The creation of the legal figure Societies of Benefit and Common Interest (SBIC) recognized in Spain by companies that generate a social and environmental benefit, in addition to an economic return, has been possible thanks to the political consensus reached in the Congress of Deputies at the end of June. The proposal was received in Create and Grow Law Project, through a compromise amendment.
The announcement was made during the presentation of this legal proposal at the Congress, organized by B Lab Spain and Talent for the Future with the support of political youth and opinion leaders from civil society. The compromise amendment was supported by the Socialist Group, Popular Group, Confederal Group and also has the signature of More Countryamong others, with the opinion approved in the Committee on Economic Affairs.
Among the supports for the bill, framed in the “Companies with a Purpose” initiative coordinated by B Lab Spain, stand out the more than 30,000 signatures collected through Change.org, which were also delivered in Congress with the support of 400 organizations and 50 personalities, including organizations such as Oxfam Intermón, Save the Children and Economists Against the Crisis; academics such as Alberto Montero, Víctor Lapuente or Toni Roldán; journalists like Iñaki Gabilondo and Ana Pastor; or activists like Laura Baena (Club de Malasmadres) and Nacho Dean.
Pablo Sánchez, executive director of B Lab in Spain, and Elsa Arnaiz, from Talento para el Futuro, offered the details of the bill, in an act in which Antón Costas, president of the CES, as well as members of the Commission also participated. of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, headed by its secretary, Pedro Casares, together with representatives of the youth of the political parties, and different opinion leaders such as Concepción Galdón, academic director of social innovation at IE University, Patricia Gabeiras, founding member of the law firm Gabeiras y Asociados, Miguel Alba, head of inequality and the private sector at Intermón Oxfam and Mikel García-Prieto, general director of Triodos Bank. They all discussed the new economic model and the key role that Purpose-Driven Companies will play in it, to guarantee a more responsible and sustainable future for future generations.
New legal figure
With the aim of promoting a transforming vision of the economy and the role of business in Spanish society, the Spanish Government has launched the “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan: Spain Can”, with which the country intends to articulate the recovery from the crisis caused by COVID-19. However, for this recovery to be fair, effective and responsible, it is necessary to guide the business sector towards creating value for the whole of society.
In this sense, B Lab Spain, a non-profit organization that promotes the B Corp movement in Spain, has coordinated the initiative #CompaniesWithPurpose to request their legal recognition as Societies of Benefit and Common Interest, as is already the case in countries such as France or Italy. Encouraging and accelerating the creation and growth of this legal figure will be key to aligning business objectives with those of the 2030 Agenda, thus stimulating compliance with high social, environmental and good corporate governance standards in the Spanish business fabric.
Pablo Sánchez, executive director of B Lab Spain, has underlined that: “As happened in France with the Loi Pacte, the framework of the Business Creation and Growth Bill is a great opportunity to include a regulation that recognizes companies with a purpose (SBIC), making them participants in a more responsible future. The inclusion of the legal recognition of purpose-driven companies in this Bill today places Spain at the forefront of promoting a transformative vision of the economy and the role of the company.”
