Resolution no. 21354

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 website www.bitfxmarkets.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 www.bitfxmarkets.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the website www.bitfxmarkets.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, commodities and shares;

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 'Silver', 'Gold', 'Platinum' and 'Islamic';

iii. as for the traceability of the website in question, in the “Terms and Conditions” of the website www.bitfxmarkets.com, it says that the contractual counterparty of a user registering on the same website is generic, “BitFXMarkets”. As far as this brand is concerned, no indication is found on the website about any company it may be attributed to;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.bitfxmarkets.com 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 aforementioned activities, performed through the website www.www.bitfxmarkets.com, are still ongoing and are directed at Italian investors, given that this website is available in Italian, and there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public;

WHEREAS “BitFXMarkets”, mentioned on this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the register maintained 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.bitfxmarkets.com consisting of 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.

May 6, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona