01
Commercial paper programs
Recurring working capital through short-term issues (up to 24 months) under an annual, renewable base document: the usual entry point to the market, with more than 650 outstanding tranches at year-end 2025.
Issuing Bonds and Commercial Paper on MARF
Fund your company on the market without a CNMV prospectus: we prepare your commercial paper program or bond issue on MARF (Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija — Spain’s alternative fixed-income market), from the registered advisor, rating and information document to all the issue agreements.
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Is MARF right for your issue?
We will tell you within 24 hours whether MARF fits your financing, with which instrument and what documentation you will need.
- Unit denomination (no prospectus)
- €100,000
- Maximum term of commercial paper
- Up to 24 months
- Year MARF was created
- 2013
- Legal framework for MTFs
- Law 6/2023
Quick answer
MARF (Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija) is a multilateral trading facility operated by BME where companies issue commercial paper, bonds and securitizations aimed at qualified investors (unit denomination of €100,000) without a CNMV prospectus: the documentation is registered with the market itself. To issue, you need a registered advisor, accounts audited for the last two financial years, a rating or creditworthiness report from a registered agency and the information document (a base document for commercial paper programs, an admission document for bonds). In 2025, MARF admitted issues worth €14,549 million and closed the year with an outstanding balance of €9,876 million (+13.7%).
What you can issue
One market, four ways to raise funding
MARF is not just “bonds”: it is a funding toolbox. The instrument you choose sets the cost, the term and the documentation.
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Bonds and debentures
Medium- and long-term funding for growth, capex or refinancing, including green and sustainable bonds. In 2025, MARF bonds grew by 95.6% to €676 million.
03
Project bonds and securitization
Project bonds for infrastructure and energy, and private securitizations that package portfolios and invoices for qualified investors.
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Real estate and financial issuers
Developers, SOCIMIs and entities such as EFCs use MARF to diversify their funding beyond bank lending.
How to decide
MARF, AIAF, bank loan or private debt: where your financing fits
The right question is not “Can I issue?” but “Which channel gives me the money I need at the lowest total cost?” Here is the picture.
| MARF | AIAF (regulated market) | Bank loan | Direct lending | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | BME’s fixed-income MTF for mid-sized and large companies. | Spain’s regulated market for corporate fixed income. | Bilateral or syndicated financing from credit institutions. | Private debt from funds, with no market. |
| Key documentation | Information document filed with the market itself + rating or creditworthiness report. No CNMV prospectus. | Prospectus approved by the CNMV (Prospectus Regulation). | Facility agreement and security package. | Term sheet and bespoke agreement with the fund. |
| Investors | Qualified (unit denomination of €100,000). | Institutional and, with a prospectus, retail as well. | The bank itself. | The lending fund. |
| Preparation time | Weeks: the real timetable is set by the audits, the rating and the document. | Longer: prospectus approval and the full requirements of a regulated market. | Variable; depends on the risk and the security. | Fast, but at a higher financial cost. |
| Who it suits | Mid-sized to large companies with audited accounts that want to diversify their funding and gain visibility. | Large recurring issuers or issues aimed at retail investors. | Any bankable company. | Special situations, high leverage or urgency. |
The channels are not mutually exclusive: the usual pattern is to combine bank lending with a MARF commercial paper program for working capital, and to move up to bonds when size and track record allow.
Requirements and process
The 8 building blocks of a MARF issue
Admission is quick because the work lies in the preparation. This is what needs to be in place.
Company and transferable securities
A corporate form whose securities are freely transferable, and corporate bodies that have adopted the issue resolutions (general meeting or board, as the bylaws provide).
Audited accounts
Financial statements audited for the last two financial years: the basis of the issuer’s credibility with the market and investors.
Registered advisor
A mandatory role that supports the issuer at admission and throughout the life of the program: suitability, review of the information and liaison with the market.
Rating or creditworthiness report
A credit rating or report from an ESMA-registered agency: the pricing benchmark for investors.
Information document
Base information document (commercial paper programs) or admission document (bonds): business, risks, figures and terms of the securities.
Issue structure
ISIN, book-entry registration with Iberclear, paying agent and placement entities: the plumbing that gets the paper to investors.
Issue agreements
Placement and agency agreements, security if any, and a legal opinion on the issuer and the validity of the securities.
Admission and life of the securities
Application to MARF and, afterwards, periodic reporting, disclosure of material events and annual renewal of the commercial paper program.
Common mistakes
Where first issues run aground
1
Arriving without your audits in order
Material audit qualifications, ill-timed changes of auditor or late accounts stall the timetable before it starts: the market and the rating are built on them.
How to avoid it: review your accounting history through an investor’s eyes 6–12 months before the issue and clean up whatever is needed.
2
Underestimating the information document
It is not a formality: it is your introduction to investors and the basis of your liability. Poorly described risks or inconsistent figures are paid for in price, or in claims.
How to avoid it: draft it as what it is, a market document, with internal verification of every data point and risk factors specific to the business, not templates.
3
Choosing the wrong instrument
Funding 7-year capex with 12-month commercial paper (refinancing risk) or working capital with a rigid bond (unnecessary cost): the most expensive design mistake.
How to avoid it: match the life of the asset with the life of the liability; start with a commercial paper program and move up to bonds when the amount and the term call for it.
4
Thinking only about admission
MARF is an ongoing relationship: periodic reporting, disclosure of material events and renewals. An issuer that neglects the life of its securities closes the door to its next issue.
How to avoid it: a calendar of reporting obligations from day one, with internal owners and the registered advisor aligned.
The 2026 figure: according to BME’s annual report (March 2026), MARF admitted €14,549 million in issues in 2025, raised its outstanding balance to €9,876 million (+13.7%) and has had 164 issuers since its creation in 2013. It is now established as the standard route to the capital markets for mid-sized and large Spanish companies.
Frequently asked questions
Issuing on MARF: common questions
What is MARF?
The Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija: a multilateral trading facility (MTF) operated by BME, created in 2013 so that mid-sized and large companies can raise funding by issuing commercial paper, bonds and securitizations with lighter requirements and costs than on the regulated market. The documentation is registered with the market itself, with no CNMV prospectus.
Who can issue on MARF?
Companies with a corporate form whose securities are freely transferable, accounts audited for the last two financial years and a business that can be explained to investors: from mid-sized family companies to listed companies, developers, concession holders, SOCIMIs and financial institutions. There is no legal minimum size; what counts is investor appetite.
Do I need a CNMV prospectus?
No. MARF issues are aimed at qualified investors with a unit denomination of €100,000, so they are exempt from the prospectus requirement: the prospectus is replaced by the information document registered with the market. If your issue is aimed at retail investors or a regulated market, then you need an issue prospectus.
Do I need a rating to issue?
Yes: a credit rating or creditworthiness report issued by an ESMA-registered agency. You do not need a large global agency (agencies specializing in midcaps operate on MARF), but the assessment is a mandatory part of the file and the pricing benchmark for the paper.
How long does it take to issue on MARF?
Admission itself is quick (it is measured in weeks) because registration is with the market itself. The real timetable is set by the preparation: audits in order, rating, information document and placement structure. A well-run first commercial paper program is usually on the market within a few months of the decision.
What minimum amount makes sense?
There is no legal minimum, but an issue carries fixed costs (registered advisor, rating, documentation, placement) that are diluted with size: that is why MARF programs and issues typically run into the tens of millions. The right analysis compares the total cost of the channel with the alternatives, and we do it with you before you start.
What does the registered advisor do?
It is the role MARF requires to support the issuer: it assesses the issuer’s suitability, reviews the information published, assists the issuer with its obligations and acts as technical liaison with the market, at admission and throughout the life of the program. It is different from the issue’s legal counsel: the registered advisor faces the market; we structure and document your transaction.
Contact
Book a call
Tell us about your financing needs and we will tell you whether MARF fits, with which instrument and what documentation you will need to prepare.
Official resources
MARF references
BME — Bolsas y Mercados Españoles
Annual fixed-income report
The official MARF data: volumes admitted, outstanding balance and trends in commercial paper, bonds and securitizations.
View report BOE — Spanish Official State GazetteLaw 5/2015 on the Promotion of Business Financing
The framework that opened fixed-income issuance to unlisted companies and set the rules for Spanish securitization.
View on the BOE BOE — Spanish Official State GazetteLaw 6/2023 on Securities Markets and Investment Services
The securities markets and investment services law: the general framework for Spanish MTFs, including MARF.
View on the BOEIssuing on MARF: capital markets at mid-sized company scale
Since 2013, MARF has turned into routine something that used to be the exclusive territory of large corporations: raising funding by issuing commercial paper and bonds directly to qualified investors. With 164 issuers to date and an outstanding balance of nearly €10 billion, the market has real depth, along with its own documentary mechanics that are worth mastering before you go in: registered advisor, rating, information document and the placement and agency structure.
No prospectus does not mean no liability
MARF’s great advantage, replacing the CNMV prospectus with a document registered with the market itself, does not remove the issuer’s liability for the information published: it shifts it to a more streamlined document. That is why the base document for a commercial paper program or the admission document for bonds is prepared with the same rigor as a prospectus: real risk factors, verified figures and consistency with the audited accounts. That is the difference between an issue that places well and one that is dogged by doubts.
How we work
We support the issuer throughout the cycle: analysis of channel and instrument fit, coordination with the registered advisor, the rating agency and the placement entities, drafting of the information document, corporate resolutions for the issue, placement and paying agency agreements, security and legal opinion. And if your financing involves packaging assets, we connect it with loan securitization or with private debt structures when the market is not the answer.