Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders for the blocking of access to five new investment websites that target Italian investors without having the necessary authorization to do so.
The websites targeted by the latest orders are:
- “Aquilafx” (website and related page
- Pine Consulting LTD e BestProducts Ltd (website and related page
- “MTinvesting” (website www.mtinvesting.io);
- “MFS Securities Corporation” (website www.mfssecurities.com and related pages and
- “EuroCryptoFX” (website and related page
In issuing the orders, the Authority made use of the powers deriving from the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree”; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), on the basis of which Consob can order Internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without the proper authorization.
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order the blocking of access to the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has thus risen to 871.
Last week, Consob issued orders for the blocking of six websites, including ones operated by Fintech Market and Prime Markets.
The black-out of these websites by Internet service providers operating on Italian territory is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the blocking to come into effect.
Consob draws investors’ attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
