Resolution no. 22820

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://stockplus-it.com and its page https://client.stockplus-it.com

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA

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:

i. the https://stockplus-it.com website, which is active and also available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility to trade forex instruments and CFDs relating to commodities, indices, shares and digital currencies;

ii. in order to carry out the aforementioned trading operations, it is necessary to register on the https://stockplus-it.com website from the page https://client.stockplus-it.com and open a trading account. In particular, the website mentions four types of accounts based on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered, namely "Bronzo" (Bronze), "Argento" (Silver), "Oro" (Gold) and "Platino" (Platinum);

iii. the https://stockplus-it.com website contains a reference to the support@stockpluslimited.com mailbox.

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://stockplus-it.com website and the related https://client.stockplus-it.com webpage 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 via the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the https://stockplus-it.com website is also available in Italian and, moreover, in relation to its use no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register on the website from Italy/using Italian IP addresses. Furthermore, contact activity from the traders of the Stockplus-it.com platform has been reported by Italian savers, and complaints have been received from Italian savers who have reported that they have been unable to obtain the return of sums used to trade through the online trading platform;

WHEREAS the https://stockplus-it.com website and its page https://client.stockplus-it.com may not 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 conducted via the https://stockplus-it.com website and its page https://client.stockplus-it.com, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of 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.

27 September 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona