Resolution no. 22667

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://eurocryptofx.net and the respective webpage https://account.tradingplattform26.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 https://eurocryptofx.net website, it emerged that:

1. the website https://eurocryptofx.net is active, available in Italian, and offers the opportunity to trade currencies, cryptocurrencies and CFDs;
2. in order to trade via the website https://eurocryptofx.net, users must register via the page https://account.tradingplattform26.com and access the "Metatrader 4" trading platform;
3. as for the traceability of the website, generic reference is made to "EUROCRYPTOFX" with reported registered address in London.

WHEREAS activity carried out through the website https://eurocryptofx.net and the relevant page https://account.tradingplattform26.com can be classed as the provision of investment services as per article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account and placing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://eurocryptofx.net and the relevant page https://account.tradingplattform26.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website https://eurocryptofx.net is available in Italian and complaints have been received from Italian retail investors regarding "Eurocryptofx";

WHEREAS the abovementioned internet domains cannot be attributed to any party authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, 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 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 - entitled "Powers to counteract abuse" - 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. 58/1998 carried out through the website https://eurocryptofx.net and the relevant page https://account.tradingplattform26.com, constituted by 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.

5 April 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona