> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conduit.financial/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Spain

> How to collect KYB documents from business customers in Spain (ESP) when onboarding through the Conduit API.

## Overview

| Field | Value |
| - | - |
| Region | Europe |
| ISO 3166-1 | ES / ESP |
| Registry | Registro Mercantil |
| Last updated | 2026-05-06 |

## Identifiers

Collect two identifiers from each business customer in Spain and submit them as strings on the application body.

| API field | Local name | Issuer |
| - | - | - |
| `businessInfo.taxId` | **NIF** | AEAT |
| `businessInfo.businessEntityId` | **NIF** | AEAT |

*Tax ID:* The NIF is the universal entity identifier; also the registry reference for Registro Mercantil extracts. The número de hoja mercantil (sheet number in provincial register) is a secondary locator.

*Registration number:* The NIF is the universal entity identifier; also the registry reference for Registro Mercantil extracts. The número de hoja mercantil (sheet number in provincial register) is a secondary locator.

## Sector regulators

`Banco de España` · `CNMV` · `DGSFP` · `SEPBLAC`

## Legal structures

| Local name | Abbreviation | Description |
| - | - | - |
| Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada | S.L. | The default SME vehicle; quota-based limited-liability company with transferable but restricted participaciones. Minimum capital €1 (Ley 18/2022). Closest US equivalent: LLC. |
| Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada Unipersonal | S.L.U. | Single-member S.L.; unipersonal status is noted on the Registro Mercantil extract and must be declared. Closest US equivalent: Single-Member LLC (SMLLC). |
| Sociedad Limitada Nueva Empresa | S.L.N.E. | Simplified S.L. variant created by Ley 7/2003 for entrepreneurs; up to five natural-person founders at formation, capital €3,000–€120,000. Still registrable despite reduced usage post-Ley 18/2022. Closest US equivalent: LLC. |
| Sociedad Anónima | S.A. | Public-facing or large corporate form; freely transferable shares and minimum paid-in capital of €60,000. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Sociedad Anónima Unipersonal | S.A.U. | Single-shareholder S.A.; unipersonal status inscribed in the Registro Mercantil. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Sociedad Anónima Europea | S.E. | European public limited-liability company registered in Spain under EU Regulation 2157/2001; minimum capital €120,000, shares freely transferable across EU. Closest US equivalent: C-Corp. |
| Sociedad Colectiva | S.C. | General partnership; all partners bear unlimited joint and several liability for company debts. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Sociedad Comanditaria Simple | S. Com. | Limited partnership with at least one general partner (unlimited liability) and one limited partner (liability capped at contribution). Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Sociedad Comanditaria por Acciones | S.C.A. | Limited partnership whose limited-partner interests are represented by freely transferable shares; at least one general partner retains unlimited liability. Closest US equivalent: Limited Partnership (LP). |
| Empresario Individual / Autónomo | — | Sole trader operating under their own name or a trade name; no separate legal entity and unlimited personal liability. Registered in Censo AEAT (Form 036/037) and optionally in the Registro Mercantil. Closest US equivalent: Sole Proprietorship. |
| Sociedad Cooperativa | S. Coop. | Member-owned cooperative society governed by democratic control; registered with the Registro de Cooperativas (national or regional). Common in agriculture, housing, and worker-owned services. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Sociedad Laboral | S.A.L. / S.L.L. | Worker-majority SA (S.A.L.) or SL (S.L.L.) in which employees holding permanent contracts own at least 51% of share capital; registered in the Registro de Sociedades Laborales before Registro Mercantil inscription. Closest US equivalent: Cooperative. |
| Agrupación de Interés Económico | A.I.E. | Economic interest grouping enabling members to coordinate activities without forming a separate profit-seeking company; members bear unlimited joint liability. Must be inscribed in the Registro Mercantil. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Comunidad de Bienes | C.B. | Joint-ownership arrangement in which two or more persons co-own assets and share revenues; no separate legal personality or minimum capital. Registered with AEAT only. Closest US equivalent: General Partnership (GP). |
| Sucursal de Sociedad Extranjera | — | Branch of a foreign company operating in Spain; no separate legal personality, parent company bears full liability. Must be inscribed in the Registro Mercantil. Closest US equivalent: Branch/Rep Office. |

## How documents combine

For each evidence area, this table shows whether the listed documents are alternatives (any one of) or a bundle (all required). The artifact-by-artifact lookup follows below.

| Evidence area | Documents needed |
| - | - |
| Legal Registration | *Any one of:* Nota Simple · Certificación Registral |
| Constitutive Documents | *All required:* Escritura de Constitución + Estatutos Sociales |
| Tax Registration | *Any one of:* Certificado de Alta en el Censo · Tarjeta NIF |
| Operating Permit | *Any one of:* Licencia de Actividad · Licencia de Apertura |
| Ownership Records | *Any one of:* Libro-Registro de Socios · Libro-Registro de Acciones Nominativas |
| Governance Records | *Any one of:* Certificación Registral · Nota Simple |
| Signing Authority | *Any one of:* Escritura de Poder Notarial · Acta de Junta o de Consejo con facultades representativas |
| Address | *Any one of:* Contrato de arrendamiento · Factura de suministros · Estado de Cuenta Bancario |
| Good Standing | *Any one of:* Certificado de Vigencia · Certificación Registral |

## Documents to collect

The physical documents you'll collect from your customer, with the evidence area each one proves. One document can prove multiple areas — for example, Brazil's Cartão CNPJ covers both tax and business-registration proof, so it appears once with both areas listed.

| Document | Proves |
| - | - |
| **Nota Simple** | Legal Registration, Governance Records |
| **Certificación Registral (Registro Mercantil)** | Legal Registration, Governance Records, Good Standing |
| **Escritura de Constitución** | Constitutive Documents |
| **Estatutos Sociales** | Constitutive Documents |
| **Certificado de Alta en el Censo** | Tax Registration |
| **Tarjeta NIF (AEAT)** | Tax Registration |
| **Licencia de Actividad** | Operating Permit |
| **Licencia de Apertura (municipal)** | Operating Permit |
| **Libro-Registro de Socios (S.L.)** | Ownership Records |
| **Libro-Registro de Acciones Nominativas (S.A.)** | Ownership Records |
| **Escritura de Poder Notarial** | Signing Authority |
| **Acta de Junta o de Consejo con facultades representativas** | Signing Authority |
| **Contrato de arrendamiento** | Address |
| **Factura de suministros (≤90 días)** | Address |
| **Estado de Cuenta Bancario (≤90 días)** | Address |
| **Certificación Registral de Vigencia (Registro Mercantil)** | Good Standing |
| **Sector-Specific License** | Autorización del Banco de España (entidades de crédito / servicios de pago), CNMV authorization (investment firms), Autorización DGSFP |

### Collection notes

* **Legal Registration:** Obtain via sede.registradores.org. Nota simple is informational; Certificación is evidentiary. Provincial register for domicile; RMC for name/denomination index.
* **Constitutive Documents:** Paired: notarial deed (escritura) + statutes (estatutos). Both inscribed in the Registro Mercantil; confirmed by BORME publication.
* **Tax Registration:** Issued after Form 036 filing. NIF is provisional until notarial deed + Registro Mercantil inscription are provided. Definitive NIF confirmation letter from AEAT is the artifact to collect.
* **Operating Permit:** Issued by the ayuntamiento (town hall) of the premises municipality. Name varies by municipality; same substantive requirement.
* **Sector-Specific License:** Required only for regulated-sector customers.
* **Governance Records:** Administrator appointments inscribed in provincial Registro Mercantil; confirmed in extract.
* **Signing Authority:** Notarized POA most common. Board/members' meeting minutes (acta) with express grant of authority also accepted.
* **Address:** Conduit universal policy: lease (no time bound) OR utility bill OR bank statement, with utility/bank dated within 90 days. Same evidence satisfies both registered-address and operating-address checks.
* **Good Standing:** Order via sede.registradores.org from the provincial Registro Mercantil where the company is domiciled. The Certificación (evidentiary) is the formal good-standing instrument and confirms the company is legally constituted, not dissolved, and free of registry-recorded restrictions. The Nota Simple is informational and reflects register state at time of issue but is not evidentiary. Banks typically require issuance within 30 days; cross-border use commonly 60-90 days.

## Person roles

When you submit a person on the application body, set their `role` to one of Conduit's canonical `BusinessPersonRole` values. Use this table to map a local corporate-governance title onto the right canonical role.

| Local role | Canonical API role | Description |
| - | - | - |
| Administrador Único | `CONTROLLING_PERSON` | Sole director with day-to-day executive authority in S.L. |
| Administrador Solidario / Mancomunado | `CONTROLLING_PERSON` | Joint or several director(s); operational authority. |
| Consejero Delegado | `CONTROLLING_PERSON` | Executive director delegated by the board; primary day-to-day officer in S.A. |
| Consejero (Consejo de Administración) | `CONTROLLING_PERSON` | Non-executive board member on S.A. governing board. |
| Apoderado / Representante Legal | `LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE` | Holder of notarized power of attorney; authorized to bind the company. |

## Additional fields

Country-specific fields you'll need to collect during onboarding, beyond the document uploads.

| Field | Applies to | Reason |
| - | - | - |
| `DNI (for Spanish nationals) or NIE (for foreign individuals)` | shareholder | Registro Mercantil inscriptions and AEAT NIF filings require individual tax/identity numbers for all socios and administradores; notary refuses deed without valid DNI/NIE. |

## Notes

* Single identifier: NIF serves as both the registry number and the corporate tax ID — collect one certificate; both `businessInfo.taxId` and `businessInfo.businessEntityId` take the same value.
* The NIF is both the tax ID and the primary registry identifier — there is no separate "company registration number" distinct from the NIF in Spanish practice. Collect the NIF; it unlocks both the AEAT census record and the Registro Mercantil extract.
* Nota simple vs. Certificación: a nota simple is informational and lacks evidentiary value for legal or judicial purposes. For binding KYB use, request a certificación registral (signed by the registrar). The sede.registradores.org portal issues either form digitally.
* S.L. minimum capital of €1 (Ley 18/2022, eff. 2022-10-19): companies capitalized below €3,000 must reserve 20% of annual profits until capital + reserve = €3,000; partners bear joint and several liability for the shortfall in liquidation. Flag this risk tier in onboarding.


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