Furthermore, it was found a restrictive agreement between Assitalia and Zurigo aimed at binding the mutual conduct while participating in public tenders.

Considering the seriousness of the infringement, the Authority imposed on Assitalia and Zurigo administrative fines respectively equal to 220 million lire.

The Authority ruled that the other parties involved in the investigation did not violate the Competition Act.

The proceeding originated from a complaint filed with the Authority last January by the Municipality of Milan. The complaint arose from the unsuccessful tenders organized by the Municipality to contract the insurance coverage for a number of areas. As such, the Municipality alleged the existence of anticompetitive behaviour undertaken by the insurance companies which were invited to participate in the tender. Following the boycott of two public tenders and a third unofficial tender, the Municipality proceeded to negotiate privately the insurance service with Assitalia, who was the only one, between the companies invited to take part in the tenders, making a bid with Generali, Ras, Unipol and Fondiaria.

The Authority found that, after the call for tender, all the main insurance companies met and kept in contact. In such a way a pool of companies was created in order to make a co-insurance bid to the Municipality.

This pool of co-insurance bidders was led by Assitalia being delegatee, and included Generali, Ras, Unipol and Fondiaria.

The Authority noted that a co-insurance agreement between the five national largest insurance groups, which account in total for more than 50 per cent of the damage insurance domestic market, constituted a restrictive agreement.

In particular, the co-insurance bid made by Assitalia, Generali, Ras, Unipol and Fondiaria had as its effect prevention of other competitive bids and, in addition, eliminated the mutual and necessary rivalry between the above companies. These insurers, through the co-insurance provision, took part in the tender in a cooperative way, by replacing collusion to competition and preventing the contracting Municipality from acquiring other competitive bids and selecting the most convenient.

In this case, the Authority referred to the European Community insurance competition law, which consider co-insurance as an horizontal agreement between competitors and, therefore, as a restrictive agreement that can be authorized only in presence of certain risk conditions and where the main insurers are not involved.