The Italian financial market supervisory body, Consob, has blacklisted five additional websites offering financial services without any authorization in the country. Announced on Thursday, these websites are either illegal or outright fraud.

Consob Blacklists Five Platforms

The five new names added to the long list of Consob’s blacklisted websites are Bright Group LLC, BrokerCreditServiceLtd.net (impersonating a legitimate platform), Unico Aust Pty Ltd (operating UnicoFX), CMS Ltd, and Olympusbrokers Ltd.

All of the listed platforms offer high-risk counterparty trading services. They are listing margin 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 instruments and contracts for differences (CFDs) instruments of other popular asset classes like shares, indices, commodities, and 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.

None of the listed firms are legally allowed to operate in Italy or any other member state of the European Economic Area. Further, at least one of the five named websites is impersonating the name and license of a legitimate Cyprus-regulated broker, while another looks to be operating with a St. Vincent and the Grenadines registration.

Check out the FMLS22 session on regulatory roundup for 2023.

Cosob Blocks Access to Illegal Websites

In addition to adding their names to the blacklist, Consob is going to block access to these websites on an internet service provider level. It is the only known European financial supervisor to block access to illegal platforms at the domain level.

“The black-out of these websites by Internet service providers operating on Italian territory is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the black-out to come into effect,” the Italian regulator stated in the official announcement.

Consob gained the authority to block illegal website access in 2019 through a legislative decree. Since then, it has blacklisted and blocked 825 such illegal platforms offering services within its jurisdictions.

However, other European regulators are actively red-flagging illegal and fraudulent websites. Last week, the Cypriot regulator warned against five unregulated forex and CFDs platforms. It even warned against impersonators of the regulatory website. Meanwhile, Spain’s CNMV and the UK’s FCA are also actively flagging illegal platforms.