Resolution no. 21653

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 https://libortc.com and its page https://client.libortc.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://libortc.com, it emerged that:

i. the website offers the possibility of performing trading transactions on CFDs with currencies, cryptocurrencies, indices and raw materials as their underlying assets;

ii. in order to trade on the trading platform on the website, registration and opening of an account on which to deposit the necessary funds, are required. In particular, there are four types of accounts called “Bronze”,“Silver”, “Gold” and “Platinum”, differing by the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. after registration, the customer may log into the reserved area of the website onhttps://client.libortc.com, where, amongst other things, the customer may: a) deposit funds on the chosen tradingaccount; b) carry out trading transactions via the platform on the website and c) obtain a personal «Referral Link» that allegedly allows the user to earn commission on each new customer presented to the company;

iv. the contractual terms of the website mention the company “LiborTC Ltd”, with stated address in the Marshall Islands. The website's contact page contains an address in London;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the website https://libortc.com and relative https://client.libortc.com page 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 against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the websitehttps://libortc.com and the related page https://client.libortc.com is still ongoing, and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the company “LiborTC LTD” mentioned on the website https://libortc.com is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that it is not listed in the register maintained 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 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 the Consolidated Law on Finance performed through the website https://libortc.comand its relative https://client.libortc.com page, 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.

18 December 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona