Resolution no. 22210

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://cryptopro-24.com website and relative https://client.cryptopro-24.com page

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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://cryptopro-24-com website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian – to trade CFDs on currencies;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://cryptopro-24.com website – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users on the https://client.cryptopro-24.com page, which can be reached directly from the https://cryptopro-24.com site’s homepage – open a trading account and deposit the relevant funds;

iii. in particular, the https://cryptopro-24.com website lists three types of account, referred to as “Basic”, “Gold” and “VIP”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as for traceability, at the bottom of the https://cryptopro-24.com website pages it states “this site is operated by Cryptopay Limited”, without any indication of the address of its registered office;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://cryptopro-24.com website and relevant https://client.cryptopro-24.com webpage constitutes 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 opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://cryptopro-24.com website and relevant https://client.cryptopro-24.com webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the https://cryptopay-24.com site, through which the user has direct access to the https://client.cryptopro-24.com page, is also available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy regarding the said site;

WHEREAS Cryptopay Limited is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it 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 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 carried out through the https://cryptopro-24.com website and its https://client.cryptopro-24.com page, 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.

16 February 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona