Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of access to six new websites that illegally offer financial services.
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). This bill allows Consob to 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:
- “Expo Trust” (website and related page
- “Royal Dimex Ltd” (website www.royaldimex.com and related page
- “Real PremiumEU” and “Real PremiumEU Markets” (website www.realpremiumeu.com and related page
- Investousit (website and related page e
- “Lyxmont” and “Alfatrade” (websites www.lyxmont.com and
The number of websites taken down since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the blocking of websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has risen to 1,110. Several days ago, the regulator ordered the blocking of the websites of LLCapitalFX and RussellGroupFX.
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.