The Legality Rating is an important recognition, lasting two years, awarded to Italian companies by the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM). The award recognizes compliance with the principles of legality, transparency and social responsibility.
Through a process of continuous improvement, in 2019 CVA received the highest achievable score in the corporate legality rating, reconfirming itself as an ethical and transparent company. This achievement further improves on the score of two "stars" obtained in the 2016-2018 two-year period by awarding an additional "star".
The resolution of 14 December 2012 of the Antitrust Authority ("Authority") on "Implementing Regulations on Legality Rating" introduced and regulated the legality rating, which is an innovative tool developed by the Authority, in agreement with the Ministries of the Interior and Justice, that recognizes rewards to companies that operate according to the principles of legality, transparency and social responsibility. In particular, in accordance with the provisions of Interministerial Decree No. 57 of 20 February 2014, both public administrations and banks must assess the presence of the legality rating in the granting of financing: public administrations will give preference and additional scores in the ranking list and a reservation of portions of the allocated financial resources; banks will take into account the presence of the legality rating for the purpose of reducing the time and cost of granting financing. Lastly, it appears that the latest draft of the stimulus decree will provide priority to companies with two stars in the legality rating for participation in tenders.
The legality rating ranges from a minimum of one "star" to a maximum of three "stars" and is awarded by the Authority on the basis of companies' declarations, which are verified by cross-checking them with data held by the public administrations concerned. In particular, in order to obtain the minimum score, the company will have to declare that the entrepreneur and other persons relevant to the rating (technical director, general manager, legal representative, directors, shareholders) are not recipients of preventive and/or precautionary measures, criminal sentences/decrees of conviction, plea bargaining sentences for tax crimes with reference to Legislative Decree No. 74/2000, for offences under Legislative Decree No. 231/2001, for the offences referred to in Articles 346, 346-bis, 353, 353-bis, 354, 355 and 356 of the Criminal Code and for the offence referred to in Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 1-bis of Decree Law No. 463/1983, converted by Law No. 638/1983. For mafia crimes, in addition to having no convictions, no criminal prosecution must have been initiated pursuant to Art. 405 Criminal Procedure Code, nor must the company be the recipient of any valid interdiction notices or anti-mafia information. The company must also not have been placed under receivership under Decree Law No. 90/2014, subsequently converted into law.
The company itself must not be the recipient of convictions or precautionary measures for administrative offences dependent on the crimes referred to in the aforementioned Legislative Decree no. 231/2001. The company must also not, in the two-year period preceding the rating request, have been convicted of serious antitrust offences or violations of the Consumer Code, failure to comply with regulations protecting health and safety in the workplace, and violations of wage, contribution, insurance and tax obligations towards its employees and collaborators. It must also not have been subject to assessments of higher taxable income than the amount declared, or have received measures of revocation of public financing for which it has not fulfilled its repayment obligations, and not be the recipient of measures of assessment of non-payment of taxes and duties. It must also declare that it is not the recipient of ANAC sanctioning measures of a pecuniary and/or disqualifying nature and that there are no annotations in the computerized register of companies pursuant to Article 8 of Presidential Decree No. 207/2010 that imply preclusion from entering into contracts with the public administration or participating in tender procedures or the awarding of public contracts for works, services or supplies. The company must also declare that it makes payments and financial transactions exceeding the threshold of €1,000.00 exclusively with traceable payment instruments.
The regulations include additional requirements that, if met, will grant companies the maximum score of 3 "stars." Two stars will be awarded if at least 6 are met.
The legality rating is valid for two years after issue and is renewable upon application. In case of loss of any of the basic requirements, necessary to obtain a "star", the Authority orders the rating to be revoked. If the requirements by which the company obtained a higher rating are no longer met, the Antitrust Authority reduces the number of star ratings.
The Authority keeps updated on its website the list of companies to which the legality rating has been awarded, suspended or revoked, with the relevant effective date.
On 15 December 2015, CVA submitted to the Authority the application for the recognition of the legality rating, with the aim of being awarded 2 "stars". On the following 06 April 2016, the Authority, after carrying out the necessary evaluations, resolved to award CVA the legality rating with the score of two "stars" and two "plus" signs, resulting from the sum of one "star" for the possession of the basic requirements set out in section B of the form used for the application and one "star" and two "plus" signs for the possession of the reward requirements set out in section C of the form used for the application.