Resolution no. 22988

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 www.axiacvs.co website and the respective web pages https://client.axiacvs.co and https://webtraderapp.net

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. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the website www.axiacvs.co – which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously – to trade contracts on currencies, indices, shares and commodities using a dedicated trading platform;

ii. in order to place trading transactions, users must register with the website www.axiacvs.co, 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 ("Bronzo" (Bronze), "Argento" (Silver), "Oro" (Gold), and "Diamante" (Diamond)) which differ, moreover, according to the required minimum deposit; After registering, users can access the reserved area of the website at https://client.axiacvs.co, where, among other things, they can deposit funds in the trading account and access the trading platform at https://webtraderapp.net;

iii. as to traceability, the contractual terms available on the website www.axiacvs.co contain references to "Axiacvs" without indicating any registered office. Only the email address support@axiacvs.com is indicated on the "contacts" page;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22935 of 12 December 2023, whereby the order was given to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.axiacvs.com website;

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

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the www.axiacvs.co website and the https://client.axiacvs.co and https://webtraderapp.net pages constitutes the 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 above activity, carried out through the www.axiacvs.co website and the https://client.axiacvs.co and https://webtraderapp.net pages, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that said website is available in Italian, cold calling of Italian consumers has been reported and no mechanism to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy/through Italian IP addresses was found;

WHEREAS the www.axiacvs.co website and the https://client.axiacvs.co and https://webtraderapp.net 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 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 carried out via the www.axiacvs.co website and its https://client.axiacvs.co and https://webtraderapp.net webpages constituted by the offer 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.

31 January 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona