Access to Solidarity Funds for victims of usury and extortion and a new type of arrangement to settle the liquidity crises of the individual debtor, to whom ordinary bankruptcy procedures do not apply. Against the scourge of usury, which merchants and entrepreneurs (but not only) are often forced to grapple with sudden economic difficulties, the law introducing new instruments of protection and support is on its way to the final stage.
As soon as the budget session is over, the Senate will in fact examine the provision that arrives from the Chamber fresh from the approval in the legislative seat of the Justice commission. The text extends to individual entrepreneurs declared bankrupt the possibility of accessing the Solidarity Fund for victims of usury (established in 1996), as well as the Solidarity Fund for victims of extortion requests (established in 1999 and unified with the Solidarity Fund for the victims of usury by the 2002 financial law).
It also intervenes on the timing for the disbursement of loans granted to victims of usury, allowing them to be disbursed even in the preliminary investigation phase, provided that there is a favorable opinion from the Public Prosecutor, on the basis of concrete elements acquired. Currently the disbursement is possible only after the decree that orders the judgment in the criminal proceeding for the crime of usury. The provision brings further measures to combat the usury and extortion racket, including in particular the tightening of penalties for the crime of simple and aggravated extortion and, through an amendment to the procurement code, the provision for the termination of the contract following irrevocable conviction of the contractor for usury and laundering.
As for the crisis situations due to over-indebtedness, a sort of insolvency procedure is outlined, modeled on the institution of the bankruptcy arrangement, applicable to subjects other than commercial entrepreneurs, in order "to avoid unnecessary economic collapses with the frequent impossibility of satisfying creditors but , above all, with recourse to the usury market and, therefore, to organized crime”. In detail, the provision proposes the instrument of an agreement with creditors, on the proposal of the debtor, on the basis of a debt restructuring plan which ensures the regular payment of extraneous creditors.
