[Newsflash n.53]

On 18 October 2018, Consob, the Italian financial authority, launched the tool “Occhio alle truffe!” (“Be aware of frauds”) that allows investors to check whether or not the financial offer that they are considering to accept is promoted by authorized entities.

This tool allows investors to quickly and easily access Consob databases in order to view the lists of authorized entities (or recognized entities if non-Italian) and the reports on unauthorized offers of products and services.

Consob recommends to always refer to “Occhio alle truffe!” before accepting any kind of financial offers: indeed, if the name of the entity promoting the offer does not appear in the lists held by the Authority, the offer is not authorized, which constitutes a warning that the offer in question is likely to be a fraud.

This initiative is part of a broader action undertaken by the Authority to tackle unregulated financial activities, which includes, inter alia, the power to order – pursuant to the recently introduced article 7-opties of the TUF – the immediate cessation of illegal activities carried out both on Internet and through telephone calls  by alleged advisors  (who contact Italian investors often from call centers based in foreign countries).

Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need any clarification or assistance in relation to the above matter.

Contacts:

Vito Vittore
Partner

Elena Pagnoni
Partner