Newsletter - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
Newsletter
News of the week:
Watch for scams! Financial fraud: Consob blacks out 4 more unauthorised websites
Derivative transactions, new ESMA reporting guidelines
Giampiero Longobardi Personal Data Protection Officern
Consob: 2024 contribution scheme
Commission decisions
Management decision
Consob has ordered the black-out of 4 new websites that offer financial services illegally.
The commission availed itself of the new powers resulting from the "Decreto Crescita" ("Growth Decree"; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), on the basis of which Consob can order internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without the proper authorisation.
Below are the sites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- EuroTrade Forex (https://eurotradeforex.net website and its https://client.eurotradeforex.net page);
- Bithebanx.pro (www.bithebanx.pro website and its https://webtrader.bithebanx.pro and https://mobtrader.bithebanx.pro pages).
- Billionaire Trade Ltd (https://billioniare-trade.co.com website and its pages https://panel.billionaire-trade.co.comandhttps://trading.billionaire-trade.co.com);
- Alfacapitalmarketsltd (https://alfacapitalmarketsltd.net website and its https://account.alfacapitalmarketsltd.net page);
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the black-out of websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has thus risen to 1008.
The measures adopted by Consob can be consulted on the website www.consob.it.
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.
Consob draws investors’ attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviours, essential to safeguard one’s savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom you are investing is authorised, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published. Please note, there is a section on the homepage of the www.consob.it website, entitled "Watch for Scams!", which provides useful information warning investors about fraudulent financial schemes.
The number of companies traded on Borsa Italiana stock exchange is increasing, with the positive contribution not only from Euronext Growth Milan (Egm), the unregulated market dedicated to small and medium-sized companies, but also from the Mercato Telematico Azionario (Exm), the main market in Piazza Affari, for the first time since 2019.
This is the picture that emerges from the snapshot of Borsa Italiana, taken in the last Consob Statistical Bulletin for the first half of 2023, in an uncertain economic situation between the war in Ukraine, a surge in inflation and rising interest rates.
Seven more companies traded on the Italian market increased in the semester, the result not only of the positive net balance of the EGM (+3) and Vorvel (+1) but also of EXM (+3), the main market in Piazza Affari. For the EXM, taking the second quarter of 2023 alone, the net balance between admissions to trading and delisting was positive (+2) for the first time since the second quarter of 2022 (+1), while taking the half-yearly data, the net balance returns positive (+3) for the first time since the second half of 2019 (+1). The data in the Bulletin outlines a securities market that is recovering compared to the values recorded at the end of 2022 but is still below the pre-Covid level. The growth in share prices, as of 30 June, had increased the overall capitalisation of Italian listed companies by 13.1% compared to the end of 2022. Again as of 30 June, the profits of industrial companies listed on the main market and on the EGM recorded a decrease compared to the first half of 2022, respectively to EUR 13.1 billion (-21%) and 179 million (-13%). Profits of banks (EUR 12.8 billion, +61%), insurance companies (EUR 3 billion, +110%) and other financial companies (EUR 374 million, +9%) improved considerably. The portfolio of securities held by households and companies with Italian intermediaries also increased (+6.1%). The weight of Italian government bonds is growing. On the other hand, the incidence of investments in UCIs (Undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities) and Italian capital securities fell.
The Commission has assigned the role of Personal Data Protection Officer to Giampiero Longobardi, deputy Director General of Consob, from 24 January 2024 until 30 June 2024 (resolution no. 22975 of 24 January 2024).
The 2024 contribution scheme, approved with resolution no. 22915 of 6 December 2023 and made enforceable by Prime Ministerial Decree of 16 January 2024, was published in Official Gazette no. 18 of 23 January 2024.
The week dedicated to financial education was held from 22 to 26 January, as part of the PCTO (Pathways for Transversal Skills and Orientation), which took place online with over 160 students from 8 high schools in various Italian regions. During the week, the main concepts of economics and finance were discussed. In February, PCTO courses dedicated to students from schools in the "Rome area" will be held "in person" at Consob's Rome offices.
- The registration document issued by Banco di Desio e della Brianza Spa relating to an offer of securities other than equity securities aimed at retail investors was approved (decision of 24 January 2024).
- The information note relating to the programme for the public offering of bonds issued by Banco di Desio e della Brianza Spa was approved (decision of 24 January 2024).
Order, pursuant to art. 7-octies, letter b) of Italian Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to cease infringement of art. 18 of Consolidated Law on Finance, put in place by:
- Eurotrade Forex via the https://eurotradeforex.net website and its https://client.eurotradeforex.net page (resolution no. 22976 of 24 January 2024);
- Bithebanx.pro via the www.bithebanx.pro website and its https://webtrader.bithebanx.pro and https://mobtrader.bithebanx.pro pages (resolution no. 22978 of 24 January 2024);
- Billionaire Trade Ltd via the https://billioniare-trade.co.com website and its https://panel.billionaire-trade.co.com and https://trading.billionaire-trade.co.com pages (resolution no. 22979 of 24 January 2024);
- Alfacapitalmarketsltd via the https://alfacapitalmarketsltd.net website and its https://account.alfacapitalmarketsltd.net page (resolution no. 22977 of 24 January 2024).
- Based on the provisions of Article 1, paragraph 1, letter w-quater.1) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance, TUF) and Article 2-ter of Consob Regulation no. 11971/1999 ("Issuers' Regulation"), containing the "implementing provisions of the definition of an SME", the Head of Consob's Corporate Governance Division has updated the list of companies issuing listed shares which as at 31 December 2023, based on market capitalization values for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, were classifiable as "SMEs". The full text of management decision no. 90 of 24 January 2024 is available on the www.consob.it. website.