The Italian Securities Commission (“CONSOB”) recently adopted Resolution 21304/2020 (the “Resolution”), imposing enhanced transparency obligations regarding significant shareholdings in certain listed issuers. The Resolution and its new restrictive measures enter into force on 18 March 2020, and will be effective for a period of three months (unless revoked beforehand). The thresholds for reporting, pursuant to the Italian law implementing the EU Transparency Directive (article 120 of Legislative Decree 58/1998), are lowered as follows: from 3% to…

After more than a month from the burst of the Coronavirus in Italy and the increasing restrictive measures that the Italian Government has taken to contain the epidemy, all people who had pending contracts are facing the question of possible or actual breaches of contractual obligations.  First of all, a difference must be made between: cases where the debtor cannot longer fulfill his obligations, from those in which performance is still possible but made more burdensome.…

On 8 Mach, an Act on special solutions related to the prevention, counteracting and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and emergencies caused by them (the ” COVID-19 Act”) entered into force. The Act was amended on 31 March 2020. Here are the main takeaways:  Carer’s allowance Additional carer’s allowance for a period not exceeding 14 days. In case of closing a nursery, children’s club, kindergarten, school or other institution attended by the child or inability…

In early March 2020, my long-term client, Pei-Pei, called me with a concern about a bank loan she had personally guaranteed. Pei-Pei owns a successful and fast growing staffing company.  Two years ago, she borrowed $3 million from her business bank to grow the business. The bank had required her to personally guarantee the loan. With annual gross revenues of $10 million, Pei-Pei had no problem with the personal guarantee. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic,…

On 19 March, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted a formal statement on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, which emphasizes that data protection laws do not hinder measures taken in the fight against the pandemic, and “emergency is a legal condition which may legitimize restrictions of freedoms provided these restrictions are proportionate and limited to the emergency period.” That said, the EDPB emphasises that, even in these…

A large number of electronics and chemical companies, pharmaceutical firms and those from the manufacturing sector are witnessing obstacles in the supply chain due to the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). The situation has pushed the Chinese companies to withdraw from their contractual responsibilities, and more than 4,800 force majeure certificates have been issued as of March 3rd, 2020.  While China has made substantial improvements in containing the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the economic disturbances are impacting…