Title: The attestation of corporate turnaround plans in Italy: operating problems and possible solutions

Authors: Andrea Caputo; Alberto Tron

Addresses: Lincoln Business School, University of Lincoln, UK ' Department of Economics and Management, University of Pisa, Italy

Abstract: The manifold recent reform acts of bankruptcy law in Italy are more clearly oriented towards preserving the going concern of firms, besides granting the par condicio among creditors. Companies have broader opportunities to plan the restructuring, with the constraint of making it advantageous for creditors. In this context, the role of the independent attester is of prime and increasing importance to assure that the restructuring plan pursues creditors' and stakeholders' interests. This paper presents insights from both the authors' practical experiences and the review of the literature. It is addressed to managers, practitioners and scholars, interested in understanding turnarounds in the Italian context. The specificities of the attester's activity in analysing the data truthfulness and the feasibility of the recovery plan are deeply analysed. The article has a qualitative value and is based on a normative methodological approach, which links bankruptcy law with crisis management and auditing. The result is a systematic model of the attestation process.

Keywords: crisis management; auditing; independent attestation; bankruptcy law; Italy; restructuring; corporate turnaround plans; creditor interests; stakeholder interests.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCA.2016.076097

International Journal of Critical Accounting, 2016 Vol.8 No.1, pp.30 - 44

Received: 14 Sep 2015
Accepted: 05 Jan 2016

Published online: 23 Apr 2016 *

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