Resolution no. 22167

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.trade 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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the https://absystem.trade website offers the potential investor the opportunity to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares and commodities through a dedicated trading platform;

ii. to be able to trade onlinethrough said site, users must register and open one of the accounts advertised on it as well as deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, four types of account are available on the https://absystem.trade website, known as “Silver”, “Gold”, “Platinum”and “Diamond”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the associated benefits;

iv. as far as traceability is concerned, there are generic references on the website to “ABSystem” with its alleged registered office in the Commonwealth of Dominica;

v. in addition, on the https://absystem.trade website details of an email address containing references to Italy were found;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://absystem.trade website 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 where they can place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://absystem.trade website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy. In addition, the https://absystem.trade website contains details of an email address specifically dedicated to Italian users;

WHEREAS “ABSystem”, with its stated registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, 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 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 carried out through the https://absystem.trade website consisting in offering and providing investment services and transactions 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.

19 January 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona