CONSOB

The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa supervises Italy's securities markets, working alongside the Bank of Italy, which handles prudential matters. Italian investment firms hold MiFID passporting rights, and EEA firms passporting into Italy appear on CONSOB's register as well.

The website blocking power

CONSOB is unusual among European regulators in having a direct blocking power. Since 2019 it can order Italian internet service providers to block access to websites of firms offering financial services without authorisation, and it has used the power hundreds of times, publishing each order. For a trader that means two things: a broker's site being inaccessible from Italy is a regulatory signal rather than a technical fault, and CONSOB's published block list is a practical due-diligence resource.

What authorisation requires

Capital follows the Investment Firms Regulation. Firms must appoint suitable management, maintain organisational and compliance functions, and hold client assets under MiFID segregation rules with reporting. CONSOB assesses shareholders and business models before authorising.

Leverage and retail protections

ESMA product intervention applies in full: 30:1 on major currency pairs, 20:1 on non-majors, gold and major indices, 10:1 on other commodities and non-major indices, 5:1 on individual equities, 2:1 on cryptocurrencies. Margin close-out at 50% of required margin and negative balance protection per account are mandatory, and marketing communications must carry the standardised risk warning in Italian.

If a broker fails

The Fondo Nazionale di Garanzia compensates clients of failed Italian investment firms up to a statutory ceiling per claimant. Clients of an EEA firm passporting into Italy fall under that firm's home-state scheme instead — a Cypriot firm serving Italian clients carries the €20,000 Cypriot ceiling, not the Italian one. The CONSOB register shows which category a firm is in.

Verifying an authorisation

CONSOB publishes registers of authorised intermediaries and of EEA firms operating in Italy, plus its blocking orders and public warnings. Check the register and the block list together: a firm can hold a genuine licence in one jurisdiction and still be blocked in Italy for soliciting residents outside the terms of its passport.