Spanish Securities Commission publishes working papers on low female board representation and on supervisory issues in private capital markets

The Spanish Securities Commission (CNMV) has released two new Working Papers, one assessing women’s representation in governance bodies and management of unlisted supervised financial entities, and another examining the evolution of private capital and credit markets in Europe and Spain and the related supervisory considerations. The governance paper finds women remain under-represented in leadership, holding only 14% of board seats in investment services firms and 16% in asset management firms, a situation compared with listed companies before the recommendations of Spain’s Corporate Governance Code; it also points to persistent structural and cultural barriers and sets out recommendations to improve representation. The private capital markets paper describes the key cyclical and structural factors behind recent growth in private markets, their increasing role in financing larger and later-stage transactions, and the possible impact on the declining weight of regulated markets in Europe; it also notes that Spain’s private equity investment relative to GDP, as well as its typology and destination, are broadly similar to other European countries. From a supervisory and investor-protection perspective, it highlights that while private market assets do not currently appear to pose an immediate systemic threat, the rapid growth of private credit and its links to financial and insurance entities warrants heightened monitoring, and that safeguards are needed when marketing illiquid private equity and private debt instruments to retail investors due to limited information, valuation difficulties and potential conflicts of interest.