Situation: €280,000 outstanding. A Belgian speciality textiles company supplied high-performance fabrics to a Roman fashion manufacturer. Three invoices spanning six months remained unpaid despite consistent internal follow-up.
The Roman debtor operated from a prestigious address near Via Condotti, employed 120 people, and generated approximately €22 million in annual revenue. They were not insolvent. They were practising what Roman commercial culture has refined over centuries: the art of the courteous delay. Emails were always answered — warmly, personally, sometimes with references to shared dinners at trade fairs. Payment, however, remained perpetually imminent but never actual.
What we deployed
Decreto ingiuntivo at the Tribunale di Roma. We filed the ricorso per decreto ingiuntivo at the Tribunale di Roma, Civil Section. Rome's Tribunale processes a high volume of commercial payment orders and the judges are experienced with international creditor claims.
We requested provvisoria esecuzione under Article 642 of the Code of Civil Procedure, presenting signed delivery notes, the debtor's purchase orders matching the invoiced amounts, and email correspondence from the debtor's CFO acknowledging the outstanding balance and promising payment "by month-end" — a promise made three times over four months.
The judge granted the decreto ingiuntivo with provisional enforceability within 35 days of filing.
Pignoramento presso terzi on the debtor's key retail accounts. Italian fashion manufacturers typically have receivables from large retail chains and department stores. Through Chamber of Commerce filings and commercial intelligence, we identified three major retail accounts. We served the pignoramento presso terzi on all three, intercepting the debtor's incoming revenue from their largest customers.
The debtor's response
The debtor filed an opposizione on day 36, alleging a quality issue with one shipment valued at €18,000. However, the provvisoria esecuzione meant that enforcement continued despite the opposition. The pignoramento had already captured €94,000 from the three retail accounts.
The debtor's counsel contacted us within ten days of the opposizione filing. The reputational impact of the pignoramento — the debtor's retail customers now knew about the enforcement action — was more damaging than the debt itself. Settlement negotiations were direct and efficient.
Settlement: €280,000 paid in full over two instalments (60% immediate, 40% within 30 days). The quality dispute was withdrawn. Timeline: 48 days from mandate to first payment, 78 days to full settlement.
The Rome intelligence note
Rome's commercial enforcement infrastructure is well-developed but underestimated by international creditors. The Tribunale di Roma processes thousands of decreti ingiuntivi annually, and the judges are pragmatic about granting provvisoria esecuzione when the documentary evidence is strong. The pignoramento presso terzi is particularly effective in industries with identifiable downstream customers — fashion, automotive components, food and beverage, and industrial supplies.
Italy's ten-year limitation period for commercial claims (Article 2946 of the Civil Code) provides a wide window for enforcement. Statutory interest under Legislative Decree 231/2002 (ECB reference rate plus 8%) makes delay increasingly expensive for the debtor.
If you're owed money by an Italian entity in Rome or elsewhere in Italy, the enforcement system is more powerful than the payment culture suggests. Brief our Milan team for an Italian enforcement assessment.
