Resolution no. 21260

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 carried out through the websites https://vetoro.io and https://vetoro.cc

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 supplements;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website, it emerged that:

i. the website https://vetoro.io is active and may also be consulted in Italian;

ii. the website https://vetoro.io offers the possibility, after registration, of performing trading transactions on CFDs with currencies, cryptocurrencies, shares, indices and commodities as
their underlying assets;

iii. in order to carry out trading transactions, registration with the website https://vetoro.cc, which the website https://vetoro.io refers users to via a link, and a cash investment, through payment into an account opened online, are required. In particular, on the website https://vetoro.io there are six types of account on offer, known as 'Bronze', 'Silver', 'Gold', 'Platinum', 'Diamond' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the expected benefits;

iv. 'VetoroBanc' is mentioned in the pages of the website https://vetoro.io, without any indication of its registered office. The website's contractual terms indicate 'VetoroBanc' as the company responsible for the services offered on it, and refer to the legislation in force in Bulgaria. The website's contact page also contains an English address;

v. instead, at the bottom of the https://vetoro.cc website pages - to which, as stated, the website https://vetoro.io refers for registration - the company 'Vetoro, Inc.' is indicated, without any further explanations.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the websites https://vetoro.io and https://vetoro.cc 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 transactions, carried out through the websites https://vetoro.io and https://vetoro.cc, are ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the websites are available in Italian;

WHEREAS the companies 'VetoroBanc' and 'Vetoro, Inc.', mentioned respectively in the websites https://vetoro.io and https://vetoro.cc are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since they do not appear 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 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 the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the websites https://vetoro.io and https://vetoro.cc, 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.

February 12, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona