The Business Register is enriched with new information to focus on the reliability profile of companies. Thanks to the agreement between InfoCamere and the Competition and Market Authority, starting from next autumn the company records extracted from the Business Register of the Chambers of Commerce will contain an indication of the legality rating issued by the AGCM to the companies that have done so request and which have passed the scrutiny of the Authority itself.
The legality rating is a tool introduced in 2012 aimed at the promotion and introduction of principles of ethical behavior in the corporate sphere, through the assignment of a recognition - measured in "stars" - indicative of compliance with legality by companies that have requested it and, more generally, the degree of attention paid to the correct management of their business.
The acquisition by the Business Register of information on the legality rating is part of the process of continuous improvement of the quality, completeness and transparency of the information present in the databases managed by the Chambers of Commerce, pursued through the integration of information on companies managed by other Public Administrations.
The complete list of companies that have so far obtained the legality rating, with the relative score, is published on the Authority's website and from next October it will be integrated in the Company Register issued by the Chambers of Commerce.
THE MAP OF COMPANIES WITH THE "STARS" OF LEGALITY
At the end of April 2017, there were 3460 companies with legality "stars". The majority are from the North (55,6%), compared to 22% in the Center and 31,7% in the South (South and Islands). 62% are concentrated in five regions, with Emilia Romagna in the lead (15,3), followed by Lombardy (14,7), Veneto (12,1), Puglia (11) and Lazio (8,7, 90). Approximately 50% of the companies that have the legality rating are SMEs according to the European definition, i.e. with a turnover equal to or less than 250 million euros and fewer than XNUMX employees.
Most of these (52,1%) are small businesses, employing fewer than 50 people and with a turnover of no more than 10 million euros. Based on the type of activity, 40% of the companies operate in the manufacturing industry and about 20% in the notoriously "sensitive" sector such as construction. The largest share is made up of limited liability companies (54,7%), followed by joint stock companies (19,5).
WHAT IS THE LEGALITY RATING
The recognition is issued on a voluntary basis and can be requested electronically by companies with operational headquarters in the national territory, which have a minimum turnover of two million euros in the last financial year and which have been registered in the Business Register for at least two years . It has a variable interval between a minimum (corresponding to a "star") and a maximum (corresponding to three "stars"), attributed by the Authority itself on the basis of the declarations of the companies, verified thanks to cross-checks with the data held by the public administrations.
The legality rating has a duration of two years and is renewable upon request. In case of loss of one of the basic requirements, the Authority orders its revocation. If the requirements for which the company has obtained a higher rating are no longer met, the Antitrust reduces the number of stars. The rating assigned by the Agcm, in accordance with the provisions of the law, is taken into account when granting loans by public administrations, as well as when accessing bank credit.
