Resolution no. 20784

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 using the www.toroption.co 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 REGARD TO Resolution 20304 of February 14, 2018, with which CONSOB, pursuant to Art. 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, adopted the measure ordering the discontinuation of the infringement of Art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance with reference to the www.toroption.com website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that currently, by typing the URL address www.toroption.com, one is automatically redirected to the site www.toroption.co;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.toroption.co website, it emerged that:

i. The website, registered by a user whose identity is not known, is also available in Italian and actually displays the same contents as the www.toroption.com website;

ii. The potential investor can trade in binary options, Forex and CFDs, through a dedicated platform;

iii. At the bottom of every page of the said website, in the ‘Terms and Conditions' section and in the 'Contact Us' page, the Smart Choice LP company is mentioned, with alleged offices in Scotland.

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activities performed via the website in question 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 they can issue purchase and/or sales orders of financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the above described operations carried out via the www.toroption.co website is directed to the public of Italian investors, in so far as the said website is in Italian and through it the Smart Choice LP company also adopts forms of direct contact and interaction with Italian clients, providing procedural and operational instructions for investing in financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the company mentioned on the said website is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the dedicated register held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for the authorised entities referred to in Art. 18, para. 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, therefore, 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, pursuant 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:

To order the discontinuation of the infringement of Art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98, performed using the www.toroption.co website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of its service.

January 22, 2019

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese