Parmalat founder Calisto Tanzi, 15 other executives and two financial institutions face a Milan judge today in the first major trial over the dairy group's collapse in December 2003.
The executives were sent to trial in June after eight months of preliminary hearings, on charges including market-rigging, false auditing and of hindering the work of regulators.
The Italian office of auditors Deloitte & Touche and Grant Thornton's former Italian unit were also charged with helping Parmalat to mislead investors. Tanzi's lawyers have submitted a long list of witnesses to Judge Luisa Ponti, including the chairmen of banks such as Capitalia and Mediobanca, and representatives of market regulator Consob and the Bank of Italy.
But unexpectedly, the lawyers also asked "all the civil parties to the case" to testify - meaning thousands of bondholders who lost their savings in the Parmalat crash could appear as witnesses.
The Financial Timeswrote today that lawyers could also ask for the trial to be moved to Parma, near Parmalat's headquarters, where there is a wider investigation. Such a move could delay proceedings by months.
Bank of America's Italian office will stand trial in Milan as a civil party. It has not been sent to trial for any administrative responsibility in the case. Under Italian law, companies can stand trial facing possible fines or even enforced closure if found guilty. Bank of America and Deloitte have denied wrongdoing.
Grant Thornton severed ties with its Italian unit in the weeks that followed the €14 billion accounting scandal. Other cases are still open in Milan, where prosecutors have been investigating suspected financial crimes since Parmalat crumbled under the weight of billions of euros of debt, leaving investors with nearly worthless paper.
In July, prosecutors asked a Milan judge to send to trial Italian fund manager Nextra and four leading banks: Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and UBS. The banks have denied wrongdoing. Hearings on the request are due to begin this month. Parmalat, still a market leader in the long-life milk market, is set to relist in October as analysts believe creditors have agreed to swap 12 billion euros of debt into equity, although the outcome of the vote has not yet been published.