Resolution no. 22373

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.ibellmarkets.com website and relative https://crm.ibellmarkets.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 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 www.ibellmarkets.com website, which is active and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares, commodities and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the www.ibellmarkets.com website – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users on the https://crm.ibellmarkets.com page, which can be reached directly from the homepage of the www.ibellmarkets.com website – open an account and deposit the relevant funds;

iii. in particular, the www.ibellmarkets.com website mentions three types of account referred to as "Learner", "Standard" and "Elite/ECN", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

i. as for traceability, there are generic references on the website to "Ibell Markets" and on the page entitled "Contact us" there is an address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.ibellmarkets.com website and relevant https://crm.ibellmarkets.com 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 opportunity 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 www.ibellmarkets.com website and relevant https://crm.ibellmarkets.com webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the www.ibellmarkets.com website from Italy/Italian IP addresses. Moreover, regarding the www.ibellmarkets.com website, reports have been received of investment solicitation by cold calling retail investors in Italy, and furthermore complaints have been received from Italian retail investors regarding the offerings advertised by the www.ibellmarkets.com website;

WHEREAS "Ibell Markets", mentioned on the www.ibellmarkets.com website, is not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on 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 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 www.ibellmarkets.com website and relevant https://crm.ibellmarkets.com page, constituting the offer and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the public through publication in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days.

22 June 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona