A copper(II) complex of 2-hydroxyiminopropanoic acid (hpa) has been prepared and characterized by X-ray analysis, infrared, Raman and EPR spectra. The bidentate hpa ligand chelates the copper ion through the oxime nitrogen and the carboxyl oxygen to form an anionic bis-complex. An intramolecular H-bond stabilizes the two ligands in a cis planar coordination. Equilibrium geometries, harmonic vibrational frequencies, infrared and Raman intensities were calculated for hpa and its copper(II) complex by using DFT (B3LYP) and Hartree–Fock methods with 6-31G(d) and Lanl2DZ basis sets. The computed properties are compared to the experimental values.