Resolution no. 21246

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.web.cryptozone24.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.web.cryptozone24.com, it emerged that:

i. the website is active;

ii. the website allows forex, commodities and shares to be traded through a platform called Metatrader 4 after registration and opening of an account;

iii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, four types of account are offered called 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. the “Terms&Conditions” section of the websitewww.web.cryptozone24.com specifies that “FAH Investment LTD [with alleged registered office in England] is the holder of the trade name CryptoZone24”;

v. within the website there are two telephone numbers (one of them with an Italian area code: +390287165055) and an email address.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 20488 of 19 June 2018, which ordered the company FAH Investment LTD to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.time4x.co;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.web.cryptozone24.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 operations, performed through the website www.web.cryptozone24.com, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors insofar as, although the website is not available in Italian, there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls (so-called 'cold calling') made to the Italian public;

WHEREAS the company called FAH Investment LTD mentioned on this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held 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 through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease”;

CONSIDERING it 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 performed through the website www.web.cryptozone24.com, consisting in offering and providing 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.

January 28, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona