Resolution no. 21682

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.thinkmarket247.com website and its page https://trade.thinkmarket247.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 www.thinkmarket247.com website, it emerged that:

i. potential investor is offered the opportunity through the www.thinkmarket247.com website, which is active and also available in Italian, to trade CFDs relating to currencies, indices, shares and commodities;

ii. in order to trade as mentioned above, the user is asked to register with the www.thinkmarket247.com website, access his personal area, which can also be consulted in Italian and is available at the addresshttps://trade.thinkmarket247.com, open an account and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, the www.thinkmarket247.com website mentions four types of account called "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as far as traceability is concerned, the "Terms and Conditions" section of the www.thinkmarket247.com website mentions the company called "Think Market 247 Ltd" with alleged registered address in the United Kingdom;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.thinkmarket247.com website and its page https://trade.thinkmarket247.comcan be classed as an offer of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open 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.thinkmarket247.com website and its relative page https://trade.thinkmarket247.com, are ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar the aforementioned websites have resulted also available in Italian;

WHEREAS "Think Market 247 Ltd" mentioned within the www.thinkmarket247.com website is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it not listed 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 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 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.thinkmarket247.com website and its https://trade.thinkmarket247.com page, 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.

January 14, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona