Resolution no. 21613

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 https://bitoptionfx.com 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 https://bitoptionfx.com website, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://bitoptionfx.com website, which is active, also available in Italian and registered by an anonymous user, to trade CFDs relating to currencies, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, the user is asked to register with the https://bitoptionfx.com website, access their personal area, open a trading account and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, two types of account are mentioned on the https://bitoptionfx.com website, known as "Lord" and "Knight", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the site in question, at the bottom of the https://bitoptionfx.com website pages there is a statement affirming "this website is owned and operated by BitOptionFx". In addition, the "terms and conditions" on the https://bitoptionfx.com site also indicate that "BitOptionFX ("BitOptionFX" or "Company") is a European Registered Company and the "site", BitOptionFX.com, is owned and operated by BitOptionFX"; these "terms and conditions", portray "BitOptionFX" as the contractual counter party of any user registering with the https://bitoptionfx.com website and opening a trading account with it;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://bitoptionfx.com website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated law on Finance, as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned site to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described transactions, carried out through the https://bitoptionfx.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors as the site can also be consulted in Italian and there have been reports of investment solicitation through unwanted remote communications (so-called "cold calling") to Italian users;

WHEREAS "BitOptionFX", which is mentioned on the https://bitoptionfx.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the register kept 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 article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abusive practices" - CONSOB "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the infringement";

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 https://bitoptionfx.com website, consisting in offering 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.

3 December 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona