The Italian financial markets regulator Consob announced today that it has blocked four new websites for offering financial services illegally.
With the latest addition, the number of illegal platforms the financial market watchdog is blocking comes to 879.
The latest websites offering financial services to be blocked are AMA Business Solutions Ltd (doing business as Solid XM), Pelliron Universal Inc., Mortiz Ltd and FXALTA LTD and New Finance LLC and NEWFX Ltd.
The financial services platforms offer high-risk investment instruments such as forex instruments and contracts for differences(CFDs).
SolidXM, in particular, is suspected of being a scam, as there is no information available about the company behind the platform on its website. Pelliron claims to be registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines but provides a UK phone number on its website, implying that it targets UK traders primarily.
NewFX claims to be registered in Delaware, US. However, the company does not seem to be holding any licenses. In contrast, FX Alta states that it is regulated in Malaysia, although the Canadian Manitoba Securities Commission issued a warning against it earlier this month.
Consob has the authority to block websites offering illegal financial services at an internet service provider level.
The regulator stated:
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.
