Rule reminder
In Italian journalism, the conditional tense (condizionale) is used to report unverified information, allegations, or statements attributed to sources without endorsing them as fact. Example: 'Il ministro avrebbe firmato il decreto' = 'The minister is said to have signed the decree' (unconfirmed). This is called the 'condizionale giornalistico' or 'condizionale di dissociazione'.
In the sentence 'I vertici aziendali sarebbero a conoscenza della frode', what is the grammatical function of 'sarebbero'?