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Italy COVID-19 Legislative Measures. An overview, in English, of the Decree-Law n. 104 of 14 August 2020 s.c. ‘August’

The D-L ‘August’ ‘Urgent measures to support and relaunch the economy’ was published on the O.J. n.203 of 14 August 2020.

This is an overview of the main provisions of the Decree-Law s.c. ‘August’, a new economic recovery package following Parliament’s authorisation to increase the deficit by €25 billion in 2020 - the third since the outbreak of the epidemic.

The main measures include:

1. Consob’s powers will be strengthened on any operation that affects the ownership of Borsa Italiana, amid concerns about the likely sale of Borsa by LSEG to get the European Commission’s greenlight to the acquisition of Refinitiv
2. The measures already in force allowing companies to postpone annual shareholders’ meetings and shareholders to attend remotely will apply to meetings scheduled until 15 October (instead of until 31 July as previously foreseen)
3. The possibility was introduced to extend the deadline for asset management companies to underwrite shares of alternative investment funds
4. A new incentive to economic activity in the South was introduced, in the form of a partial exemption from social security contributions applying to all employees (not only the newly hired but also those already employed)
5. Lay-off schemes for employees were further extended, and businesses’ right to fire will remain suspended until they have fully resorted to the lay-off scheme (18 weeks max.) unless they close down permanently; as an incentive for businesses to bring their employees back to work, they will be exempted from any social security contribution for up to 4 months if they do not ask for an extension of the lay-off scheme
6. Social security aid in the form of direct cash payments was partially extended but limited in scope
7. Direct aid and tax cuts were introduced, benefitting businesses in specific sectors
8. Deadlines for tax payments were further extended
9. Further measures were introduced to facilitate the provision of liquidity to small and medium enterprises
   • In particular, the moratorium on loans and mortgages of SMEs was extended until 31 January 2021
10. Regional and local Governments will receive more funding from the Government to compensate for the loss they experienced in tax revenues during the lockdown and to help them pay their commercial arrears.

The Decree-Law entered into force on August 15, after its publication on the Official Journal and it was submitted to Parliament to be ratified and possibly amended.

Telos A&S drafted an overview, in English, of its main measures.

If you are interested to know more please contact Telos A&S at telos@telosaes.it

You may download the overview, in English, of the Decree-Law below.