Resolution no. 22104

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://maxiplus.trade and the respective page https://maxiplus.cc

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 24th February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. the https://maxiplus.trade website, which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://maxiplus.trade by accessing the reserved area of said website https://maxiplus.trade – which could also be reached via a separate domain https://maxiplus.cc, which is available in Italian – and subsequently open an account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. in particular, the website https://maxiplus.trade lists three types of account, referred to as "Start", "Classic" and "Business", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as regards ownership, the bottom of the pages of the website https://maxiplus.trade makes reference to the company Seabreeze Parteners Ltd, with stated registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica;

HAVING REGARD to the Consob Resolutions no. 21834 of 5 May 2021, no. 22028 of 6 October and no. 22051 of 20 October 2021,

whereby Seabreeze Partners Ltd, with stated registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.profitassist.io and the respective page https://webtrader.profitassist.cc, also through the domain www.profitassist.co as well as the website https://igfb.one;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://maxiplus.trade and the relevant page https://maxiplus.ccconstitutes 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 to open a trading account and place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described activity, carried out through the website https://maxiplus.trade and the relevant page https://maxiplus.cc, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the aforesaid domains are also available in Italian and there have also been reports of cold calling towards retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS Seabreeze Partners Ltd, with stated registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant authorisation to provide investment services and activities as per 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 Italian investment 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 website https://maxiplus.trade and the respective page https://maxiplus.cc, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

1 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona