contain contagion have altered the possibility of exchange for many citizens due to mobility restrictions to go to the Bank of Spain. At this moment, there is high uncertainty regarding the evolution of the pandemic and the pace at which full mobility of citizens can be recovered to carry out the exchange operations of pesetas before 31 December of this year. For these reasons, the extension of the exchange period for banknotes is proposed for a period of six months, so that citizens can exchange banknotes and coins for euros at the Bank of Spain until 30 June 2021. II This Royal Decree-Law incorporates into our legal order the legislative changes introduced by Directive (EU) 2019/692 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 17 April 2019, amending Directive 2009/73/EC on common rules for the internal market for natural gas, with the object of reducing obstacles to the full realization of the internal market for natural gas that derive from the inapplicability of Union market rules to transport pipelines destined for or originating in countries not belonging to the European Union. The novelties introduced in Law 34/1998, of 7 October, on the hydrocarbon sector, primarily seek, first, to establish a procedure that enables the person holding the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge to grant, upon application by the interested party, an exemption regarding the separation of ownership between the activities of transport and marketing or production of natural gas and regulated and non-discriminatory access to its facilities, provided for in Article 49 bis of the Directive, for transport pipelines originating in third countries not belonging to the European Union, which have been completed prior to 24 May 2019. On the other hand, it is intended to guarantee the possibility for holders of interconnection pipelines with countries not belonging to the European Union, and which are already built as of the entry into force of the Directive, to adopt a model that contemplates the figure of the Independent Manager for their management. Finally, a negotiation procedure is regulated, between Member States, in this case the Kingdom of Spain, with third countries, regarding natural gas transport networks, under the supervision of the European Commission. On the other hand, pursuant to Article 49 bis of Directive 2009/73/EC, transport pipelines originating in countries not belonging to the European Union completed before 23 May 2019 and having their first connection point with the network of a Member State located in Spain are temporarily exempted, for a period of fourteen months, from compliance with the conditions relating to the separation of ownership of transport and marketing activities, as well as regulated access to the facilities required in Law 34/1998, of 7 October, on the hydrocarbon sector. Likewise, any eventual exemption of longer duration must comply with the mechanism established in Article 71 bis of Law 34/1998, of 7 October. At the same time, the maximum limit of transfers to the electrical system coming from the revenues of the auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances is increased, with the limits of ninety percent of total revenue and up to a maximum of one billion euros. The maximum limit of transfers to actions against climate change coming from the revenues of the auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances is also increased, with the limits of ten percent of total revenue and up to a maximum of one hundred million euros. The crisis of COVID-19 on the demand and prices of electricity has caused a reduction in the regulated revenues of the electrical system, both those coming from access tariffs, directly proportional to the contracted power and energy consumed, and those linked to the collection of taxes created by Law 15/2012, of 27 December, on fiscal measures for energy sustainability, which depend directly on the amount of electricity consumed and generated and on the value of said energy in the market. Current estimates of revenues and regulated costs require adopting measures aimed at minimizing transient deviations within the 2020 fiscal year, which affect the liquidity of liquidation subjects, as well as potential...

cve: BOE-A-2020-14368 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

OFFICIAL STATE BULLETIN No. 303 Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Sec. I. Page 100490 may be granted in the future will also see their maximum term increased to 8 years, under the conditions established by the corresponding Agreement of the Council of Ministers. The guarantees that are granted within the framework of the line of 40 billion euros, approved by Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July, can already reach a maximum maturity of 8 years. The possibility is also foreseen that customers who meet the eligibility requirements marked in this Royal Decree-Law obtain an extension of the grace period on the payment of the principal of the guaranteed loan for a maximum of 12 months, thus establishing a maximum total grace period of 24 months. This measure will apply both to loans with a released guarantee under Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, and to those granted on the basis of Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July. Finally, the obligation is established for financial entities to maintain the limits of current lines until 30 June 2021 for all those customers who meet the eligibility requirements and benefit from a guaranteed loan both under Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, and Royal Decree-Law 25/2020, of 3 July. In order to minimize the costs derived from this extension, this Royal Decree-Law provides for a reduction in notarial and registry fees, in cases where these had to be paid for the novation, postponement, registration, or elevation to public deed or intervention of the corresponding operations. Finally, the possibility is introduced that the Official Credit Institute may directly request information from the Risk Information Center of the Bank of Spain, with the aim of speeding up the procedures related to the verification of defaults in the Risk Information Center communicated to it by the financial entities granting the loans related to the COVID-19 guarantee lines. On the other hand, in order to promote access to capital for SMEs, it is considered appropriate to introduce measures that incentivize the development of alternative financing markets and, in particular, of expansion SME markets, to guarantee adequate access to non-bank financial resources. With this object, the consolidated text of the Securities Market Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015, of 23 October, is modified, and the capitalization threshold from which a company is obliged to request that the trading of its shares pass from being carried out exclusively in an expansion SME market to being carried out in a regulated market is raised. It is considered that this increase will stimulate the depth and liquidity of the expansion SME markets and increase their attractiveness, which will result in greater resources for these companies and contribute to fostering the variety of financing sources available to them. At the same time, the COVID-19 health crisis may mean that many Spanish companies suffer a drop in their income that leads, on a transitory basis as a consequence of the exceptional situation, to meeting the conditions that normally reflect a situation of insolvency and would lead to entering one of the causes that would require requesting the declaration of creditors' insolvency proceedings. The generalized application of these requirements in an exceptional and transitory context, which does not reflect the asset situation of the companies, could trigger a process of paralysis of economic activity with potential negative impact on financial stability. In this context, it was necessary to approve a series of measures in the field of the Administration of Justice, first approved within the framework of Royal Decree-Law 16/2020, of 28 April, on procedural and organizational measures to face COVID-19 in the field of the Administration of Justice, and subsequently, after parliamentary processing, confirmed with the approval of Law 3/2020, of 18 September, on procedural and organizational measures to face COVID-19 in the field of the Administration of Justice.

