CONSOB - The Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa

Who is Consob?

The National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange (Consob) is an independent Italian government authority responsible for regulating the country’s securities market. Consob was established in 1974.

Its key roles include:

Regulation, Licensing, and Supervision: Consob regulates, licenses, and supervises Italian financial markets.

Investor Protection: Consob’s primary objective is to protect investors.

Ensuring Market Efficiency, Transparency, and Development: Consob strives to ensure the efficiency, transparency, and healthy development of the securities market.

Enforcement of Securities Law: Consob is responsible for enforcing securities laws and issuing related administrative sanctions.

What Does Consob Regulate?

Consob has a broad scope of operations and performs the following key functions:

Regulation and Supervision of Investment Services:

• Regulates the investment services and activities of financial intermediaries (brokerage firms).
• Supervises the activities of market management companies to ensure transparency and orderly trading.
• Monitors the transparency and fairness in the conduct of financial intermediaries and financial advisors.

Public Information of Listed Companies:

• Regulates the information obligations of companies listed on regulated markets.
• Controls information provided to the market by entities raising public capital.
• Verifies information in the accounting documents of listed companies.

Prevention and Handling of Market Violations:

• Identifies unusual trading trends on listed securities.
• Investigates cases of violation of rules on market manipulation and insider trading.
• Applies sanctions in cases of misconduct by supervised entities.

Client Fund Protection: Brokers are required to place client funds into segregated accounts to protect investor assets.

How to Resolve Disputes with Brokers/Financial Service Providers Regulated by Consob?

Consob does not directly resolve individual disputes between investors and financial institutions but focuses on its supervisory and regulatory enforcement roles. However, there are several steps and channels that investors can take:

Step 1: Contact the Financial Institution Directly.

If dissatisfied with a product or service, investors should contact the financial institution’s customer service or complaints department directly. Most institutions have internal procedures for handling complaints.

Step 2: Escalate the Complaint to the Arbitrator for Financial Disputes (AFD).

Consob established the Arbitrator for Financial Disputes (AFD) in 2016 to resolve financial disputes between investors and financial intermediaries.

Scope and Conditions: AFD has the authority to resolve disputes related to monetary claims (under €500,000) concerning breaches of information, due diligence, fairness, and transparency obligations by intermediaries in their relationship with investors.

Process: Investors can contact the AFD if they do not receive a response from the financial institution within 60 days or are dissatisfied with the initial complaint resolution.

Free and Fast: Access to the AFD is free for investors, and decision times are short. Investors’ right to appeal to judicial authorities is not affected by the outcome of this out-of-court procedure.

Step 3: Report Misconduct to Consob (if necessary).

If you believe the financial institution has violated Consob’s regulations, engaged in fraudulent behavior, or adversely affected the broader market, you may report this issue to Consob.

Consob will use this information for its supervisory and investigative work and may apply sanctions or policy reforms if necessary. You can find out how to file a report with Consob under “Watch for scams!” or “Contacts” on Consob’s official website.

Consob Website (contact/complaint): Consob has a section “Submit a complaint via the online complaint form of CONSOB” or you can call directly at +39.06.8477611 (Monday to Friday, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM and 2:30 PM – 4:30 PM Italian time).