In brief. White-collar crime is the umbrella expression for non-violent, financially motivated offences committed by individuals in business and professional settings. Italian law does not codify “white-collar” as a single category; it punishes a constellation of specific offences — fraud, embezzlement, false accounting, market abuse, bribery, money laundering — across the Criminal Code, the Civil Code, the Consolidated Banking Act and other special statutes. For companies, exposure is amplified by **corporate criminal liability under D.Lgs.

ILA is an Italian criminal-defence firm. This guide outlines UK/US rules for reference; we assist English-speaking clients whose case has an Italian dimension — extradition to or from Italy, Interpol Red Notices and cross-border proceedings — alongside local counsel abroad.

In brief

  • White-collar crime in Italy spans offences against property, the public administration, market integrity, the financial system and corporate governance.
  • Key offences: fraud (art. 640 c.p.), aggravated fraud against the State (art. 640-bis c.p.), embezzlement (art. 646 c.p.), bribery (artt. 318-322 c.p.), false accounting (artt. 2621-2622 c.c.), market abuse (artt. 184-185 TUF), money laundering (artt. 648-bis ss. c.p.).
  • Companies are exposed to corporate criminal liability under D.Lgs. 231/2001 for a wide list of predicate offences.
  • The 2019 “spazzacorrotti” law (Law 3/2019) significantly toughened the bribery framework.
  • International defence intersects with extradition, EAW, mutual legal assistance and Interpol Red Notices.

What is white-collar crime under Italian law?

There is no single statutory definition of “white-collar crime” in the Italian legal system. The expression — borrowed from US criminology (Sutherland, 1939) — designates the cluster of non-violent, financially motivated offences typically committed by individuals in positions of trust within companies, professional firms or the public administration.

In practice, Italian white-collar files include:

  • Property offences against private parties or the State (fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation);
  • Offences against the public administration (bribery, corruption, abuse of office, undue receipt of public funds);
  • Corporate offences (false accounting, obstruction to supervisory authorities, illegal restitution of contributions);
  • Market and financial offences (insider dealing, market manipulation, false prospectuses);
  • Banking and financial offences under the Consolidated Banking Act (TUB) and the Consolidated Financial Act (TUF);
  • AML offences (laundering, self-laundering, reinvestment);
  • Tax crime under D.Lgs. 74/2000.

The defence work cuts across these silos because real-life cases routinely combine multiple charges (e.g. tax fraud + self-laundering + 231 corporate liability).

  • Italian Criminal Code (c.p.) — fraud (art. 640), aggravated fraud against the State (art. 640-bis), embezzlement (art. 646), bribery (artt. 318-322), money laundering (artt. 648-bis ss.); note that abuse of office (former art. 323) was repealed by Law no. 114/2024 (Nordio reform), in force since 25 August 2024.
  • Italian Civil Code (c.c.) — false accounting (artt. 2621-2622), obstruction to supervisory authorities (art. 2638), illegal influence over the general meeting (art. 2636)
  • Consolidated Financial Act (D.Lgs. 58/1998, TUF) — insider dealing (art. 184), market manipulation (art. 185), prospectus offences
  • Consolidated Banking Act (D.Lgs. 385/1993, TUB) — abusive banking activity, abusive financial activity
  • D.Lgs. 74/2000 — tax crime
  • D.Lgs. 231/2001 — corporate criminal liability
  • Law 3/2019 (“spazzacorrotti”) — reform of the anti-corruption framework
  • D.Lgs. 39/2010 and Regulation (EU) 537/2014 — auditor liability

Fraud: the central offence

Art. 640 c.p. — Fraud (truffa). Whoever, with artifices or deceptions, induces another in error and procures for themselves or for others an unjust profit with damage to others, is punished by imprisonment from six months to three years and a fine. Aggravated forms (art. 640 paragraph 2 c.p.) apply where the fraud is committed against the State or other public bodies, or under circumstances of public danger.

Art. 640-bis c.p. — Aggravated fraud against the State for the obtainment of public funds. Punished by imprisonment from two to seven years. This is the frequent charge in cases involving public grants, EU structural funds and subsidies misuse.

Art. 640-ter c.p. — Computer fraud. Whoever, altering the functioning of a computer or telematic system, procures an unjust profit with damage to others, is punished by imprisonment from six months to three years.

Defence strategy on fraud charges typically focuses on:

  • the lack of artifices or deceptions (negotiation gaps, contractual ambiguity, not fraudulent conduct);
  • the lack of induction in error (sophisticated counterparty, full disclosure);
  • the lack of damage (no actual prejudice);
  • the lack of subjective element (no intent of unjust profit).

Bribery and corruption: the post-spazzacorrotti framework

The Italian anti-corruption framework was substantially reshaped by Law 3/2019 (“spazzacorrotti”), which increased penalties, extended interdictory measures, banned the suspension of sentences for several bribery offences, and made parts of the corruption family less amenable to settlement procedures.

Key offences:

  • Art. 318 c.p. — Bribery for the exercise of public functions (corruzione per l’esercizio della funzione). 3 to 8 years.
  • Art. 319 c.p. — Bribery for acts contrary to official duties (corruzione per atto contrario ai doveri d’ufficio). 6 to 10 years.
  • Art. 319-quater c.p. — Undue inducement to give or promise utilities (induzione indebita).
  • Art. 322 c.p. — Incitement to bribery (istigazione alla corruzione).
  • Art. 322-bis c.p. — Bribery of foreign officials (corruzione di funzionari stranieri), the Italian transposition of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention.
  • Art. 2635 c.c. — Bribery between private parties (corruzione tra privati), reformed by D.Lgs. 38/2017.

Internal investigations and AML/compliance work for multinational groups operating in Italy must coordinate the 231 framework, the OECD anti-bribery commitments, the UK Bribery Act and the US FCPA where applicable.

False accounting

Art. 2621 c.c. — False accounting (false comunicazioni sociali). Directors, managers, statutory auditors and liquidators of companies who, in the financial statements, reports or other social communications addressed to shareholders or the public, consciously expose material facts not corresponding to truth, with the aim of obtaining an unjust profit, are punished by imprisonment from one to five years.

Art. 2622 c.c. — False accounting in listed companies, more severely punished.

The 2015 reform (Law 69/2015) ended the “soglie di punibilità” regime for the most serious forms, returning materiality as a fact-bound element to be assessed on the merits.

Market abuse

Art. 184 TUF — Insider dealing. Persons in possession of price-sensitive inside information who use it for trading purposes are punished by imprisonment from one to six years and heavy fines. Administrative sanctions under art. 187-bis TUF run in parallel, with the well-known ne bis in idem issues addressed by the Grande Stevens line of ECtHR case law (Grande Stevens v. Italy, 4 March 2014) and subsequent EU Court of Justice case law.

Art. 185 TUF — Market manipulation. Trading, ordering or disseminating false information that has a concrete capacity to alter the price of financial instruments. Imprisonment from one to six years.

CONSOB has parallel administrative powers and acts as both market supervisor and quasi-prosecutor in the administrative stream.

Corporate criminal liability under D.Lgs. 231/2001

White-collar files routinely escalate from individual to corporate dimension. D.Lgs. 231/2001 introduced a quasi-criminal liability regime for legal entities, triggered when a person in a senior or subordinate role commits one of the listed predicate offences in the company’s interest or to its advantage.

The list of predicate offences has expanded significantly: it now covers corruption, false accounting, market abuse, tax crime, money laundering and self-laundering, computer offences, environmental offences, occupational safety offences, copyright offences and more.

Sanctions:

  • Monetary fines up to about EUR 1.5 million per offence (calculated in quotas);
  • Interdictory measures (suspension of activity, bans on contracting with the public administration, revocation of authorisations, exclusion from financing);
  • Confiscation of the profit of the offence;
  • Publication of the judgment.

The defence axis is the 231 organisational model plus the autonomous supervisory body (Organismo di Vigilanza): a company that adopted and effectively implemented an adequate model and ensured its independent monitoring before the offence was committed can be exempted from liability. The “effective implementation” element is the heart of the matter and is intensely scrutinised by judges. For a deep dive, see our 231 guide.

International dimension

White-collar files increasingly cross borders. Typical patterns:

  • Italian companies operating abroad under FCPA, UK Bribery Act and OECD scrutiny;
  • Foreign multinationals operating in Italy under D.Lgs. 231/2001;
  • Joint investigations between Italian Public Prosecutors and foreign authorities (DOJ, SFO, BaFin, AMF, CNMV, etc.);
  • Mutual legal assistance under bilateral treaties and EU instruments (European Investigation Order);
  • Asset recovery across jurisdictions.

ILA’s white-collar team coordinates Italian defence with foreign counsel, supports internal investigations and assists in cross-border settlements where they are available.

How ILA handles white-collar cases

The firm’s white-collar practice operates on four levels.

  1. Individual criminal defence. Defence of directors, executives, statutory auditors and professionals charged with white-collar offences. Pre-trial, trial, appeal, Cassation.
  2. Corporate 231 defence. Defence of the company in parallel to the individual defence, focus on the organisational model, supervisory body, remediation plans.
  3. Internal investigations and compliance. Pre-emptive internal investigations for groups facing regulatory or criminal exposure; advice on 231 models and compliance programmes.
  4. Cross-border coordination. Coordination with foreign counsel and authorities on multi-jurisdictional cases.

Case studies

(The cases described are illustrative examples of typical matters and do not refer to specific proceedings.)

Case 1 — Acquittal on art. 2621 c.c. for absence of materiality. Defence of a CFO charged with false accounting for the recognition of revenues in a specific business segment. The defence demonstrated that the accounting treatment, while debatable, fell within the range admitted by the applicable accounting principles. Acquittal at first instance, confirmed on appeal.

Case 2 — Dismissal of corporate 231 charges thanks to organisational model. Defence of a mid-sized industrial group in a 231 proceeding triggered by alleged bribery committed by a sales agent in a foreign market. The defence demonstrated the adoption and effective implementation of an adequate 231 model and the autonomous supervisory body’s pre-existing detection. Charges against the company dismissed.

FAQ

What does “white-collar crime” mean in Italian law? There is no single statutory definition. The expression covers the cluster of non-violent, financially motivated offences typically committed in business and professional settings: fraud, bribery, false accounting, market abuse, money laundering, tax crime.

Can a company be criminally prosecuted in Italy? Yes, under D.Lgs. 231/2001 a company can be sanctioned with fines and interdictory measures for predicate offences committed in its interest or to its advantage. A properly implemented 231 organisational model can exempt the company.

What is the spazzacorrotti law? Law 3/2019 reformed the Italian anti-corruption framework, raising penalties for several bribery offences, extending interdictory measures and limiting access to alternative sanctions and probation.

Are insider dealing and market manipulation also administrative offences? Yes. Italy operates a parallel regime where CONSOB applies heavy administrative sanctions and the Public Prosecutor pursues criminal sanctions. The interaction has been the object of significant ECtHR and EU case law on ne bis in idem (Grande Stevens, A and B v. Norway, Garlsson Real Estate).

Is an internal investigation useful before a criminal case starts? In many cases yes. A timely internal investigation allows the company to map exposures, adopt remediation, update the 231 model and prepare a strong defence posture. ILA assists groups in structuring and running internal investigations under privilege protections.

Contact the firm

For an initial confidential assessment of an investigation, a 231 issue or an internal investigation project, contact the firm. We assist individuals and companies under investigation in Italy and abroad. Go to the Contact page or call our 24/7 line.