Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) today announced that it has issued orders targeting four new websites that abusively offer financial service, including Forex and CFD trading.

The regulator has ordered the blocking of access to the following websites:

• Empirecfd Limited (www.empirecfd.com and https://crm.empirecfd.com);
• Empire Capital LLC (https://27proquote.com)
• Kiqiwk Holdings Intl Limited (www.solutionsmarkets.io);
• HB Enterprises OU and Fina Holding Incorporated (www.forexone.co and https://client.forexone.co).

By issuing these orders, the regulator made use of the powers granted to it by the “Growth Decree” (Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies). This piece of legislation allows Consob to order Internet service providers to ban 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 blacked out, has thus risen to 385.

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.

Last week, Consob ordered the blocking of access to seven websites that target Italian investors without having the necessary authorization to do so. The entities targeted by the latest set of orders are:

• SPTrade24 Ltd (www.sptrade24.com);
• Directafx Ltd Group and Directafx Limited (www.directafxs.com)
• “GB Trade FX” (https://gbtradefx.com);
• “Globalcfd LTD” and “D&D Venture Project LTD” (www.globalcfd.co);
• “MarketsCFDs” (https://client.marketcfx.com);
• “Itradersfx Ltd” (www.itradersfx.com);
• Plus One Ltd (www.marketcfd.com).