EL CONVENIO DE CIUDAD DEL CABO Y SU PROTOCOLO SOBRE BIENES DE EQUIPO ESPACIAL.

Abstract

The two fundamental tools designed by the system designed by the Cape Town Convention and its additional protocols (the creation of an international interest in assets and the foundation of an international registry of interests) are destined to perform an essential function in international financing for assets of great value. The creation of international interests makes it possible to avert one of the greatest risks threatening collateral in the transnational realm: the cross-border discontinuity of collateral, i.e., the risk that collateral will not be recognized abroad or will be recognized with different attributes. While the International Registry seeks only to provide publicity/disclosure, and its effects cannot be compared to those of the Spanish Property Registry (nor even the effects of the Personal Property Registry, which abides by the principles of chain of title, legality, conclusive title and legal standing), the International Registry does have some highly significant legal effects, the foremost of which is that a registered international interest takes priority over a prior national interest, even though the national interest predates the international interest, regardless of the good or bad faith of the acquiring party. The existence of a registry of this sort is fundamental for the international financing of certain types of property, and its inclusion in the convention and protocols is unquestionably a step in the right direction. Spain has not ratified the basic Cape Town Convention of 2001 or its complementary protocols. Nevertheless, the necessary arrangements have already been begun, since they are regarded as essential for the development of the industries involved. Our country's accession to the Cape Town Convention and its catalogue of protocols will have important consequences in Spanish law and will in addition pose a magnificent opportunity for updating Spain's internal regulations on security interests or even (as occurs with the registration of interests in space assets) to broaden the spectrum of assets that can be used as valid instruments of financing, within certain minimum thresholds of legal certainty.