Resolution no. 20942

Order, pursuant to art. 7-octies, par. 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.codexfx.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 ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.codexfx.com website, it emerged that:

i. the www.codexfx.com website, registered by a user anonymously, is also available in Italian;

ii. subject to prior registration to the website and opening an account through the registration procedure, which is also available to Italian users, potential investors are offered the possibility of trading via the Metatrader4 platform, also available for mobile devices, involving Forex, CFDs, indexes, cryptocurrencies and shares:

iii. in order to perform the trading transactions, a investment of money is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are various types of account available, named, according to the minimum deposit to be made and the promised benefits, ‘mini’, ‘standard’, ‘gold’ and ‘platinum’;

iv. the ‘Affiliates’ section of the website offers two programmes, called ‘Affiliates’ and ‘Partners’, which promise additional benefits for subscribing users;

v. on the Homepage, the company ‘Codexfx Ltd’, with declared registered address in the Marshall Islands, is mentioned in the ‘Contacts’ section as well as in the ‘Terms & Conditions’;

vi. the ‘Segregated Funds’ section also states that ‘Codexfx is regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC) of Belize’;

vii. the ‘Terms & Conditions’ identify Estonian law as the law applicable to relations between Codexfx Ltd and the user;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity carried out via the said 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.codexfx.com website are still ongoing and are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the company mentioned on this 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 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 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 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 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 under article 1, paragraph 5; b) order the cessation of the infringement’;

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

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to cease the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the www.codexfx.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 notification.

May 22,2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona