controllato

Controllato is the Italian adjective meaning “controlled” and is used to describe a person, entity, or asset that is subject to supervision or governance by another party. In a corporate context, the term is most commonly seen in the noun phrase controllata, meaning a subsidiary. A company that holds the controlling interest in a second company, called controllante or capogruppo, exercises the power to govern the latter’s financial and operating policies, typically through majority ownership of voting rights or by other arrangements that confer control. The existence of control may arise directly or indirectly through ownership chains or contractual agreements.

In accounting and corporate law, control is the criterion for consolidation: a parent company consolidates the financial statements of its controllate subsidiaries, so the group is reported as a single economic entity. The precise definition of control can go beyond majority voting rights and may depend on the ability to direct relevant activities or appoint the majority of key management, as recognized in international standards and domestic regulation.

Outside corporate use, controllato also appears in everyday Italian to describe things that are regulated, supervised, or governed, for example procedures, systems, or processes described as controllate.

Related terms include controllo (control), controllante (controlling party), controllata (subsidiary), and bilancio consolidato (consolidated financial statements).