Resolution no. 22356

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 https://finexstock.eu and the respective page https://platform.finexstock.eu

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://finexstock.eu - which is active and registered anonymously - provides potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, cryptocurrencies, shares and commodities through a dedicated platform;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://finexstock.eu and open an account, which is also possible through the page https://platform.finexstock.eu;

iii. in particular, the website https://finexstock.eu mentions three types of account known as “Micro", “Standard" and “Premium", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as regards traceability, the contractual document named “Client Agreement" on the website https://finexstock.eu states that “Broker Capitals Limited" (the “Company" or “Broker Capitals"), whose registered office is located at: P.O. Box 1825, Cedar Hill Crest, Villa, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, registration number 21567 IBC 2013 renders the “Client Portal" service under the terms of this public proposal (“Agreement") to any individual or legal entity (“Client");

v. the “Contact" page contains a telephone number with an Italian prefix as well as a form for requesting information;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22332 of 10 May 2022, whereby Broker Capitals Limited, with stated registered office in St Vincent and the Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://finexstock.com and the respective page https://platform.finexstock.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is similar to the domain of the aforementioned website https://finexstock.com, the website https://finexstock.eu replicates the content and graphic format of the said website https://finexstock.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://finexstock.eu and respective page https://platform.finexstock.eu 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 opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://finexstock.eu and the respective webpage https://platform.finexstock.eu, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling of retail investors in Italy regarding the website https://finexstock.eu; moreover, the website contains a telephone number that is specifically dedicated to Italian users;

WHEREAS the company Broker Capitals Limited, with its stated registered address at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that 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 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 carried out through the website https://finexstock.eu and the respective page https://platform.finexstock.eu, constituted by 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.

9 June 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona