Resolution no. 20913

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 www.ecnpremium.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 NOTED that, from checks made on the www.ecnpremium.com website, it emerged that:

i. Thesaid website is active and also available in Italian;

ii. The said website offers, subject to the opening an account and depositing money in it, the opportunity to trade in Forex, cryptocurrencies, CFDs (Contracts for Difference), indices and commodities using the MT5 platform;

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

iv. The 'Terms & Conditions' section of the www.ecnpremium.com website states that, 'the website is operated and owned by Silver Wolf Limited' with office in Marshall Islands;

v. The 'Contact' section of the said website displays the support@ecnpremium.com e-mail address and makes available a form for requesting information.

HAVING REGARD TO Resolutions no. 20364 March 28, 2018, no. 20366 of March 27, 2019, and no. 20890 of April 10, 2019, with which CONSOB, pursuant to Art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance, adopted measures ordering to cease the discontinuation of Art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance implemented via the www.fxtrade777.com, www.cfdpremium.com and www.marketspremium.com websites, all attributable to the Silver Wolf Limited company;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity - still carried out through the www.ecnpremium.com website - qualifies 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 CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the www.ecnpremium.com websites are aimed at 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 the Silver Wolf Limited company is not registered on the 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 the qualified subjects referred to in Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which 'The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved for investment firms and banks';

HAVING ESTABLISHED 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 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';

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

To order to cease the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 performed via the www.ecnpremium.com website, consisting of offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be published in the CONSOB Bulletin.

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

May 2, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona