Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders to block 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). 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:
- “First State Investments (Ireland) Limited” (website www.fsi.cm and related pages and
- “FtseInvest” (website and related pages and
- “Partnersce” (website www.partnersce.cm and related pages and
- “AlfaMarket” (website and related page
- “Mestieriplaza” (website www.mestieriplaza.co).
The number of websites blocked since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the blocking of websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has increased to 1125.
The shutdown of these websites by ISPs operating on Italian territory 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 checking in advance that the operator with which they invest is also authorized for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.