Resolution no. 21143

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 websites www.c0bracfd.com and www.cobracfd.biz/it

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.c0bracfd.com, it emerged that:

i. through the website www.c0bracfd.com, also available in Italian by redirecting to the website www.cobracfd.biz/it, potential investors may, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process which is also available to Italian users, trade CFDs with indices and raw materials and shares 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 four types of account available - depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised - called 'Mini', 'Bronze', 'Silver' and 'Gold';

iii. at the bottom of the website pages is a statement that “cobraCFD is owned and operated by CobraCFD Ltd” with stated address in the Marshall Islands;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21030 of 3 March 2019, which ordered the companies CobraCFD Ltd and Kings Power Ltd to cease their infringement of art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.cobracfd.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned website www.cobracfd.com, the website www.c0bracfd.com and the Italian version of this site, available at www.cobracfd.biz/it, replicate the content and graphic format of said www.cobracfd.com site;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activity carried out through the aforementioned websites 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;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations, performed through the websites www.c0bracfd.com and www.cobracfd.biz/it, may still be performed, and are aimed at Italian investors, since, through the homepage of the website www.c0bracfd.com, the user can select Italian as language and be automatically redirected to the site www.cobracfd.biz/it;

WHEREAS CobraCfd Ltd, with stated address in the Marshall Islands, mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the 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';

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

RESOLVES:

To cease the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the websites www.c0bracfd.com and www.cobracfd.biz/it, consisting in the offering and 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 13^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona