Carlo Comporti, a Consob Commissioner, is the new Chair of ESMA. Following the appointment process, the Council of the European Union has given its final approval.

Comporti, who will take up his new post on 1 November 2026, has been a Consob Commissioner since February 2022. During his term of office, he has represented Consob on ESMA's Board of Supervisors and Management Board and has chaired the Digital Finance Standing Committee. He is also a member of the IOSCO Board, where he has served as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee.

The appointment to lead ESMA also marks a return to the European institutions where Comporti spent a significant part of his career. Following an initial spell at Consob, where he worked in the International Relations Office from 1997 to 2002, he joined the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR), holding various posts before becoming its Secretary-General in 2008. He subsequently played a role in the transition from CESR to ESMA and, in 2011, served as Acting Secretary-General and Senior Adviser to the Chair of the new European Authority.

Before returning to Consob in 2022, Comporti also gained extensive experience in the international financial consultancy sector, holding, amongst other roles, the positions of CEO of Promontory Italy and COO of Promontory Europe.

The award, conferred by the University of Parma and the Alumni and Friends Association, honours former students who have distinguished themselves in their professional careers at national and international level.

Federico Cornelli, who obtained his PhD from the University, is the ninth person to be included in the award's roll of honour. The Consob Commissioner also addressed young people: "A new challenge lies ahead for you. It is to help Europe take a step forward, whilst respecting the traditions of individual nations."

On the geopolitical front, Cornelli emphasised how international uncertainty is affecting market trends, with factors such as the price of oil and its consequences for the economy exerting a growing influence.

On the subject of artificial intelligence, he emphasised that "people must remain at the centre", highlighting the importance of combining innovation, professional development and the protection of savers' assets.

The awards ceremony took place on 8 October 2026 in the Aula Magna of the University of Parma.

Following consultation with the market, Consob, by Resolution No. 24155 of 8 October 2026, amended its Provisions on securitisations, issued in implementation of the Consolidated Law on Finance and applicable to transactions governed by the Securitisation Regulation [Regulation (EU) 2017/2402].

The amendments are primarily aimed at simplifying compliance requirements, reducing the burden on market participants, resolving certain uncertainties regarding application, and aligning the aforementioned Provisions with the operational guidance contained in the relevant FAQs provided by Consob. Among the most significant changes are:

- the extension of the deadline for notifying all securitisation transactions to one month from the date of issue, as opposed to the current five and fifteen days respectively required for simple, transparent and standardised ('STS') securitisations and for non-STS securitisations. This proposal, amongst other things, aligns the notification deadlines to Consob with those established by the prudential authorities, facilitating a consistent approach to the notification obligations incumbent on banks involved in STS securitisation transactions;

- in line with the ECB's approach, the provision, for significant institutions involved in STS securitisations, of the possibility to delegate the preparation of the declaration of compliance with the Securitisation Regulation to a person within the institution specifically designated for that purpose, without prejudice to the delegating party's continuing liability;

- for non-STS securitisations, the restriction of the obligation to update the statement of compliance in the event of significant events to only those parties retaining a material net economic and l interest in the transaction;

- a clear statement of the possibility, for both STS and non-STS securitisations, to delegate the physical transmission of information to Consob to the servicer of the securitisation transaction.

The amendments made to the current Provisions will come into force on the day following the publication in the Official Gazette of the aforementioned Resolution No. 24155/2026.

These same amendments will also be reflected in the Model Declaration of Compliance and in the FAQs published on the Consob website.

Consob has ordered the blocking of four websites through which investment services and activities relating to financial instruments were being carried out unlawfully.

Below is the list of websites ordered to be taken down:

- "Goldgcapital" (website https://goldgcapital.net and associated page https://my.aipltfrm.com);

- "Tradoxium" (website https://tradoxiumpro.com and pages https://clientzone.tradoxiumpro.com and https://wt.quantivaedge.com);

- "FXPepper" (website https://fxpepper.eu and associated page https://portal.fxpepper.eu);

- "Money-Mentor.io" (website https://money-mentor.io and associated page https://cfd.money-mentor.io).

This brings the total number of websites blocked by Consob since July 2019 – when the Authority was granted the power to order the blocking of websites belonging to unauthorised financial intermediaries – to 1,838. Of these, 235 relate to crypto-related activities.

The measures adopted by Consob can be viewed on the website www.consob.it. Internet service providers operating in Italy are currently in the process of blocking these websites. For technical reasons, it may take a few days for the blocking to take effect.

It is important that savers exercise the utmost diligence in making fully informed investment decisions, adopting common-sense practices that are essential for safeguarding their savings: among these, checking in advance – for websites offering investment services and crypto-assets – that the operator through which they are investing is authorised and, for offers of financial products and crypto-assets, that the prospectus or white paper has been published.

Consob also draws attention to the evolving nature 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 emails and 'cloned' websites, fake profiles of politicians, celebrities and content generated using artificial intelligence systems – such as images, voices or videos – with the aim of persuading investors to make harmful investment decisions.

To this end, Consob urges investors to consult the dedicated information sheet containing advice on how to protect themselves against financial fraud in the age of artificial intelligence, and reminds them that its website features a section entitled 'Watch out for scams!', where useful information is available to warn investors against fraudulent financial schemes