Resolution no. 21356

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.daxcfd.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 that can be reached via the website www.daxcfd.com, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and may also be consulted in Italian;

ii. the website offers the opportunity, after registration, of trading CFDs with currencies, indices and commodities through the trading platform called MT4;

iii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into the account opened online; In particular, four types of account are available called “Basic”, “Gold”, “Platinum” and “Islamic”;

iv. at the bottom of the personal area of the website there is a statement affirming that: "One Thousand One Ltd operates with the Daxcfd trademark and uses the daxcfd.com domain in the Economic Area".

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 20826 of 20 February 2019, whereby Consob ordered, pursuant to article 7-octies, letter b), of the Consolidated Law on Finance, the company ONE THOUSAND ONE Ltd, with its registered office in the Marshall Islands, to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.dax1001.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.daxcfd.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 above transactions, carried out through the website www.daxcfd.com are ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, since the website is in Italian;

WHEREAS One Thousand One Ltd, mentioned in the personal area of the 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 the authorised entities referred to in 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 regarding 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 article 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - 'Powers to counteract abusive practices' - CONSOB 'may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so 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;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of art. 18 of Consolidated Law on Finance performed also through the website www.daxcfd.com consisting in 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.

May 6, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona