Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders to block access to five unauthorized investment websites.
In issuing the orders, the Authority made use of the powers deriving from the “Decreto crescita” (“Development Decree”; Law no. 58 of June 28, 2019, article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), under which The Consob can order Internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites that offer financial services without proper authorization.
The sites targeted by the latest Consob orders are:
- “FCapital24” (website
- “Future Invest Limited” (website and related page
- “LevictousLTD.com” (website and related page
- Trading42 Ltd and Trading42 Financial Llc (website and related page
- “RussellGroupFX” (website and related pages
The number of websites taken down since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries to be blocked, has risen to 1,070. Last week, the regulator ordered the blocking of websites belonging to Vantage Global Limited and Crypto Trade Club Ltd.
The shutdown of these websites by ISPs operating in Italy continues. For technical reasons, it may take several days for the block to take effect.
Consob draws the attention of investors to the importance of adopting greater diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors necessary to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites offering financial services, the prior checking of operator with whom they are authorized to invest and, for financial product offerings, a prospectus has been published.