Resolution no. 20972

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.bronzemarkets.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 www.bronzemarkets.com website, it emerged that:

i. the website www.bronzemarkets.com is also available in Italian and has no mechanism in place to prevent registration of Italian users;

ii. potential investors, subject to prior registration and the opening of an account, are offered the opportunity of trading online via the platform Metatrader5, on "forex, CFDs, indexes, cryptocurrencies, precious metals";

iii. in order to perform the trading transactions, a investment of money is required, to be paid into the account opened online; there are various types of account available, with different names, according to the minimum deposit required and the promised benefits, namely 'Basic', 'Standard', 'Silver', 'Gold', and 'Platinum';

iv. On the website there is also a section dedicated to "algorithmic trading", in which reference is made to a software capable of creating, by "complex mathematical algorithms", trade orders on the Forex market , thus obtaining "exceptional returns";

v. the website also features a section dedicated to so-called "MAM “ accounts, which offers a system capable of "dividing" operations performed through a "main profile (…) toward the profiles submitted to management";

vi. the “partner” section illustrates various membership programmes, laying out the related benefits for customers intending to join;

vii. the company Silver Wolf Limited, with declared registered address in the Marshall Islands, is indicated at the bottom of every page of the website and under the 'Terms and Conditions'.

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity carried out via the said website 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, moreover, that the website offers the possibility of carrying out trading operations by means of "automated trading" through a software capable of creating, through "complex mathematical algorithms", trade orders on the Forex market , thus obtaining "exceptional returns" and that this activity is able to constitute "autotrading" or "mirror trading";

HAVING CONSIDERED that, in light of the indication of theEuropean Securities and Markets Authority - ESMA of June 22, 2012, it has been clarified that the performance of the activity of "automatic" execution of “trading signals" (so-called "mirror trading"), which concern financial instruments, constitutes the provision of the investment service of managing portfolios;

HAVING ALSO CONSIDERED that with the Communication n. 12062946 of July 26, 2012 CONSOB, recalling the aforementioned indication of ESMA, highlighted that anyone who wants to professionally provide, in respect of the Italian public, a service aimed at the automatic execution of "trading signals " must be authorised by the competent authority and comply with the rules of conduct contained in the regulation of investment services;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the website offers the opportunity to take advantage of the so-called "MAM” accounts to automatically replicate operations carried out by a “Trader Manager" on one's own account and that also this service constitutes the management of portfolios;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations, still available on the www.cmp24.com website, are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian; furthermore, there have also been reports of cold calling;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the entity mentioned on the websites 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 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:(…) order the cessation of the infringement”;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that the company Silver Wolf Limited has already been the subject of an "Investor protection warning" dated October 30, 2017 and was the recipient of several cessation orders pursuant to art. 7-g with CONSOB Resolution No. 20364 of March 28, 2018 concerning the violation put it in place through the website www.fxtrade777.com, with CONSOB Resolution No. 20866 of March 27, 2019 concerning the violation put it in place through the website www.cfdpremium.com, with CONSOB Resolution No. 20890 of April 10, 2019 concerning the violation put it in place through the website www.marketspremium.com and with CONSOB Resolution No. 20913 of May 2, 2019 concerning the violation put it in place through the website www.ecnpremium.com;

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

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to cease the discontinuation of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree 58/98 carried out through the website www.bronzemarkets.com consisting of the offer and performance of services and investment activities towards 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 19, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona