Resolution no. 22990

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.finexleaders.eu

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 via the website www.finexleaders.eu – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade shares and CFDs on indices, cryptocurrencies and commodities;

ii) in order to place such trades, users must register with the website www.finexleaders.eu through a process that is also available for Italian users, open an account and deposit relevant funds;

iii) in particular, four types of account are listed on the website www.finexleaders.eu, referred to as "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv) as to traceability, the website contains generic references to "Finexleaders" and contains the indication of an e-mail address (support@fmexleaders.uky;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.finexleaders.eu is to be considered as provision of investment services pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity through said domain to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out via the website www.finexleaders.eu, is ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website www.finexleaders.eu is available in Italian, and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy in relation to the initiatives promoted via the said website www.finexleaders.eu; Evidence has also been acquired of conversations taking place in Italian between operators of "finexleaders" and Italian retail investors, as well as a copy of contractual documentation drawn up in Italian and aimed at encouraging investors to join the initiatives of the aforementioned "finexleaders". Furthermore, complaints have been received from Italian retail investors who complained about not being able to obtain a refund of the capital deposited to trade via the website www.finexleaders.eu and it was ascertained that there are no mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the said website www.finexleaders.eu from Italy/through Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS the transactions recorded on the website www.finexleaders.eu are not 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 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 infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the www.finexleaders.eu 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.

31 January 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona