Resolution no. 21782

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 www.globalfxcfd.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 audits conducted on the website www.globalfxcfd.com ascertained that:

i. it is available in Italian and has content similar to that previously recorded on the separate website www.globalcfd.co;

ii. the website www.globalfxcfd.com offer users the possibility to conduct trades, including automatically using a software named "Algo Trading", on CFDs and futures with currencies, shares, indices and commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies as their underlying assets;

iii. to be able to trade via the platform hosted on the website, users must register and open an account to deposit the necessary funds. Specifically, the website www.globalfxcfd.com offers three types of account, named "Mini", "Classic" and "Premium", differing by minimum deposit and associated services. However, in the contractual terms of the website itself, reference is made to five types of account as follows: "Micro Account", "Standard Account", "Silver Account", "Gold Account" and "VIP Account";

iv. concerning the origins of the website, the document containing the "Privacy Policy" of the website makes reference to "Globalcfd LTD",with stated address in Birmingham. At the bottom of the pages of the website, the company "D&D Venture Project LTD" is mentioned, without any indication of its registered office. Finally, the website's contact page contains a London address.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21719 of 10 February 2021, whereby the the companies "Globalcfd LTD" and "D&D Venture Project LTD" were ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the website www.globalcfd.co and the relevant page https://client.globalcfd.co;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.globalfxcfd.com constitutes 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 and placing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.globalfxcfd.com, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, given that the website is available in Italian, and that there have been reports of cold calling of Italian investors;

WHEREAS the companies "Globalcfd LTD" and "D&D Venture Project LTD", as mentioned on the website www.globalfxcfd.com, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as their are 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 per 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 provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abuse" - according to which 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 the offending party to cease infringement";

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in 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 www.globalfxcfd.com, consisting in the offering and 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.

31 March 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona