Resolution no. 21145

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 imperial-finance.io

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 imperial-finance.io, it emerged that:

i. the website imperial-finance.io is active and also available in Italian;

ii. subject to registration, the website imperial-finance.io offers the possibility of trading Forex, and purchase and sell shares and CFDs with cryptocurrencies, indices and raw materials as underlying assets, through the platform called MetaTrader 4;

iii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment must be made, paying sums into an account opened on line; specifically, there are three types of account, named “Classic”, “Investor” and “VIP”, depending on the deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. the section of the website called 'Terms and Conditions”' specifies that imperial-finance.io 'is owned and operated by Waltika Partners LTD 'with stated address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

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;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations, performed through the imperial-finance.io website, may still be performed, and are aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the company Waltika Partners LTD, indicated on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register kept 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, 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 cease the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the web site imperial-finance.io, 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 13^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona