Resolution no. 22971

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 committed via the www.fast-mng.eu 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:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the www.fast-mng.eu website – which is active, available in Italian via automatic translation systems and registered anonymously – to trade CFDs, shares and cryptocurrencies, using a dedicated trading platform;

ii. in order to place trading transactions, users must register with the www.fast- mng.com website and open a trading account; specifically, five different types of accounts are advertised on the website ("Base" (Basic), "Argento" (Silver), "Oro" (Gold), "Platino" (Platinum) and "Diamante") (Diamond) which differ, moreover, according to the required minimum deposit;

iii. as to traceability, the website contains references to "Fast-MNG";

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22903 of 22 November 2023, whereby it was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.fast-mng.com website;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is similar to the domain of the aforementioned www.fast-mng.com website, the www.fast-mng.eu website replicates the content and graphic format of the former website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.fast-mng.eu 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 such activity, carried out through the www.fast-mng.eu website, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said website is available in Italian via automatic translation systems and contact activity was reported towards Italian investors and complaints have also been received from Italian users;

WHEREAS the www.fast-mng.eu website 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 commercial 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 activities 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 provisions of Article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which 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 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. 58/98 performed through the www.fast-mng.eu website, 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.

17 January 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona