Resolution no. 21205

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Tuf" - Consolidated Law on Finance) to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed through the websites https://lvgrowmarkets.com and https://partners.lvgrowmarkets.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://lvgrowmarkets.com:

i. through the website https://lvgrowmarkets.com, which is also available in Italian - after registering and opening one of the accounts and investing money - the potential investor is offered the possibility of carrying out online tradingon financial instruments such as shares and CFDs on currencies;

ii. after registration on the website https://lvgrowmarkets.com, the user has access to a personal area, on https://partners.lvgrowmarkets.com;

iii. on the website https://lvgrowmarkets.com site, in particular, five types of accounts are available called, "Basic", "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum" according to the benefitsoffered;

iv. at the bottom of the pages of the website it is stated that "LV Grow Markets is owned and operated by Arrow Capital ltd", with alleged registered office in Vanuatu;

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;

WHEREAS the above transactions performed via the websites https://lvgrowmarkets.com and https://partners.lvgrowmarkets.com are still ongoing and are addressed to Italian investors, given that the website https://lvgrowmarkets.com is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS that the company mentioned on the websites https://lvgrowmarkets.com and https://partners.lvgrowmarkets.com, s not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that it does not appear to be registered with the register held by Consob pursuant to article 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, 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 transactions in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in violation of article 18, paragraph 1 of the Tuf;

GIVEN that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Tuf - "Powers to counteract abuse" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or transactions 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;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of any further infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 through the websites https://lvgrowmarkets.com and https://partners.lvgrowmarkets.com consisting of offering and 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.

December 18, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona