Resolution no. 22197

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://www.galicfx.com and the respective page https://webtrader.galicfx.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 24th February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. the website https://www.galicfx.com, which is active and also available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility negotiate on the forex market and to trade shares and CFDs on commodities;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://www.galicfx.com by opening an account and depositing the necessary funds; specifically, five types of account are advertised, known as "Micro", "Standard", "Silver", "Gold" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. after registration, users can access the reserved area of the site from which it is possible, among other things, use the online trading platform available at the internet address https://webtrader.galicfx.com;

iv. as far as traceability is concerned, the bottom of the website https://www.galicfx.com makes references to companies named "VIGO AND CO LLC" and "674 LLC";

v. the "Contact Us" section states a registered address in St. Vincent and the Grenadines as well as the e-mail address "support@galicfx.com";

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22044 of 13 October 2021, which ordered VIGO AND CO LLC to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.onirofx.com;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22153 of 22 December 2021, whereby VIGO AND CO LLC was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website and the relevant web page www.level5x.com and the respective page https://webtrader.level5x.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://www.galicfx.com and the relevant page https://webtrader.galicfx.comconstitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the website https://www.galicfx.com is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS the companies "VIGO AND CO LLC" and "674 LLC", as mentioned within the website https://www.galicfx.com, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since they are not listed on the dedicated register maintained by Consob pursuant to art. 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 fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abusive practices" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the infringement";

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. 58/98 conducted through the website https://www.galicfx.com and the respective page https://webtrader.galicfx.com, consisting in offering and providing 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.

2 February 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona