UnipolSai Successful Before The Regional Administrative Court for Latium

Cleary Gottlieb successfully represented UnipolSai, one of the two largest insurance groups active in Italy and the largest in non-life markets, in its application before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio (TAR Lazio) to obtain judicial review of a cartel decision adopted in March 2015 by the Italian Competition Authority (ICA). The ICA imposed on UnipolSai a fine amounting to almost €17 million for an alleged bid rigging practice with Generali, UnipolSai’s main competitor in the insurance sector, with respect to their participation in 58 tenders for Third Party Liability insurance (RCA) extended to the vehicles of 15 local public transport companies.

UnipolSai challenged the decision in court, claiming in essence that the ICA did not comply with the well-settled rules governing the burden of proof in cases of alleged violation of Art.101 TFEU. In particular, UnipolSai argued that the ICA failed to prove any unlawful contacts between the parties, parallelism in their behaviors and the absence of a rational explanation other than the contested infringement.

In its judgment rendered on December 18, 2015, the TAR Lazio fully upheld all UnipolSai arguments and, as a result, annulled the ICA’s decision in its entirety.