Resolution no. 22866

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 via the website https://fx6.xyz

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 checks conducted on the website https://fx6.xyz showed that:

1. the website https://fx6.xyz is active and offers the possibility of trading on derivatives such as CFDs, through a trading platform called FX6;
2. in order to be able to operate via the website https://fx6.xyz, the opening of an account and registration through a specific form are required;
3. as to traceability, a general reference is made to “FX6” on the website https://fx6.xyz.

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website https://fx6.xyz is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services as per Article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, as customers are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account on which they can place purchase and/or sell orders for financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, which is carried out via the website https://fx6.xyz, is still ongoing and also aimed at Italian investors, as reports were received of contacts by means of remote solicitation techniques, i.e. cold calling, of retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the above website may not be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

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 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 through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that such 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://fx6.xyz, consisting in the offering 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.

25 October 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona