Italy’s Watchdog Stamps Out 400 Broker Sites in 2 Years
The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (CONSOB) has shut down four new websites in an ongoing clampdown against firms it accuses of illegally promoting trading products in the country.
The Italian market securities market regulator has been on a rampant crackdown to protect retail investors by making illegal financial services inaccessible. Additionally, this includes product offers by firms holding licenses in other jurisdictions. The strict actions on these unauthorized actors in the market come as offshore brokers continue to chase online trading business in Italy.
In its latest crackdown, the Consob has contacted Italy’s internet service providers, requesting them to block access to
KBS Capital Markets Ltd (website https://royaltradefx.com and related page https://my.royaltradefx.com);
– Donnybrook Consulting Ltd (website www.eurofx.trade);
– Investigram Ltd (website www.investigram.com);
– FCS Technology Ltd (website https://stockmarketinvest.pro and related page https://client.stockmarketinvest.pro).
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to ban the websites of financial intermediaries it deems unregulated, has risen to 400.
Consob Consults on Crypto Regulation
Consob has refined its process for identifying non-compliant companies, becoming the only EU regulator with the approach to blocking the websites of scams and unauthorized providers.
Recently, the regulator went after a handful of CySEC-licensed brokers and ordered them to cease operations in the country. Moreover, the decisions prevented Cypriot intermediaries from soliciting customers or continuing its current relations with Italian clients.
On the crypto front, Italy’s securities regulator said last month it held a webinar with “some major players” in the financial market to probe the regulation of securities token offerings.
Not many details were revealed about the matter, but Consob is actively working on regulations that might one day permit so-called tokenization, which allows a crypto token to represent a traditional asset like stocks.
Although the Italian watchdog was busy chasing unregulated crypto firms, it has yet to come up with specific regulations. Until now, Italy has sought pan-European initiatives to police crypto activities as a benchmark to begin with.
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