Resolution no. 21539

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the www.royaltyfinance.io website

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
[THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING REGARD TO Law no. 216 of 7 June 1974 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.royaltyfinance.io website, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity to trade CFDs with underlying currencies and commodities, as well as shares, through the www.royaltyfinance.io website;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, the user is asked to register with the www.royaltyfinance.io website, access their personal area on the said site, open a trading account and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, the www.royaltyfinance.io website offers four types of account called “Micro", "Standard", “Gold”, and “VIP”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the website, it contains generic references to the “Royaltyfinance” brand and there is no further indication of possible locations; furthermore, in the www.royaltyfinance.io site's “Terms and Conditions” the said “Royaltyfinance” is indicated as the contractual counterparty of any user who registers on the site in question and opens a trading account there;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.royaltyfinance.io website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated law on Finance, as clients are offered the possibility to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the www.royaltyfinance.io website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS “Royaltyfinance”, mentioned on the www.royaltyfinance.io website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, 'The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to Stock brokerage firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms';

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - 'Powers to counteract abuse' - Consob 'may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease';

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the www.royaltyfinance.io website, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

15 October 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona