Competition Law, Business, and Legal Systems: A Comprehensive Overview

Posted on Nov 14, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

Competition: A Normal Human Behavior

Competition is normal human behavior; it’s the effort to obtain what others also want. Companies strive for what others want to market: suppliers and customers. Freedom of competition is governed by competition or antitrust laws, based on free enterprise:

  • Free access to market goods and services
  • Freedom of decision regarding activity
  • Freedom to cease business operations

Competition and antitrust laws show that the economy is based on free competition. Competition law prohibits certain conduct, seeks to control business concentration, and regulates state aid to companies. Prohibited conduct includes cartels (agreements between companies to restrict competition) and abuse of a dominant position (exerting undue market influence).

Unfair competition protects market participants, including consumers and the public interest. Any behavior objectively contrary to good faith is deemed unfair. Unfair competition includes acts of confusion, comparison, and imitation; violation of secrecy; manipulation of others’ will; and incitement to breach of contract. Illegal advertising includes advertising that undermines human dignity, infringes constitutional rights, or is misleading or subliminal. Victims can take action to remove illegal advertising.

Competition Law: Insolvency Proceedings

Competition law addresses cases where a debtor’s assets are insufficient to meet obligations. A meeting of creditors occurs when numerous creditors are owed money the debtor cannot repay.

Competition proceedings may conclude through an agreement between the debtor and creditors (offering a rebate and waiting period) or liquidation (liquidating the debtor’s assets to pay creditors). Special bankruptcy laws apply to credit institutions and investment banks (involving the Bank of Spain) and insurance entities (involving the Ministry of Economy).

The competition budget aims to address bankruptcy (a debtor’s inability to meet obligations). The debtor may voluntarily file for bankruptcy, or a creditor may seek assistance. Insolvency must be proven through a lack of assets after legal proceedings. A creditor may also initiate proceedings if the debtor fails to pay, assets are impaired by attachments, assets are concealed, or there is widespread non-compliance with tax obligations, salaries, or social security fees.

Voluntary bankruptcy requires a detailed business record, asset and rights inventory, creditor list, claims, and annual dues. Upon submission, the judge issues a decision and provides advertising (registration or extra-registral). Once admitted, receivers (a lawyer, accountant, and creditor) are appointed. Except in special cases, the debtor may continue operations. The declaration of bankruptcy may involve house arrest and communication restrictions for the debtor.

Competition may be fortuitous or culpable. Culpable competition involves malice or gross negligence, such as breach of accounting duty or inaccuracies in the application. In culpable cases, the debtor’s property management is disabled.

Competition aims to create equality among creditors and halt creditor activities. The passive mass (all creditors in the competition) comprises claims against the bankrupt at the declaration time. Creditor claims are classified as priority, privileged, and ordinary. Preferential claims are secured by mortgage or pledge, with special privilege (lien or mortgage) or general privilege (wages and taxes). Subordinated claims are created by fines. Unsecured claims are those that are neither privileged nor subordinate.

Competition ends through agreement or asset liquidation if an agreement is impossible. Liquidation suspends the bankrupt’s administrative powers and accelerates outstanding debt maturity. If concluded by agreement, the agreement must be fulfilled.

Enterprise: Key Concepts and Elements

Concepts and integral elements of the company: The company organizes production factors (capital and labor) to provide goods or services for profit. Distinguish between the employer’s activities and the means of operation (real or personal):

  • Real: Movable and immovable property, rights, or sets of economic relations that are neither property nor rights.
  • Personal: Workers and others (interdependent and subordinates)

The Registry and its importance in business: The Registry (under the Ministry of Justice) registers persons, things, or events related to business. Its functions include:

  • Registration of individual entrepreneurs and societies (voluntary and compulsory)
  • Legalization of business books
  • Centralization and publication of employer information

Industrial and intellectual property: Intellectual property belongs to the inventor or discoverer of industrial inventions, and to the manufacturer, producer, or trader of distinctive signs. There are distinctive signs and inventions. Intellectual property differs from intellectual property with industrial application.

The brand: Any graphically representable sign distinguishing one undertaking’s goods or services from another. Trademarks and trade names distinguish entrepreneurs’ products. Brands help customers identify products and prevent confusion. Brands can be registered with the Patents and Trademarks Office, granting exclusive use. Brands have economic value and can be subject to real rights (transmitted, bought, sold, mortgaged, etc.). Owners must use the brand to prevent expiry. A trade name is a graphically representable sign identifying a company and distinguishing it from others.

The patent: A state-issued certificate granting exclusive rights to an invention with industrial application for 20 years. Patents require an inventive step and industrial application. The patent holder has exclusive use for 20 years. Patents must be new inventions with industrial application. The right belongs to the inventor, heirs, or employer (for employee inventions). Patents can be sold or licensed.

Legal Relations: Subjective Rights and Duties

The legal relationship: A legal relationship exists between two or more persons (natural or legal) linked by obligations and rights. There’s an active subject (entitled to something) and a passive subject (obligated to something). Sometimes, the system determines the rights and obligations.

Individual rights: Subjective rights are an individual’s power to defend their interests. The law grants a time limit for exercising rights; otherwise, they are lost. Rights are acquired originally (when dealing with something) or derivatively (when buying a right from someone). Rights can be extinguished by prescription (acquisition or loss of rights over time). Usucapion is the acquisition of property or real rights over time. Statute of limitations is the loss of rights over time.

The legal duty: An action or omission imposed on a person regarding a legal right. Subjective rights imply duties, derived from law or voluntarily.

The Legal System

Concept of Law: The set of rules governing relations between people. Law regulates behavior and resolves social conflicts. Rules are legal norms, backed by coercive powers (Courts of Justice).

Purpose of law:

  • Order: Limiting individual powers
  • Security: Regulating state-citizen relations
  • Justice: Giving everyone what they deserve (St. Thomas Aquinas)

Classes:

  • Public Law: Rules governing general interests. Regulates government and public bodies and their relationships (e.g., tax, labor, criminal procedure, administrative law).
  • Private Law: Regulates individual interests. Safeguards fundamental interests. Includes:
    • Civil Law: Deals with individuals, governing everyday life. Based on Roman law (e.g., persons, family, property).
    • Commercial Law: Regulates business and economic activity. Governs employer-merchant and merchant-consumer relations. Based on the Commercial Code, revolving around commercial companies and businesses.

Rule of law: A mandatory rule enforced coercively. Characteristics:

  • Compulsory
  • Coercive

Legal norms are mandatory for all addressed. They are backed by the state. Key elements:

  • Factual
  • Legal consequence

Some rules assign rights rather than obligations. Legal norms are general and abstract, not directed at one person. Classification:

  • Common law (for all)
  • Special law (for certain sectors)
  • General law (for all territory)
  • Particular law (for certain sectors)
  • Imperative norms (mandatory, cannot be modified)
  • Permissive norms (can be modified)

Principle of autonomy: “Contracting parties may establish covenants, terms, and conditions, provided they are not contrary to morality, law, or public order” Judges use analogy when a legal standard is lacking.

Courts apply and interpret laws. Interpretations include:

Sources of legal norms: The origin of legal rules is in the sources of law (rules governing a country). There are positive rules in force, rules born of habit, and jurisprudence. Latin countries prioritize law, while Germanic countries prefer custom. Anglo-Saxon countries prioritize jurisprudence (precedent).

Sources of law are law, custom, and general principles of law.

The Act: A state-originated, written standard. Intrinsic characteristics (rationality and universality) and extrinsic characteristics (promulgation and communication).
The 1978 Constitution established a democratic system based on popular sovereignty. It includes a framework of freedoms and rights. The Constitutional Court interprets the constitution.
Lawmaking involves proposing a bill, committee debate, congressional vote, Senate approval, government submission to the King, judicial review, enactment, and publication in the Official State Gazette. It takes effect 20 days later (deferred system) or immediately (instant system).
Laws may be unconstitutional or illegal (contradicting a higher law) or may involve legal evasion (acting under one norm to undermine another).
Types of law:

  • Organic laws (require absolute majority for repeal or amendment)
  • Ordinary laws
  • Autonomous laws (addressing conflicts between the state and autonomous communities)
  • Legislative decrees (issued by the government in cases of extreme necessity)
  • Regulations (issued by the executive branch)
  • Ministerial orders, resolutions, circulars
  • International treaties
  • Concordats of the Holy See

Community law is binding on all member states. Types:

  • Original/primary law: Treaties establishing the Community
  • Secondary legislation: Regulations and directives from European institutions

Laws generally have no retroactive effect, with some exceptions.

Custom: An unwritten rule manifested in general will through uniform and repeated use. Requirements:

  • Continuous, durable, and uniform use
  • Belief in its legal status
  • Not contrary to morality or public order
  • Provable

Law is written, custom is unwritten. Law is created by the state, custom by the people. Law is reflexive, custom is spontaneous. Custom disappears when it stops being practiced or when a law replaces it. Types of custom:

  • Custom as law (secundum legem)
  • Custom against law (contra legem)
  • Custom outside law (praeter legem)

The Subject of Law

The person: Concept The person is a basic subject justifying the existence of legal norms, which aim to resolve conflicts between them.

Beginning and end of personality:

  • Birth: Civil law recognizes personality at birth, requiring registration in the Civil Registry. The Civil Registry is public. Inscriptions are made in four books (birth, marriage, guardianship, death). Birth determines legal capacity (ability to possess and enjoy rights) and capacity to act (ability to perform legally binding acts).
  • Protection of the conceived and unborn: The conceived but unborn child is protected for purposes favorable to it, provided it is born in human form within 24 hours of birth.
  • Extinction of personality: Death extinguishes personality. Personal rights are extinguished, but economic rights are transmitted to heirs. Inheritance covers assets, rights, and obligations. Distribution is governed by wills.

Marital status: Legal situations affecting a person. Types:

  • Minority of age: Minors have legal capacity but not capacity to act. Emancipation (independence from parents or guardians) may occur through marriage, parental consent, or the child’s request. Emancipation has limitations (e.g., borrowing or selling assets without parental consent).
  • Majority of age: Adults are capable of all civil acts, except for some exceptions (e.g., adoption).
  • Marriage: Affects spouses’ capacity. The Constitution recognizes the right to marry with legal equality. Spouses must respect, live together, be faithful, and help each other. Marriage has restrictions on working hours. Catholic marriages have civil effects. Separation, annulment, and divorce are possible. Divorce requires a year after separation. Marriage is dissolved by death or divorce.
  • Death: Recorded in the registry office. Opens the issue of succession. Declaration of death occurs when a person disappears and nothing is known of them.
  • Domicile: Residence where a person lives and operates. Important for determining rights and obligations. Special cases include family units and traders.
  • Nationality: The link between a person and a country. Legal systems regulate acquisition, loss, and recovery of nationality. In Spain, nationality is attributed based on parentage and place of birth.
  • Civil neighborhood: Based on residence and nationality. Types: origin (parentage and birth) and derivative (choice and residence).

The legal entity: A group of people or properties governed by persons to whom the law assigns legal capacity to act. It’s a human organization aiming to achieve a goal.

Classes: The Constitution recognizes three types:

  • Corporations: A group of people with a statute and common purpose. Civil capacity is governed by established laws.

The Subject of Economic and Business Activity

Employers:
Legal concept of employer: A person (natural or legal) using a company to perform economic activity in their own name. Characterized by initiative, organization, management, and risk-bearing. Employers are liable with all their assets.
Legal status of employer: The set of rules applying to employers. Requires registration in the Commercial Register (except for individual entrepreneurs). Obligations include maintaining documentation. In crisis, special mechanisms (receivership or bankruptcy) apply. Legal persons must create a company through a public deed and register it.
Acquisition, testing, and loss of employer capacity: Requires minimum age and free disposal of assets. Prohibitions include bankruptcy and special laws. Loss of status requires liquidation, death, or incapacitation.
Types of employer:

  • Commercial business: A natural or legal person performing market trade, business, or service. Has special legislation. Can be individual (performing economic activity in their own name) or collective (groups of people with a public deed and registration).
  • Civil businessman: Governed by the Civil Code, performing market economic activity.

Employer’s responsibility: Profit-seeking involves risk and liability. Employers are liable with all their assets. Liability is contractual (arising from a contract) or extra-contractual (not arising from a contract).
The employer’s accounts: The Commercial Code requires employers to keep proper accounts.

Legal persons in the field of business:
Partnerships:

  • General partnership: All partners participate in the same name, with equal rights and duties. Partners have unlimited, personal, and joint and several liability. Requires a deed and registration. Industrial partners contribute labor, not capital. Profits and losses are shared proportionally. Managers are liable to partners and third parties.
  • Limited partnership: Coexistence of general partners (unlimited liability) and limited partners (liability limited to contribution). Limited partners provide capital only and cannot manage the company. Requires a deed and registration. Only general partners represent the company.
  • Limited partnership by shares: Capital is divided into shares. One partner manages and has general liability; others do not manage but participate in the organization. Follows Company Law where the Commercial Code is silent. General partners have unlimited, personal, joint and several, and subsidiary liability.
  • Economic Interest Groups (EIGs): Foster collaboration between firms. Have legal personality. Aim to facilitate partner activity, not profit for themselves. Partners are jointly and severally liable for social debt, after the society. Requires a deed and registration.

Capitalist societies:

  • Company (SA): Capital is divided into shares. Partners are not personally liable for company debts. Requires minimum capital (€60,101), shares, and harmless partners. The purpose must be lawful, specific, and feasible. Designation must include”S” and indicate Spanish nationality. Requires a deed and registration. Social bodies include the General Meeting, Board of Directors, and Auditors. Shares have economic, political, or mixed rights. Capital can be increased or decreased. Transformation, merger, and division are possible. Dissolution may be caused by agreement, term fulfillment, merger, demerger, or bankruptcy. Liquidators pay creditors and distribute assets to partners.
  • Limited Liability Company (SRL): Mix of SA and partnership. Capital is divided into shares, but partners are not personally liable. Cannot issue bonds. Minimum capital is €3,010. Designation includes”SR”. Requires a public deed and registration. Social bodies include the General Meeting and administrators. Shares are indivisible, cumulative, not freely transferable, and not securities. Capital can be increased or decreased. Transformation, merger, and division are possible. Dissolution may be caused by time, specified grounds, or agreement.

The employee: Voluntarily provides paid service under the organization and direction of an employer. Characteristics:

  • Free and voluntary activity
  • Paid activity
  • Dependent activity
  • Employer bears labor costs

Exceptions include home workers, specific regulated activities, mandatory personal benefits, family or friend work, company counselors or directors, and those operating their own business.

The Obligation

Concept: A duty or behavior to be performed. A relationship between two or more persons where one (debtor) must benefit another (creditor). The creditor can take action against the debtor for non-compliance. The obligation highlights different phases of trade:

  • Debtor holds a good and exercises rights over it.
  • Debtor undertakes to convey the property to the creditor.
  • Creditor obtains the right.

Structure: Creditor (power to require service provision) and debtor (legal duty).
Subject and object of the obligation: Creditor requires conduct from the debtor. The object must be lawful, determined, and possible.
Kinds of obligations: Positive (to do or give something) or negative (to refrain from doing something). Multiple creditors or debtors can be joint, joint and several, or in common. Obligations can be temporary or durable (continuous or periodic). They can be alternative (debtor chooses from options) or optional (debtor can choose an alternative). They can be generic or specific. They can be divisible or indivisible. They can be unilateral or bilateral. They can be principal or accessory. They can be pure (payable immediately), conditional (subject to a condition), or with a term (payable at a future date). Pecuniary obligations involve money. Money debt must be satisfied with money; debt value refers to situations where money is used as compensation. Stabilization clauses address money value changes over time.
Payment or performance of obligations: Payment extinguishes obligations. Special forms of payment include allocation of payments, payment in kind, payment by dation in payment, and tender of payment. Special forms of fulfillment include remission (creditor forgives debt), confusion (creditor and debtor become the same person), compensation (reciprocal debts), and novation (creating a new obligation to replace an old one).
Obligation failure can be total (involuntary – due to force majeure or fortuitous event; or voluntary – due to debtor’s fault) or relative (partial compliance, delayed compliance, flawed compliance).
Obligation modifications include objective changes (changing the object) and subjective changes (changing the debtor or creditor). Subjective changes in the creditor include assignment of credit (transferring credit to a third party) and subrogation (a third party pays the debt and takes the creditor’s place). Conservative measures include subrogation actions, actions to set aside fraudulent acts, and direct action.

The Contract

Concept: An agreement of wills on an object and cause, creating obligations. Guided by autonomy and freedom of contract (parties can establish covenants unless contrary to law, morality, or public order). The General Law of Consumers and Users protects consumer rights. Autonomy of will allows individuals to create contracts and incorporate clauses.
Elements: Consent, object, and cause.
Consent: Agreement of intent by the parties. Vices of consent include error, violence, intimidation, and fraud. Voidable contracts can be canceled; void contracts have no effect. Consent is formed through offer and acceptance. The Law on General Conditions of Contract addresses adhesion contracts (no negotiation).
Object: The subject matter of the contract. Must be certain, lawful, and possible.
Cause: The exchange of benefits and justification for obligations. Contracts are valid and effective if the parties have a cause.
Form: Written or oral. Some contracts require written or deed form.
Contract formation: Training phase and perfection/enforcement phase.
Classification: Consensual (perfected by consent), formal (requires specific form), real (requires delivery), typical (regulated by law), atypical (not regulated), bilateral (obligations for both parties), unilateral (obligations for one party), onerous (benefit sought), gratuitous (no benefit sought), commutative (certain benefits), aleatory (uncertain benefits), adhesion (one party imposes terms).

Typical Contracts of Economic Activity

The sale: One party (seller) conveys a thing or right to another (buyer) for a price. Bilateral and consensual. Requires capacity to act. Buyer pays the price; seller delivers the thing and warrants against hidden defects. Civil Code regulates real estate sales. Distinguish from exchange (both parties convey things) and donation (one party gives something freely). Related to appraisal contract (one party delivers things, the other sells them and returns the price) and supply contract (one party makes successive deliveries for a fee).
Content: Personal elements (buyer and seller), real elements (thing and price), formal elements (general contract rules), rights and duties of parties, and warranty (legal and peaceful possession, and useful).
Property and money: Thing must be existing, determined, and lawfully traded. Price must be true, in cash or equivalent, and determined.
Civil purchase: Delivery of a chattel with deferred payment (over three months). Requires written agreement. Specialties include retention of title, early payment, seller’s right to demand payment or terminate for non-payment, and buyer’s right to cancel within seven days.
Commercial sales: Sales of goods for profit or sales by employers where the buyer also uses the goods for business. Seller delivers and warrants against hidden defects; buyer pays the price.
Sale of company: Transmission of a company for a price. Requires delivery and payment.

Leasing of things: One party (lessor) gives another (lessee) the use or enjoyment of a thing for a price. Governed by the Civil Code. Consensual, bilateral, onerous, and can be oral or written. Lessor’s obligations include keeping the lessee in enjoyment, delivery, and necessary repairs. Lessee’s obligations include paying the price, using the thing as agreed, and responsibility for deterioration.
Urban leasing: Leases of urban properties for non-housing or housing uses. Can be extended up to five years. Assignment and subletting require landlord’s consent.
Rural leasing: Leases of farms for agricultural, livestock, or forestry use. Minimum duration of six years. Tenant has right of first refusal or withdrawal.
Company leasing: Temporary transmission of a company’s use or operation. Includes premises and business assets. Not regulated; governed by contract terms.
Leasing of work and service: Leasing of work involves executing a work to achieve a result. Leasing of service involves providing a service regardless of the outcome.

Contracts of guarantee: Reinforce receivables to ensure satisfaction. Secure creditor rights in case of debtor insolvency.
Guarantees: Increase debtor liability. Can involve the debtor or a third party. Types include arras (amounts of money or things to mediate payment), penalty clause (sum of money for non-compliance), deposit (leaving something as security), and guarantee (one or more persons agree to meet the debt). Guarantee is extinguished when the principal obligation is extinguished.
Security interests:

  • Pledge: Surrendering movable property as security.
  • Mortgage: Right on property to ensure fulfillment of a claim.


The service contract: One party provides a service to another for a price. Can be manual or intellectual. Onerous and consensual. Duration can be specified or unspecified. Provider’s obligation is to provide the service properly; creditor’s obligation is to pay. Termination can be due to fulfillment of the agreed period or just cause.

The contract of work: One party performs work; the other pays. Consensual, onerous, commutative, and typically informal. Aims to obtain a specific result. Requires a guarantee of the result. Construction contracts have specific laws.
Characters:

  • Content: Work must be accurate and determined. Price can be per work unit or a fixed price. Contractor may provide work and materials or just work. Contractor’s obligations include performing and delivering the work; principal’s obligations include paying the price.
  • Termination: General obligation causes, unilateral withdrawal by the principal, contractor’s death, or contractor’s failure to complete the work.
  • Responsibilities: Those involved in construction are liable for breaches of contract.


The contract of carriage: Carrier moves people or goods for a price. Commercial when goods are for trade and the carrier is a businessman. Special contract, onerous, bilateral, informal, and results-oriented. Requires specific administrative law for each transport type. Types include passenger, cargo, or mixed; sea, land, or air; national or international; ordinary or special; regular or occasional; and combined transport (multiple carriers).
Characters: Real elements (goods and price). Shipper’s duties include delivering goods; carrier’s duties include receiving, checking, carrying, delivering on time and without damage, and custody. Carrier is liable for delays or losses unless liability is excluded by contract.

The agency contracts: Employer permanently assumes the task of promoting or contracting, on behalf of another, in a given area. Characteristics include a term contract, commercial entrepreneurs, payment depending on agreement, exclusivity, and non-competition clauses.

The distribution contracts: One party (distributor) acquires goods for resale in their own name, defending the manufacturer’s interests. Types include exclusive distribution (exclusive area and product), selective distribution (no exclusive area), and franchising (franchisor transmits brand, knowledge, training, and sometimes products or materials; franchisee pays fees and percentages). Franchising is atypical and follows rules of related contracts by analogy. A franchise register exists in Spain.

The financing contracts: Providing money for return with or without interest. Types include credit agreements (funded or unfunded), loan (banking contract – money is borrowed and must be returned), leasing (triangular contract – leasing company, financed company, and manufacturer), factoring (assigning debt to a factor for collection), and equipment rental.
Loan: Borrowing money and returning the same amount. Real contract (perfected by delivery), unilateral (obligations arise for one party), and can be civil or commercial, simple or use, determinate or indeterminate duration, cash or securities, with or without security, or for consumption, production, or investment.
Leasing: Atypical contract. Leasing company transfers periodic income, including write-down of the object, to the financed company. Includes leaseback (owner sells to leasing company) and sale and leaseback (owner sells to leasing company and leases it back). Minimum duration is two years for property and ten years for real estate. Leasing companies require permits.
Factoring: Assigning debt to a factor for collection. Factor may assume collection risk.
Equipment rental: Delivering equipment for rent.

The contracts of insurance: One party (insurer) indemnifies another (insured) for damage from a specified event for a premium. Tightly controlled by the administration. Only authorized companies can engage in insurance. Insurers act through agents or intermediaries. Consensual, bilateral, onerous, and aleatory. Insured’s obligations include paying premiums and reporting incidents. Insurer’s obligation is to indemnify. Types include property, liability, credit, personal, accident, and health insurance. Insurance policies must meet minimum requirements and include all restrictive clauses. In damage insurance, the value considered is the value before the incident, not exceeding the insured sum. Full insurance matches the value and insured sum; underinsurance is when the insured sum is lower; supraseguro is when it is higher.

The bank contracts: Voluntary agreements creating, modifying, or terminating banking relationships. Requires authorization for credit institutions. Credit institutions have different categories (banks, savings banks, credit unions). Mandatory accounting and asset-liability relationships. Transparency requirements and Bank of Spain oversight. Bank of Spain intervenes in crises and reimburses depositors up to a limit.
Rating: Professionally provided money, securities, or other securities. Includes credit agreements and management agreements. Assets include credit (loan, discount, letter of credit, opening credit) and liabilities (deposit, discount). Management includes transfer and current account.
Contracts Credit:

  • Loan: As seen in funding.
  • Discount: Bank deducts interest and advances the amount of a deferred monetary claim. Bilateral, onerous, atypical, and informal. Bank’s obligations include advancing the amount, refraining from claiming until the deadline, and due care. Contract’s obligations include transmitting credit and paying interest.
  • Regular Opening Credit: Bank is obligated to make money available up to a limit. Documented by a credit facility. May include collateral and personal guarantees. Bank maintains availability and charges fees and interest. Customer must return the money. Can be terminated by either party.
  • Documentary Credit: Issuing bank promises to pay the creditor upon submission of agreed documents. Involves the payer, issuing bank, beneficiary, and intermediary bank.

Liabilities:

  • Deposit: Bank collects funds for advising or investment. Bank assumes obligation to restore funds and pay interest. Classified by repayment deadline (sight or term) and instrumentalization (current account, savings account, simple).
  • Rediscount: Discounting bills of exchange (securities incorporating a right of recovery).

Management contracts: Include securities deposit, bank transfer, safe deposit box rental, and credit card issuance. Credit cards provide deferred payment for goods and services. Fees are charged regardless of use.
Contract Current Account: Bank provides box service and accounts of operations. Governed by printed conditions.
Transfer: Bank transfers funds; a separate contract included in the current account.