There will be no further deferral of the entry into force of Legislative Decree No. 14 of 12 January 2019 (the new Italian Bankruptcy Law, also known as Code of the Business Crisis and Insolvency, "CCII"), which will fully replace the current Italian Bankruptcy Law.
On June 15, 2022, the Italian Council of Ministers definitively approved a legislative decree amending the CCII.
Such Legislative Decree will be published in the Italian Official Journal and it will entry into force on July 15th, 2022, in order to officially give a new face to the Italian Bankruptcy Law.
With such recent amendments, the process of implementing Directive (EU) - also known as "Insolvency Directive" - is nearly at its end.
Italy is now compliant with the principles articulated by the European Union on this matter, first, with the principle of timely identification of business crisis, which underlies the entire CCII.
Indeed, the logic behind the CCII is that early and timely intervention can significantly increase the chances of a successful business recovery.
If, on the one hand, it is true that it will be necessary to wait until December 31, 2023 for the entry into force of the alert systems governed by Articles 12 and 13 of the CCII, it is also true that the Italian legislator has already enhanced the value of anticipatory measures of crisis remedies.
An example of that is brought by the new insolvency proceeding known as "negotiated settlement procedure of business crisis" pursuant to the Law Decree no. 118 of August 24, 2021.
Such procedure, in fact, allows any distressed individual and collective company to ask for the appointment of an independent expert who could facilitate negotiations between the debtor and the stakeholders, in order to lead the company to its recovery.
Similarly, in its Article 3, the CCII introduces for both individual and collective companies the obligation to undertake appropriate measures to cope with the business crisis.
At the same time, companies will be required to minimize their outstanding tax and social security debts, otherwise they will be asked (or obliged?) to apply for access to the negotiated settlement procedure of business crisis pursuant to the Law Decree no. 118 of August 24, 2021.
Nonetheless, the most important aspect is that the CCII requires business owners to update the way they do business, and to adjust their organisation in order to prevent responsibilities.
Contact
For further information and clarification, You can refer to the Italian Restructuring & Insolvency DWF Team:
- tel. 0230317999
- e-mail: matteo.pasculli@dwf.law; federico.iannucci@dwf.law; alice.dognini@dwf.law
