Resolution no. 22510

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 websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com and the respective page https://clientzone.vineab.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, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. the websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com, which are active and registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms, offer potential investors, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, which is also available to Italian users, the opportunity to trade CFDs on different instruments; in the case of www.ether-arena.com, CFDs on currencies, shares, commodities and indices, and in the case of https://vineab.com, CFDs on currencies, cryptocurrencies, shares and commodities;

ii. in order to carry out such transactions, users must deposit funds in their account opened online; specifically, both websites offer various types of account depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised; In this regard, on the website www.ether-arena.com there are three types of account known as "Mini", "Premium" and "VIP", while on the https://vineab.com website there are five types of account known as "Standard", "Premium", "Platinum", "Executive" and "Presidential";

iii. following registration on the website https://vineab.com, users are granted access the personal area available at the further domain https://clientzone.vineab.com;

iv. concerning the traceability of the www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com websites, the bottom of the homepages of such websites cites the company Ether-Arena Ltd, with registered office in the Marshall Islands;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com websites and the page https://clientzone.vineab.com is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account and issuing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com and the page https://clientzone.vineab.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the websites in question are also available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms and, moreover, no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register on the websites from Italy through Italian IP addresses. In addition, there have been reports of Italian customers being contacted using remote communication techniques (i.e. cold calling) and complaints have also been received from Italian retail investors regarding the initiatives promoted through both websites;

WHEREAS the company Ether-Arena Ltd, with registered office in the Marshall Islands, mentioned on the websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per 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 provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which 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 any further infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 through the websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com and the page https://clientzone.vineab.com, constituted by the offering and the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the all 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.

15 November 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona