Resolution no. 22238

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 conducted via the www.fusion-fin.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 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 www.fusion-fin.com website to trade CFDs, futures, shares and commodities via a trading platform;

ii. in order to carry out the aforementioned transactions, registration on the www.fusion-fin.com website is necessary and one of the trading accounts advertised on the site must be opened ("Standard", "Professional", "Business" and "Business Plus");

iii. as to the www.fusion-fin.com site's traceability, the so-called "Client_Agreement" available online has references in it to "Fusion Fx", while on the website page ("About") dedicated to the company there is a generic reference to "Fusion-Fin";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.fusion-fin.com is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the www.fusion-fin.com website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the companies mentioned on the www.fusion-fin.com website are not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they do not appear on the register maintained 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 www.fusion-fin.com website, 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.

23 February 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona