Resolution no. 22343

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 website www.investunionltd.com and the respective page https://client.investunionltd.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 checks on the internet ascertained that:

i. the website www.investunionltd.com, which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity, subject to prior opening of an account, to operate on the Forex market and trade CFDs, digital currencies, shares, indices and commodities;

ii. in order to carry out the aforementioned trading operations, users must register on the site www.investunionltd.com by means of a procedure also available to the Italian users, which allows access to the reserved area at the address https://client.investunionltd.com, which consists of eight sections ("Dashboard", "Depositare", "Modifica profilo", “Depositi", "Prelievi", "Bank details", "Verification" and "Invitation") and contains features for depositing and withdrawing cash from the trading account as well as a "Referral Link" to invite potential new users;

iii. three types of account are offered on the website, referred to as “Primo Livello”, “Premium” and “Lusso” depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. with regard to the traceability of the site, the document “Terms-and-Conditions" makes reference to the company "Invest Union Ltd";

v. within the reserved area available at https://client.investunionltd.com, there is a similar document named "Terms-and-Conditions" which refers to the company "UBSblockchains";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.investunionltd.com and the relevant page https://client.investunionltd.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 on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.investunionltd.com and the respective page https://client.investunionltd.com, is ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the site may be consulted in Italian, and there have also been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the companies “Invest Union Ltd” and “UBSblockchains”, as mentioned on the website, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are 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 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 article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the www.investunionltd.com website and relevant https://client.investunionltd.com page, constituting the offer 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.

25 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona