Italy’s Consob orders blocking of 16 unauthorized investment websites
The latest order takes the number of illegal online trading websites blocked by the regulator under the so-called “Growth Decree” to 117.
Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has just announced that it has ordered the blocking of access to 16 websites of unauthorized investment entities.
The list of illicit investment websites includes:
- Allianz Capital Ltd (www.capitalallizie.com);
- WebNet Ltd (www.2dots.it);
- “Cleavesecurities” (www.cleavesecurities.com);
- Game Capital Ads Limited (www.welttrades.com and www.it.welttrades.com);
- BCProfit2019 (www.bcprofit2019.com);
- Terratech Ltd (www.swissfingroup.com);
- Dubai FXM Ltd (www.dubaifxm.trade and www.dubaifxm.trading);
- “VirtualStocks” (www.virtualstocks.co and www.virtualstocks.cc);
- “RoyalFunds” (www.royalfunds.co and www.royalfunds.cc);
- Lctrade Ltd (www.lctrade.net);
- Arrow Capital Ltd (www.lvgrowmarkets.com and www.partners.lvgrowmarkets.com).
Thus the number of websites blocked by the Italian regulator since July this year, when the so-called “Growth Decree” got into effect, has risen to 117. Last week, Consob ordered the blocking of three more websites of entities that have no permission to offer investment services in Italy but nevertheless do so.
The regulator explains that the blocking of access to the above-mentioned websites takes several days to implement due to purely technical reasons.
Under the ‘Decreto Crescita’ (‘Growth Decree’, Law no. 58 of June 28, 2019, article 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), Consob can order internet access providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without the proper authorization.
Until 2017, the Italian regulator was publishing “warnings” concerning the risks connected with the services offered by unauthorized operators, which were only addressed to the general public. Since 2018, with the application of the new European regulation on the provision of investment services (Mifid2), the instruments given to Consob have been significantly enforced by the attribution of the new power to order the termination of the infringement to the unauthorized operators. Accordingly, Consob had only the power of asking the cancellation of the Italian version of the abusive sites to the host providers. Now, the powers have been expanded.
