Resolution no. 20914

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://24btcmarkets.com website

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

HAVING REAGARD 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 https://24btcmarkets.com website, it emerged that:

i. Thesaid website is also available in Italian;

ii. The said website offers, subject to the opening an account and depositing money in it, the opportunity to trade on CFDs having currencies and commodities as their underlying assets, using the MT4 platform;

iii. After registering to the said website, the user can access the reserved area in order to make deposit money into their account, provide additional personal data and install the aforesaid platform;

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

v. The footer of the website pages and its 'Contacts' section, mention the West Media Group Limited company, with alleged office in Switzerland. The 'Terms & Conditions' section mentions the Pro Technologies Ltd company, whose registered address is not specified;

vi. The website displays some Italian telephone numbers, as well as the support@24btcmarkets.com and marketing@24btcmarkets.com e-mail addresses.

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 performed via the https://24btcmarkets.comwebsite are aimed at Italian investors, insofar as: a) the said website is also available in Italian; and b) cold calling activities have been reported, aimed at people residing in Italy;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the website in question cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as the West Media Group Limited and Pro Technologies Ltd companies are 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 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 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 https://24btcmarkets.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 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