Insist that the contract is concluded in the prescribed manner
The provision of an investment service must be agreed in writing except in the cases specified in Consob regulations (e.g. placement services). This is not a purely formal matter. The existence of a written contract makes it possible at any time to establish the exact terms of the relationship; moreover, having to sign a form increases the likelihood of the investor paying
due attention to the content of the clauses it contains.
When you take up a public offering (of shares, bonds or fund units, for example) the contract in writing may be replaced by an equivalent mechanism, including online purchases made over the Internet (see below).
You may not believe it, but investors sometimes leave signed forms to be filled in by the intermediary or financial salesman.
This is a very dangerous practice, an invitation to dishonest operators to pull a fast one. Just think for a moment, would you ever dream of giving someone a blank cheque?.
Pay in the prescribed manner
Investments must be paid for exclusively in the manner specified in the contract.
If you are contacted by a financial salesman, you must never pay in cash or with a cheque not made out to anyone or made out to the financial salesman himself. Cheques and bank drafts must always be marked "non trasferibile" and made out (or endorsed) exclusively in favour of the intermediary the
financial salesman works for or the company whose products you are buying. You can also pay by means of a credit transfer, but again never in favour of the financial salesman.
The financial salesmen must always give you a copy of every document you have signed.
The moment of paying
