Resolution no. 22127

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://finmaxbo.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 7th 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, it emerged that:

v. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://finmaxbo.com website which is active and available in Italian, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, to trade financial instruments such as CFDs on currencies, shares, commodities and indices;

vi. in particular, the https://finmaxbo.com website mentions five types of account referred to as "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum" and "Vip", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

vii. as for ownership, on the https://finmaxbo.com website there are generic references to "Finmax" and a London address is indicated in the page entitled "Terms of Use";

WHEREAS the activity conducted via the https://finmaxbo.com website can be classed as the provision of investment services pursuant to 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 transactions described above, conducted through the https://finmaxbo.com website, are still ongoing, and target Italian investors given that this Internet domain is available in Italian;

WHEREAS "Finmax", with its alleged registered address in London, which is mentioned on the https://finmaxbo.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 fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to licensed parties as referred to under 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" - pursuant 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 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 the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the https://finmaxbo.com website, consisting in 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 of the date of service.

16 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona