A&O Shearman Europe insights

Restructuring essentials: judicial liquidation and group companies in Italy

Episode 4: When a group of companies faces insolvency, legal complexity multiplies. Italian law has historically struggled to address group insolvencies in a coherent and coordinated way. The third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code changes that, and understanding the new framework is essential for anyone advising companies with group structures operating in Italy. 

Here, our restructuring specialists examine the key changes the third amendment introduces to judicial liquidation, with a specific focus on the provisions governing group companies.  

What new tools does the amended code provide for coordinating the insolvency of group entities? How does judicial liquidation now interact with the other restructuring procedures in the revised framework? And what are the practical implications for creditors, directors, and advisers when a group structure is involved? 

Corporate lawyers, restructuring advisers, and in-house counsel working with Italian group structures will leave this episode with a clear read of the new rules and the immediate questions they raise for companies in, or approaching, financial difficulty. 

Note: This episode is recorded in Italian. 

Restructuring Essentials provides detailed commentary from A&O Shearman's restructuring specialists on the key changes introduced by the third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code. Each episode examines a specific restructuring mechanism and its practical implications for companies operating in Italy.  

Restructuring essentials: Concordato preventivo under Italy's new insolvency code

Episode 3: Concordato preventivo is one of Italy's most widely used restructuring tools. Its ability to allow a company to propose a reorganization plan while protected from creditor action has made it a cornerstone of Italian insolvency practice.  

The third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code introduces significant changes to how concordato preventivo operates, with implications for how it will be used, when it is available, and what it demands of debtors and their advisers. 

In this episode, we examine the key changes to concordato preventivo under the amended code. What has changed in the conditions for access to the procedure? And what do the revised rules mean for the strategic choices available to companies seeking to restructure their obligations in Italy? 

Restructuring lawyers, financial advisers, and corporate directors managing companies under financial pressure in Italy will leave this episode with the practical detail needed to assess whether concordato preventivo remains the right tool under the new framework. 

Note: This episode is recorded in Italian. 

Restructuring Essentials provides detailed commentary from A&O Shearman's restructuring specialists on the key changes introduced by the third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code. Each episode examines a specific restructuring mechanism and its practical implications for companies operating in Italy. 

Restructuring essentials: the main restructuring tools under Italy's revised code

Episode 2: Italy's restructuring landscape has been redesigned. The third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code has modified, expanded, and in some cases fundamentally altered the toolkit available to companies facing financial difficulty. For legal advisers and corporate directors navigating this environment, clarity on which tools remain available, which have changed, and which are now most strategically useful is a prerequisite. 

In this episode, our restructuring specialists map the main restructuring mechanisms under the amended code, explaining how each tool has been affected by the latest legislative changes. Which procedures offer the strongest protection from creditor action? Where have the eligibility requirements or content obligations been modified? And how should companies and their advisers be approaching the choice of restructuring route given the revised landscape? 

Legal professionals and corporate advisers supporting companies through financial difficulty in Italy will leave this episode with an updated map of the restructuring toolkit and the framework to select the right route for their specific situation. 

Note: This episode is recorded in Italian. 

Restructuring Essentials provides detailed commentary from A&O Shearman's restructuring specialists on the key changes introduced by the third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code. Each episode examines a specific restructuring mechanism and its practical implications for companies operating in Italy. 

Restructuring essentials: composition with creditors under Italy's new code

Episode 1: The third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code is now in force. Its reach extends across the full range of restructuring procedures, altering the conditions, requirements, and strategic value of each one. For companies in financial difficulty and the advisers guiding them, understanding what has changed, and what it means in practice, is now urgent. 

A&O Shearman's restructuring specialists open this series by examining the key changes the third amendment makes to composition with creditors. What are the revised requirements for accessing the procedure? How have the rules governing creditor voting and plan content been modified? And what do the changes mean for the relative attractiveness of composition with creditors compared with other restructuring routes available under the amended code? 

Corporate directors, legal advisers, and restructuring professionals beginning to engage with the new Italian framework will leave this first episode with a clear foundation for understanding how the landscape has changed and where the most significant practical implications lie. 

Note: This episode is recorded in Italian. 

Restructuring Essentials provides detailed commentary from A&O Shearman's restructuring specialists on the key changes introduced by the third amendment to the Italian Business Crisis and Insolvency Code. Each episode examines a specific restructuring mechanism and its practical implications for companies operating in Italy.

On Employment: navigating workplace investigations, privilege, and privacy

Episode 1: Workplace investigations have never been more legally complex. Employees today are acutely aware of their procedural rights and more likely to challenge the integrity and fairness of the process, especially when the outcome does not go in their favor. Every phase of an investigation is now potentially subject to legal scrutiny, and a misstep at any point can unravel an otherwise well-founded process. 

Sarah Henchoz, global head of employment litigation at A&O Shearman, shares her insight and best practice guidance on how to design and run investigations that will withstand challenge.  

What does a legally defensible investigation process look like in practice? How should employers handle the intersection of confidentiality, employee privacy rights, and legal professional privilege, particularly when communications between HR and legal teams become relevant? And how do you manage a process that is simultaneously fair to the subject and robust enough to produce a defensible outcome? 

HR professionals and in-house counsel responsible for managing or overseeing workplace investigations will leave this episode with a clearer understanding of where investigations typically go wrong, and the specific steps to reduce that risk from the outset. 

On Employment delivers timely insights and practical guidance on the fast-evolving world of employment law. Each episode explores key legal developments, workplace trends, and HR strategy challenges—from investigations and litigation risk to diversity, hybrid working, and regulatory change. Designed for business leaders, HR professionals, and in-house counsel, the series offers expert perspectives to help organizations navigate complexity and foster resilient, compliant workplaces.      

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Internal investigations: understand how legal and regulatory developments change the calculus around privilege and data privacy

Navigating the challenges of sensitive workplace investigations: Tips and techniques 

 

Insurance Covered: Matching adjustment attestation and learnings from other regimes

Episode 2: The matching adjustment attestation regime is new. The legal and practical questions it raises for UK insurers are not. How firms prepare for and manage attestation obligations has significant consequences for governance, capital planning, and regulatory relationships. Drawing on the experience of comparable regimes elsewhere in financial services offers a head start. 

What are the practical gaps between where firms are now and where the regime requires them to be? How should boards approach their oversight responsibilities? And what lessons can be drawn from attestation experience in other regulated sectors? 

In this episode, Kate McInerney, partner in A&O Shearman's insurance group, is joined by:  

• Philip Jarvis, global co-head of Insurance 

• Claire Hayden, executive director of consulting 

Together they examine the matching adjustment attestation regime in detail, covering its implications for how insurers manage their attestation obligations, what the governance frameworks around attestation should look like, and what earlier attestation regimes in financial services tell us about the challenges firms are likely to encounter.  

Insurance Covered examines the issues, disputes and trends shaping the global insurance market. Our insurance specialists engage expert voices from across the industry to explore coverage questions, claims trends and emerging risks. The series is designed for insurance professionals, risk managers and in-house counsel navigating an increasingly complex landscape.   

Luxembourg M&A, regulatory change, and the rise of a deal jurisdiction

Fifteen years ago, Luxembourg was a notable but secondary player in international mergers and acquisitions. Today it is a strategic jurisdiction for complex, multi-party transactions across Europe and beyond. What drove that transformation, and what does the next chapter look like? 

M&A partners Fabien Beullekens and Jacques Graas trace the evolution of Luxembourg as a key M&A jurisdiction over the past decade and a half.  

Drawing on their careers at the frontlines of this transformation, they examine the forces that shaped Luxembourg's rise: from the aftermath of the internet crisis and the global financial crisis, through the Brexit-driven expansion of Luxembourg's role in international arrangements, to the impact of an increasingly dense regulatory landscape on how deals are structured and advised.  

M&A lawyers, investment professionals, and anyone tracking the evolution of Luxembourg as a deal-making center will leave this episode with a richer understanding of the forces that built the market and the ones that will shape it next. 

Insurance Covered: Matching adjustment reform and what it means for Solvency II firms

Episode 1: The matching adjustment reforms that came into effect on June 30, 2024 represent one of the most significant changes to the regulatory landscape for UK insurers since the original implementation of Solvency II.  

For firms seeking investment from insurers, and for insurers themselves managing expanded asset eligibility and new governance requirements, the implications span capital strategy, investment management, and regulatory compliance. 

Kate McInerney, partner in A&O Shearman's insurance group, talks to securitization partner Iona Misheva and senior associate Marcus Gwyer about the reforms in detail. 

What are the headline changes to matching adjustment eligibility, and what new assets can insurers now hold within the framework? What governance and attestation requirements accompany the expanded regime? And what does the reform mean in practical terms for the firms that seek insurer capital, particularly those in the securitization and infrastructure markets? 

Insurance professionals, capital markets lawyers, and investment managers working alongside the insurance sector will leave this episode with a precise understanding of the reform's scope and the strategic questions it places on the table. 

Insurance Covered examines the issues, disputes and trends shaping the global insurance market. Our insurance specialists engage expert voices from across the industry to explore coverage questions, claims trends and emerging risks. The series is designed for insurance professionals, risk managers and in-house counsel navigating an increasingly complex landscape.   

Employee email metadata and data protection compliance in Italy

Italy's Data Protection Authority (Garante) has now published its ruling on the timing and limits of processing metadata contained in employees' work emails. For employers managing email systems in Italy, the ruling closes a period of uncertainty but opens a new set of compliance questions. 

Livio Bossotto, partner and head of A&O Shearman's Employment practice in Italy, and counsel Giorgia Giorgetti provide a detailed update on the Garante's findings.  

What does the ruling say about how long employers can retain email metadata? Under what conditions is processing permitted, and what limitations apply? And how should employment and privacy teams be reviewing their current email management policies in light of the outcome? 

This episode builds on the team's February 2024 analysis of the Garante consultation. Employers operating in Italy and privacy practitioners advising on Italian data protection compliance will leave this episode with a clear view of what the ruling demands and the immediate steps to take to align their policies with the new framework. 

Note: This episode is recorded in Italian.