Resolution no. 23172

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 https://royaldimex.com website and its page https://trade.royaldimex.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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the https://royaldimex.com website - which is active, also available in Italian and registered anonymously - to trade Forex and CFDs on cryptocurrencies, shares, commodities, stock indices, metals and energy;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://royaldimex.com website - through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, at the https://trade.royaldimex.com webpage -, open an account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. specifically, the https://royaldimex.com website mentions six types of account called, "Initial Account", "Basic Account", "Premium Account", "Gold Account", "Platinum Account" and "All-in-One Account", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to the legal entity to which the website refers, in the document "AGREEMENT WITH THE CLIENT" it is stated that "Royal Dimex is the trade name of Royal Dimex Ltd" with registered office "at Eden Plaza, Office 223, Eden Island, Mahe, Seychelles".

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://royaldimex.com website and the https://trade.royaldimex.com webpage is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, inasmuch as the website offers the possibility of opening a trading account and placing buy and/or sales orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out through the https://royaldimex.com website and the https://trade.royaldimex.com webpage is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website and aforementioned webpage are active and also available in Italian, reports of cold calling of Italian customers have been received and complaints have also been received from Italian individuals who have reported, among other things, that they were unable to get their money back;

WHEREAS such activity carried out through the website https://royaldimex.com and the page https://trade.royaldimex.com cannot be attributed to any entity that is 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 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 website https://royaldimex.com and the page https://trade.royaldimex.com, which constitutes the offer and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of publication.

19 June 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona