Securities litigation has been on the rise in Italy since the Parmalat collapse in 2003. In the last ten years courts have decided a significant amount of cases concerning misstatements to the market, liability for insider trading, and evasion of mandatory takeover rules, making Italy a European jurisdiction where courts recognise and protect investors' private rights to damages.

This chapter considers the general law relating to liability for misstatements to the market (including liability under the prospectus and general directors' and auditors' liability), and an overview of the main case law concerning liability for misstatements to the market, including the recent cases of SCI and Sai-Fondiaria.

This article is part of the global guide to capital markets law. For a full list of jurisdictional Q&As visit www.practicallaw.com/capitalmarkets-guide