Resolution no. 21846

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 https://luxeeforex.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 web, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://luxeeforex.com website – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade CFDs relating to currencies;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://luxeeforex.com website, open a trading account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. in particular, the https://luxeeforex.com website mentions three types of account known as "Micro", "Standard" and "Premium/ECN", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as for traceability, at the bottom of the https://luxeeforex.com website pages there is a statement affirming that "luxeeforex.com is operated by TradeED Group Ltd", with its stated registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://luxeeforex.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, as users are offered the opportunity through the said domain of opening a trading account from which they can issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described transactions, carried out through the https://luxeeforex.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the aforesaid https://luxeeforex.com website is also available in Italian and there have been reports regarding same of cold calls to members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS TradeED Group Ltd, with its alleged registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as mentioned on the https://luxeeforex.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register kept by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities 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 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 https://luxeeforex.com website, consisting in offering investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

12 May 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona