CONSOB orders blocking of access to seven unauthorized investment websites

Italy's Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has recently taken action against unauthorized investment websites, issuing orders to block access to seven platforms deemed illicit.

The targeted websites are as follows:

“Mib40fx”

Ai2Trade Ltd

“FCapital24”

“FX-FLAT”

“Free Trade CFD”

“Realcapitallc”

Among these websites, six are identified as illegal financial intermediaries, while one is involved in offering financial products without proper prospectus disclosure.

CONSOB has invoked its authority granted by the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree”; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) to issue these orders. According to this law, CONSOB is empowered to direct Internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without appropriate authorization.

Since obtaining this authority in July 2019, CONSOB has now blacklisted a total of 1042 websites belonging to fraudulent financial intermediaries.

The process of blocking these websites by Internet service providers is underway, though due to technical considerations, the implementation of the block may take several days.

CONSOB emphasizes the importance of investors exercising utmost caution to make informed investment decisions and protect their savings. This includes verifying in advance the authorization status of any operator offering financial services and ensuring the publication of a prospectus for any financial products being offered.