cve: BOE-A-2020-14368 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

OFFICIAL STATE BULLETIN No. 303 Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Sec. I. Page 100491 These rules introduced a series of measures that have proven fundamental from a procedural and protection point of view for companies and the economy in general. The measures adopted in the insolvency and corporate law fields have managed to avoid declarations of insolvency or the opening of the liquidation phase regarding companies that could be viable under general market conditions (going concern value higher than liquidation value). This has avoided a possible chain effect, with the corresponding economic paralysis, restriction of liquidity, destruction of productive tissue and jobs, allowing, ultimately, companies that can refinance or restructure their debt, to obtain liquidity and compensate for the decrease in their net equity, thus protecting a base for the restoration of asset equilibrium once the exceptional situation derived from the pandemic ends, thereby reinforcing the continuity and solvency of the entire economic system and financial stability. With this Royal Decree-Law, some of the measures adopted by Law 3/2020, of 18 September, are extended, which are considered necessary to preserve with the following objective: Maintain the economic continuity of companies, professionals, and self-employed individuals who suffer economic difficulties derived from the exceptional situation caused by the pandemic or who, prior to the COVID-19 crisis, had been regularly meeting their economic obligations, as well as those derived from an agreement, an out-of-court payment agreement, or a refinancing agreement. In this way, on the one hand, the suspension of the duty to request the declaration of creditors' insolvency proceedings is extended to 14 March 2021, as well as the judge's obligation to admit for processing the requests for necessary insolvency presented by creditors. Also, the temporal scope of the measures of non-admission for processing of a declaration of breach of refinancing agreement, convention, or out-of-court payment agreement is expanded, always conditioned to the renegotiation of a new agreement or convention. This regime, which was in force for breach requests presented until 31 October, continues to apply in its same terms. What this Royal Decree-Law establishes is the possibility of applying it to requests for declaration of breach that are presented between 31 October 2020 and 31 January 2021. Another issue to highlight lies in Chapter V of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, on urgent extraordinary measures to face the economic and social impact of COVID-19, which in its Articles 40 and 41 established a series of extraordinary measures applicable to the functioning of administration and government bodies and to the convening of general meetings and assemblies of private law legal entities, simultaneously establishing extraordinary measures applicable in the field of listed joint-stock companies during the 2020 fiscal year. Some of those extraordinary measures were associated with the duration of the state of alarm declared by Royal Decree 463/2020, of 14 March, by which the state of alarm and its extensions were declared, or had a validity period ending on 31 December 2020. The different typology of private law legal entities subject to our legal system made it necessary to regulate these aspects in two distinct provisions, Articles 40 and 41 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March, basically differentiating the exceptional regime applicable to listed joint-stock companies (Article 41) and the regime of the rest of private law legal entities (Article 40). As mentioned above, the current situation of the COVID-19 health crisis and the declaration of a new state of alarm by Royal Decree 926/2020, of 25 October, extended by the Congress of Deputies until 9 May 2021 –although with a different scope than that declared last March–, along with the decisions adopted in numerous Autonomous Communities and other European countries, makes it necessary to extend the duration of some of the exceptional measures adopted by Royal Decree-Law 8/2020, of 17 March. In particular, it is considered essential that all capital companies regulated in the consolidated text of the Capital Companies Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 1/2010, of 2 July, and the rest of private law legal entities (civil societies, cooperative societies, and associations) that have not been able to modify their bylaws to allow the holding of general meetings or assemblies of members or shareholders by telematic means, may continue to use these means during the 2021 fiscal year, thus guaranteeing the rights of minority members or shareholders who could not travel physically to the place of holding the meeting or assembly. The requirement that the secretary recognize the identity of the members or shareholders, and thus express it in the minutes, is maintained, and in the case of listed joint-stock companies, the holding of the general meeting in any place on national territory continues to be permitted. Likewise, and for the same reasons, the possibility of holding by telematic means the meetings of the board of trustees of foundations is extended for the year 2021. In another order of things, the impact of the global crisis triggered by COVID-19 makes it necessary to protect the strategic sectors of our economy. This situation motivated the modification of Law 19/2003, of 4 July, on the legal regime of capital movements and economic transactions with the outside, adding a new Article 7 bis suspending the liberalization regime of certain foreign direct investments in Spain. Since the situation caused by COVID-19 persists, through the single transitional provision, a transitional regime is established until 30 June 2021 by which the suspension of liberalization regime of certain foreign direct investments regulated in paragraphs 2 and 5 of the aforementioned Article 7 bis, will also apply to foreign direct investments on companies listed in Spain, or on unlisted companies if the value of the investment exceeds 500 million euros, carried out by residents of other countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. For these purposes, companies listed in Spain will be considered those whose shares are, in whole or in part, admitted to trading on a Spanish official secondary market and have their registered office in Spain. For the purposes of this transitional regime, foreign direct investments will be understood as those investments as a result of which the investor comes to hold a participation equal to or greater than 10 percent of the share capital of the Spanish company, or when as a result of the corporate operation, act, or legal transaction, control of said company is acquired in the sense of Article 7.2 of Law 15/2007 on the Defense of Competition, whether they are carried out by residents of countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association other than Spain, or if they are carried out by residents in Spain whose real ownership corresponds to residents of other countries of the European Union and the European Free Trade Association. It will be understood that there is that real ownership when the latter possess or control, directly or indirectly, in the last instance, a percentage greater than 25% of the capital or voting rights of the investor, or when by other means they exercise direct or indirect control of the investor. Additionally, through the fourth final provision, Article 7 bis of Law 19/2003, of 4 July, on the legal regime of capital movements and economic transactions with the outside, is modified to adjust procedural issues and clarify the definitions of sectors affected by the suspension of the liberalization regime of foreign direct investments in Spain. On the other hand, the reform of letter a) of paragraph 1 of Article 28 of the consolidated text of the Securities Market Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 4/2015, of 23 October, aims to guarantee continuity in the functions of the National Securities Market Commission. Specifically, it is foreseen that after the end of the mandate of the President, Vice President, and non-ex officio Councilors, they may continue in the exercise of their functions until the appointment of those who succeed them. To conclude, Article 25 of Law 46/1998, on the Introduction of the Euro, establishes that from 1 July 2002, the exchange of banknotes and coins denominated in pesetas for banknotes and coins in euros will be carried out exclusively by the Bank of Spain, after the corresponding rounding in accordance with what is provided in Article 11 of this Law.

