Abstract

The hostile take-over bid on Telecom launched by Olivetti and Tecnost was a severe test for the discipline introduced in Italy with the 1998 law and with the Consob regulations issued pursuant the new law. This note surveys the more relevant issues that came to the fore and the answers provided by the market regulator. The conclusion is that the new legislation and the current regulatory framework have, on the whole, passed that test successfully and that the Italian take-over discipline is more advanced than that prevailing in other European countries. While few remaining gaps can be easily filled with minor regulatory changes, the means for a more stringent enforcement of fairness and disclosure requirements already exist and should be used more extensively.