Banca Sistema S.p.A. v. Italy
Referral to the Grand Chamber
The Court has accepted the referral to the Grand Chamber of the case Banca Sistema S.p.A. v. Italy.
The applicant, Banca Sistema S.p.A., is a company based in Milan. It specialises in providing factoring services to private companies, buying debt owed to those companies by public administration authorities and becoming the creditor in their place. Banca Sistema S.p.A. acquired several debts held by private companies and service providers against the municipality of Cosenza. The national courts determined the total amount of the acquired debt and issued orders for payment. Those orders became enforceable on dates between 2018 and 2023, and enforcement of those orders has been pending for between more than two and more than seven years. Following partial payment of the sums awarded, the municipality of Cosenza declared itself insolvent. Banca Sistema S.p.A. lodged a request to be included in its list of creditors. The company cannot, however, initiate or pursue enforcement proceedings concerning its claims registered on that list while the insolvency procedure is pending.
The Court has also decided to reject a request to refer eleven other cases.