Italy's Consob Suppresses the Launch of Five New Financial Websites

Among the blacked-out websites are Bitaliana and Preqster Ltd.

674 websites have been blacklisted since July 2019.

Consob (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa), the Italian government's main financial regulator, said Thursday that it was going to block five new websites.

According to the press statement, Consob suspended access to the websites of FX Publications, Inc., Xtbinvesting, Preqster Ltd., Bitaliana, and Bloomb Trading Facility BV. Since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to ask for the blacklisting of fraudulent financial intermediaries' websites, there have been 674 websites that have been banned.

The watchdog issued the decision according to the “Growth Decree,” giving them the legal ability to ban websites suspected of engaging in unlawful financial operations.

“Consob emphasizes to investors the importance of exercising the utmost diligence to make informed investment choices, as well as engaging in common sense behaviors that help safeguard their savings; these include visiting websites that offer financial services and confirming in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, as well as offering financial products and ensuring that a prospectus has been published,” the Italian regulator warned.

Recent power outages

Consob has told the websites for Infinity4X, Empire Trading, EqualityFin, Fincloud, AXA Business Solution Ltd, and Techsync Management Consultancies LLC to be shut down, so they can't be used anymore.

According to a statement published on its website, Consob utilized powers derived from the “Growth Decree” (Law no. 58 of June 28, 2019, Article No. 36, Paragraph 2) to force Internet connection service providers to block access to five websites from Italy in early March.

Trust Pixs Limited, Scintilla Enterprise Limited, Miva Solutions LLC, and Ingenue Consulting LLC were all included. Additionally, Consob said in February that it has changed its communication with retail consumers regarding the sale of sophisticated financial instruments. This action was taken to strengthen the protections afforded to retail clients, who are deemed vulnerable in the complicated financial products sector.