Italian Legality Rating 2026: new rules, three-year validity and greater relevance for businesses
March 16, 2026
From 16 March 2026, the Italian Legality Rating is valid for three years instead of two and the new requirements introduced by the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) Regulation approved by Resolution No. 31812/2026 apply. Key changes include stricter attention to requirements and checks, rewards for continuous renewals and the availability of an English-language certificate.
What is the Italian Legality Rating?
The Legality Rating is a reward-based indicator recognising high standards of legal compliance and transparency among businesses that apply for it. The new rules strengthen the instrument and introduce several important changes.
What are the main changes in 2026?
Key changes include extending the validity of the rating from two to three years, granting an additional score to companies that have renewed the rating continuously at least three times in the past, and making an English-language certificate available, increasing its usefulness in international business relationships.
Why does preventive compliance become more important?
The new regulation also revises requirements, checks and disqualifying circumstances. For businesses, the issue is therefore not only obtaining the rating but also maintaining it through a compliance framework capable of identifying tax, corporate, organisational and reputational risks at an early stage.
What benefits can the rating provide to a business?
The Legality Rating may also be relevant in dealings with banks and Public Administrations under the applicable rules and can be integrated into the company’s wider governance and risk-management framework.
What should the business do?
- verify in advance that eligibility requirements are met and no disqualifying circumstances apply;
- map the persons and events relevant to maintaining the rating;
- integrate the Legality Rating into compliance controls, organisational models and internal control systems;
- plan the necessary checks well ahead of the renewal date.
What are the main legal and administrative references?
Legal references: Article 5-ter of Decree-Law No. 1 of 24 January 2012, converted by Law No. 27 of 24 March 2012, as subsequently amended; AGCM Resolution No. 31812 of 27 January 2026, effective from 16 March 2026.
