Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders for the blocking of access to five more unauthorized investment websites, taking the total to nearly 750.

The websites targeted by the latest orders include:

• Sungerfx Limited (website www.sungerfx.com and related page https://crm.sungerfx.com);
• Uncanny Services LLC (website https://fivemarkets.io and related page https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc);
• GrandTrade Pvt Ltd (website https://grandtrades.eu and related page https://client.grandtrades.eu);
• Vermillion Consulting LLC (website https://tedex.co and related page https://webtrader.tedex.cc);
• Finex Group Ltd (website https://finextrader.com and related page https://accounts.finextrader.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 blacked out, has thus risen to 749. All these websites belong to firms that offer investment services in Italy without having the necessary license to do so. Some of these entities are clones, that is, they abuse the details (name, address, etc) of licensed businesses in order to lure victims more easily.

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 black-out to come into effect.

In issuing the orders, the regulator made use of the powers deriving from the “Growth Decree” (Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies). This piece of legislation enables Consob to order Internet service providers to block access from Italy to the websites through which financial services are offered without due authorization.