Equipo

Nota jurídica

Accession by Spain to the Aircraft Protocol to the Cape Town Convention

03/03/2016

On 1 February 2016, the Official Spanish State Gazette ("BOE") published Spain's accession to the Protocol on matters specific to aircraft equipment (the "Aircraft Protocol") Convention on international interests in mobile equipment, known as the Cape Town Convention.

After a long process which began in 2013, this accession entails the definitive integration of Spain into the legal framework on international security interests created by the Convention with respect to «aircraft objects» (i.e. airframes, aircraft engines and helicopters). This accession is set to becomean extremely useful tool for facilitating the investment of foreign capital in Spain, which is one ofthe five leading European countries in the aviation market.

lnvestors in aircraft equipment seek to obtain legal certainty on the recovery of their credit rights (irrespective of whether these rights arise from the granting of financing stricto sensu or from leasing transactions). They also seek to gain legal certainty for the defence of their rights and interests over the high-value assets which are going to continue to be operated by their debtors and which regularly cross borders. More specifically, investors seek to guarantee that the enforcement oftheir rights and interests in a default scenario will not be affected by other security interests that might have been granted in accordance with local regimes or for any other reason.