Resolution no. 21519

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.market4fx.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.market4fx.com, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity to trade CFDs with currencies and shares through the website www.market4fx.com;

ii. in order to carry out the above-mentioned trading operations the user is invited to subscribe to the site,www.market4fx.com access the personal area of the above mentioned site also available in Italian language, open a trading account and use money there;

iii. in particular, the website www.market4fx.com offers four types of account called “Classic”, “Gold”, “Platinum” and “VIP”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the website in question, at the bottom of the website www.market4fx.com and in the “Terms and Conditions” section it says that "this site is owned and operated by Astrica Ltd”, with its stated address in the Marshall Islands;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.market4fx.com can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated law on Finance, as clients are offered the possibility to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.market4fx.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at the public of Italian investors, since there have also been reports of contact activities through unsolicited telephone solicitation techniques (so-called "cold calling") to the Italian public; Furthermore, the personal area of the site, www.market4fx.com to which the user has access after registering on the same site, can be consulted in Italian;

WHEREAS Astrica Ltd, with its registered address in the Marshall Islands, mentioned on the 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 to 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 to Stock brokerage firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms';

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 article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the www.market4fx.com website, 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.

30 September 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona