The law firm Carbonetti e Associati, with partner Salvatore Providenti and associate Michele Mura, has achieved a significant victory, along with the Galbiati Sacchi and Associates law firm and Prof. Avv. Marco Lamandini, in a case before the Court of Appeals of Bologna. The case pertained to the appeal of an administrative penalty imposed by CONSOB on the partner of an audit firm for alleged informational manipulation of securities traded on an MTF.
In particular, the Court annulled the sanctioning measure due to a violation of the principle of double jeopardy. The Court noted that the offense to the protected legal interest could not be deemed so serious as to justify an accumulation of penalties. The Court reached this conclusion by considering the existence of different and plausible evaluation and review methodologies applicable, as well as the absence of a dissemination conduct on the part of the auditor, given that the latter merely transmitted the reports to the company’s administrators.
This legal victory also represents a significant precedent in jurisprudence regarding informational manipulation and CONSOB sanctions.
