Resolution no. 22012

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.askemarket.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.askemarket.com ascertained that:

i. the website www.askemarket.com, which is active and also available in Italian, offers the possibilities of trading CFDs on the forex market and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade via the website www.askemarket.com , it is necessary to register and to open one of the advertised accounts ("Standard", "Classico", "Gold" and "Premium") and subsequently deposit the required funds;

iii. the website www.askemarket.com makes references to Tremisa LTD with stated registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 21855 of 19 May 2021, whereby the abovenamed Tremisa LTD, with stated registered address in the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://abbinvest.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.askemarket.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 by "Tremisa LTD" through the website www.askemarket.com is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calling;

WHEREAS Tremisa LTD, with its stated registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as mentioned on the website www.askemarket.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on the dedicated register maintained by Consob pursuant to Article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, 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 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. 58/1998 carried out through the website www.askemarket.com, 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 published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days.

22 September 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona