The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has shut down new websites in an ongoing clampdown against firms it accuses of illegally promoting investment products in the country.
The newly-blacklisted domains include several FX platforms that mostly operate offshore without a specific regulatory status.
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to ban the websites of financial intermediaries it deems unregulated, has risen to 645.
Today’s blacklisted sites offer forex and CFDs trading, but the CONSOB says some of the names featured in the warning are dealing in crypto assets, either in the form of the underlying coins or its related derivatives such as CFDs.
The watchdog added the following brands to its register of banned internet sources for illegally promoting trading products in the country.
- “247ProTrade”(website www.247protrade.com);
- ItalianTrades Limited(website www.italiantrades.com
and its page https://webtrader.italiantrades.com); - Eufm Ltd(website https://eufm.eu and its pages https://client.eufm.eu and https://webtrader.eufm.eu);
- “Fusion Fx”and “Fusion-Fin” (website www.fusion-fin.com);
- Daxodeal Ltd(website https://daxodeal.com);
- Primer Tech International Holding OÜand Magnates Trade (website www.magnatestrade.com).
- Trust Pixs Limited(websitetrustpixs.com and related page https://my.trustpixs.com);
- “EqualityFin”(website https://equalityfin.com and related page https://client.equalityfin.com);
- Scintilla Enterprise Ltd(website https://solidstocks.cc);
- Miva Solutions LLC(websitedelitraders.net and related page https://client.delitraders.net);
- Ingenue Consulting LLC (websitehttps://tradon.io).
The crackdown comes after Consob refined its process for identifying non-compliant companies. Recently, the regulator went after a handful of CySEC-licensed brokers and ordered them to cease operations in the country. The decisions also prevented Cypriot intermediaries from soliciting customers or continuing its current relations with Italian clients.
The Italian regulator found new tools to address illegal operators in the market when the ‘Growth Decree’ extended its powers far beyond. Thanks to the decree, CONSOB can order Italian internet service providers (ISPs) to block websites in the region. Due to technical reasons, it can take several days for the black-out to come into effect when these websites shut for a temporary period.
Additionally, the authority has warned even authorized firms against falsely advertising unregulated products as being regulated by Consob. The watchdog added that these financial promotions were unlikely to provide consumers with the clarity required by its rules and could leave them unable to understand whether the promoted products or services were beyond its remit.
