Resolution no. 21575

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.fxglobe.international 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 www.fxglobe.international website, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and also available in Italian;

ii. the website offers potential investors the opportunity to trade Forex and CFDs on indices, shares and commodities;

iii. in order to trade, users must register with the website — using the registration procedure also available for users connected from Italy — and open an online account; specifically, the following types of account are available: "Standard", "Pro"and "ECN Razor", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the site, the contractual document called "Client Agreement" available on the www.fxglobe.international website, specifies that: "FS International LTD registered under the Laws of Vanuatu with registration number 700227 ("the Company") will offer its services via the domain name www.fxglobe.international (the "website");

v. The "Contacts" section, provides an address ("Govant Building, Kumul Highway, Port Vila, Republic of Vanuatu"), a telephone number (+44- 2035198851) and an e-mail address (info@fxglobe.international).

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.fxglobe.international website can be classed as the provision of investment services 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 on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the www.fxglobe.international website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS the company FS International LTD, with its registered office at Vanuatu, mentioned on the www.fxglobe.international website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not entered in 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 Italian Investment 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 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 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 article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the www.fxglobe.international 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.

6 November 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona