The Italian Government aims to support investments and incentivize listing and capitalization of companies, with significant implications for both listed and non-listed companies.

The new rules were introduced by law decree No. 91 of June 24, 2014, published on the Italian Official Gazette No. 144 of 24 June 2014, as subsequently converted into law No. 116 of 11 August 2014 (the Decree). This alert briefly describes the newly enacted provisions affecting corporate law, both with regard to private and public companies.

Private companies –

Corporate capital requirements -

In order to facilitate the incorporation of joint stock companies (SpAs), the Decree lowered the minimum corporate capital requirements applicable to SpAs from €120,000 to €50,000. This change not only affects entities yet to be incorporated but also affects existing distressed companies: companies with losses that require recapitalization may now recapitalize up to €50,000, instead of €120,000, thus favoring restructuring processes. Further, the minimum capital requirements are now automatically reduced for certain regulated entities (e.g. financial intermediaries incorporated pursuant to article 106 of the Italian Banking Act), which are required to be set up with a minimum corporate capital defined as a multiple of the minimum required corporate capital set for SpAs.