Resolution no. 21133

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 website https://cfd2fxpro.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 https://cfd2fxpro.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the website https://cfd2fxpro.com, also available in Italian, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process which is also available to Italian users, to trade CFDs with indices and raw materials as their underlying assets;

ii. in order to trade a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are three types of account available - depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised - called 'Micro', 'Standard' and 'Gold';

iii. at the bottom of each page on the website it says that “cfd2fxpro is operated by Lion Finance Ltd”; in the document called “Terms and conditions”, found on the website, it says that “cfd2fxpro is operated and owned by Lion Finance Ltd”, with its alleged registered address at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21051 of 19 March 2019, which ordered the company Lion Finance Ltd to cease the infringement of art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://cfd2fx.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned website https://cfd2fx.com, the website https://cfd2fxpro.com replicates the content and graphic format of the said https://cfd2fx.com site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://cfd2fxpro.com can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in Article 1, paragraph 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;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the website https://cfd2fxpro.com, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the website is available in Italian;

WHEREAS the company Lion Finance Ltd, with its alleged registered address at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it does not appear on the dedicated register kept by Consob pursuant to Article 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, paragraph 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 to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) 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 pursuant to this decree:[…] b) order the cessation of the infringement';

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

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of Article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the website https://cfd2fxpro.com, consisting in the offering and performance 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.

November 6^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona