In Italy, the government’s powers to screen investments in strategic sectors take the evocative name of “Golden Power”. Last Wednesday (13 November), the Italian parliament approved the conversion into law of Law Decree 105/2019, which introduces significant changes to Italy’s Golden Power legislation. New deadlines and rules will apply as of the day after the law’s publication in the Official Journal, also to ongoing procedures. Among the changes, it is worth noting that the government now has up to 45 days to issue a decision (compared to the previous 15 days), the National Assessment and Certification Centre will be involved for decisions on transactions related to 5G networks, and Italy’s Golden Power legislation is now coordinated with the new Regulation (EU) 2019/452 on FDI screening.

Our Task Force explanies these news in the document available here.