Resolution no. 21439

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 https://swissinv24h.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 https://swissinv24h.com website, it emerged that:

i. the https://swissinv24h.com website proposes, after registering and opening an account, the possibility of conducting transactions on CFDs having, as underlying assets currencies, indices and commodities;

ii. on completion of the registration procedure, access is given to the private area of the website, which may also be viewed in Italian;

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 also on the benefits promised, called 'Mini', 'Standard', 'Gold' and 'Platinum'.

iv. as for the traceability of the site, on the homepage of which the 'Swissinv24' logo is present, in the 'Terms and Conditions'section it states that 'Swissinv24 is owned and operated by Swissinv24 Ltd' with its alleged registered address in the Marshall Islands;

v. in the 'Contact-Us' section it gives the email address 'support@swissinv24.com'.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 20903 of 18 April 2019, which ordered the company Swissinv24 Ltd to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://swissinv24.com website;

WHEREAS the activity which is still being carried out through the https://swissinv24h.com website, can be classed as the provision of investment services and activities, as referred to in article 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, which are still being carried out through the https://swissinv24h.com website, are aimed at Italian investors, since the said website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS the site cannot be linked to any entity authorised to engage in the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public, since the company 'Swissinv24 Ltd' 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 the authorised entities referred to in 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 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 - entitled 'Powers to counteract abuse' - 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:

a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; 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 https://swissinv24h.com website, 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.

July 8, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona