Resolution no. 21136

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 www.selinusinvestment.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.selinusinvestment.com, it emerged that:

i. the website www.selinusinvestment.com, which is also available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity of opening an account to carry out investment transactions with underlying CFDs, shares, FOREX, commodities and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into an account opened online;

iii. there is a section on the site called “Asset management in copy trading”;

iv. the “Terms & Conditions” section specifies that “www.selinusinvestment.com is owned and operated by Selinusinvestment.com”;

v. the “Contact us” section of the website www.selinusinvestment.com provides an Italian telephone number (+39 0287369250).

WHEREAS the activity carried out through this website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 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 above transactions, carried out through the website www.selinusinvestment.com, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, since the website is in Italian;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, notwithstanding on the website www.selinusinvestment.com there are the identifying details (address and authorisation number) of an authorised investment firm, the transactions carried out through same cannot be linked to any authorised party;

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 over 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.selinusinvestment.com, consisting in 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.

November 6^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona