The new “Passivity Rule” in the Italian Anti-Crisis Measures

In the context of anti-crisis measures, the Italian Parliament amended the rules on public takeover bids, making the passivity rule and the breakthrough rule optional (as allowed by the 2004 European Directive). This choice appears to be in line with the laws of most European member States, but it is nevertheless a radical change with respect to the traditional Italian regulation, which used to be based - since the introduction of the law on takeover bids - on the principle of the mandatory passivity. The article analyses the issue and explain that that radical change of perspective could be understood only if considered as a part of the legislative responses to the global finance turmoil.