The Bosch Aymerich Family Business Chair at the UIC Barcelona Faculty of Law celebrated the second day of “Succession and Family Business” on 12 May. The session, organised with the Catalan College of Economists and the Catalan Family Business Association (ASCEF) with the support of the Bosch Aymerich Foundation, was attended by prestigious professionals and teachers from the world of family business.

The event, which was divided into three panels of experts and was presented by Carmen Jover, secretary of the board of governors of the Catalan College of Economists and president of Fiscalistes CEC; Dr Jordi de Juan, director of the UIC Barcelona Bosch Aymerich Family Business Chair and Jaume Alsina, secretary of the ASCEF.

The first table, titled “Challenges and risks of succession in the family business”, was moderated by the notary Antoni Bosch and was attended by Jordi de Juan and Dr Pilar Marqués, lecturer at the University of Girona. The speakers pointed out the importance of the family business in our economy and tried to identify the causes of its decline. “The family business is dying. Only 30% are passed on to the second generation, 12% to the third and 3% to the fourth. This gives us the sensation that we are killing off a legacy,” said Dr Marqués.

The speakers also spoke about tools for family business planning, highlighting good leadership and the role of a succession pact. “The key to the survival of the family business is good corporate governance. Family protocol (values, conflict resolution, etc.) provides the tools for legal efficiency in the maintenance of the family business, as well as other mechanisms like the planning of succession,” explained Dr de Juan.

The second panel of experts, entitled “Corporate governance of the family business”, was moderated by Dr Josep Maria Raventós, economist and partner of SingularNet Consulting. Olga del Castillo, lawyer and partner of corporate at Crowe and Josep Maria Cervera, director of Corporate & Family Business at Herento participated in the talk. In her speech, Del Castillo explained what good corporate governance consists of, and stressed the importance of the endurance of the family business: “The Spanish economy is mainly made up of family companies today, which is why the continuity of the family business is so important. Only 28% of family companies have a succession plan.”

Cervera gave the audience some guidelines for guaranteeing the succession: “Open door policies, portfolio management and talent management must be in the decision-making structure.”

Finally, the third table was moderated by Dr Jaume Menéndez, economist, and member of the board of governors of the Catalan College of Economists. The talk was titled “Succession planning and fiscal neutrality: the challenge of legal security”, and was formed by Ramon Santos Lloberas, lawyer and partner at Crowe, and Jordi Bertran, economist and partner at Bertran Ribera Asesores.

In this last session, Santos spoke about different tools that can be used with fiscal planning and explained the different formulas that can be used to transfer the family business in Catalonia: “The many ways to pass on a family business in Catalonia are: anticipated inheritance during the owner’s life-time; donations; agreements as to succession; and donations after death”.

Bertran analysed the problematic issues in succession planning as a result of the lack of legal clarity. “There is very little harmony between the regional and state regulation. For example, the succession agreement is only available in certain territories with regional legislation, as is the case in Catalonia,” explained the economist in his speech.

Natallia Caba, director-general of the General Tax Directorate of Catalonia, closed the event with her speech focussing on a summary of information about succession agreements.