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:

- Mercantiles (website https://accessmercantiles.org);

- Tide Technologies Group (website https://tidetechnologiesgroup.proand its page https://t-tg.cc);

- Cmc Finance Group (website https://cmcfinancegroup.com);

- Fxg Markets Investment (website https://fxg-markets.io).

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 1156.

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.

A book for the fiftieth anniversary of the Commission that retraces half a century of Consob's history

Consob will hold a study day to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its establishment on 24 October 2024, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Aula Magna of Sapienza University of Rome, in Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Rome.

The study day will be divided into 5 sessions, each dedicated to a decade, and will involve the participation of authoritative representatives of the world of academia.

The event, which will open with institutional greetings from Antonella Polimeni, Rector of Sapienza University, and Paolo Savona, President of Consob, will end with presentations by Antonella Sciarrone Alibrandi and Pierluigi Ciocca.

The event will be followed by a Jazz Concert by the Musica Sapienza (MuSa) Orchestra.

The full programme and flyer are available at the following link: https://www.consob.it/documents/1912911/4013740/202410124_Consob50anni.pdf/b0fdca6d-dabb-915e-b8bf-0043f4c8436f.

Participation is free subject to seating availability in the Aula Magna. For organisational reasons, prior online registration is required: https://www.consob.it/web/area-pubblica/iscrizione-seminari.

The event will also be available online at the following link: https://youtube.com/live/ZSOUkfIDO-0.

Moreover, for its first 50 years, Consob has published a book that retraces half a century of the Commission's history, which is inextricably intertwined with that of the country and the financial markets in Italy.

The book "Consob – 50 years of history. The regulation and supervision of financial markets from 1974 to 2024" is available on the website www.consob.it at the following link: https://www.consob.it/documents/11973/28918/Consob_50anni.pdf/32aec049-8911-483e-c757-e087737eae0c.

Monday, 4 November 2024 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Consob and the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart-CeTIF will hold a seminar to launch the SME Research Observatory - Capital Markets, in Aula PIO XI at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, Largo Gemelli 1.

The initiative, which follows in the footsteps of activities aimed at the development of the capital market, aims to investigate the factors that encourage SMEs to undertake paths of competitive growth, innovation and financial development through the issuance of bonds and/or shares and to analyse the contextual (regulatory, technological and social) and structural (governance and business models) elements that support and/or hinder the use of capital by SMEs.

Through the activities of the Observatory, it aims on one hand to promote the financial, sustainability and digital culture in SMEs, and, on the other, to offer concrete support to policy makers to understand the developments underway in the Italian industrial economy.

The day of study will open with institutional greetings from Elena Beccalli, Rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, and Luca Filippa, Director General of Consob, and will end with a round table moderated by Andrea Signori of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart.

Participation is free subject to seating availability in the Aula PIO XI.

For organisational reasons, prior registration is required via the following link https://go.cetif.it/l/523761/2024-10-16/9vj8x4, specifying whether you intend to participate in person or online.

The poster, available on the Consob website, gives the detailed programme.

Consob and Sapienza University of Rome, under the patronage of the Chamber of Deputies, are organising the conference "Investor protection in the age of social media - Financial fraud and new digital technologies", to be held on 5 November 2024, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Hall of Parliamentary Groups of the Chamber of Deputies, Via di Campo Marzio 78, Rome.

The event – which will be divided into two sessions and will include the participation of authoritative representatives of the academic world and institutions – will be an important opportunity for discussion with representatives of market-leading technological players.

The conference will begin with the welcome address by Alessandro Colucci (President of the Cybersecurity Intergroup of the Chamber of Deputies), Paolo Savona (Chairman of Consob) and Giovanni Di Bartolomeo (Dean of the Faculty of Economics of Sapienza University of Rome); speakers include Gabriella Alemanno (Consob Commissioner), Paola Ansuini (Head of communication on financial literacy and customer protection of the Bank of Italy), Flavio Arzarello (Economic and Regulatory Policy Manager, Meta), Marina Brogi (Full Professor of Economics and Financial Markets of Sapienza University of Rome), Giuseppe Cascini (Deputy Prosecutor, Coordinator of the Crimes against the Economy Group of the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Court of Rome), Diego Ciulli (Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy, Google Italy), Bruno Frattasi (Director General of Italy's National Cybersecurity Agency), Ivano Gabrielli (Director of the Postal and Communications Police Service), Stefano Lombardi (Commander of the Currency Police Special Unit of the Guardia di Finanza) and Donato Masciandaro (Bocconi University and Director of the Committee for the planning and coordination of financial education activities - Edufin Committee).

The full programme for the event is available at the following link: https://www.consob.it/documents/1912911/4013740/20241105_programma.pdf/c70178a7-1500-4da3-b68a-5f6152a4f1e9.

In-person participation is reserved by invitation; the methods to follow the event, streamed live, will be communicated later.