Italian Justice Minister Says New Company Laws May Prevent Another Parmalat

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

03 February 2004

Speaking on Friday, Italy's Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, Michele Vietti announced that the country's new company laws, which came into force at the beginning of the year, are intended to prevent a reccurence of the Parmalat collapse, and to encourage overseas investors back to Italy.

Although the reforms, which address issues such as bond issuance and auditing, were under discussion prior to revelations of huge holes in the dairy giant's accounts last year, the crisis gave the proceedings a new sense of urgency.

At a briefing last week, Vietti explained that:

"We are not saying Parmalat will not happen again, but it will be difficult (for it) to happen again."

Observers have expressed disappointment that the new laws fall short of imposing responsibility for the whole of a company's accounts on its main auditor.

However, according to reports last month, EU Internal Market Commissioner, Frits Bolkestein is said to be considering reforms to the rules governing auditors, which would be imposed on a Europe-wide level.

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