Italy's Financial Watchdog Blacklisted 5 Investment Sites

Italys Companies and Exchange Commission (CONSOB) has taken action to block access to five new websites offering financial services and products illegally. This move targets four illicit financial intermediation platforms and one website that conducts financial product offers without a prospectus, exercising its authority under the “Decreto crescita” (“Growth Decree” Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article no. 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) and Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020, Article no. 4, paragraph 3-bis.

The affected websites are as follows: “Luno Invest” (https://lunoinvest.net), Vantage Global Limited (www.vantage-markets.com and related page https://secure.vantage-markets.com), “Capital4it Ltd” (www.capital4it.io and related page https://panel.capital4it.io), Crypto Trade Club Ltd (https://cryptotradeclub.ltd and related page https://cfd.cryptotradeclub.ltd), and “Amlight-italiainvestment” (www.amlight-italiainvestment.net). Internet service providers in Italy are currently in the process of blocking access to these sites, a procedure that may take several days due to technical constraints.

CONSOB emphasizes the importance of exercising utmost caution to ensure informed investment decisions and safeguard savings. Investors are urged to adopt prudent practices, including verifying the authorization status of financial service providers before investing and ensuring the publication of a prospectus for financial product offers.

This recent action adds to CONSOBs ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent financial activities. In April, seven unauthorized investment websites were blocked, bringing the total number of blocked sites since July 2019 to 1065. CONSOB remains vigilant in its mission to protect investors and maintain the integrity of financial markets.