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The responsibility of the auditors for the bankruptcy of the company

  • 23/07/2019

With sentence no. 18770 of July 12, the Court of Cassation, Civil Sect. I, has stated that the auditors are responsible for the bankruptcy of the company, if they remained inactive in the face of unlawful conduct by the directors.

The Court stated there is a dual responsibility of auditors: by own deed or in omissive competition with the directors.

To affirm the responsibility of the auditors, it is sufficient the non-observance of the general duties of vigilance and control imposed on the auditors by Articles 2403 ss. of the Italian Civil Code; with reference to the causal link, the inertia of the auditors is considered to be the cause of the damage if, by activating it, it could have avoided it.

Finally, regarding the subjective element, the Court has specified that the ignorance of the illegal activities of the directors is not liberating, being the auditor also responsible for not having noticed the so called “warning signs”.

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