Resolution no. 22259

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 websitehttps://empirefxm.com and the respective page https://my.empirefxm.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://empirefxm.com, which is available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility of trading CFDs on currencies, indices, shares and metals;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://empirefxm.com website, via a process that is also available to Italian users, open an account and deposit the relevant funds; specifically, four types of account are offered, known as "Micro", "Standard", "Premium" and "Vip", depending on the minimum deposit required and the promised benefits;

iii. after registration, customers can log into the reserved area of the website at https://my.empirefxm.com, where it is possible to deposit and withdraw funds on the trading account;

iv. as for the traceability, the footer of the pages of the website https://empirefxm.com state that "EmpireFXM is a trade name of FT Global Financial Ltd, a company incorporated in Marshall Island";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://empirefxm.com and the relevant page https://my.empirefxm.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 the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://empirefxm.com and the respective page https://my.empirefxm.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since these domains can also be consulted in Italian and there have also been reports of cold calling towards retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS FT Global Financial Ltd, with registered office in the Marshall Islands, as mentioned in the footer of the website https://empirefxm.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public insofar as it is not listed 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 authorised 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 via the website https://empirefxm.com and the page https://my.empirefxm.com, which is constituted by the sale 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.

9 March 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona