In what seems to be another episode in a long-running campaign, the Italian financial regulator, Consob, once again sent its anger at yet another number of FX websites, including one that claims a National Futures Association (NFA) license. The watchdog added five websites to its register of banned internet sources for illegally promoting trading products in the country.
Access to Finance Activity Group (www.capo-invest.com website); FXTrading Corp (https://fxtradingcorp.trade website); Tradefxzone Ltd and SolutionsCM Ltd (https://tradefxzone.com website); ForTradersFx Ltd (www.fortraders-fx.com website);OGAM Ltd (www.ogamfx.com website) was restricted.
Consob has contacted Italy’s internet service providers (ISPs), requesting that they block access to all of the sites in question. Those that are not diligent enough to immediately implement the regulator’s restrictions are threatened by sanctions. A reversal of the ban, if any, could take several months and no one will be held accountable for any delays in this case.
In total, five sites were targeted in the latest clampdown, which has been supported by the “ law allowing CONSOB to obstruct Italian investors’ access to online brokers. The regulators took similar action throughout the past few months, ordering 189 domains to be blocked.
Today’s blacklisted sites offer forex and CFDs trading, but the CONSOB says some the names featured in the warning are dealing in crypto assets, either in the form of the underlying coins or its related derivatives such as CFDs.
The crackdown comes after Consob refined its process for identifying non-compliant companies. This past December, the regulator went after two CySEC-licensed Forex & CFD brokers and ordered them to cease operations in the country. 24Option and were barred from providing investment services in Italy. The decision also prevents Cypriot intermediaries from soliciting customers or continuing its current relations with Italian clients.
At the time, Consob clarified that it made the latest decision under the article 7-quarter, paragraph 4 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF), as well as article 86 of Mifid2. This legislation allows CONSOB to order investment firms and brokers operating in the country from another EU member state, through the EU passporting regime, to cease their operations after informing the competent authority of the member state.
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