Resolution no. 22279

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 performed through the https://equalityfin.io website and relevant https://client.equalityfin.io web 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://equalityfin.io website – which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously – to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies;

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

iii. as far as traceability is concerned, there are generic references, in the "Terms and Conditions" section of the https://equalityfin.io website, to "EqualityFin" for which no information is made available regarding a registered office;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution 22252 of 3 March 2022, whereby "EqualityFin" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://equalityfin.com website and relevant https://client.equalityfin.com web page;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned https://equalityfin.com website and its respective https://client.equalityfin.com web page, the https://equalityfin.io website and its respective https://client.equalityfin.io web page replicate the content and graphic format of the said https://equalityfin.com website and relevant https://client.equalityfin.com web page;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://equalityfin.io website and relevant https://client.equalityfin.io web page 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 possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and issue orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://equalityfin.io website and relevant https://client.equalityfin.io web page, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the aforementioned domains are also available in Italian;

WHEREAS "EqualityFin" is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is 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 website https://equalityfin.io and the relevant page https://client.equalityfin.io, which constitutes the 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.

24 March 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona