Saverio Valentino is a senior attorney based in the Rome office.
Mr. Valentino’s practice focuses on advising companies on a wide range of issues under European and Italian antitrust and merger control law, and on representing companies before the European Commission and the Italian Antitrust Authority.
Mr. Valentino has represented several clients in proceedings before the Italian Antitrust Authority for alleged violation of the competition rules, for instance Google, in an investigation on alleged abuse of a dominant position in the online advertising sector; American Express, in two separate proceedings concerning an alleged cartel in the credit card sector and the formation of a joint venture with CartaSi, the main Italian credit card company; and Esso Italiana, for alleged participation in cartels in the motor vehicle fuel market and in the bitumen market. Proceedings before the European Commission in which he has been involved include, inter alia, alleged vertical restraints imposed by Fiat’s subsidiary Case New Holland on its dealers, an investigation concerning compatibility with competition rules of the reciprocal representation agreements in force between the various European copyright collecting societies, and an alleged cartel in the paraffin wax sector. In connection with the last two cases, he is currently assisting SIAE and Eni before the General Court of the European Union.
Mr. Valentino’s articles include “Recent Developments in Italian Competition Law”,
First Supplement and Update of Competition Laws Outside the United States, ABA Section of Antitrust Law, 2005 (co-author).
Mr. Valentino joined the firm in 1998 and became a senior attorney in 2007. From 1998 to 1999 he was resident in the Brussels office, and from 2000 to 2001, he was resident in the Washington office. Mr. Valentino received a J.D.,
cum laude, from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1995, an LL.M. from the College of Europe (Bruges) in 1996, and an LL.M. from the University of Chicago Law School in 2000. Before joining Cleary Gottlieb, he worked with the law firm Freshfields in Brussels in 1996, and with the law firm Pappalardo & Associati in Brussels from 1996 to 1997. He also trained for a six-month period with the Directorate General I of the European Commission, in the unit dealing with multilateral commercial policies and WTO and OECD questions.
Mr. Valentino is a member of the Bars in New York and Rome. His native language is Italian, and he is fluent in English, French and Spanish, and proficient in Portuguese.