Number of investment websites blocked in Italy reaches 400
Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) continues to issue orders for the blocking of access to unauthorized online trading websites. Today, the regulator said it ordered the blackout of four more websites that illegally offer financial services to Italian investors.
The latest orders target the following websites:
- KBS Capital Markets Ltd (https://royaltradefx.com and https://my.royaltradefx.com);
- Donnybrook Consulting Ltd (www.eurofx.trade);
- Investigram Ltd (www.investigram.com);
- FCS Technology Ltd (https://stockmarketinvest.pro and https://client.stockmarketinvest.pro).
In issuing the orders for the blocking of the websites, Consob has made use of the powers granted to it under the so-called “Growth Decree”. This piece of legislation empowers the regulator to order local Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access from Italian territory to websites that offer financial services in Italy without the necessary authorization.
Since the “Growth Decree” came into effect in the summer of 2019, Consob has been issuing blocking orders on a weekly basis. This week, the total of unauthorized websites blocked reached 400.
Many of these websites offer CFD, FX and cryptocurrency trading. A prominent example of a website of a Forex broker blocked in Italy is that of IC Markets. This case also demonstrates that the blocking of a website can have much more serious effect on a business rather than a warning.