Resolution no. 20289

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance'), to discontinue the infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.4xbankers.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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks of the www.4xbankers.com website, undertaken on January 16, 2018, it emerged that:

i. the www.4xbankers.com website is also available in Italian;

ii. potential investors can trade on the Forex and CFD markets via the 'MT4' platform, subject to prior opening a dedicated account via a special on-line form;

iii. in order to perform trading operations, money must be invested by depositing sums into the account to be opened on line. In particular, the said website offers various types of account, namely 'Micro, 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP', distinguished above all by the minimum deposit required and by the benefits.

iv. the name of the '4Xbankers Ltd' company, based in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, appears in the 'Contact Us' section and at the bottom of all the pages of the said website;

v. therefore, the www.4xbankers.com website and the services offered therein would be traceable to 4Xbankers Ltd.

HAVING ESTABLISHED that 4Xbankers Ltd uses methods of contact and interaction, including direct ones, with Italian clients via the aforementioned website, providing instructions on the procedures and operations to follow in order to invest in financial instruments;

HAVING ESTABLISHED, furthermore, that individuals operating in the name of '4Xbankers' allegedly contacted Italian savers by telephone in order to convince them to open an account and carry out trading operations on the said website;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the www.4xbankers.com website are clearly aimed at the public of Italian investors, insofar as the said website is also available in Italian and has no blocking mechanism to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activity performed via the website in question can be identified as the provision of investment services, as it offers clients the opportunity to open a trading account on which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for the authorised entities listed in Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, whose first paragraph provides that, 'The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks';

HAVING ESTABLISHED that 4Xbankers Ltd is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, as it is a non-EU company, based in Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, and is not included in the special register of authorised investment firms and companies of non-EU countries held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question can be identified as the professional provision to the Italian public of financial instruments, in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to that outlined under Art. 7-octies 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 therefor pursuant to this decree: a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement cease';

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 implemented via the www.4xbankers.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities aimed at the Italian public, including through the Internet.

This resolution shall be notified to those concerned and published in CONSOB's Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

7 February 2018

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese