18 Italy »
Lisa Curran
From: Set-Off Law and Practice: An International Handbook (3rd Edition)
Edited By: William Johnston, Thomas Werlen, Frederick Link
This chapter discusses the law of set-off in Italy. Under Italian law, set-off is recognised as a mechanism for extinguishing an obligation. The Civil Code classifies set-off by operation of law, by intervention of the judge, or by the will of the parties. The Code also lays down particular rights of combination with regard to amounts credited and debited to current accounts, as well as specific rights of set-off with regard to balances of a plurality of accounts or other relationships between a bank and its customer. The chapter first provides an overview of legal and contractual set-off between solvent parties before analysing set-off against insolvent parties. It examines the relevant provisions of the Italian Bankruptcy Law and the question of voidable preferences with respect to set-off. It also looks at issues arising from cross-border set-off between solvent parties and cross-border set-off against insolvent parties.
