STARTING A BUSINESS IN ITALY
Additional notes on the Business Register and the Notaries
The Business Register or Companies Register (Registro delle Imprese) is part of an extensive information sy- stem containing all the main information relating to companies (name, statute, management, headquarters, etc.) and all the subsequent events that have occurred to them after registration (for example changes to the statute and to company officers, changes in registered address, liquidation, insolvency proceedings, etc.).
The Business Register is managed by the Chambers of Commerce.
It is a single system of publication for the entire Country although it is managed through provincial offices.
The objective of the Register is to publish consistent and reliable quality information, making it available to all the stakeholders and the businesses operating in Italy.
Indeed, information not included in the Business Register cannot be used against third parties, unless it is pos- sible to prove that the latter had knowledge of such facts.
A search within the Business Register database (www.registroimprese.it/) will provide sufficient details to con- firm the existence of an enterprise.
Following registration and the payment of fees, a more detailed search can be conducted and Company report
(“Visura”), available both in Italian and English language, downloaded.
In Italy many acts need to be drafted in front a Public Notary, who is a public officer.
Notaries are independent professionals the quality of whose work is safeguarded by important guarantees and is subject to public oversight.
A list of Italian notaries can be found online at the following URL:
Consiglio Nazionale del Notariato www.notariato.it/en/trova-notaio
As for other professionals, notaries are legally obliged to carry out checks on their clients, including non-Italian nationals, by completing formalities required by money laundering laws and beneficial owner identification.