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 website https://fxoptexgroups.com and its page https://client.fxoptexgroups.com

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 web, it emerged that:

i. a potential investor is offered the opportunity through the https://fxoptexgroups.com website - which is active and also available in Italian - to trade CFDs relating to indices, commodities, currencies and shares;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, a user must register with the https://fxoptexgroups.com website - through a procedure that is also available to Italian users from the https://client.fxoptexgroups.com page, which is available in Italian - open a trading account and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, six types of accounts are mentioned on the https://fxoptexgroups.com website, called "test", "gold", "platinum", "rubin", "diamond" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to traceability, at the bottom of the https://fxoptexgroups.com website pages there is a statement affirming "this website is owned and operated by FXOptexGroups"; at the bottom of the https://client.fxoptexgroups.com registration page there is a statement affirming "this website is owned and operated by FXOptexGroup". In addition, in the "Contact Us" section of the https://fxoptexgroups.com site, among other things, a contact number with an Italian international prefix is made available;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://fxoptexgroups.com website and its https://client.fxoptexgroups.com page can be classed as the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains of opening a trading account on which to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the https://fxoptexgroups.com website and its relative https://client.fxoptexgroups.com page, are ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the aforementioned domains are also available in Italian and in the "Contact Us" section of the https://fxoptexgroups.com site, a contact number with an Italian international prefix is made available;

WHEREAS the https://fxoptexgroups.com website and its https://client.fxoptexgroups.com page are not linked to any entities authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public;

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;

R E S O L V E S:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the https://fxoptexgroups.com website and its https://client.fxoptexgroups.com page, 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.

25 February 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona