Resolution no. 22583

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://www.cryptoneyx.net

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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the https://www.cryptoneyx.net website, which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian, offers users the opportunity, subject to registering and prior opening of an account, to operate on the Forex market and trade shares, CFDs and digital currencies;

ii. 7 types of account are offered on the website, called "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum", "Diamond", "Premium" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. as to the website's traceability, it should be noted that in the legal documents "Terms and Conditions" and "Privacy Policy" there is a generic reference to "Cryptoneyx" and in the "Contact Us" section, which contains a request for information form, the address "20 Primrose St. London EC2A 2EW, United Kingdom" is indicated;

HAVING REGARD to Resolution no. 22456 of 21.09.2022, whereby "CRYPTONEYX" with its alleged registered office at "20 Primrose St. London EC2A 2EW, United Kingdom" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://cryptoneyx.io website;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a web domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the https://cryptoneyx.io website, the https://www.cryptoneyx.net website replicates the content and graphic format of the said https://cryptoneyx.io website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://www.cryptoneyx.net websitemay be considered as the provision of investment services pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that the aforesaid domain offers users the opportunity of opening a trading account against which orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments may be issued;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out through the https://www.cryptoneyx.net website, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said website is available in Italian and complaints have also been received from Italian users;

WHEREAS “CRYPTONEYX”, mentioned on the https://www.cryptoneyx.net website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is 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 unauthorised provision of investment services” - Consob “may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over 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 https://www.cryptoneyx.net website, consisting in the offering and 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.

8 February 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona