Europe: Court of Justice opinions - taxing gains and combatting money laundering

The Court of Justice of the European Union gave judgment today in two cases concerning Spain. In the first, Commission v Spain (C-61/11), the court held that the immediate taxation of unrealised capital gains on the transfer of a company established in Spain of its assets or place of residence to another Member State amounted to a restriction on the freedom of establishment. In the second case, Jyske Bank Gibraltar Ltd v Administración del Estado (C-212/11), the court held that EU law did not preclude Spanish legislation under which credit institutions operating but not established in Spain were required to send directly to the Spanish authorities information necessary for combatting money laundering and terrorist financing. Press releases for both decisions are available: see, respectively, here (pdf) and here (pdf).