The complaints were primarily directed against credit institutions, in particular banks, as opposed to investment services firms and other entities.
Reported by Consejeros Editorial Team
The Complaints Service of the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) recorded the highest volume of complaints in the last 10 years in 2025. According to the annual report published this week, the regulator received 1,398 written submissions and closed 1,273 cases, which, according to the institution, reflects investors’ increasing use of defence mechanisms against banks and other financial institutions.
The complaints were primarily lodged by individuals (97.4%), the majority of whom were resident in Spain, and were submitted electronically.
Of the complaints accepted for processing, 40.6 per cent resulted in a report unfavourable to the complainant, 34.1 per cent were settled by agreement between the parties before the CNMV issued its ruling, and 23.3 per cent resulted in a report favourable to the investor.
It is worth noting that, of this latter group, in 82 per cent of the complaints, the institutions stated that they accepted the criteria set out in the report and/or rectified the complainant’s situation, meaning that the client’s claims were not met in only 27 cases.
Reasons for and classification of complaints
The most common complaints lodged with the CNMV related to
post-trade information provided by financial institutions (24.9%), issues with buy and sell orders (20.9%) and fees charged by financial institutions (17.7%).
By type of product concerned, complaints relating to collective investment undertakings (CIUs) accounted for 42.3% of the total, whilst those relating to other types of securities, such as equities, private fixed-income securities, structured products or derivatives, accounted for the remaining 57.7%.
Complaints were primarily directed against credit institutions, in particular banks, given that the banking sector dominates this business in Spain, as opposed to investment services firms and other institutions.
