Italian financial markets regulator, CONSOB has warned against six financial services companies, including TIOMarkets, putting them on its blacklist to ban their access.
The other platforms on the list are Terratech Ltd (www.eufxindex.com), GFX FINANCE GMBH (www.gfxroyal.com), Luxor Asset Management Trust (www.luxoramt.com), Bstox24 (bstox24.com and client.bstox24.com), and Crypterium Financial Services (crypteriumfs.com).
Though most of these platforms look shady, the inclusion of TIO Markets on the list is odd as the platform is licensed under the regulators of the United Kingdom, and Saint Vincent and The Grenadines.
According to CONSOB, all these blacklisted platforms are illegally offering financial services in Italy.
Responding to Finance Magnates queries, TIOMarkets detailed that it is providing services to the Italian customers under TIOMarkets UK, a subsidiary licensed under the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The blocked domain, however, is tiomarkets.com, the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-registered entity.
“TIOmarkets operates numerous brands under different entities,” a TIOMarkets spokesperson said. “And whilst the company has been legally administering Italian clients via its European / UK entity, TIO Markets UK, we appreciate the concerns and efforts of CONSOB to protect Italian consumers.”
The brokerage seems to be abiding by the Italian regulator’s decision and is also taking steps to prevent Italian traders from joining.
“We have therefore taken the affirmative actions of removing the Italian language from the company websites in order to deter any Italian clients from joining the incorrect entity,” the spokesperson added.
Taking Down Suspicious Platforms
The Italian regulator blacklisted the platforms under the powers of 'Growth Decree' law vested upon it last year and has blocked the access of the websites at the internet service provider level.
Established in 2019, TIOMarkets is a new player in the brokerage industry and offers trading services with Forex and contract for difference(CFD) instruments, including shares, indices, energies, and Cryptocurrencies .
“The management team at TIOmarkets take safety of funds, security matters, and regulatory issues extremely seriously,” the spokesperson added. “We pride ourselves on our ability to support the excellent work of international regulators to protect their consumers, and on our efforts to implement their respective measures as part of our regulatory obligations.”
