Italy’s Consob Continues Blocking Illegal Trading Platforms, Adds Six Names

The financial market supervisor of Italy, Consob, has continued its crackdown on unauthorized financial services platforms and blacklisted six new names, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

The names of the blacklisted platforms are Lilac Group LLC, MB Invest, BTCoin Group, Levelprofit and Alphafxprime.

These platforms are offering trading services with counterparty contracts. The instruments include forex Forex Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Foreign exchange or forex is the act of converting one nation’s currency into another nation’s currency (that possesses a different currency); for example, the converting of British Pounds into US Dollars, and vice versa. The exchange of currencies can be done over a physical counter, such as at a Bureau de Change, or over the internet via broker platforms, where currency speculation takes place, known as forex trading.The foreign exchange market, by its very nature, is the world’s largest tradi Read this Term, cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term and other asset classes. None of these trading platforms are authorized by the Italian regulator, and there are high chances of them being scams.

Moreover, at least one of the recently blacklisted platforms is falsely claiming to be authorized by CONSOB.

Access to all of these platforms will be blocked by the internet service providers within Italy. This will prevent anyone in the country from accessing these likely fraudulent financial services platforms, at least by the usual means.

The Growing List of Illegal Platforms

Consob is one of the most vigilant European financial market watchdogs. It received additional powers in July 2019 to take strict action against fraudulent financial services platforms.

To date, the Italian regulator has blacklisted a total of 731 such financial services platforms that were providing services illegally in the country.

However, the Italian supervisor is not the only watchdog to issue warnings and take action against unauthorized platforms. Two French regulators, the AMF and ACPR, recently added 20 more illegal forex trading services providers to their blacklist. The regulator of Cyprus, which oversees the jurisdiction favored by financial services firms, is vigilant towards illegal platforms and is actively flagging unauthorized platforms.