Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of five new websites that offer financial services without the necessary authorization.

The websites targeted by the latest set of orders are:

• “Bitblanco” (website www.bitblanco.com and related page https://webtrader.bitblanco.com);
• “Alphascrypto” (website www.alphascrypto.uk);
• Billionaire Trade Ltd (website https://billionaire-trade.com and related pages https://panel.billionaire-trade.com and https://trading.billionaire-trade.com);
• “Infinity Invest” (website https://infinityinvest.pro and related pages https://office.infinityinvest.pro and https://trade.infinityinvest.pro);
• “CustomhouseCL” (website www.customhousecl.com and pages https://client.customhousecl.com and https://platform.tnxtechno.com).

In issuing the orders the Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree”; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), on the basis of which Consob can order Internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without the proper 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 blacked out, has thus risen to 970.

The black-out of these websites by Internet service providers operating on Italian territory is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the blocking to be implemented.