Resolution no. 22448

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://5markets.io

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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://5markets.io website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://5markets.io – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – open an account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, the website https://5markets.io advertises nine types of account, according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered, referred to as "Student", "Pro", "Pro+", "Professional", "Expert", "10+", "Business", "Platinum" and "Luxury"

iv. as to traceability, the website https://5markets.io makes references to Uncanny Services LLC, with alleged registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolutions no. 22307 of 21 April 2022 and no. 22446 of 6 September 2022, which ordered Uncanny Services LLC, with its registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://5markets.co website and its respective https://webtrader.5markets.cc webpage as well as the domain https://fivemarkets.io and its webpagehttps://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domains of the aforementioned https://5markets.co website and its respective https://webtrader.5markets.cc web page as well as the https://fivemarkets.io website and its respective https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc, the https://5markets.io website replicates the content and graphic format of the said https://5markets.co website and relevant https://webtrader.5markets.cc web page as well as the https://fivemarkets.io website and its web page https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through thehttps://5markets.io websiteconstitutes the provision of investment services pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity through said domain to open a tradingaccount and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://5markets.io website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website https://5markets.io may also be consulted in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms and, in relation to the same website https://5markets.io, there have been reports of cold calling of Italian retail investors by parties acting on behalf of the website https://5markets.io. In addition, financial losses by Italian savers have also been reported in connection with initiatives promoted through the https://5markets.io website and it was noted that there were no mechanisms in place to prevent users attempting to register on the https://5markets.io website from Italy/via Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS Uncanny Services LLC, with its registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear 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 https://5markets.io website, consisting in the offering 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.

14 September 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona