Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders for the blocking of access to five unauthorised investment websites.

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 latest websites to be blocked include:

• “Bcs-gm” (website https://bcs-gm.com and related page https://my.bcs-gm.com);
• “Sigma Capital” (website https://sigmacap.co);
• “Capitalpartners24” (website https://capitalpartners24.eu);
• “SEGUROFX” (website https://segurofx.com and related page https://my.segurofx.com);
• “Mestieriplaza” (website www.mestieriplaza.com).

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 1084. Last week, the regulator ordered the blocking of access to four unauthorised investment websites.

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

Consob draws investors’ attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.