Law No. 232 of 11 December 2016 (Budget Law for 2017), in force since 1st January 2017, amended Art. 182-ter of the Italian Bankruptcy Law by repealing the tax consolidation rule and setting aside the interpretation that the tax settlement thereby provided could be chosen as an alternative to a proposal to tax and social security agencies, based on ordinary rules

The tax settlement before Law No. 232 of 2016

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 The Court of Milan (18 April 2016) sticks to its own precedents mandating automatic termination, notwithstanding the recent decision of the Court of Cassation (19 February 2016, No. 3324) requiring that an actual prejudice for the creditors be ascertained

The case

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A recent Supreme Court judgment addressed the issue of maritime liens and the remuneration of shipping companies' court-appointed managers by adopting a strict interpretation of the maritime liens rules. According to such interpretation, judicial managers should not be considered a company's preferred creditors for their remuneration.

Facts

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Introduction

The draft reform act presented to the government in December 2015 by the Rordorf Commission (a ministerial commission established to develop and submit draft legislation designed to reform, review and reorganise the rules governing insolvency procedures in Italy) aims to:

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Italy's latest law reforms continue with creditor-friendly amendments to support the local banking sector while providing confidence to investors.

Decree Law No. 59/2016 (the so-called "Banks Decree," hereinafter the Decree) was published in the Official Gazette (the Decree was later amended and converted into law by Law No. 119/2016) and has recently entered into force.

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The so called “Banks Decree” Decree (Law Decree no. 59/2016, hereinafter the “Decree”), published on the Official Gazette and converted into Law no. 199/2016, has recently entered into force.

The main purpose of the Decree is to grant a partial reimbursement to investors of few local banks that were resolved in November 2015. However, the Decree has also introduced additional innovations which represent a further significant step in the Government’s effort of streamlining the credit recovery activities and implementing a more creditor-friendly environment.

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Il Decreto Legge n. 59/2016 (il cosiddetto “Decreto Banche”, di seguito il Decreto) è stato pubblicato in Gazzetta Ufficiale (e successivamente modificato e convertito in legge con la Legge n. 199/2016) ed è recentemente entrato in vigore ma è ancora per alcuni aspetti in attesa della normativa secondaria per la sua implementazione.

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The Court of Ancona (11 October 2016) ruled that the debtor can continue to draw from existing revolving facilities, to be considered as pending contracts that do not require an authorization by the Court

The case

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The Court of Appeals of Turin (5 August 2016) and the Court of Milan (25 June 2016) deal with cases of bankruptcy and concordato preventivo of the assigned debtor and confirm a broad interpretation of the limit to set-off set forth by Article 56 second para. of the Italian Bankruptcy Law

The case

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The Court of Pavia (14 October 2016) denies confirmation of a concordato preventivo plan and proposal approved by the creditors, based on the opinion of the Judicial Commissioner that the plan is clearly unsuitable to cure the debtor’s state of financial and economic distress

The case

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