Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) issued orders to block access to four 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 offering financial services without proper authorization.
The sites targeted by the latest Consob orders are:
- “Toroassets” (website www.toroassets.com).
- “Interactive” (website and related pages and
- “CFD Active” (website and related page
- “XTXMK” (website and related page
Thus, the total number of websites blocked by Consob has increased to 1079 since July 2019, when the Authority was given the power to order the blocking of the websites of abusive financial intermediaries.
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.