Press release

Milan, December 21^st 2015 – The number of defaults, insolvency proceedings and voluntary business closures keeps declining in the third quarter of the year, reflecting a positive trend tracing back to 2014; more than 15,000 Italian businesses began some form of business closure proceeding between July and September 2015, about 10% fewer than in the same period of 2014. This improvement was due especially to a strong decrease in voluntary liquidations, a figure that reflects more optimistic expectations among business owners; however, the number of bankruptcies slightly increased in the quarter.