Resolution no. 22909

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 www.linkfinancialltd.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, 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, through the www.linkfinancialltd.com website – which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously – to trade CFDs on assets such as currencies, shares, indices and commodities via a trading platform;
2. in order to place trading transactions, users must register with the website www.linkfinancialltd.com, through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, and open a trading account; specifically, four different types of account are advertised on the website which are known as "Bronzo" (Bronze), "Argento" (Silver), "Oro" (Gold), and "VIP" which differ, moreover, also according to the foreseen minimum deposit;
3. as to traceability, the website contains references to Link Financial Limited;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.linkfinancialltd.com constitutes the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out via the website www.linkfinancialltd.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that said website can be consulted in Italian, the absence of a mechanism to block registration by users attempting to register with the said website from Italy through Italian IP addresses has been noted, attempts to contact Italian investors have been reported and complaints have also been received from Italian investors who have reported that they were unable to get back the sums deposited for trading transactions;

WHEREAS the website www.linkfinancialltd.com cannot be attributed to an entity which is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as Link Financial Limited, as mentioned on the above website, is not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

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. 58/98 carried out through the www.linkfinancialltd.com 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 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.

29 November 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona