Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of access to five new unauthorized investment websites, bringing the total to 1,000.
This milestone was achieved in just four years of commitment, after in the last ‘squeeze’ Consob ordered the shutdown of five new websites offering financial services without the proper authorisation.
The latest round of blackouts involved the sites “Bitblanco” (website www.bitblanco.co and related page “StormInvest” (website Cryptogo365 Ltd (website “TCRinvest” (website and related page and “EuroXTradeFX” (website www.euroxtradefx.com).
The Commission has been blocking websites since July 2019, when the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree”, Law No. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article No. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) gave Consob the power to order internet connection service providers to prohibit access, from Italy, to websites through which financial services are offered without proper authorization.
As for the last five websites blocked by Consob, activities to blackout websites from internet connectivity providers operating in Italy continue. 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.
For this purpose, Consob will remind you that there is a section “Watch for scams!” on the homepage www.consob.it, which provides useful information to warn investors against initiatives of financial abuse.