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Weekly newsletter - year XXVII - No. 6 - 15 February 2021

News of the week:
- > Abusive financial services: Consob blacks out 7 abusive sites
- > 19 February 2021, 4.00 pm: webinar "Takeover bids in Italy from 2007 to 2019, empirical evidence and discussion points"
- > Webinar on securities token offerings
- > List of entities having published individual or consolidated non-financial statements (NFS) as at 31 December 2020 have been integrated
- > Allocation to Division Managers of decisions on Consob investigations involving exclusively non-discretionary technical judgments
- > Sustainable finance: ESMA, EBA and EIOPA publish draft regulatory technical standards on sustainability in the financial services sector (SFDR)
- > The Chairman and a member of the Board of Statutory Auditors of Consob have been confirmed
- > Investor protection warnings from other regulatory authorities

Commission decisions

N.B. measures adopted by Consob are published in the electronic Bulletin and, where envisaged, also in the Gazzetta Ufficiale. This newsletter summarises the more important or general measures and their disclosure here is therefore merely to update readers on Commission activities.

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -

Consob has ordered the black-out of 7 new websites that offer financial services illegally.

The commission availed itself of the new powers resulting from the "Decreto Crescita" ("Growth Decree"; Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, article 36, paragraph 2-terdecies), on the basis of which Consob can order internet service providers to block access from Italy to websites offering financial services without the proper authorization.

Below are the sites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:

  • SpTrade24 Ltd (website www.sptrade24.com);
  • Directafx Ltd Group and Directafx Limited (website www.directafxs.com);
  • "Gb Trade Fx" (website https://gbtradefx.com);
  • "Globalcfd Ltd" and "D&D Venture Project Ltd" (website www.globalcfd.co);
  • "MarketsCFDs" (website https://client.marketcfx.com);
  • "Itradersfx Ltd" (website www.itradersfx.com);
  • Plus One Ltd (website www.marketcfd.com).

The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 381.

The measures adopted by Consob can be consulted on the website www.consob.it.

The black-out of these websites by internet service providers operating on Italian territory is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the black-out to come into effect.

Consob draws investors' attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviours, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorised, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.

To this end, CONSOB would remind that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage “Watch for scams!”, providing useful information to warn investors against financially abusive initiatives.

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Consob, Bocconi University and the Journal of Companies are organising a seminar for the presentation of the Discussion paper "Takeover bids in Italy from 2007 to 2019: empirical evidence and discussion points" for next 19 February, starting at 4.00 pm.

Marco Ventoruzzo (Bocconi University) and Gianfranco Trovatore (Consob) will open the event.

It will be followed by the presentation of the study by Valeria Ponziani (University of Rome Tor Vergata) and Federico Picco (Consob) and the discussion by Marcello Bianchi (Assonime), Concetta Brescia Morra (Roma Tre University), Carmine di Noia (Consob Commissioner) and Raffaele Lener (Roma Tor Vergata University).

The final considerations are by Piergaetano Marchetti (Bocconi University).

Link for joining: https://eu.bbcollab.com/guest/87c61dd4c7cf4d08a872e4b1f607ade7.

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On 12 February, a webinar was held between Consob and some major players in the financial market to probe issuers' interest in conducting an experiment on securities token offerings and building the relevant regulatory framework.

Consob, in coordination with the authorities, will inform the market of developments of this possibility.

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Consob has supplemented the list of entities that have published the non-financial statement ("NFS") as at 31 December 2020 pursuant to Legislative Decree no. 254 of 30 December 2016 (resolution no. 21723 of 10 February 2021).

These are the reports drawn up by the companies on non-financial aspects such as, for example, environmental, social and personnel issues, respect for human rights, and the fight against active and passive corruption, which are relevant given the activities and characteristics of the company.

Article 3 of Consob Regulation no. 20267 of 19 January 2018, implementing Legislative Decree no. 254 of 30 December 2016, prescribes in paragraph 3 that Consob annually publishes on its website the list of entities that have published a non-financial statement.

With resolution no. 21537 of 15 October 2020, the Commission ordered the publication on its website of the list of entities that published the non-financial statement (NFS) in the period from 1 January to 7 October 2020, providing for its subsequent integration with the additional issuers that published NFS, also on a voluntary basis, by 31 December 2020 (see "Consob Informa" no. 37/2020).

The integration resolution shall be published on the Consob website together with the complete list of companies that made the publication as at 31 December 2020.

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The responsibility for publishing the list on the Consob's website of the subjects who have published the non-financial statement (NFS), according to the criteria and implementing rules indicated in the form attached to the resolution that forms an integral part of it has been attributed to the Head of the Corporate Governance Division, together with the Head of the Issuer Information Division, in implementation of the provisions of Article 20, paragraph 1, of the Consob Organisation and Operation Regulations (resolution no. 21714 of 10 February 2021).

This responsibility is in addition to the list of powers pursuant to Article 20, paragraph 1, of the Consob Organisation and Operation Regulations, already approved by resolution no. 20448 of 22 May 2018 and last updated by resolution no. 21435 of 8 July 2020.

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The Joint Committee of the three European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs), chaired by ESMA and including EBA and EIOPA, forwarded to the European Commission the final report and the draft of the regulatory technical standards (RTS) on the content, methodologies and presentation of reporting in accordance with the European Union Regulation on sustainable finance disclosures in the financial services sector (SFDR).

The new regulation, published on 2 February 2021, is the outcome of the consultation document of April 2020 and aims to improve reporting on the environment, society and governance (ESG).

This through the determination of common criteria for the drafting and disclosure of information on the characteristics of the financial products included in the SFDR, significantly reducing the risks of greenwashing.

Approval by the European Commission should follow within three months of publication. The actual application of the criteria, initially set for 10 March 2021, is likely to be postponed to the new deadline of 1 January 2022.

The European authorities will also launch a consultation on products and their taxonomy under the European Taxonomy Regulation.

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The Commission, with resolution no. 21675 of 13 January, confirmed the position of Chairman and member of the Board of Auditors respectively to Dr. Simonetta Rosa and Dr. Gianpiero Riccardi.

The assignments, which expired on 13 February, have been confirmed from 13 February 2021 to 12 February 2024.

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The supervisory authorities of the United Kingdom (Financial Conduct Authority - FCA), Hong Kong (Securities and Futures Commission - SFC), Spain (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores - CNMV), Belgium (Financial Services and Markets Authority - FSMA), Luxembourg (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier - CSSF), British Columbia (British Columbia Securities Commission - BCSC), Switzerland (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority - FINMA), Ontario Securities Commission - OSC), Portugal (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários - CMVM), Ireland (Central Bank of Ireland - CBI) and Quebec (Autorité des Marchés Financiers - AMF) report the companies and websites offering investment, financial and insurance services without the required authorisations.

Reported by the FCA:

  • Compare The Bonds (www.comparethebonds.com);
  • Lead Generation Solutions Ltd (www.theinvestmentfinders.co com);
  • Isa Comparison Uk (www.isacomparison-uk.com);
  • Uk Bonds Direct (www.ukbondsdirect.co.uk);
  • Comparing Investments (www.comparing-investments.com);
  • Uk Private Bond (www.ukprivatebond.com; www.nesteggbonds.com);
  • Bond Compare Uk (www.bond-compareuk.com);
  • Jackson Associates Llc (www.jacksonassociates-llc.com);
  • William-Foster International Consultancy Llc (www.williamfosterintlcnslt.com);
  • Best-Bonds.co.uk (www.best-bonds.co.uk);
  • Investment Advisor (www.investment-advisor-uk.com);
  • Bondstocks.club (www.bondstocks.club);
  • Bondadvisor.co.uk (www.bondAdvisor.co.uk);
  • Knight Bonds (www.knight-bonds.com);
  • Uk Bond Value (www.ukbondvalue.com, www.Uk-BondValue.com);
  • Primecap / Primecap.io (https://primecap.io);
  • Iforexgain (https://www.iforexgain.com);
  • Cfds Market (www.cfdsmarket.com);
  • Fitrex / Irkasio Holdings Ltd (https://fitrex.eu);
  • Cfi HK Group (http://www.cfihongkong.com), clone of a licensed company;
  • New Bond Deal (www.new-bonddeals.com);
  • Star Bonds (www.star-bonds.com);
  • Compare-investment-options.com (www.compare-investment-options.com);
  • Compareinvestments.uk (www.compareinvestments.uk).

Reported by the SFC:

  • Rs Finance (Aust) Limited / Rs Finance Limited (www.rsfinanceltd.com);
  • Globalink (Hong Kong) Financial Services Company Limited (www.gelin.hk);
  • http://cnffutures.vip, clone of the company authorised by the SFC.

Reported by the CNMV:

  • Gv-Corporate Limited (https://gv-corporatelimited.com), clone of a licensed company;
  • Spmarket24 / Spmarket24 Ltd (https://www.spmarket24.com);
  • Cmx Market / Newtraders Holdings Ltd (https://www.cmxmarket.com), clone of a licensed company.

Reported by the FSMA:

  • Okuras Global Capital (www.okuras-global.capital);
  • Lloyds Bank (e-mail whose addresses end: @lbcmarkets.info', @lbpsecure.com, @lseclient.com), clone of a licensed banking intermediary;
  • Revolut-Trade (e-mail whose addresses end: @revolut-trade.com), clone of a licensed intermediary;
  • Barclays Bank (e-mail whose address ends: @bb-client.info), clone of a licensed intermediary.

Reported by the CSSF:

  • Bank Capital Opportunity Fund (www.bc-opportunityfund.com);
  • Centre Europe SA (www.centreeuropeinvest.com).

Reported by the BCSC:

  • Fxt Brokers (https://fxtbrokers.com). Already reported by the FMA (Austria) (see "Consob Informa" no. 4/2021 of 1st February 2021).
  • Beurax (https://beurax.com).

Reported by FINMA:

  • Links-Markets (https://link-markets.io);
  • CreditEUBank (https://www.crediteubank.com);
  • Capital Fx (www.capitalfx.co). Already reported by the FMA (Austria), (see "Consob Informa" no. 34/2020 of 28 September 2020);
  • Fxt Brokers (https://www.fxtbrokers.com). See also above, reporting by the BSCS.

Reported by the OSC:

  • Chhabra Asset Management (www.chhabra-asset-management.business.site);
  • Kirther Investment & Trading Inc (www.kirtherinvestment.com).

Reported by the CMVM:

  • Aspen Holding / Next Trade Ltd (https://aspenholding.co). Already the recipient of Consob resolution no. 21128 of 31/10/2019. Afterwards, Consob ordered internet service providers to prevent access from Italy to websites through which financial services are offered without due authorisation (see "Consob Informa" no. 38/2019 of 4 November 2019). As well as reported by the KNF (see "Consob Informa" no. 2/2020 of 20 January 2020).

Reported by the CBI:

  • Funding Capitale (https://fundingcapitale.org);
  • Loan Finance Offer (www.loanfinanceoffer.com);
  • Fx Leader (https://www.fx-leader.com);
  • EverydayLoans (http://everydayloans-ireland.com), clone of a licensed company;
  • Beforex Capital, t/n The Capital Holding Company (www.capitalholdingfunds.com, www.beforexcapital.com), clone of a licensed company.

Reporting by the Quebec Supervisory Authority:

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers - (AMF - Quebec) warns savers about the very high risks of any type of speculation on the stock market, in particular warns against investment incentives on some internet and social media forums. In recent months, and especially since the beginning of 2021, some discussion forums and social media platforms have urged investments in shares of some companies whose values have recently increased. Speculators encourage inexperienced investors to consider the effects on the values of such shares as an indication of better financial gains or performance and encourage them to invest in such companies. In fact, the stock market values of some companies have recently skyrocketed, such increases in value can be short-lived and decrease as quickly as they have increased.

* * *

You are informed that the New York District Court (United States District Court - Southern District of New York) has set 17 February 2021 as the deadline to opt out of the Litigation Class "In re Foreign Exchange Benchmark Rates Antitrust Litigation Case No. 1: 13-cv-7789-LGS", relating to the manipulation by some banks of prices in the American foreign exchange market (FX - Foreign Exchange Market) in violation of sections 1 and 3 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, 15 USC §§ 1,3 and of the Commodity Exchange Act, 7 USC §§ 1 et seq. In the event of opting out, the investor will not be bound by the decisions taken by the Court on the Litigation Class and will not be able to adhere to any settlement agreements relating to it. For any further details, please refer to the website http://www.fxantitrustsettlement.com/CS/index.

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Consob
  • The chairman and a member of the Board of Auditors of Consob have been confirmed (resolution no. 21675 of 13 January 2021).
  • The responsibility for publishing the list on the Consob's website of the subjects who have published the non-financial statement has been attributed to the Head of the Corporate Governance Division, together with the Head of the Issuer Information Division (resolution no. 21714 of 10 February 2021).
Markets
  • The compliance of the operating rules of the new multilateral trading system "Hi-Cert" dedicated to the trading of certificates and covered warrants managed by Hi-Mtf Sim Spa with the European provisions on the subject has been verified (decision of 10 February 2021).
Prospectuses
  • The supplement to the registration document of Cassa di Ravenna Spa drawn up pursuant to Article 10 (1) of EU Regulation 2017/1129 has been approved (decision of 10 February 2021).
Registers and lists
  • The List of entities having published the non-financial statements ("NFS") as at 31 December 2020 pursuant to Leg. decree no. 254 of 30 December 2016 has been integrated (resolution no. 21723 of 10 February 2021).
Combating market abuse (art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance)

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CONSOB INFORMS (Rome Tribunal Registration no. 250 of 30/10/2013) Chief Editor: Manlio Pisu - Editorial board: Antonella Nibaldi (coordinator), Claudia Amadio, Riccardo Carriero, Luca Cecchini, Laura Ferri, Chiara Tomaiuoli, Alfredo Gloria - Address: CONSOB Via G. B. Martini, 3 - 00198 Rome - telephone: (06) 84771 - fax: (06) 8417707. Documents or reports can be submitted via the interactive section of the web site www.consob.it, where CONSOB INFORMA can also be consulted via the "newsletter" link.