News of the week:
Watch for Scams! Five illegal websites blacked out: one more case of unauthorized use of the image of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella
Latest Consob Statistical Bulletin published Double-digit growth in the first half of 2025 for the profits of banks listed in Milan - Insurance companies also perform well, while profits for the rest of the market slow down - Positive performance for companies traded on Egm
Sustainable finance: simpler reporting for SMEs The Sustainable Finance Roundtable launches the operational phase of support for businesses on sustainability with new tools and online training
Fintech Notebook on Greenwashing published: new metrics to prevent misleading sustainability claims by issuers

Consob's decisions of the week

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -

Consob has ordered the blocking of five illegal websites as part of its efforts to combat financial fraud. Specifically, 4 websites offering illegal investment services and activities on financial instruments have been shut down, along with 1 website advertising an unauthorized trading platform that misused the image of public figures, specifically the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and Italian companies operating in the energy sector. Consob has already taken action in the past to block websites that made illegal reference to the President of the Republic.

Below is a list of the websites that have been blocked:

- "Freetradeeuropa.com" (website www.freetradeeuropa.com and related pages https://clientarea.platform-trade247.com, https://web-trader.platform-trade247.com);

- "Safecap" (website https://safecapinv.com and related page https://client.safecapinv.com);

- "Bosonalfa-ai" (website https://bosonalfa-ai.com and page https://portal.tradingfxapp.me);

-"GlobalMarketsIC" (website https://glblmrktsic.com and related page https://cab.glblmrktsic.com and linked advertising website https://il-petrolio-italiano.it).

This brings the total number of websites blocked by Consob since July 2019, when the Authority was given the power to order the blocking of websites of abusive financial intermediaries, to 1.522.

The Authority has exercised the powers deriving from the 'Growth Decree' to block the websites of abusive financial intermediaries and those introduced by the 'Capital Law' relating to the blocking of websites used to carry out advertising campaigns for abusive intermediation platforms.

The measures adopted by Consob are available on the website www.consob.it. Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently blocking access to the websites. For technical reasons, it may take a few days for the block to take effect.

It is important that savers exercise the utmost diligence in making fully informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors that are essential for safeguarding their savings: these include checking in advance, for websites offering financial services and crypto-assets, that the operator through which you are investing is authorized and, for financial and crypto-asset product offerings, that the prospectus or white paper has been published.

Consob also draws attention to the evolution of deceptive practices that exploit the Internet to steal users' money and personal data: there has been an increase in the use of new tools, such as email messages and 'cloned' websites, fake profiles of politicians and celebrities, and content generated using artificial intelligence systems - such as images, voices, or videos - with the aim of inducing savers to make harmful investment choices.

To this end, Consob reminds investors that its website features a section entitled "Watch for Scams!", which provides useful information to warn investors against abusive financial initiatives.

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Double-digit growth in the first six months of 2025 for banks listed on the Milan Stock Exchange. Insurance companies' profits are also up, while the net results of companies other than banks and insurance companies are slowing down. Positive performance also for companies traded on the Egm market (Euronext Growth Milan, the multilateral system dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises).

These are the main findings of the latest Statistical Bulletin on Issuers published by Consob, which analyses the performance of Italian issuers listed or traded in Milan during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. The data and indicators collected show that economic fundamentals remained stable overall, despite a macroeconomic and financial environment still characterised by high uncertainty.

More specifically, banks continued the growth trend that began in recent years, with total profits of €16.7 billion, up 11.9% compared to the first six months of 2024. The 4% reduction in net interest income, which was affected by the European Central Bank's monetary easing cycle, was more than offset by growth in commission income. Capital strength also improved: at 30 June, net equity stood at €191.3 billion, up 4.1% compared to the end of 2024. The insurance sector also performed well, with profits up 5.9% to around €3 billion, thanks to an increase in insurance revenues (+4.4%) and a sharp reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses (-35.8%). The sector's net equity fell by 1.7% to €42.2 billion.

Companies other than banks and insurance companies made total profits of €14.8 billion, down 3.4% compared to the first half of 2024. Despite good revenue growth (+5.4%), the increase in operating costs and expenses weighed on net profit and operating profit (EBIT), which fell by 14%. The process of strengthening the financial and h l structure and reducing debt continued, while net equity fell by 0.9% to €259.9 billion.

Finally, SMEs traded on the Egm recorded total profits of €178 million in the first half of 2025, up 8.4% thanks mainly to a sharp increase in turnover (+€609 million compared to the same period in 2024). Capital strength was reinforced, with net equity increasing by 0.7% compared to the end of 2024, reaching €5.1 billion.

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The operational phase of support for businesses on sustainability has been launched with new tools and online training. The Sustainable Finance Roundtable provides new tools to facilitate dialogue between SMEs and banks on ESG (environmental, social and governance) issues.

Established in 2022 at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Roundtable – which also includes Mase, Mimit, the Bank of Italy, Consob, Ivass and Covip – aims to promote the use of private capital to support Italy's ecological transition, in line with European and international commitments.

In 2024, the working groups of the Sustainable Finance Roundtable, as highlighted in the 2024 Annual Report published today, improved the quality and accessibility of data on climate, physical and energy risks, developed common tools to simplify the exchange of ESG information between SMEs and intermediaries, and strengthened initiatives aimed at reducing the gap in insurance protection against natural disasters.

Following this initial analysis phase, which led to the SME-Banks Dialogue Document on Sustainability, the MEF is today publishing a table showing the interoperability between this document and the European Voluntary Standard for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (VSME) developed by the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG). The table is a practical tool that helps businesses and intermediaries understand which information required by the SME-Banks Document is already aligned with the VSME, which requires only minor adjustments, and which is specific to the bank-business relationship in Italy (e.g. on catastrophic risks). This eliminates duplication and reduces the administrative burden on SMEs that have to respond to heterogeneous data requests. In 2026, new initiatives are planned throughout the country, including meetings for local businesses and operators, training on ESG issues, practical information materials, and opportunities for direct dialogue with the banking system.

The aim is to help SMEs manage ESG issues by reducing administrative burdens and standardising the information requested by banks.

The publication of the table, the results achieved over the last two years and the planning of initiatives for 2026 confirm the Working Group's commitment to providing clear, operational tools that are consistent with the European framework for sustainable finance.

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Practices, statements or communications related to ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) issues that do not clearly and accurately reflect the sustainability profile of a company, product or financial service: this is the phenomenon of greenwashing, which represents a growing risk for sustainable finance and can undermine investor confidence, particularly in the green bond market.

The new Consob Fintech Notebook, produced in collaboration with the University of Trento, 'Sustainable Development Goals omission and environmental sentiment metric for greenwashing and ESG controversies alerts in green bonds', addresses this issue by developing analytical tools to identify warning signs in issuers' sustainability disclosures.

The document introduces two innovative indicators:

- SDGs Omission Index (SDGOI): measures the gap between the declared Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and those actually reported. This gap reveals potential selective disclosure practices;

- Environmental Sentiment Metric (ESM): quantifies the "opportunity-oriented" tone of environmental statements. Overly optimistic messages about environmental opportunities are often associated with a higher risk of greenwashing, with particularly visible effects for the most exposed issuers.

The study is part of the trend of artificial intelligence-based supervisory technologies (SupTech), using advanced techniques to systematically analyse sustainability information.

The ultimate goal of the study is to provide analytical tools to strengthen confidence in the market and promote more transparent and responsible reporting.

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- Authorisation granted for the reopening of marketing in Italy of units in the non-reserved closed-end alternative investment fund (FIA) 'A-IPO Fund' managed by Anthilia Capital Partners Sgr and approval of the relevant offering prospectus pursuant to Article 20 of EU Regulation 1129/2017. On 2 May 2024, Consob approved the prospectus relating to the initial offering of the fund and issued authorisation for the marketing of the units.

- Approved, pursuant to Article 20 of EU Regulation 1129/2017 ("Prospectus Regulation"), the base prospectus relating to the "€ 6,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme" of Intesa Sanpaolo Spa.

- Approved, pursuant to Article 20 of EU Regulation 1129/2017, the base prospectus relating to Mediobanca – Banca di Credito Finanziario Spa's "€ 12,000,000,000 Euro Medium Term Note Programme".

- Approved, pursuant to Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 1129/2017, the public offering prospectus for the non-convertible bonds named "Prestito QFarma 2025/5anni" and "Prestito QFarma 2025/3anni" issued by Q Farma Spa.

- LGT Capital Partners Ag, based in Switzerland, is authorised, pursuant to Article 28, paragraph 6, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, to provide, under the freedom to provide services in Italy, to professional clients, as identified pursuant to Article 6, paragraph 2-quinquies, letter a), and paragraph 2-sexies, letter a), of the same Consolidated Law on Finance, the investment service of receiving and transmitting orders concerning one or more financial instruments referred to in Article 1, paragraph 5, letter e) of the TUF, with the following operating mode: without holding, even temporarily, the cash and financial instruments of clients. LGT Capital Partners Ag is registered in the section for third-country firms other than banks in the Register referred to in Article 20 of the TUF and is authorised to operate in Italy in accordance with the provisions applicable to third-country investment firms pursuant to the TUF and is subject to the supervisory regime provided for therein for such operations (Resolution No. 23802 of 17 December 2025).

- Commercio.Network is registered in section 3 of the list of register managers for digital circulation referred to in Article 19 of the FinTech Decree and Article 5 of the DLT Regulation  (Resolution No. 23805 of 17 December 2025).

- Freetra+deeuropa.com through the website www.freetradeeuropa.com and related pages https://clientarea.platform-trade247.com, https://web-trader.platformtrade247.com (Resolution no. 23812 of 17 December 2025);

- Safecap through the website https://safecapinv.com and related page https://client.safecapinv.com (Resolution no. 23810 of 17 December 2025);

- Bosanalfa-ai via the website https://bosonalfa-ai.com and the page https://portal.tradingfxapp.me (Resolution no. 23811 of 17 December 2025);

- GlobalMarketsIC via the website https://glblmrktsic.com and the related page https://cab.glblmrktsic.com (Resolution no. 23809 of 17 December 2025).

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