Contents - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
Consob has issued a public warning [available only in Italian] addressed to both retail investors and finfluencers.
In a dedicated notice released today, the financial markets regulator cautions retail investors who rely on finfluencers - individuals who offer stock market advice via social media and the internet - about the risks of making investment decisions that are rushed, superficial, or emotionally driven. These risks are heightened when investors follow herd behavior or mistakenly perceive finfluencers as providing services equivalent to those of authorised financial advisors.
Particular caution is urged when faced with offers that appear highly profitable and risk-free, or in the presence of potential conflicts of interest involving the finfluencers themselves. Consob reiterates one of the fundamental principles of investing: the risk-return tradeoff—higher returns are generally associated with higher risks.
At the same time, Consob reminds finfluencers that their activity must comply with the relevant European regulations, especially those related to investment recommendations and market abuse prevention. Finfluencers must respect rules on the accuracy of information and the transparency of any potential conflicts of interest.
Both IOSCO - the international body of securities regulators - and ESMA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, have already addressed this issue with dedicated guidance.
This warning is part of a broader international initiative, the Global Week of Action Against Unlawful Finfluencers, involving regulators from the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, and Consob.
The initiative aims to raise public awareness - among both investors and finfluencers - about the potential risks associated with this form of online financial activity.
As part of its contribution, Consob is also releasing a short video that, starting from the concept of Ponzi schemes, warns the public about financial scams spreading online and across social media platforms.
PRESS RELEASE
Consob has ordered the black-out of 13 new websites through which financial services are abusively offered or services for crypto-activities are abusively provided: 4 abusive financial intermediation websites, 1 website through which an offer of financial products is carried out in the absence of a prospectus and 8 sites through which crypto currency services are abusively provided.
The Authority made use of the powers deriving from the “Growth Decree” (“Decreto crescita” - Law No. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article No. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), regarding the blacking out of the websites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as of the power introduced by Law No. 8 of 28 February 2020, Article No. 4, paragraph 3-bis, regarding the blacking out of the website by means of which the abusive offer is carried out and of the powers introduced by the MiCAR regulations (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024) regarding the blacking out of websites by means of which services for crypto-assets are provided to Italian savers in the absence of the prescribed authorizations.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- “CaptinCapital” (website www.captincapital.org);
- “Mercato del Futuro” (website https://mercatodelfuturo.com and related pages https://clients.mercatodelfuturo.com and https://trading.mercatodelfuturo.com);
- “Sector-Fusion” (website www.sector-fusion.com and related page https://webtrader.w1e2b3tr4d3r.com);
- “3Afund” (website www.3-afund.com);
- “Cfw896” (website https://cfw896.it);
- “Lumex” (websites https://stratoslumex.com and https://stratoslumex.net);
- “Tmxa” (website https://60yg.com);
- “Uyr968” and “Fwq367” (websites https://uyr968.it and https://fwq367.it);
- “Syk755” (website www.syk755.it);
- “Pxm266” (website https://pxm266.it);
- “GenixLimited” (website https://genixlimited.com).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1349.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, “Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
PRESS RELEASE
It's a long-lasting financial scam. However, it is still claiming victims to this day. The core pattern is always the same. But it may vary from time to time. In times of social media it runs on the web and on smartphones.
We are talking about the Ponzi scheme, the “mother of all financial scams.” As of today, it is a Consob-made video (https://youtu.be/-D39jAGOrVI) to re-enact, in a couple of minutes, that fraudulent paradigm, warning about the risks and showing savers how not to fall into the trap.
Charles Ponzi, an Italian emigrate to the United States in the early XX century lured by the mirage of making his fortune, became rich indeed, but only for a few months. Then he ended up in jail. His trick essentially called back to life the chain letter and lasted the space of a morning, managing, however, to fool thousands of Americans.
In the present day, the Ponzi scheme lives again on social media and the web. Easy money without risk: this is the lure re-purposed in many different declinations.
Starting with Ponzi, Consob intended to alert the attention of savers with a video helping them not be lured by financial offers, most often without authorization and therefore abusive ones, which promise stratospheric gains in a short time and with zero risk.
Learn more in the “Watch for scams!” section on the homepage www.consob.it, the vademecum for protecting savers.
Consob has ordered the black-out of 8 new websites promoting or providing financial services illegally.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree"; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 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 authorization.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- Pim Mtf Markets Limited (websites www.pimmtf.vip, www.pimcmtf.vip, www.pimmtf.ai and www.pimmtf.ltd);
- "Peaktradeoption" (website https://peaktradeoption.com);
- "Stockwisse" (website www.stockwisse.co and related page https://clientzone.stockwisse.co);
- "Finanza Expert" (website https://finanzaexpert.io and related pages https://clients.finanzaexpert.io and https://trading.finanzaexpert.io) ;
- "SteTrading" (website https://www.stetrading.online).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1336.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, "Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
IOSCO urges a concrete effort from digital platform to disrupt online financial harm.
By a statement published on May 21, 2025, IOSCO – the International Organization of financial markets’ supervisory authorities – launched a strong call for action to the main platform providers so that they strengthen the measures aimed to prevent misuse of their services for fraudulent purposes in detriment of retail investors, consistently with local laws.
The growing use of mobile apps, social media and search engines to promote and purchase financial products and services has created new opportunities but also new risks. Frauds based on paid-for and user-generated contents represent an increasing threat, exacerbated by the cross-border nature of such practices.
Thus, IOSCO calls on platform providers – search engines, social networks, app stores – to reinforce preventive due diligence on advertisers, connect to the IOSCO global portal against unauthorized firms or products (I-SCAN - International Securities and Commodities Alerts Network), and develop effective tools for promptly detecting and removing illegal contents, in collaboration with national authorities.
The full statement is available at: https://www.iosco.org/library/pubdocs/pdf/IOSCOPD797.pdf
PRESS RELEASE
Consob has ordered the black-out of 11 new websites through which financial services are abusively offered or services for crypto-activities are abusively provided. In details, Consob ordered the blackout of 7 abusive financial intermediation websites and 4 websites through which crypto currency services are abusively provided.
The Authority made use of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree", converted by Law No. 58 of 28 June 2019) regarding the black-out of websites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as of the powers introduced by the MiCAR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024) regarding the black out of websites through which crypto currency services are provided to Italian savers in the absence of the prescribed authorizations.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- “Lemintero” (website https://lemintero.co);
- “Geneve Capital Invest” (website https://genevcapinvest.com and related page https://webtrader.gencapwebtrade.com);
- VT Markets Limited (websites www.vtmarkets.com and www.vtmarkets.net and related pages https://myaccount.vtmarkets.net and https://social.vtacademy.net);
- “HotMarkets” (website https://hotmarketscfd.com);
- “Fusion4Markets” (website https://fusion4markets.cc and related page https://client.fusion4markets.cc);
- “Trustfxpro” (website www.trustfxpro.com);
- “Bvoxed” (website https://bvoxed.com);
- “BeratCoin” (website https://btc6688.com);
- “Interersos/Interesosf” (websites https://interersosf.org and https://interersos.org).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1328.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, “Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
Consob's official LinkedIn page is online as of today.
This is a new institutional channel dedicated to strengthening communication to the public and expanding the dissemination of the Institute's initiatives, in line with the recent internal reorganization.
Updates on projects, events, publications and campaigns aimed at citizens, operators and stakeholders in the financial world will be posted on LinkedIn.
The opening video, featuring the Secretary General's message, marks the first step in a digital presence path that is destined to extend to other social networks soon.
Go to Consob's LinkedIn page
Consob has ordered the blackout of 6 new websites promoting or providing financial services illegally.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree"; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 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 authorization.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- "Fibonachis" (website https://fibonachis.com and related page https://webtrader.alynto.tech);
- "PrimeXMarkets Ltd" (website https://primexmarkets.com and related page https://client.primexmarkets.com);
- "Blyx Ultra" (websites https://blyxultra.com and https://blyxultraltd.com and related page https://cfd.platformt121-3-3.com);
- State Street Markets Limited (website www.streetstate.vip);
- "EXT24" (website https://ext24.co and related page https://my.ext24.co).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1317.
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 blackout to come into effect.
Consob draws investors' attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, "Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
Consob has ordered the black out of the https://giorgetti-invest.com website, which "was cloning" the image of the Minister of the Economy, Giancarlo Giorgetti. Through fake interviews apparently given to leading television programmes, the Minister's "clone" advertised investment services provided via abusive trading platforms.
Consob's action - to protect retail investors and the Minister himself, who had absolutely nothing to do with the matter - was carried out, by exercising the powers deriving from the "Growth Decree" (converted by Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019) and the "Capital Law" (Law no. 21 of 5 March 2024).
In recent months, Consob has carried out similar actions on sites that illegally referred to the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella (Consob press release of 12 December 2024).
At the same time, Consob has also blocked six other abusive financial intermediation sites.
Below are the sites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
· "Paragonix Trader AI" - "Telarax" - "Giorgetti-Invest.com" (https://paragonix-trader-ai.com, https://telarax.com websites and the https://webtrader.orestpa.tech page and https://giorgetti-invest.com advertising site).
· "Goldbysell" (https://gold-bysell.com website and its https://clientzone.gold-bysell.com and https://webtrader.gold-bysell.com pages);
· "Smart Solutions Bot" (https://smartsolutionsbot.com website and its https://my.smartsolutionsbot.com page);
· "Afex Markets" (website www.afexmarkets-it.com and its pages https://clientarea.alpha247-it.com and https://webtrader.alpha247-it.com);
· "Finco Trades" (https://fincotrades.org website and its https://web.fin-trades.org 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 1311.
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 and crypto-assets, checking in advance that the operator with whom you are investing is authorised, and, for offers of financial products and crypto-assets, that a prospectus or white paper 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.
PRESS RELEASE
Consob has ordered the black-out of 4 new websites through which services for crypto-activities are abusively provided.
The Authority made use of the powers introduced by the MiCAR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024) regarding the black out of websites through which crypto currency services are provided to Italian savers without the prescribed authorisations.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- “Egplus.vip” (website https://egplus.vip);
- “Egalite.bond” (website https://egalite.bond);
- Arbismart UAB (website https://arbismart.com and related page https://dashboard.arbismart.com);
- “Blockbyteq” (website https://blockbyteq.top).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1304.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviours, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus or the white paper has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, “Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
PRESS RELEASE
Consob has ordered the black-out of 9 new websites that offer financial services/financial products illegally: 8 illegal financial intermediation websites and 1 website through which an offer of financial products is carried out in the absence of a prospectus.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree" Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), relating to the black-out of the sites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as of the power introduced by the Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020, Article no. 4, paragraph 3-bis, with reference to the black-out of the website through which the illegal offer is carried out.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- “Geneve Capital Invest” (website https://genevecapinvest.com and related pages https://webtrader.genevemarkets.com and https://webtrader.marketsgenevecapital.com);
- Investium Group (website www.investiumgroups.co and related page https://client.investiumgroups.co);
- “ITradingFX” (website https://itradingfx.net and pages https://account.itradingfx.net and https://tradingapi.chartstrading.io);
- “Ustrade24” (website https://ustrade24.com and related page https://my.ustrade24.com);
- “AlphaWealtExpertise” (websites www.alphawealtexpertise.com and www.alphawealth-expertise.com and their respective pages https://client.alphawealtexpertise.com and https://client.alphawealth-expertise.com);
- “NEX TRADE” (website www.nextradeltd.com);
- “XPTRADERS” (website https://xptraders.com and related page https://trading.xptraders.com);
- “FortiCard Limited” (website https://forti-card.com).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1300.
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 their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, “Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
Consob has ordered the black-out of 16 new websites promoting or providing financial services illegally.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree"; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 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 authorization.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- "Quantum AI App Trading" (websites https://quantumaiapp.it and https://quantum-ai.in);
- "Newgrtdeals" (website https://newgrtdeals.com);
- "Piattaformaditradingdielonmusk" (website https://piattaformaditradingdielonmusk.it);
- "Quantum AI Co" (website https://quantumai.co);
- "Quantum AI Piattaforma and Quantum AI Official" (websites https://quantumaipiattaforma.it and https://quantumaiofficial.com);
- "Quantum AI Platform" (website https://quantumaiplatform.com);
- "Orbimount" (website https://orbimount.io and page https://trade.plf-tchb.com);
- "Zeon Global Ltd (website https://zeon-lim.com and page https://my.zeon-lim.com);
- "Hyper-trades" (website https://hyper-trades.com and page https://trade.hyper-trades.com);
- "Vex-Group" (website https://vex-group.pro);
- PO Trade Ltd (website https://po.life);
- Asset Management International Ltd (website https://assetmanagementint.com and page https://clientzone.assetmanagementint.com);
- "FPQuantumAI" (website https://fpquantumai.net);
- "Quantumworld" (website https://quantumworld.it and page https://cfd.earnpro99.com).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1291.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, "Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
NEW RELEASE
Rome-Paris, April 9 2025
Since its entry into force in March 2023, the Pilot Regime has struggled to gain a foothold in the market, despite growing interest from market participants. In light of this, the Italian CONSOB and the French AMF are submitting proposals to the European Commission and the European co-legislators to create a more suitable regulatory framework to allow for a real development in experimentations of distributed ledger technology (DLT) by European market infrastructures.
The European Regulation on a Pilot Regime for market infrastructures based on distributed ledger technology (the "Pilot Regime"), provides a framework of regulatory exemptions to encourage market infrastructures to experiment with this technology for the trading, delivery and settlement of financial instruments.
In recent years, the development and use of the blockchain technology and of distributed ledgers (DLT) in financial markets, has accelerated. However, while there is now a relative consensus that blockchain is a technology that can bring transformative benefits and efficiencies to capital markets, the uptake of the Pilot Regime remains marginal.
Considering that the European Union needs to better encourage innovation and reap the potential benefits of this technology, in the context of the Savings an Investment Union, the CONSOB (Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa) and the AMF (Autorité des Marchés Financiers) propose ways to make the Pilot Regime more efficient in three areas:
- A more flexible regulatory framework to encourage experimentation
The Pilot Regime must play a more important role in allowing DLT experimentations, providing greater flexibility to market participants. To achieve this, it is essential to introduce greater proportionality, based on the size and nature of the project. At the same time, strengthening the role of ESMA will ensure consistency and convergence of practices across the European Union. Moreover, the use of electronic money tokens and tokenised deposits for transactions settlement could be authorised more widely, while supporting the rapid implementation of a solution for safe and efficient centralised money settlement of financial assets issued through DLT.
- Broaden the scope and ensure long-term visibility
To make the Regime more competitive, in particular compared to the regulatory frameworks in other financial centres, the eligibility and capitalisation limits for infrastructures could be raised to allow testing of larger-scale projects, while granting ESMA with powers to review such limits to more timely adapt to market developments. In addition, the list of eligible assets could be extended to include more diversified financial products, such as structured bonds and some derivatives. Lastly, extending the duration of the Pilot Regime and clarifying the exit process is necessary to allow the level of investment needed to develop long-term projects, by offering greater visibility to the investors.
- Developing interoperability and raising market awareness
To successfully integrate DLT technology into the European financial sector, gateways need to be built between DLT infrastructure and traditional systems. Therefore, the definition of common standards at European level is a crucial step to ensure the interoperability of systems between the different market participants and simplify processes for all stakeholders. Finally, it is important to raise awareness among issuers and investors of the opportunities offered by listing financial assets on DLT, in order to promote the adoption of this technology by all stakeholders.
“At a time when Europe wishes to develop its financial markets to meet its financing needs with the Savings and Investment Union, it is clearly a priority that Europe puts in place a competitive framework to encourage innovation, and market testing of distributed ledger technology, in order to better measure the potential benefits” have declared Paolo Savona, CONSOB chair, and Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, AMF Chair.
About the AMF
The AMF is an independent public authority responsible for ensuring that savings invested in financial products are protected and that investors are provided with adequate information. The AMF also supervises the orderly operations of markets.
Visit AMF website https://www.amf-france.org
Consob has ordered the black-out of 7 new websites through which financial services are abusively offered or services for crypto-activities are abusively provided. In details, Consob ordered the blackout of 4 abusive financial intermediation websites and 3 websites through which crypto currency services are abusively provided.
The Authority made use of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree", converted by Law No. 58 of 28 June 2019) regarding the black-out of websites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as of the powers introduced by the MiCAR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024) regarding the black out of websites through which crypto currency services are provided to Italian savers in the absence of the prescribed authorizations.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- "Finanza Expert" (website https://finanzaexpert.com and related pages https://clients.finanzaexpert.com and https://trading.finanzaexpert.com);
- "Cmswiss" (website https://cmswiss.com and related page https://webtrader.cmswiss.com);
- "Aspect-Markets" (website https://aspect-markets.cc and related pages https://aspect-markets.online and https://web.aspect-markets.trade);
- "UCapital Trading" (website https://ucapitaltrading.com and related page https://clients.ucapitaltrading.com);
- "Caa871" (website https://caa871.it);
- "Sdf837" (website https://sdf837.it);
- "SYBZ" (website https://sybzgroup.co).
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1275.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, "Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
The Italian Companies and Stock Exchange Commission (Consob) and the Bank of Italy signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) aiming at strengthening cooperation between Abf (Arbitro Bancario Finanziario) and Acf (Arbitro per le Controversie Finanziarie) in order to pursue a higher and more effective level of investors protection.
The new Memorandum of Understanding promotes the exchange of information amongst the two alternative dispute resolutions mechanisms (Adr) on common interest topics and on coordination methods useful in steering investors towards the identification of the competent body.
On Thursday 3 April, at 11:00 a.m. at the Consob Auditorium, the Chairman of the Financial Dispute Arbitrator (the alternative dispute resolution system between customers and financial intermediaries established by Consob), Gianpaolo Eduardo Barbuzzi, will present the “2024 Annual Report of ACF.”
It will be an opportunity to illustrate the activities carried out from 2017 to date with a focus on 2024 and outline the evolutionary prospects of the ACF.
Live streaming will be provided at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/sYqta0FLGmQ.
PRESS RELEASE
Banca d’Italia and the Italian Companies and Stock Exchange Commission (CONSOB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) governing the procedures for coordinating their action and exchanging information regarding the exercise of their product intervention power on financial instruments, structured deposits and financial activities and practices in Italy, in accordance with the division of powers laid down in the Consolidated Law on Finance (Testo unico della finanza, TUF).
The memorandum of understanding:
- governs the exchange of information between Banca d’Italia and CONSOB concerning financial instruments circulating in Italy, including information that may emerge from periodic analyses or from participation in the work of the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA);
- defines the procedures and time frame for issuing the opinions provided for by the TUF, in the event of the exercise of the product intervention power by either authority;
- provides that Banca d’Italia and CONSOB recognize each other as ‘point of contact’ for communications with the EBA and ESMA, respectively.
The product intervention power introduced by the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) consist of the possibility of banning or restricting:
- the marketing, distribution or sale of financial instruments and structured deposits (i.e. deposits whose return is linked to indicators such as indices, financial instruments, commodities or foreign exchange rates);
- certain related financial activities and practices (e.g. how the placement is made, distribution strategies, and incentive mechanisms relating to the distribution of financial products).
The TUF grants the product intervention power to Banca d’Italia with regard to safeguarding the stability of the national financial system and to CONSOB with regard to ensuring investor protection and the smooth functioning and integrity of financial and commodity markets. The intervention power can be exercised by activating temporary or permanent measures directed at banks, investment firms or market operators.
The memorandum of understanding is available at www.bancaditalia.it and www.consob.it.
Consob has ordered the black-out of 8 new websites through which financial services are abusively offered or services for crypto-activities are abusively provided. In details, Consob ordered the blackout of 4 abusive financial intermediation websites and 4 websites through which crypto currency services are abusively provided.
The Authority made use of the powers deriving from the "Decreto crescita" ("Growth Decree", converted by Law No. 58 of 28 June 2019) regarding the black-out of websites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as of the powers introduced by the MiCAR (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 and Legislative Decree No. 129 of 5 September 2024) regarding the black out of websites through which crypto currency services are provided to Italian savers in the absence of the prescribed authorizations.
Below are the websites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- "Investing Banks" (website https://investing-banks.com and related page https://online-sys-inv.com);
- Pim Mtf Markets Limited (website www.pimmtf.com);
- "Trade Republica" (website https://tradingrepublicaltd.com and related page https://cfd.tradingrepublica.com);
- Top Markets Ltd (website https://tender-capitalcfd.com and related page https://wt.tender-capitalcfd.com);
- Deroka UAB (websites https://dtcoin.tech, https://dtwallet.io and https://forcedmarketcap.tech);
- DTSocialize Holding PLC (website https://dtsmoney.com and related page https://portal.dtsmoney.com.)
The number of websites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 1268.
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 to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviors, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorized, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage, "Watch for Scams!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially unauthorized initiatives.
The use by the public of tools powered by artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more popular, including in the context of financial investing. Investors have access to public online AI tools and applications (apps) that can suggest investments based on publicly available knowledge. However, these technologies - while innovative and potentially useful - also present significant risks, especially when used as the sole source for making financial decisions.
The factsheet released today by ESMA and national Authorities aims to raise awareness of the main issues to keep in mind when using publicly available AI tools for investment guidance. It highlights the potential dangers of misleading advice, promises of easy money, lack of regulatory oversight, and privacy risks.
The warning to investors is clear: do not rely blindly on AI, but consider it as one of many sources of information, always favoring an informed approach and-when necessary-turning to licensed professionals.
The factsheet is part of a broader awareness campaign promoted by ESMA through social channels to help Europeans make more informed and safe choices in the new digital environment.
PRESS RELEASE
For the first time, Consob has analysed the information on Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") objectives in the industrial plans of a sample of Italian companies. In particular, in addition to the business plans and the related press releases, the information provided in the prospectuses, annual financial reports and non-financial statements of 52 companies (including unlisted companies) that between 2020 and 2021 published a prospectus for the purpose of offering/admission to trading in equity or debt securities on the Italian regulated markets were also considered.
The photograph taken by Consob, relating to 2021 and 2022 data, shows a general progressive increase in ESG reporting in the broad sense, including the related risks, as part of planning (from 19% of the issuers analysed in 2021 to 29% in 2022).
However, with specific reference to the information on ESG objectives in the business plans, the number of issuers appears: a) still limited, although increasing (from 15% of the sample in 2021 to 27% in 2022); b) positively related to corporate size; c) mainly attributable to the financial sector.
In addition, the representation of ESG objectives in plans is often not accompanied by quantitative (therefore measurable) metrics, while mixed (qualitative-quantitative) and/or generic objectives are preferred. The quantitative metric most frequently used for ESG objectives in business plans concerns the reduction of emissions harmful to the environment.
In the other documents examined, the information on the ESG objectives of the business plans often appears to be more formal than concrete, focusing more on the description of the risks of non-application of environmental legislation or governance principles, rather than on the representation of ESG objectives that can be measured concretely.
The data of the study show, therefore, that in the period analysed, the companies included in the sample have not yet reached a high level of maturity on ESG issues. This conclusion must be framed in the light of the short period of time that has elapsed since the introduction of the ESG legislation and the evolution of the current regulatory framework.
The study was edited by M.C. Lena (coordinator), F. Fancello (data analysis coordinator), M.G. Altamura, V. Anzellotti, C. Bisogno, S. Cocci, G. Di Stefano, R. Ertman, I. Fabbiani, M. Mencarelli, L.E. Olita, M. Tartaglione.
Communications for investor protection
Latest update: June 5, 2025
Go to last issue of Consob Newsletter (no. 21 of June 9, 2025)