Resolution no. 21768

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.fxsuit.itand www.fxsuit.net websites

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 the existence of the website www.fxsuit.it and that audits conducted on it ascertained that

i. the website www.fxsuit.it, which is active, registered by an anonymous user and available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies and commodities and shares;

ii. in order to carry out the above trading transactions, the user must register with the website www.fxsuit.it through a registration procedure that is also available for Italian users, open a trading account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. in particular, four types of accounts are mentioned on the website www.fxsuit.it, referred to as "Standard", "Gold", "Platinum" and "STP/ECN Zero Spread", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. at the bottom of the website www.fxsuit.it it is stated that "FXsuit is a trading name of Salvax Limited […] a company registered in Bermuda". Moreover, the "Contact Us" section of the website www.fxsuit.it includes an email address specifically dedicated to Italian users (italian.support@fxsuit.com);

HAVING FURTHERMORE ESTABLISHED the existence of the separate website www.fxsuit.net and that audits conducted on it ascertained that:

i. the website www.fxsuit.net, which is active, registered by an anonymous user and available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies and commodities and shares;

ii. in order to carry out the above trading transactions, the user must register with the website www.fxsuit.net through a registration procedure that is also available for Italian users, open a trading account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. in particular, four types of accounts are mentioned on the website www.fxsuit.net, referred to as "Standard", "Gold", "Platinum" and "STP/ECN Zero Spread", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. at the bottom of the website www.fxsuit.nel it is stated that "FXsuit is a trading name of Salvax Limited […] a company registered in Bermuda". Moreover, the "Contact Us" section of the website www.fxsuit.net includes an emailaddress specifically dedicated to Italian users (italian.support@fxsuit.com);

HAVING REGARD TO resolutions no. 21118 of 16 October 2019 and no. 21655 of 18 December 2020, whereby Salvax Limited, with alleged registered office in Bermuda, were ordered to cease their infringement of article 8 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate and distinct websites www.fxsuit.com and www.fxsuit.eu;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially identical to the domain of the aforementioned websites www.fxsuit.com and www.fxsuit.eu, the websites www.fxsuit.it and www.fxsuit.net replicate the content and graphic format of said websites www.fxsuit.com and www.fxsuit.eu;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.fxsuit.it and www.fxsuit.net constitutes the provision 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 and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above activity, which is carried out through the websites www.fxsuit.it and www.fxsuit.net, is still ongoing and is aimed at the public of Italian investors given that the above website is also available in the Italian language and that the "Contact Us" section of both websites includes an email address specifically dedicated for Italian users.

WHEREAS Salvax Limited, reportedly based in Bermuda, as mentioned on the websites www.fxsuit.it and www.fxsuit.net, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as 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 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the websites www.fxsuit.it and www.fxsuit.net, which constitutes the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties 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 March 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona