Resolution no. 22295

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 www.morganfxcapital.com website and relative https://my.morganfxcapital.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 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the websitewww.morganfxcapital.com, it emerged that:

i. the www.morganfxcapital.com website is active and also available in Italian;

ii. the website www.morganfxcapital.com offers potential investors the opportunity, subject to prior opening of an account via a registration process that is also available to Italian users on the page https://my.morganfxcapital.com, to trade financial instruments such as CFDs on currencies, indices and shares, using the trading platform provided therein;

iii. as for the traceability of the website www.morganfxcapital.com , the footer of all the pages states that the site is "owned and operated by Preqster Ltd with registration number 12621178".

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 21873 of 3 June 2021, whereby the aforementioned company Preqster Ltd was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.pips500.com website, which the aforementioned website www.morganfxcapital.com replicates in content and appearance;

WHEREAS the activity conducted via the www.morganfxcapital.com website and https://my.morganfxcapital.com webpage can be classed as the provision of investment services pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account and placing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.morganfxcapital.com and the page https://my.morganfxcapital.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is available in Italian;

WHEREAS the company mentioned on the website www.morganfxcapital.com is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in 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 provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abuse" - pursuant to which Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease";

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 the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the website www.morganfxcapital.com and the relevant page https://my.morganfxcapital.com, which constitute 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.

06 April 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona