Resolution no. 20902

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 through the https://4xpremium.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 7 June 1974 and subsequent amendments and additions;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the https://4xpremium.com website, it emerged that:

i. thewebsite is also available in Italian;

ii. the website https://4xpremium.com, registered anonymously, offers users, subject to opening an account and paying into it the relative sum of money, the opportunity of trading in Forex, CFDs, indexes, cryptocurrencies, commodities and shares;

iii. having registered on the website, users can access the reserved area and download the dedicated MT4 platform;

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

v. 'Index Limited', with unspecified registered address in Oud Metha and the logo 'The Forex Premium' are shown at the bottom of the pages of the aforementioned website;

vi. the 'Contact Us' section includes a form for requesting information and gives the following email addresses 'support@4xpremium.com' and 'office@4xpremium.com'.

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity carried out via the aforementioned website qualifies as the provision of investment services and activities 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 CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations, still available on the https://4xpremium.com website, are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the website cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as 'Index Limited' is not registered on the 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 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, therefore, that the operations in question qualify 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 REGARD TO the fact 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 therefore pursuant to this decree: a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the fact that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order the cessation of the infringement';

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary in the light of the foregoing to immediately and urgently adopt this Resolution;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

To order to cease the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 performed via the website https://4xpremium.com, 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 the CONSOB Bulletin.

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

April 18, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona