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Before that, for more than 12 years, he has been partner and responsible of tax department of Allen & Overy Rome office; he also worked in the tax and legal department of ExxonMobil in Italy and abroard.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Bonichi advised numerous domestic and international clients with respect to international tax structuring and has participated in complex and innovative M&A and IPO transactions; he is a recognised tax expert in banking, asset financing, structured finance and international capital market products. Furthermore, over the last years he assisted large corporate and banking clients in tax litigations and clients in the private banking and wealth managing sector.
Mr. Bonichi is considered one of the leading lawyers specialized in tax law in Italy according to several Italian and international legal directories.
Roberto Donnini, one of CDP founders, said: “Francesco professional experience fits well with our strategy to grow always looking at prominent practitioners but preserving our style and culture. The tax practice was a specialization we were looking for and that will boost the offer of our legal assistance to our clients”.
Mr. Bonichi added: “I am proud to join CDP, one of the most reputable boutique law firms in Italy, where in addition to a team, with which I worked with for many years at Allen & Overy, I met prominent practitioners coming from the major domestic and international law firms. Sharing the same style, culture and values of excellence for the benefit of our clients is the best reward I could aspire to.”

• Legal 500 2019 mentioned Francesco Bonichi in Band 4 as tax partner of EY Studio Legale Tributario https://www.legal500.com/c/italy/tax/?edition=europe-middle-east-africa/2019-edition#

• Top Legal 2020, ranked Francesco Bonichi in band 4, within Tax Finance area https://www.toplegal.it/centrostudi/professionista/320/francesco-bonichi

• Legal community Tax Report 2019 mentioned Francesco Bonichi within the category “The Best in Italy”, Band B+

https://legalcommunity.it/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/LC_TaxReport2019_LCsrl_3.pdf

In linea con la comunicazione della Commissione europea dell’8 aprile 2020 , l’AGCM riconosce così l’esigenza di adattare la propria valutazione su determinate forme di cooperazione tra imprese – che, in ragione del tipo di informazioni scambiate o delle forme di coordinamento attuate, potrebbero, in taluni casi, presentare criticità sotto il profilo antitrust - alla luce dell’eccezionalità dell’attuale contesto sanitario e socio-economico.
Al fine di agevolare le imprese nel processo di auto-valutazione di tali accordi, l’AGCM ha, quindi, deciso di approntare un indirizzo di posta elettronica dedicato (accordi-cooperazione-COVID@agcm.it), mediante il quale imprese e associazioni di categoria possono contattare l’Autorità, al fine di ottenere indicazioni informali su specifici progetti di cooperazione: in casi eccezionali, individuati in via discrezionale dalla stessa Autorità, tali indicazioni potranno assumere la forma di vere e proprie comfort letter sulla valutazione dell’iniziativa notificata ai sensi della legge nazionale antitrust (L.n.287/1990).
La Comunicazione riveste particolare importanza, atteso che riprende parzialmente (sebbene nei limiti di mere comfort letter, adottabili in tutta discrezionalità, come detto, dall’AGCM) la ratio della procedura di autorizzazione in deroga di intese restrittive (art. 4 c. 1 della legge nazionale antitrust), ormai abbandonata in favore della completa auto-valutazione da parte delle imprese. 
Il testo della Comunicazione, attualmente valida e operativa fino a successiva comunicazione, è disponibile al seguente link https://www.agcm.it/media/dettaglio-notizia?id=92214ce5-288d-4088-9a8e-45acc241c9d8

Nello specifico, per gli utenti del servizio di trasporto di energia elettrica con contratto attivo si prevede:
- per le fatture del servizio di trasporto con scadenza nel mese di aprile 2020, la sospensione della disciplina degli inadempimenti connessi al pagamento di cui all'art. 5.1 dell'All. B) al c.d. Codice di Rete (delibera 268/2015/R/eel), a condizione che sia stato versato almeno il 70% del totale fatturato con riferimento ai punti di prelievo alimentati in bassa tensione;
- per le fatture del servizio di trasporto con scadenza tra il 10 marzo e il 31 marzo 2020, l'estensione di 15 giorni dei termini di sollecito e diffida previsti dagli artt. 5.1 e 5.2 dell'All. B) al Codice di Rete;
- in materia di gestione delle garanzie annesse ai contratti di trasporto, al fine della determinazione del requisito di regolarità dei pagamenti previsto dall'art. 2.5 dell'Allegato B) al Codice di Rete, la mancata presa in considerazione dei ritardi verificatisi nel mese di aprile 2020;
- ancora in materia di gestione delle garanzie annesse ai contratti di trasporto, l’allungamento dei termini di rinnovo delle garanzie annesse al contratto di trasporto (fino al terzo mese antecedente la scadenza della relativa garanzia) e l’estensione di 15 giorni lavorativi del termine per provvedere alla maggiorazione e alla prestazione di garanzia ai sensi degli artt. 3.2 e 4.8 dell’Allegato B al Codice di Rete;

- in caso di attuale pendenza di richieste di adeguamento, rinnovo, maggiorazione della garanzia ovvero di sollecito, diffida e risoluzione contrattuale, l’estensione di 15 giorni lavorativi del termine per adempiere o per la produzione degli effetti della risoluzione contrattuale;
- previsioni volte a “congelare”, a determinate condizioni, gli effetti di eventuali downgrade del livello di rating detenuto dall’utente del servizio di trasporto di energia elettrica o dalla sua società controllante;
 
Analoghe misure sono state previste per gli utenti del servizio di trasporto di gas naturale.

Infine, per le società distributrici di energia elettrica e di gas naturale è stata prevista la facoltà di avvalersi, di una riduzione degli importi da corrispondere al GSE e a CSEA a titolo di oneri generali di sistema (pari, nella specie, per i distributori di energia elettrica e limitatamente ai punti di prelievo alimentati in bassa tensione, al maggiore tra l’80% del fatturato mensile con scadenza ad aprile e la quota effettivamente incassata del medesimo fatturato, nel caso dei distributori di gas naturale al maggiore tra il 90% del fatturato mensile con scadenza ad aprile e la quota effettivamente incassata del medesimo fatturato).

È possibile consultare il testo completo della delibera al seguente link

https://arera.it/it/docs/20/116-20.htm

For instance, on 12 March 2020 the ICA opened proceedings against the companies managing the Amazon and Ebay e-commerce platforms, with regard to the marketing of hand sanitizers and disposable respiratory protection masks. Specifically, these proceedings aim at verifying whether the claims of alleged effectiveness of these products against Coronavirus and their remarkable price increase recently recorded on the e-commerce platforms may be in breach of the prohibition of unfair commercial practices under the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree no. 206 of 2005).
The opening of these investigations follows the requests of information sent to these online platforms operators on 27 February 2020 as a result of several complaints lodged by individuals and consumer protection associations. The e-commerce operators had to reply within three days from the receipt of these requests of information, informing the ICA about the measures adopted to eliminate potentially misleading advertising claims as well as to prevent unjustified and disproportionate price increases of the aforesaid products marketed through their platforms. The measures communicated apparently did not meet the ICA’s expectations, which consequently opened the investigations: the ICA could eventually forbid the conducts at stake and sanction the e-commerce operators with a fine of up to 5 million Euros.
With its decision of 17 March 2020 the ICA has resolved, by way of interim measures, to suspend the online marketing and sale of the generic drug Kaletra and to temporarily block the access to the related website https://farmacocoronavirus.it, managed by an individual. The drug, containing the active principles of an anti-viral drug used for healing HIV, was sold at the price of 634.44 Euros and was marketed as the “sole drug against Coronavirus (Covid-19)” and “the sole remedy to fight Coronavirus (Covid-19)” .
ICA deemed, on a prima facie assessment, that these claims were deceptive for consumers insofar as they did not specify that the purchase of these drugs be subject to medical prescription and considered that the scientific community has found no drug conclusively effective against Coronavirus at this stage.
In addition, the marketing of this drug has been deemed prima facie aggressive because it would be able to affect the commercial conducts of the consumers in the context of the alarm raised by the rising spread of the epidemic in the national territory.
On 30 March 2020 the ICA issued two additional interim decisions (with annexed opening of proceedings) against the online marketing of the drug Kaletra, suspending the access to the websites https://farmaciamaschile.it and http://farmacia-generica.it
In the meantime, additional interim decisions and start of proceedings have been adopted with regard to:
- the claims on the preventive effectiveness against Covid-19 of detergents, cosmetics and supplements advertised and marketed both on the website https://carlitashop.come and on the associated Instagram page (22 March 2020);
- the advertising and marketing of a so-called “Rapid Test COVID-19” at the price of 24.86 Euros on the website http://testcoronavirus.shop/it, which, as a result, has been temporarily shut down (22 March 2020);
- the claims on the preventive and therapeutic effectiveness against Covid-19 of the products advertised and marketed on the website www.oxystore.it , specifically consisting of a kit for oxygen therapy (30 March 2020).
Finally, it is worth noting that on 22 March 2020 the ICA has also ordered interim measures against the website www.gofundme.com , which operates a crowdfunding platform for the collection of funds for charitable purposes. This decision appears connected to the current Covid-19 emergency insofar as the platform has become popular and widely used by consumers for donations to hospitals and hospital wards located in the areas most affected by the current health crisis.
In this latter case, however, the ICA suspended the conduct on different grounds compared to those underlying the abovementioned decisions. More in detail, in the ICA’s view, the platform would have promoted its services as provided on a free basis while actually:
- charging a fee for any transaction by credit or debit card; and
- pre-selecting a percentage fee to be charged for each transaction (usually amounting to 10% of the donated sum), that the consumer may reduce or exclude only by opting-out.
As a result, the ICA ordered the platform to change the pre-selected percentage fee to zero, while providing the possibility for the consumers to change this specification and thus subjecting the possibility to leave a fee to an opt-in mechanism.

The decisions summarized above confirm the declared intent of the ICA to focus its supervision on exploitative practices of the current emergence in the e-commerce sector; a sector of particular importance in the current moment, also due to the reduced activity of other kinds of businesses, such as the traditional “brick and mortar” shops, which are now mostly closed as a measure to counteract the spread of the virus.

The press releases (in English) of the ICA’s decisions commented above are available under https://en.agcm.it/en/media/press-releases/ 

The possible measures to be adopted with respect to the specific agreements require a case by case analysis, taking into account the type of agreement, the areas in which the company operates, the performance milestones reached and the parties’ interest in the prosecution of the contractual relationship.

Below is an overview of the instruments which may be available both under Italian law and under the relevant agreement to avoid possible litigation.

in the case started by the company e-distribuzione (ENEL) against the judgment n. 5620/2017 of the State Council that had confirmed the annulment of Resolution 268/2015/R/eel of the Autorità per l’energia elettrica (ARERA) concerning the “Codice di rete tipo per il servizio di trasporto dell’energia elettrica: disposizioni in merito alle garanzie contrattuali ed alla fatturazione del servizio” (rules on the electricity transportation service) with regard to the obligation of the traders to provide guarantees to the distributors also for the payment of the so called “oneri di sistema” (levies utilized by the State for interventions of public interest), even in case of non payment by the final client, since such levies bear upon  the final clients in respect to their energy consumptions, by adding that ARERA does not have the power to intervene in the contracts between traders and distributors as to obligations and levies that the law charges upon third parties ((therefore out of the scope and subject matter of the electricity transportation contracts).

Intralot entered into a share purchase agreement for the sale to the private equity fund Apollo Management of its entire participation in Gamenet Group, at a price of Euro 12,5 per share.

Closing of the transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent (among which clearance from Antitrust and Amministrazione delle Dogane e dei Monopoli). Upon closing, the buyer will launch its public tender for all the shares of Gament Group. 

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, with Ramy Wahbeh and Pelin Demirdere Eski, and Latham & Watkins LLP, with Stefano Sciolla, Giorgia Lugli and Guido Bartolomei have assisted Apollo.

C.H. Robinson is one of the world’s largest third-party logistics providers, managing services for more than 124,000 customers and 76,000 active contract carriers, through its integrated network of offices and more than 15,000 employees. Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, C.H. Robinson has been publicly traded on the NASDAQ since 1997.

Dema Service, founded in 2004 and based in Chieti, is a leading provider of truck brokerage in Europe, providing also freight forwarding and other logistics services.

The plants have been acquired by Green Arrow Capital S.p.A., assisted by the law firm Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners, with a team lead by partner Raffaele Tronci and made up by counsel Angelo Crisafulli and associates Niccolò Antongiulio Romano and Michela Maresca. The regulatory and administrative aspects of the acquisition have been followed for Green Arrow by Andrea Sticchi Damiani.

The law firm has also assisted Orizzonte Solare in the concurrent reimbursement of the project finance granted by two different pools of banks to the owner of the plants, i.e. Brindisi Solare S.r.l. and Raggio di Puglia S.r.l.
 
The acquisition was made on behalf of Radiant Fund, a Luxembourg platform of which Green Arrow Capital is General Partner, through Renewable European Investment 4 – REI IV S.r.l., a vehicle dedicated to renewable energy infrastructures.

Ansaldo STS and Hitachi Rail Italy were recognised as interested third persons in the merger case due to the fact that they are direct competitors of Siemens and Alstom in the various relevant markets affected by the envisaged concentration (falling within the railway signaling and rolling stock sectors).

The companies were advised by a team led by partner Rino Caiazzo and including counsel Daniele Pilla, associate Enrico Di Tomaso and trainee Cecilia Solato.

Coordination of the respective in-house teams was led by Filippo Corsi (Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer) and Cristiano Crinisio (Head of CEO Office) for Ansaldo STS, and by Sergio Paolini (General Counsel, Senior Vice President Legal, Corporate and Compliance) and Pierfrancesco Garimberti (Vice President Strategies & Project Financing Strategies, Sales & Program Management) for Hitachi Rail Italy.

The transaction envisaged to merge the two major European players of the railway sector through the combination of the 　Siemens AG Mobility Division and Alstom SA, resulting in the creation of an entity – subject to Siemens AG sole control – holding a dominant position in certain signaling markets and in the market for very high-speed trains.

During the investigation the Commission raised various competition concerns in relation to the notified transaction, regarded as potentially leading to significant impediment to effective competition in the relevant markets within which, following the merger, the competitive pressure from remaining competitors would not have been sufficient to ensure effective competition.

In order to address the objections raised by the Commission, Siemens and Alstom had submitted a proposal of remedies that, however, the Commission deemed as not sufficient to eliminate the concerns that the transaction would result in a significant impediment to effective competition.

　

The conducts which were sanctioned concern the unlawful exploitation of entitlements and information for the purpose of gradually transferring the group customers currently served under the regulated regime (servizio di maggior tutela) to the liberalized market. On the same date, AGCM dropped a similar accusation and closed an investigation against A2A group.

CDP Studio Legale, with the partner Rino Caiazzo and the associate Enrico Di Tomaso, represented and assisted some energy companies which intervened in the proceedings to support the AGCM investigation.

The press release, with reference to the final decisions, is available at the following link
http://www.agcm.it/media/dettaglio?id=af75d960-b5cc-414a-b37c-18813e7cf4c8

Our home town Rome is often referred to as a cradle of Western civilization due to the very important role it played in politics, sciences, philosophy, architecture, art and, last but not least, law. An important figure representing this cradle during the 1st century B.C. was the Roman lawyer, statesman, orator, writer, and philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero.

On the occasion of the IBA Annual Conference – Rome 2018 the Partners of Caiazzo Donnini Pappalardo & Associati had the pleasure of welcoming colleagues from all over the world for a guided tour at the Forum Romanum that was organized in honor of the legal profession and which followed the footsteps of one of the greatest lawyers of all times: Marcus Tullius Cicero. Sandrina Bokhorst and Raphael Hunsucker of Persoonlijk Rome, being graduates in classical and societal history and Latin language and culture, illustrated the legal profession in Roman times, using as a basis Cicero’s fascinating career, and bringing us to locations at the Forum Romanum that were crucial for the Roman administration of justice.

gave a speech about “The regulatory intervention on Big Data, between competitive dynamics and informative pluralism”.

Giuliano Foglia and Matteo Carfagnini of Studio Foglia & Partners assisted Gamenet on tax issues. Attorneys Andrea Lensi Orlandi and Daniele Landi, with Mr. Angelo Conte, who is an expert in tax law, for Studio PwC TLS’s Rome based M&A team and Professor Augusto Dossena and attorney Giulio Marinelli for Studio SLVB, have jointly assisted the Seller. Messrs. Kevin Tempestini and William De Ascaniis of KT & Partners acted as financial advisors for the Seller, the PwC Transaction Services team and Studio PwC TLS took care of the vendor due diligence.
The closing process has been completed after certain condition precedents had been fulfilled, including the clearance of the Antitrust Authority and the Monopolies Agency.
Gamenet and Goldbet, both leading players in the public gaming sector, thus create the first Italian operator in the collection of sport bets.
 

In addition to Mr Caiazzo (former Officer of the Antitrust Section), the other speakers were Gabriella Muscolo (Italian Competition Authority, Rome), Nicolas Banasevic (European Commission, Brussels),  Peter Steyn (Werksmans Attorneys, Johannersburg, Vice Chair African Regional forum. The session was chaired byThomas Janssens (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Brussels, Senior Vice Chair Antitrust Section) and moderated by Samantha Mobley (Baker&McKenzie, London, Vice President Antitrust Section).

Slides attached.