REGULATORY REFERENCES

FORECLOSURE SALES - OTHER SALES

We cite the publication, in the Official Gazette Vol. 69 (24 March 2015), of Decree no. 32 (26 February 2015), “Regulations for the technical and operational rules for carrying out sales of personal property and real estate online in those scenarios contemplated by the Code of Civil Procedure, pursuant to Article 161-ter of the implementing provisions for the Code of Civil Procedure.

http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2015/03/24/15G00045/sg

“Online sales transactions” means those operations conducted from the moment bidders log onto the online-sales operator’s portal, to the awarding of the winner, or the determination of the highest bidder.

These regulations establish a registry for online sales operators, meaning those entities, formed as corporations, authorised by the judge to operate online sales. The application for listing in the registry must indicate one or more Court of Appeals districts where the applicant intends to provide the online sales service. Every online sales operator is required to establish a digital registry of its online sales engagements. The online sales operator may not participate - whether directly or through a strawman - in any sales transaction for personal property or real estate subject to any pending proceeding before the judicial offices falling under the aegis of the Court of Appeals where such operator is registered. The Ministry conducts annual statistical monitoring of online sales transactions undertaken by such operators.

The bid for an online sale must contain, among other things, identifiers for the bidder, with an explicit notation of their Tax ID or VAT Number, the judicial office where the procedure is pending, identifiers for the proceeding and for the lot, and a description of the personal property or real estate, the contact person for the procedure, and all sales information. The bid price, and the terms for the related payment are specified, unless the procedure involves an application to take part in the auction. During the auction or when assessing a bid, pursuant to Article 572 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the judge or contact person for the proceeding, having vetted the bids for compliance, green lights the sales transactions. The online sales operator programmes (and can view via their own portal) an automatic system to calculate the deadlines for submitting bid raises. All bid raises and any comments by the individual bidders appear on the online sale operator’s portal, and can be seen by all other participants, by the judge, and by the contact persons for the procedure; every determination by the latter occurs in the same manner. The judge, the contact person for the procedure, and the clerk can take part in the online sales procedure for all sealed-bid sales (silent auction). Other persons, if authorised by the court or by the contact person for the procedure, can take part in the same manner. Regardless, the online sale operator's portal allows bidders access to the data contained in the digital document defined under Article 14(3), which replaces the bidders’ names with pseudonyms or other unambiguous yet anonymous terms. The judge, the contact person for the procedure, and the clerk can access all data contained in the bid noted under Article 14(2).

See Chapter III (foreclosure sales) - Section I

The online sales methods contemplated under the regulations are different.

Synchronous Online Sale

Where a sale occurs in a synchronous fashion, the bid and the application to participate in the auction may only be submitted online pursuant to Articles 12 and 13.

Part-Synchronous Sale

When the judge allows it, the bid and the application to participate in the auction may be submitted pursuant to Articles 12 and 13, or on an analogue medium filed with the clerk’s office. Anyone submitting an online bid or application will take part in the sales transactions online as well. Those submitting a bid or application on an analogue medium will participate by appearing before the judge, or before the contact person for the procedure. Subject to the provisions of Article 20(3), the contents of the bids, or the applications created using an analogue medium, as well as the bid raises and any participant comments on the sales transactions for those appearing before the judge or the contact person for the procedure, will appear in the online sale operator's portal, and be visible to those participating in the online sales procedure.

Asynchronous Sale

The judge may allow a sealed-bid sale to take place with bid raises made within a certain arc of time. The bid may only be submitted online, in accordance with Articles 12 and 13. Once the bids have been received, the judge or the contact person allows for a hearing of the parties, and any registered creditors who have not intervened in the action, and completes the vetting required under Article 18, inviting the bidders to take part in an auction wherein the highest bid will win, in the manner set forth in paragraph 1. The online sales operator will provide an alert via email to the address described in Article 12(1)(n) and via text message as each new bid raise is submitted. At the end of the established period for the auction, the online sale operator will provide notice of the highest bid submitted to all participants via the procedure noted in paragraph 2. The judge or the contact person for the procedure shall submit the list of bid raises, and the list of those placing such raises, disclosing the identifiers for the winning bidder, the down payment made by the same, and the price offered, as well as all identifiers for other bidders, the down payments made by the same, and the bank or postal accounts from which such funds were transferred. The court or the contact person for the procedure will then allow the sale to be consummated, and will take all steps required under Article 574 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

See Chapter III (foreclosure sales) - Section II