Resolution no. 21029

Order to cease the violation of Art. 18 of the TUF [Consolidated Law on Finance] carried out through the internet website www.bprimes.com, pursuant to Art. 7g, para. 1, point b) of Legislative Decree 58/1998 ("TUF")

THE ITALIAN COMPANIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

HAVING REGARD TO Law 216 of 7 June 1974 and subsequent amendments;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree 58 of 24 February 1998 (“TUF”) and subsequent amendments;

HAVING ESTABLISHED the following from verifications carried out on the web:

i. the internet website www.bprimes.com is also available in the Italian language; it offers potential (also Italian) investors the opportunity to trade shares, indexes and raw materials online, after registering and opening an account;

ii. the Italian language cannot be selected on www.bprimes.com but the Italian version can be found on www.bprimes.com/it;

iii. in order to be able to trade, money is required, to be paid on the online account; there are four account types available, named “Micro”, “Standard”, “Vip” and “Premium”, which differ based on predicted benefits and minimum deposits required;

iv. the Fina Holding Limited company is mentioned at the bottom of every web page, based in the Marshall Islands; the “Terms and Conditions” show a different address for the same company, at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the business run by means of the website mentioned above may be ascribed to providing investment services, as referred to in Art. 1, para. 5 of the TUF, as clients are offered the opportunity to open a trading account through which they may place selling and buying orders on financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the internet website www.bprimes.com is still in operation as described above, and includes Italian investors, for cold calls have been reported from operators of said website to contact Italian clients;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the Fina Holding Limited company, mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered with CONSOB, pursuant to Art. 20 of the TUF;

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 TUF, pursuant to which, ‘The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved for investment firms and banks’;

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in violation of Art. 18, para. 1 of the TUF;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to Art. 7g, point b) of the TUF, “Powers to fight abusive business practices”, CONSOB “may order anyone who offers or carries out investment services and activities through the internet without authorisation to cease the violation pursuant to Decree [...] b)”;

HAVING CONSIDERED therefore that, due to the reasons and observations listed above, it is necessary to adopt this resolution immediately;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

It is hereby ordered to cease the violation of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree 58/98 made through the internet website www.bprimes.com/it, consisting in offering and carrying out investment services and activities for the Italian public.

This resolution shall be notified to the interested parties and 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.

September 3, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona