Newsletter - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
Newsletter
News of the week:
Watch for scams! Financial fraud: Consob blacks out 6 more unauthorised websites
Save the Date 4 March 2024: Brick Walls and Glass Ceilings - Female leadership and the ESG mission
Global Money Week 2024, from 18 to 24 March
Consob approves the amendments to the Rules of the Markets of Borsa Italiana
Consob approves the amendments to Monte Titoli Spa's Service Regulations
ESMA: looking for candidates for the Stakeholder Group (SMSG)
Commission decisions
Management decision
Consob has ordered the blackout of 6 new websites that abusively offer financial services/financial products: 5 abusive financial intermediation sites and 1 site through which financial products are offered without a prospectus.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "Decreto Crescita" (Growth Decree - Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, Article 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) regarding the blackout of the websites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as the power introduced by Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020, Article 4, paragraph 3-bis, regarding the blackout of the website through which the abusive offer is made.
Below are the sites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- Marketsac (website https://marketsac.ltd and its page https://platform.marketsac-tp.ltd);
- FCapital24 (website https://fcapital24.de);
- Fx Future Trading (www.fxfuturetrading.com website and its https://account.fxfuturetrading.com and https://webtrader.chartcandl.com pages).
. UfinaCapital (website https://ufinacapital.cc);
- Mercantiles (website www.mercantiles.org);
- Optimal Yield Limited (website www.optimalyieldltds.com).
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob was given the power to order the black-out of websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries, has thus risen to 1019.
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 one's savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom you are investing is authorised, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
Please note, there is a section on the homepage of the www.consob.it website, entitled "Watch for Scams!", which provides useful information warning investors about fraudulent financial schemes.
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Consob has also suspended, as a precautionary measure, for a period of 90 days, pursuant to Article 99, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998, the offer to the public of financial products concerning "Pricing plans" known as "Grey", "Business", "Professional" and "Enterprise" promoted by the so-called "Optimal Yield Limited" including via the website www.optimalyieldltds.com (resolution no. 23000 of 7 February 2024).
On Monday, 4 March 2024, from 10am to 1pm, the conference "Brick Walls and Glass Ceilings - Female leadership and the ESG mission" organised by Consob will be held at the Consob Auditorium in Rome, Via Claudio Monteverdi 35.
Paolo Savona (President of Consob) and Maurizio Leo (Vice-Minister of Economy and Finance) will open the conference.
The presentations on Female Leadership, introduced by Gabriella Alemanno (Consob Commissioner), will follow including those by: Mirja Cartia d 'Asero (CEO of Il Sole 24 Ore); Maria Laura Garofalo (CEO of Garofalo Health Care); Elena Patrizia Goitini (CEO of BNL BNP Paribas); Nicoletta Spagnoli (Chair & CEO of Luisa Spagnoli); Annalisa Stupenengo (CEO of Landi Renzo Group).
Subsequently, the ESG Mission will be introduced by Silvia Ulissi (Consob Corporate Governance Division), and presentations will be given by the sustainability managers: Maria Enrica Danese (Tim); Giulia Genuardi (Enel); Liana Mazzarella (Banco BPM Group); Francesca Rambaudi (Amplifon); Lucia Silva (Assicurazioni Generali).
The closing remarks will be made by Chiara Mosca (Consob Commissioner).
Andrea Cabrini (Director of Class CNBC) will moderate the event.
Participation is free. For organisational reasons, please register online: http://www.consob.it/web/area-pubblica/iscrizione-seminari.
Global Money Week 2024 commences on 18 March "Protect your money, secure your future" is the theme of the 12th edition of Global Money Week, which this year aims to emphasize the importance of taking a responsible and informed approach to using online financial services and tools.
On the website of the Committee for the Planning and Coordination of Financial Education Activities (Edufin Committee), www.quellocheconta.gov.it, applications can be submitted until 28 February to organise events and initiatives throughout Italy. The Committee manages the activity of recognising proposals promoted by private or public entities worthy of inclusion in the programme of Global Money Week, the annual event promoted by the OECD with the aim of raising awareness among young people about the importance of acquiring knowledge, skills and virtuous behavior aimed at making informed financial decisions. Since its launch, in 2012, the event has involved more than 60 million young people in 176 countries.
In Italy, the campaign is coordinated by the Edufin Committee, with organisational support from the Bank of Italy and the other institutions represented on the Committee, including Consob. The Edufin Committee invites associations, institutions, companies, universities and research centres, schools, foundations, public administrations and any other organisation wishing to engage in the field of financial education to participate in the event with awareness-raising initiatives for young people.
All the initiatives meeting the requirements of the Guidelines available on the website will be approved www.quellocheconta.gov.it; the approved projects will be gathered into an official GMW calendar and the schools will be notified.
Consob has approved the amendments to the Rules of the Markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana Spa, enacted by the Board of Directors of Borsa Italiana on 9 November 2023.
The amendments concern the introduction of "mid-point" orders, which allow market participants to enter orders at the average value of the bid-ask spread visible in the Trading Book, as part of an order book not subject to the pre-trade transparency obligations provided for by MiFIR, alongside the continuous trading system that characterises the Euronext Group markets.
Consob had already approved a set of amendments relating to the procedures for ascertaining breaches, recording conversations, pro forma financial information and the independent auditor's report, functional to the implementation of PHASE 3 of the migration to the Optiq trading platform for instruments traded in the derivatives market (IDEM market).
On that occasion, Consob had also given its consent for the amendments to the Instructions related to the Rules of the regulated markets regarding operations on derivative instruments envisaged in the event of extraordinary transactions on the capital of issuers whose shares represent the underlying of derivative instruments.
Consob has approved, in agreement with the Bank of Italy, the amendments to the Monte Titoli Service Regulations, aimed at generally facilitating the admission, as participants in the settlement service of the Italian central depository, of third-country entities.
Prior to the amendments, the text of the Monte Titoli Regulations provided that, in Article 59, paragraph 3, third-country entities (banks, investment firms, central counterparties and central depositories) could participate in the settlement service, inter alia, provided that both the competent Italian authorities (Consob and the Bank of Italy) had concluded cooperation agreements with the corresponding supervisory authority of the third country of the requesting party.
With the amendments that have just been approved, the Regulations provide that the presence of a cooperation agreement of Consob alone or of the Bank of Italy alone with the Supervisory Authority of the third country is sufficient.
Given that participation in the settlement service also implies participation in the other services offered by Monte Titoli to intermediaries (the basic centralised maintenance service, and the services ancillary to the settlement and centralised maintenance service), the amendment simplifies access, for entities located in third countries, to all the services offered to intermediaries by the Italian central depositary. With the amendments to the Monte Titoli Regulations, the presence of a cooperation agreement of Consob alone or of the Bank of Italy alone with the Supervisory Authority of the third country is sufficient.
Since participation in the settlement service also implies participation in the other services offered by Monte Titoli to intermediaries (the basic centralised maintenance service, and the services ancillary to the settlement and centralised maintenance service), the amendment simplifies access, for entities located in third countries, to all the services offered to intermediaries by the Italian central depositary.
On 7 February, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) announced that the term of office of the current members of the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) will end on 30 June 2024.
The Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) brings together all types of financial market stakeholders and represents their interests. It is an important body as it facilitates consultation between ESMA and stakeholders, provides technical advice on ESMA's policies and activities and provides information on market developments.
Thus, ESMA has published an invitation to submit new applications for the Securities Markets Stakeholder Group on its website, with the related application form, inviting potential candidates to submit their application by 23:59 (CET) on 18 March 2024. All details regarding the submission of applications are available on the website www.esma.eu.
The final decision on candidates will be submitted to the Board (composed of the Chairs of the Supervisory Authorities that are members of ESMA) at the next plenary meeting in May 2024. Selected candidates will take office from 1 July 2024 for a four-year term.
In the first quarter of 2024, the EBA and EIOPA, the other European supervisory authorities, will also publish invitations on their own websites, calling upon interested candidates to apply for their respective stakeholder groups.
- The registration document issued by La Cassa di Ravenna Spa relating to an offer of securities other than equity securities aimed at retail investors was approved (decision of 7 February 2024).
- The information note relating to the programme for the offer to the public of bonds issued by La Cassa di Ravenna Spa has been approved (decision of 7 February 2024).
- The amendments to the Rules for the Markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana Spa, approved by the Board of Directors of Borsa Italiana on 9 November 2023, relating to the introduction of "mid-point" orders (resolution no. 22993 of 7 February 2024) have been approved.
The amendments to the Monte Titoli Spa Service Regulations received on 9 November 2023 regarding the admission of third-country entities to the Settlement service (resolution no. 22994 of 7 February 2024) have been approved.
Order, pursuant to art. 7-octies, letter b) of Italian Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to cease infringement of art. 18 of Consolidated Law on Finance, put in place by:
- Marketsac via the website https://marketsac.ltd and its page https://platform.marketsac-tp.ltd (resolution no. 22995 of 7 February 2024);
- FCapital24 via the website https://fcapital24.de (resolution no. 22997 of 7 February 2024);
- FX Future Trading via the website www.fxfuturetrading.com and its pages https://account.fxfuturetrading.com and https://webtrader.chartcandl.com (resolution no. 22998 of 7 February 2024);
- UfinaCapital via the website https://ufinacapital.cc (resolution no. 22996 of 7 February 2024);
- Mercantiles via the website www.mercantiles.org (resolution no. 22999 of 7 February 2024).
- Based on the provisions of Article 147-ter of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) and Articles 144-ter et seq. of the Issuers' Regulation, the Head of Consob's Corporate Governance Division has determined the minimum shareholding for the submission of slates of candidates for election of the board of directors and internal control bodies of the company OVS Spa. Unless the company's by-laws prescribe a lower shareholding, the threshold has been set at 2.5%. The full text of the management decision (no. 94 of 8 February 2024) is available on the website www.consob.it, together with a table setting out the criteria used to determine the qualifying shareholding.