cve: BOE-A-2020-14368 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

OFFICIAL STATE BULLETIN No. 303 Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Sec. I. Page 100492 It also establishes that the period for the exchange of peseta banknotes and coins for euros at the Bank of Spain will end on 31 December 2020, so that after this date it will not be possible to exchange peseta banknotes and coins for euros. Despite the time elapsed since the issuance of banknotes and coins in euros in Spain, there is still a significant number of citizens who possess banknotes and coins in pesetas pending exchange for euros. The expansion of the pandemic and the necessary measures to prevent and contain contagion have altered the possibility of exchange for many citizens due to mobility restrictions to go to the Bank of Spain. At this moment, there is high uncertainty regarding the evolution of the pandemic and the pace at which full mobility of citizens can be recovered to carry out the exchange operations of pesetas before 31 December of this year. For these reasons, the extension of the exchange period for banknotes is proposed for a period of six months, so that citizens can exchange banknotes and coins for euros at the Bank of Spain until 30 June 2021. II This Royal Decree-Law incorporates into our legal order the legislative changes introduced by Directive (EU) 2019/692 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 17 April 2019, amending Directive 2009/73/EC on common rules for the internal market for natural gas, with the object of reducing obstacles to the full realization of the internal market for natural gas that derive from the inapplicability of Union market rules to transport pipelines destined for or originating in countries not belonging to the European Union. The novelties introduced in Law 34/1998, of 7 October, on the hydrocarbon sector, primarily seek, first, to establish a procedure that enables the person holding the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge to grant, upon application by the interested party, an exemption regarding the separation of ownership between the activities of transport and marketing or production of natural gas and regulated and non-discriminatory access to its facilities, provided for in Article 49 bis of the Directive, for transport pipelines originating in third countries not belonging to the European Union, which have been completed prior to 24 May 2019. On the other hand, it is intended to guarantee the possibility for holders of interconnection pipelines with countries not belonging to the European Union, and which are already built as of the entry into force of the Directive, to adopt a model that contemplates the figure of the Independent Manager for their management. Finally, a negotiation procedure is regulated, between Member States, in this case the Kingdom of Spain, with third countries, regarding natural gas transport networks, under the supervision of the European Commission. On the other hand, pursuant to Article 49 bis of Directive 2009/73/EC, transport pipelines originating in countries not belonging to the European Union completed before 23 May 2019 and having their first connection point with the network of a Member State located in Spain are temporarily exempted, for a period of fourteen months, from compliance with the conditions relating to the separation of ownership of transport and marketing activities, as well as regulated access to the facilities required in Law 34/1998, of 7 October, on the hydrocarbon sector. Likewise, any eventual exemption of longer duration must comply with the mechanism established in Article 71 bis of Law 34/1998, of 7 October. At the same time, the maximum limit of transfers to the electrical system coming from the revenues of the auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances is increased, with the limits of ninety percent of total revenue and up to a maximum of one billion euros. The maximum limit of transfers to actions against climate change coming from the revenues of the auction of greenhouse gas emission allowances is also increased, with the limits of ten percent of total revenue and up to a maximum of one hundred million euros.

cve: BOE-A-2020-14368 Verifiable at https://www.boe.es

OFFICIAL STATE BULLETIN No. 303 Wednesday, 18 November 2020 Sec. I. Page 100493 The crisis of COVID-19 on the demand and prices of electricity has caused a reduction in the regulated revenues of the electrical system, both those coming from access tariffs, directly proportional to the contracted power and energy consumed, and those linked to the collection of taxes created by Law 15/2012, of 27 December, on fiscal measures for energy sustainability, which depend directly on the amount of electricity consumed and generated and on the value of said energy in the market. Current estimates of revenues and regulated costs require adopting measures aimed at minimizing transient deviations within the 2020 fiscal year, which affect the liquidity of liquidation subjects, as well as potential...