Resolution no. 21711

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 performed through the www.4ex7.live 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.4ex7.live website, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.4ex7.live website - which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - to trade CFDs relating to currencies, shares, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, the user is asked to register with the www.4ex7.live website, through a procedure that is also available to Italian users, access their personal area on the site, open a trading account and spend sums of money there;

iii. in particular, the www.4ex7.live website mentions five types of account, known as "Basic", "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised. The site also indicates an additional type of account called "Black", dedicated to "exclusive customers";

iv. as for its traceability, at the foot of the pages of the www.4ex7.live website, it says that "this website is owned by 4ex7 Ltd", with its registered address in the Marshall Islands; in the "terms and conditions" section of the www.4ex7.live website it says that the contractual counter-party of a user registering on the website is 4EX7 Ltd, based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO resolution no. 21552 of 21 October 2020, which ordered the company 4ex7 Ltd to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.4ex7.net website;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.4ex7.net website, the www.4ex7.live website replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.4ex7.net site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.4ex7.live website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated law on Finance, as clients are offered the possibility of opening a trading account against which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the www.4ex7.live website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS 4ex7 Ltd, mentioned on the www.4ex7.live website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is 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 article 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 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.4ex7.live website, 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.

February 4, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona