Resolution no. 21687

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.emperiumfx.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 www.emperiumfx.com website, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and available in Italian;

ii. the www.emperiumfx.com website offers users the possibility of trading Forex, shares and commodities through a dedicated trading platform;

iii. in order to be able to trade via the www.emperiumfx.com website, registration and opening of an account to deposit the necessary funds in are required. In particular, four types of account are offered, named "Micro", "Standard", "Privileged", "VIP";

iv. the website can be traced to the company Emperiumfx Ltd which declares it is based in Mauritius.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.emperiumfx.com 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 against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, conducted by Emperiumfx Ltd through the www.emperiumfx.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the company Emperiumfx Ltd is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since 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 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 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. 58/1998 carried out through the www.emperiumfx.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.

January 20, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona