Italy’s Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has issued orders for the blocking of access to six unauthorised investment websites.
The websites targeted by the latest orders are:
- “Lemintero” (website www.lemintero.com);
- “Asteo Trade” (website https://asteo-group.com);
- Quanta Capital Holdings Limited (website https://quantacapital.com.co and related page https://my.quantacapital.com.co);
- “Goldbysell24” (website https://goldbysell24.co and related pages https://clientzone.goldbysell24.co and https://webtrader.goldbysell24.co);
- “Goldcapital24” – “Capitalmarket24” (siti internet https://goldcapital24.pro and https://capitalmarket24.co).
In issuing the orders, 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.
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 1,200.
Last week, the regulator blocked advertisements for abusive financial services distributed via the Internet.
The ads improperly leveraged the image of prominent figures in the Italian institutional world, such as the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, as well as the image of a well recognizable brand such as Eni, to promote the initiatives of unauthorized intermediaries online through two websites.
