Resolution no. 22338

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 website https://fundiza.site

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 7th 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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the website https://fundiza.site - which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - offers the opportunity, after opening an account, to trade currencies, commodities, indices and shares through the Metatrader 5 platform;

ii. five types of account are offered on the website, known as "Beginner", "Basic", "Elite", "Elite Plus" and "Vip", which vary according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. as to the site’s traceability, it was found that the footer and the "Terms & Conditions" make reference to Fundiza Ltd, with its alleged registered office at "Victoria Park Road, Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Kingstown P.O. Box 4457";

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22002 of 15 September 2021, whereby "FUNDIZA LTD", with stated registered office in St. Vincent & Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.fundiza.com;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22091 of 25 September 2021, whereby "FUNDIZA LTD", with stated registered office in St. Vincent & Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.fundiza.org;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://fundiza.site websitemay be considered as the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that the domain offers users the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments may be issued;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out through the website https://fundiza.site, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS "FUNDIZA LTD", mentioned on the website https://fundiza.site, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 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 article 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 abuse" - 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website https://fundiza.site, consisting in 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.

18 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona