Consob resolution no. 18663

Measures regarding the Italian Financial Transaction Tax, under article 16, paragraph 3, letter a) and letter b) of the Decree of the Minister of the Economy and Finance of the 21 February 2013

THE ITALIAN COMPANIES AND STOCK EXCHANGE COMMISSION (CONSOB)

HAVING REGARD TO Law no. 216 of June 7, 1974, as subsequently amended and integrated;

HAVING REGARD TO Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 14, 2012 on short selling and certain aspects of credit default swaps;

HAVING REGARD TO the "Guidelines on the exemption for market making activities and primary market operations under Regulation (EU) 236/2012 of the European Parliament and the Council on short selling and certain aspects of Credit Default Swaps" ("Guidelines"), published by ESMA on 1 February 2013;

HAVING REGARD TO Law No. 228 of 24 December 2012, which has introduced the financial transaction tax on transactions on shares issued by Italian companies;

HAVING REGARD TO the Decree of the Minister of the Economy and Finance of 21 February 2013, implementing paragraphs from 491 to 499 of the above-mentioned Law No. 228 of 2012;

HAVING REGARD TO article 16, paragraph 3, letter a), first part, of the above-mentioned Decree, which excluded from the scope of the tax the transactions carried out in the performance of market making activities, as defined in the above-mentioned Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012, provided that the person performing this activity has been granted the exemption provided for under Article 17, paragraph 1 of the Regulation;

HAVING REGARD TO article 16, paragraph 3, letter a), second part, of the above-mentioned Decree, according to which, in some instances, a person performing market making activities, , is entitled to benefit from the exemption, even in the absence of the authorization referred to in the first part of the above-mentioned article, provided that such person has submitted a specific request to Consob according to the procedures adopted by this public authority;

HAVING REGARD TO article 16, paragraph 3, letter b), second part, of the above-mentioned Decree, according to which, in some instances, a person performing market making activities on the basis of an agreement with the issuer (liquidity provider), is entitled to benefit from the exemption, provided that such person has submitted a specific request to Consob according to the procedures adopted by this public authority;

RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1. The requests under article 16, paragraph 3, letter a), second part, and letter b), second part, of the Decree of the Minister of the Economy and Finance of the 21 February 2013, shall be submitted to Consob using the form attached to this Resolution. This form, duly filled-in, signed and all the relevant attachments, shall be sent via certified e-mail to the address consob@pec.consob.it, or via registered letter to the attention of Consob - Divisione Mercati - Ufficio Post-Trading – Via G. B. Martini 3, 00198 ROMA (ITALY). The form and its attachments shall be sent in advance to the email address shortselling-service@consob.it.

2. Within 30 days from receipt of a request made according to the previous paragraph, a response shall be provided to the applicant. This response shall indicate whether, based on the information sent by the applicant, he/she meets the requirements for benefiting from the exemption. In case additional documents are required, the abovementioned time limit starts to run as of the date of receipt of these additional documents.

3. The Ministry of the Economy and Finance shall be informed of any communications made by Consob to the applicants pursuant to the previous paragraph no. 2.

4. A request submitted under paragraph 1 of this Resolution does not represent a request for exemption under article 17 of Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012.

5. A request pursuant to the previous paragraph no. 1 cannot be submitted by persons performing market making activities, as defined in Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012, on a regulated market or a multilateral trading facility in the European Union or on a market in a country outside the Union, the legal and supervisory framework of which has been declared equivalent by the Commission pursuant to article 17, paragraph 2, of the abovementioned Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012. These persons, according to article 16, paragraph 3, letter a, first part, of the Decree of the Minister of the Economy and Finance of the 21 February 2013, benefit from the exemption for the market making activities on the basis of the exemption under article 17, paragraph 1, of Regulation (EU) no. 236/2012, granted by the competent authority as defined under article 17, paragraphs 5 and 8, of the abovementioned Regulation.

6. This resolution applies from 3 October 2013 and at the same time Resolution no. 18494 of 13 March 2013 ceases to produce its effects.

This resolution is published on the website and the Bulletin of Consob.

Rome, 2 october 2013

THE CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Vegas