Is Bankinter’s ‘document of first disposition’ of foreign currency loans an impassible wall to overcome the transparency control?

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the case law of the Spanish Supreme Court from September 2022 to the present, which has recognised, in the vast majority of cases, that the so-called ‘document of first disposition’ of foreign currency loans offered by Bankinter, allows to overcome the control of transparency. The analysis focuses on the most relevant aspects that, according to the doctrine of the Supreme Court, have allowed the document of first disposition to meet the requirements of the transparency control, such as the information contained in the document, the time period for providing it to the consumer and the signing of the document. Despite the fact that, in the vast majority of decisions, the first drawdown document overcomes the transparency control, we consider that in some cases the lack of sufficient time for reflection between the provision of the document and the signing of the loan is a factor that would prevent the transparency control from being overcome, as the consumer does not have sufficient time to assess the legal and economic implications of the contract.