Resolution no. 21429

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 https://swissglobalpro.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://swissglobalpro.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the https://swissglobalpro.com website, which is 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 relating to currencies;

ii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into an account opened online;

iii. in particular, four types of account are indicated on the website, known as 'Classic', 'Gold', 'Platinum' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to the site's traceability, in the section entitled “Company's Privacy Policy” it states that “Swiss Global Pro is a trading name of DevTech Holding and the website https://swissglobalpro.com is owned and operated by DevTech Holding” with alleged offices in London and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The site also lists two addresses in London and Sydney. Moreover, a telephone number with an Italian country code is indicated at the bottom of the https://swissglobalpro.com website pages;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21323 of 7 April 2020, which ordered the company DevTech Holding to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate website www.fincogb.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://swissglobalpro.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 transactions, carried out through the https://swissglobalpro.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian, and there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy, and a telephone number with an Italian area code is indicated at the bottom of the website pages;

WHEREAS DevTech Holding, which is mentioned on the https://swissglobalpro.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it does 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, 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 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, letter b) 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 that such infringement cease;

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To order that the infringement cease of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the https://swissglobalpro.com website, 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.

July 2, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona