Resolution no. 21288

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://richmondfx.co and https://royal-fx.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 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 https://richmondfx.co, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website https://richmondfx.co, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, which is also available to Italian users, to trade in CFDs relating to currencies;

ii. as to the traceability of this website, the company Elit Property Vision Ltd is indicated at the foot of the pages of the website https://richmondfx.co, with stated addresses in London, Zurich and Singapore;

iii. 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 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP';

iv. to carry out the aforementioned cash deposits, after having logged in to the reserved area of the website https://richmondfx.co, the user is redirected to the different website https://royal-fx.com;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website https://royal-fx.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the website https://royal-fx.com, also available in Italian, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, which is also available to Italian users, to trade CFDs with currencies;

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 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP';

iii. as to the ownership of this website, the company FX Royal Ltd is indicated in the section entitled “About the company”, and in the different section entitled “Contact us”, there is a statement that the company has a “head office” in London;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21152 of 20 November 2019, which ordered the company Elit Property Vision Ltd to cease the infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the website https://richmondfx.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned website https://richmondfx.com, the website https://richmondfx.co replicates the graphic format and content of the website https://richmondfx.com;

WHEREAS 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 activities described above, carried out through the websites https://richmondfx.co and https://fx-royal.com, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, as, with reference to https://richmondfx.co, there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public, and, regarding https://fx-royal.com, the site is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS Elit Property Vision Ltd, the company mentioned on the https://richmondfx.com website, and FX Royal Ltd, mentioned on the website https://fx-royal.com, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are not listed in the dedicated register maintained 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, par. 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 involving financial instruments 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 carried out through the websites https://richmondfx.co and https://fx-royal.com, 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.

March 4, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona