Resolution n. 21010

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://marketsxchange.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 https://marketsxchange.com website, it emerged that:

i. on the website https://marketsxchange.com the potential investor is offered the possibility to trade in currencies, indices, crypto currencies, commodities and shares after opening an account through the registration procedure, which is also available to Italian users;

ii. in order to perform trading transactions, a investment of money is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are six types of account available, named, according to the minimum payment required and the promised benefits, ‘Promo', ‘Go Start', ‘Premium', ‘Pro', ‘Be Trader' and ‘Unlimited';

iii. within the users' profile area of the site to which they have access following registration, the Italian language can be selected;

iv. at the bottom of the website pages and in the "Terms and Conditions" the company Zurix Corporation Ltd, based in the Marshall Islands, is indicated;

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 that the aforementioned operations performed via the https://marketsxchange.com website are still ongoing and are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as contact with Italian customers by parties operating on behalf of the aforementioned website through telephone solicitations has been reported.

(So-called cold calling) and the Italian language can be selected from within the user's profile area;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the company mentioned on the said 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 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, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to the definition under Art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abuse" - CONSOB "may, with regard to anyone who offers or performs investment services or activities through the Internet without due authorisation pursuant to this decree: […] (b) order that the infringement be brought to an end;

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this resolution immediately for 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 https://marketsxchange.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.

23 July 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona