Resolution no. 22811

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out via the https://fx-vita.com website and the https://panel.fx-vita.com related pages, and the https://trading.fx-vita.com website

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, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

1. potential investors are offered the opportunity via the https://fx-vita.com website – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade contracts on currencies, shares, indices, and commodities via a trading platform;
2. in order to place such trading transactions, users must register with the https://fx-vita.com website, through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, and open an account in which to deposit funds; specifically, four types of account (“Micro ”, “Argento” (Silver), “Oro” (Gold) and “Platino” (Platinum)) are advertised on the website;
3. after registering on the website, users may access the restricted area at https://panel.fx-vita.com, available in Italian, where it is possible to access the trading platform at https://trading.fx-vita.com;
4. as to the traceability of the https://fx-vita.com website, there are generic references on its pages to “Fx-vita”;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://fx-vita.com website and https://panel.fx-vita.com and https://trading.fx-vita.com related pages constitutes 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 said domains of opening a trading account where they can place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out via the https://fx- vita.com website and the https://panel.fx-vita.com and https://trading.fx-vita.com related pages, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said domains are available in Italian and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the domains in question from Italy through Italian IP addresses. Moreover, reports have been received of investment solicitation by cold calling towards retail Italian investors;

WHEREAS the https://fx-vita.com website and the https://panel.fx- and https://trading.fx-vita.com related pages cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

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 breach 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 to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the breach”;

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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the website https://fx-vita.com and the respective pages https://panel.fx-vita.com and https://trading.fx- constituted by 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.

20 September 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona