Resolution no. 23107

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://xtxmk.com and the related page https://client.xtxmk.com

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 https://xtxmk.com website – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade CFDs on commodities and indices;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://xtxmk.com through a process that is also available for Italian users on the page https://client.xtxmk.com - access to the personal area of the website https://xtxmk.com, open an account and deposit funds;

iii. in particular, five types of account are listed on the website https://xtxmk.com, referred to as "Bronze" (starter), "Silver" (intermediate), "Gold" (Professional), "Platinum" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to traceability, the website contains references to "XTXMK", with alleged offices in Madrid (Spain), Paris (France) and Warsaw (Poland). The website https://xtxmk.com contains an email address (support@xtxmk.comy;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://xtxmk.com and its page https://client.xtxmk.com is deemed to constitute 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 through 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 website https://xtxmk.com and its pagehttps://client.xtxmk.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website https://xtxmk.com is available in Italian and there have been reports from Italian investors who have complained about the impossibility of obtaining a refund of the sums used to operate through the same website. https://xtxmk.com. In addition, there have been reports of interactions between website operators https://xtxmk.com and Italian investors aimed at soliciting investments on the same website https://xtxmk.com and the absence of mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the same website https://xtxmk.com from Italy/through Italian IP addresses has been noted;

WHEREAS the transactions recorded on the website https://xtxmk.com and on its page https://client.xtxmk.com cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that "XTXMK" which is mentioned on the website https://xtxmk.com, does not appear on the register kept 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 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 website https://xtxmk.com and its page https://client.xtxmk.com, 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.

8 May 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona