Resolution no. 20962

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance' - TUF) to cease the infringement of Art. 18 of the TUF put in place via the internet domains www.nasdaq500.com and https://client.nasdaq500.com

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 website www.nasdaq500.com , it emerged that:

i. the website www.nasdaq500.com offers the potential investor, following registration and opening an account through the procedure also available for the Italian user, the possibility of trading in forex and CFD through the platforms called Metatrader4 and Active 8;

ii. it has been reported that Italian clients have been contacted by subjects operating on behalf of the abovementioned website by "Cold calling" and the section "Contact Us" indicates a telephone number with Italian prefix;

iii. the above website is written in English and also partially available in Italian as within the reserved area, which the user can access through the sub-domain http://client.nasdaq500.com, it is possible to select Italian and the platform Active 8 is also available in an Italian version;

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

v. the website www.nasdaq500.com and the sub-domain https://client.nasdaq500.com are traceable to Empika Enterprise LTD, on the footer of the pages of the website www.nasdaq500.com it says that "This website is owned and operated by Empika Enterprise LTD", with declared offices in the Marshall Islands;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity carried out via the said domains 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 CONSIDERED that the operation described above, carried out through www.nasdaq500.com and https://client.nasdaq500.com, is currently underway and directed to the public of the Italian investors given the reported cold calling to the Italian public, the partial availability of web pages in Italian as well as the indication of a telephone number with an Italian area code;

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 CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Article 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 circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement cease';

HAVING CONSIDERED, therefore, that it is necessary to immediately adopt this resolution since, in light of the above findings and considerations, there are justified reasons of urgency;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the internet domains www.nasdaq500.com and https://client.nasdaq500.com, 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.

June 12, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona