Resolution no. 22038

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://absystem.pro and https://onixprofit.pro 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 that, from the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. a potential investor is offered the opportunity through the https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites, which are both active and also available in Italian, to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares and commodities through a dedicated trading platform;

ii. to be able to trade online through these sites, users of each of the domains are required to register with the said https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites, open one of the accounts advertised as well as pay relevant funds into it;

iii. in particular, four types of account are available on the https://absystem.pro site, known as "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum"and "Diamond", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised; on the separate https://onyxprofit.com site four types of account are mentioned, known as "Account # 1", "Account # 2", "Account # 3" and "Account # 4", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for traceability, both the https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites were found to be attributable to Donnybrook Consulting Ltd, with its alleged registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica: in fact, in the "Privacy Policy" section of the https://absystem.pro site it reads: "This website is owned and operated by Donnybrook Consulting LTD, registered address 8 Copthall, Roseau Valley, 00152 Commonwealth of Dominica"; in the footer of the separate https://onyxprofit.pro website the same wording appears: "this website is owned and operated by Donnybrook Consulting Ltd. Company registration number: 2020 / IBC00061 and registered address at 8 Copthall, Roseau Valley, 00152 Commonwealth of Dominica";

v. in addition, in the "Support" section of the https://absystem.pro website the indication of an email address containing references to Italy was found;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 21680 of 14 January 2021, no. 21761 of 11 March 2021, no. 21783 of 31 March 2021, no. 21842 of 12 May 2021 and no. 21946 of 7 July 2021, whereby Donnybrook Consulting Ltd, with its alleged registered office in the Commonwealth of Dominica, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate domains https://energymarkets.io, https://energy-markets.cc and the relevant webtrader.energy-markets.cc webpage; https://eurofx.trade, https://bid-broker-stocks.io and https://bid-brokerstocks.cc, www.optimarket.co and the relevant https://optimarket.trade webpage, as well as www.optimarket.cc;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites can be classed as 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 against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as both the aforesaid websites are available in Italian; In addition, with reference to the https://absystem.pro site, in its "Support" section the indication of an email address containing references to Italy was found and the site is available in Italian;

WHEREAS Donnybrook Consulting Ltd, with its alleged registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, to which both the initiatives promoted on this site and those found on the separate https://onyxprofit.pro domain refer, 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 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 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 unauthorised provision of investment sevices" - 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 conducted through the https://absystem.pro and https://onyxprofit.pro websites, 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.

13 October 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona