Resolution no. 21430

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 www.profx700.com website

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.profx700.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the www.profx700.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, commodities, indices and shares;

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

iii. as to the website's traceability, in the section entitled “Terms and Conditions” it states that the contractual counterparty of a user registering with the www.profx700.comsite is Profx700 Limited. A London address is indicated at the bottom of the website pages; a further address, in New York, can be found in the “Contact”section of the www.profx700.com website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.profx700.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 www.profx700.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian, and there have also been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS Profx700 Limited, which is mentioned on the www.profx700.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since 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 licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, 'The professional provision of investment services and activities to 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 the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.profx700.com, 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