Wednesday, March 7, 2018

NBI has just been awarded top Legality Rating by the Italian Antitrust Competition Authority (AGCM).
Introduced in 2012, the Legality Rating is "a new instrument for enforcing fair trading practices and anti-trust rules". It is, practically, a certificate of judgement regarding compliance with current laws on the part of companies that apply for it and, more generally, regarding the way the companies run their business.

The rating is measured by the number of stars, and NBI has been awarded 3 out of the maximum 3.
According to AGCM requirements, Legality Rating can be given to companies that:
a) Keep their operational headquarters in the Italian territory.
b) Had an annual revenue exceeding two million Euro in the fiscal year preceding the rating request, recorded by the individual company or its group and presented in a financial statement that has been approved by the proper corporate department and published as required by law.
c) Have been registered in the Italian Business Register for at least two years.

A company’s legal status, already of great importance also when asking for bank loans and financing by public administrations – following the enforcement on the New Code for Public Procurement and Concessions (Legislative Decree No. 50/2016) – now gains with the Legality Rating a more specific importance when it comes to participating in public procurement tenders. In fact, a company’s legal rating, as a measure of its business reputation, is now required to be eligible to participate in such tenders.

Further, the New Code for Public Procurement and Concessions grants considerable importance to a company legality rating, regardless of its business rating. In calls for tenders, public administrations may specify that "the tender shall be assessed taking into consideration also the bidder's Legality Rating, always in compliance with European Union laws and the principles of equal opportunity (non-discrimination, transparency, proportionality, etc., Article 95 paragraph 13 of Legislative Decree No. 50/2016)”.