Bruno Cova

Bruno Cova’s practice is a combination of transactional and litigation, its common thread being pathological situations impacting clients. On the transactional side, Bruno works on restructurings and distressed M&A, while his non-transactional work focuses on corporate governance and compliance, internal investigations and defending corporations and their senior managers before regulators and in the context of criminal proceedings.

Bruno Cova started his career as a private practitioner in Milan and London, and was then general counsel of the exploration & production division of Eni SpA, chief compliance officer of the EBRD, and group general counsel of Fiat SpA. Immediately prior to returning to private practice, he was the Chief Counsel to the Extraordinary Commissioner appointed by the Italian government to investigate Europe’s largest financial fraud at Parmalat and to deal with the restructuring of the company. In 2005 he returned to private practice as the chair of the Italian operations of a global law firm.

With international experience leading the legal functions of major global companies and advising top executives on global expansion as well as corporate crisis, Bruno Cova focuses on complex transactions such as acquisitions of distressed companies or of companies impacted by wrongdoing, internal investigations and corporate governance, cross-border disputes and litigation. As regards corporate governance, he regularly acts for the boards of directors and of statutory auditors of international corporations and financial institutions in dealing with legal risks, devising internal controls or contractual mechanisms to minimize those risks, investigating legal and compliance problems, and defending clients before regulatory authorities or in the context of criminal investigations.

He is regularly invited to speak on various legal and banking topics related to restructuring, insolvency and internal investigations in Italy and abroad. Bruno Cova is also a contributor to law and economic publications and newspapers.

Bruno Cova is part of the troika of experts advising Borsa Italiana on corporate governance reforms.