Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has ordered the blocking of access to three new websites that illegally offer financial services.

The websites targeted by the latest set of orders are:

• “Vivian Trade” (website https://viviantrade.com and related page https://clients.viviantrade.com);
• AcerFinance (website https://acerfinance.co);
• PrimusFX Inc (website https://primusfx.net and related page https://account.primusfx.net );

In issuing the orders, the Authority made use 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 the blocking of access to the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has thus risen to 882. Last week, the regulator ordered the blackout of four websites.

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 come into effect.