Investing in Italy

This section provides information for current and potential investors in Italy.

Potential investors: Getting Started

If you are considering investment in Italy, here are some steps you may wish to consider as you get started:

• Visit U.S. Government resources on Italy on the export.gov website.
• Visit the Italian Government resources such as the INVITALIA website.
• Contact local U.S. business support organizations, such as the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy.
• Subscribe to our Embassy Facebook page or Twitter feed.
• Register with the U.S. Embassy through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

Current investors: Staying Connected

If you are a current U.S. investor in Italy, the U.S Embassy wants to stay in touch. Here are a few steps you can take to keep the channels of communication open:

• Add us to your mailing lists – we are always happy to stay informed.
• Set up a meeting with our economic or commercial team to discuss any issues that arise.
• Subscribe to our Embassy Facebook page or Twitter feed.
• Register with the U.S. Embassy through the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (SMART).

 Working in Italy

In this section you will find information on business visas, travel advisories, and anti-corruption tools.

Business Visas

For information on obtaining a visa to enter Italy, see the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

FCPA

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) is an important anti-corruption tool designed to discourage corrupt business practices in favor of free and fair markets.  The FCPA prohibits promising, offering, giving or authorizing giving anything of value to a foreign government official where the purpose is to obtain or retain business. These prohibitions apply to U.S. persons, both individuals and companies, and companies that are listed on U.S. exchanges. The statute also requires companies publicly traded in the U.S. to keep accurate books and records and implement appropriate internal controls.

More information on the FCPA can be found here: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/fraud/fcpa/

A party to a transaction seeking to know whether a proposed course of conduct would violate the FCPA can take advantage of the opinion procedure established by the statute.  Within 30 days of receiving a description of a proposed course of conduct in writing, the Attorney General will provide the party with a written opinion on whether the proposed conduct would violate the FCPA.  Not only do opinions provide the requesting party with a rebuttable presumption that the conduct does not violate the FCPA, but DOJ publishes past opinions which can provide guidance for other companies facing similar situations.

Contact Information

Mailing Address from the United States (standard domestic postage):