Resolution no. 20474

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 performed via the www.marketgbp.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 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.marketgbp.com website, it emerged that:

i. the www.marketgbp.com website, registered by a user whose identity is not known, is also available in Italian;

ii. the potential investor, after the registration to the said website and opening an account via a specific online form, has the opportunity to trade in the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs through the MT4 platform;

iii. in order to carry out the trading transactions, an investment of money is required, to be paid into the account opened online. In particular, the said website offers different types of account, namely 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Silver', 'Gold' and 'VIP', which differ mainly for the amount of the minimum deposit required and the benefits.

iv. the 'Our Firm' section of the said website mentions the MarketGBP Limited company but does not provide any registered office address for it;

v. at the footer of each page of the said website it is stated that 'IT and Finance administration services' are provided by the Blonde Bear OU company, with declared offices in Estonia;

vi. finally, the 'Risk disclosure' page mentions the Blue Seal Ltd company but gives no additional information about it.

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activities also carried out also via the said website can be classed as the provision of investment services referred to in Art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity to open a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders involving financial instruments can be issued;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations, also performed via the www.marketgbp.com website, are directed to Italian investors, insofar as the said website is also available in Italian and has no mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, according to the information available, people operating in the name of 'MARKET GBP' have contacted Italian investors by telephone in order to persuade them to open an account and trade on the said website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that MarketGBP Limited, Blonde Bear OU and Blue Seal Ltd are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as these companies are not included in the dedicated register kept by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Article 18, Par. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which 'The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks';

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

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to 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 cease the infringement of Art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the www.marketgbp.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

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.

June 7, 2018

On behalf of THE CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese