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Types of financial products

Spanish investors have many financial investment alternatives. The following table summarises as simply as possible the most popular products and sets out the entities authorized to market them and the institution responsible for authorization and supervision.
Financial products
Supervisor of Type Product Entities that (trade) them National credit entities (banks, savings banks and credit cooperatives) Foreign credit entities (with a branch in Spain and those authorized to operate without a physical presence) Fixed income: Public debt (Treasury Bills, government bonds and debt of regional governments and of other public institutions) Private fixed income (commercial paper, bonds, convertible bonds, Brokers and dealers IIC(5) (6) management entities CNMV (except public debt supervised by the Bank of Spain) Bank of Spain the product Bank deposits Current and savings accounts Time deposits Foreign currency accounts

mortgage bonds, securitizations, etc) Foreign ESIs(7) (entities with a branch in Marketable securities Preference Shares Equities: Listed and unlisted shares Subscription rights and free allocation of shares Units in FIM(1) and FIAMM(2) Shares of SIM(3) and SIMCAV(4), Units or shares in foreign IICs(5) Spain and those authorised to operate without a physical presence) National credit entities Authorised foreign credit entities

Financial products (continued)

Supervisor of Type Other nonmarketable products Traded in regulated markets: Derivative products Financial futures and options and Product Mixed Untypical financial contracts CFA National credit entities Authorised foreign credit entities Brokers and dealers Authorized foreign ESIs(7) CNMV CNMV Entities that (trade) them the product

non-financial ones (commodities) National credit entities Warrants Structured products Products not traded on secondary Authorised foreign credit entities

OTC derivative products

markets OTC(9)): Forwards FRAs(10), Swaps, Options, Brokers and dealers Authorised Foreign ESIs(7) s National credit entities Foreign authorized credit entities Insurance companies Credit entities General Directorate of Insurance

Insurance products

Pension plans and funds Life savings products

1 2

Capital market mutual fund. Money market mutual fund. 3 Investment companies (closed-end). 4 Variable capital investment companies (open-end). 5 Collective investment institutions. 6 Only units of own managed funds sold. 7 Investment service company. 9 Over the Counter. 10 Forward rate agreement.

There are relatively unknown products that have, nevertheless, significantly penetrated retail investors, such as Preference Shares or Non-typical Financial Contracts. The return on Preference Shares is based on a company generating a certain profit, while Non-typical Financial Contracts combine the features of a time deposit and a derivatives product (usually an option on listed shares). The latter are high-risk products, whose return is higher than that of traditional deposits, but also they can generate losses in the capital invested. In order to be sure that an entity has been duly authorized, and so be able to find out about the product in the official registries, and check that this information coincides with the features, you should consult the following supervisors:
The CNMV in the case of fixed income, equities, derivatives and mutual funds. The Bank of Spain, for deposits, current accounts etc, that are contracted with Spanish and foreign commercial banks, savings banks and credit cooperatives. The General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds, for pension plans and funds and life savings product.