Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) today confirmed that the number of unauthorized investment websites blocked in Italy has exceeded 550.
The latest set of blocking orders issued by the regulator target five new websites that abusively offer financial services. The list includes:
- Vibeinv Invest Limited (website www.vibeinv24.com);
- Prim Global Reach Ltd – Primeatrade Limited – FX Publications Inc. (website https://primea-trade24.com and related page https://client.primea-trade24.com);
- Fundiza LTD (website www.fundiza.org);
- Swissqb247 (website www.swissqb247.net and pages https://client.swissqb247.net and https://webtrader.swissqb247.net);
- Magna Emporium Group Ltd (website https://fxmagna.com and related page https://client.fxmagna.com).
In issuing the orders, the regulator made use of the powers deriving from the “Growth Decree” (Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies). This piece of legislation empowers Consob to order Internet service providers to block access from Italy to the websites through which financial services are offered without due authorization.
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blocked, has thus risen to 553. As FX News Group has reported, the number exceeded 500 in September 2021.
The websites targeted by Consob’s orders most often belong to entities that offer Forex, CFD and crypto trading. Sometimes the firms are clones of legitimate companies – that is, there are fraudulent entities that abuse the details (name, license number, etc) of the authorized companies in order to more easily lure investors.
The black-out of these websites by Internet service providers is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the blocking to be implemented.