Resolution no. 20817

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 through the https://wisebanc.com

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA
[THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR COMPANIES AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE]

HAVING CONSIDERED Law no. 216 of 7 June, 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 through checks on https://wisebanc.com website that:

i. the https://wisebanc.com website is also available in Italian;

ii. the potential investor, after registration to the said website and opening an account via a specific online form, has the opportunity to trade in CFDs, indexes, shares and cryptocurrencies through the dedicated platform;

iii. in order to carry out trading transactions, an investment of money is required, to be paid into an account opened online;

iv. at the bottom of the website pages it is specified that https://wisebanc.com 'is owned and operated by TLC Consulting Ltd (company number: 84689)', with offices in the Marshall Islands, and that 'Wise Banc is a registered trademark of Orion Service EOOD (Company's registration number is: 204201554)', with offices in Bulgaria;

v. the 'Contact Us' section displays, inter alia, the address of Orion Service Eood;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the above-described operations, carried out through the https://wisebanc.com website, are aimed at an audience of Italian investors, as the said website is available in Italian;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the parties mentioned on the said website are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are not registered on the dedicated register held 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 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 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 performs investment services or activities through the Internet without due authorisation 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. 58/1998 performed via the https://wisebanc.com 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 of the date of service.

February 14, 2019

THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Maria Berruti