Resolution no. 21938

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 https://fxgbpmarkets.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, from checks on the website https://fxgbpmarkets.com, it emerged that:

i. the website, which is active and available in Italian, offer users the possibility to trade CFDs and futures on shares, indices, commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to place orders on the trading platforms hosted on the website, users must register and open an account and subsequently deposit necessary funds. In particular, four types of accounts are advertised, referred to as "MICRO", "PRE", "STD" and "VIP", which differ according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. the website makes reference to "FXGBP Markets", with stated address in London;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://fxgbpmarkets.com is deemed to constitute 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 https://fxgbpmarkets.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website is available in Italian and that there have been reports of cold calling towards Italian investors;

WHEREAS the company "FXGBP Markets", as mentioned on the website https://fxgbpmarkets.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register maintained 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 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 https://fxgbpmarkets.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 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.

1^st July 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona