National Report for Italy

The chapter investigates the treatment of executory contracts in Italian corporate insolvency law procedures. In the discipline of the bankruptcy procedure, the principal rule that deals with pre-existing legal relationships is art. 72 b. law. The general rule is that, upon filing, the enforceability of executory contracts is suspended and the Law gives the administrator the power to assume or reject them. There are also some specific rules on single contracts: these include, among others, rules on real estate contracts where the building is yet to be built or completed or sales with retention of title clauses. In addition, outside the Bankruptcy Law, specific contracts are also subject to specific rules. All these exceptions, and the rationale behind them are investigated as part of this chapter. This chapter concludes that under Italian Law, there is not a unified treatment of the executory contracts when the debtor enters into a formal insolvency proceeding. Depending on the procedure and its goals, different rules apply. It is to be seen if the recent Rordorf Reform – if implemented by the government – will introduce a more unitary treatment of these contracts under insolvency.