How to find company information in Italy

The official company website in Italy is registroimprese.it (https://www.registroimprese.it), that has an English version italianbusinessregister.it (https://italianbusinessregister.it). It gives access to the information that all companies with headquarters or local branches in the country must make public.

To carry out an economic activity as a business (sole trader or company) in Italy, it is mandatory to register with the Italian Business Register. It therefore contains all the main company information (name, articles of association, management, headquarters, etc.) and all the main events following registration (e.g.: changes in articles of association, modification to company officers, changes in registered address, liquidation, insolvency proceedings, etc.).

Through the Business Register web site, anyone can get basic company information (name, address, digital mailbox/certified e-mail) free of charge and without registration.

With a simple registration procedure, at a cost of € 5.00, anyone can download a Company Registration Report in English, containing the following data: registration number, name, details, contacts, address of the registered office, PEC (certified e-mail), registered office, tax code/VAT number, legal form, date of foundation, corporate aim and partnership capital, activities carried out, quality certificates, administrative positions, control positions and qualifications, corporate bodies, owners and partners with relevant quotas, secondary offices and local units (at this link a sample of a company registration report: https://italianbusinessregister.it/documents/20184/94059/company_registration_report_example.pdf/6e428ccb-2017-4532-bb22-26fca8058b03). At a cost of € 2.50, an English language version of the last Annual Accounts and of the Financial Statement can also be downloaded (at this link a sample of the last one https://italianbusinessregister.it/documents/20184/94059/Financial+Statements+Fac-simile/f4b08a54-9fd0-468d-ba2e-1c8f3188cfe8).

You can find free information on trademarks, brands, patents, designs and geographical indications on the website of the Italian Patent and Trademark Office (Ufficio Italiano Brevetti e Marchi – UIBM): https://uibm.mise.gov.it, which also has a (small) English version.

Through the Italian Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) site (https://www.agenziaentrate.gov.it) it is possible to search for real estate owned by companies (and individuals), but the service is only in Italian and requires an Italian digital identity (SPID), which cannot be obtained without an Italian ID. A search based on the name (and VAT) of a company costs € 1.35 if it returns 10 results or less and € 1.35 for every further 10 results.

The Italian Automobile Club site (https://www.aci.it) with an Italian Digital Identity (SPID) or an European one (eIDAS) gives access to vehicle records. Each query costs € 6.00 if based on the plate number and € 25.63, if based on the name of the owner.

In Italy, there is no public access to information on pending litigation. You need to ask an Italian lawyer to access status information on pending litigation, but only if you know (i) before which court the litigation is judged and (ii) the names of both the defendant and the plaintiff, or the case number.