Resolution no. 23612 of 19 June 2025

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 website https://rgroupltd.cm and its https://client.rgroupltd.cm and https://webtrader.rgroupltd.cm pages.

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 checks on the web, it emerged that:

1. potential investors are offered the opportunity via the https://rgroupltd.cm website – which is active, anonymously registered and available in Italian – to trade currencies, shares and stock indices, commodities, and crypto-currencies;
2. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://rgroupltd.cm website - by means of a procedure available, also for Italian users, at the https://client.rgroupltd.cm page which is also available in Italian - and open a trading account; specifically, five types of account are available on the https://rgroupltd.cm website, known as “Starter”, “Premium”, “Diamond”, “Elite Group” and “VIP”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;
3. within the reserved area of the https://rgroupltd.cm website, which is available at the aforementioned domain https://client.rgroupltd.cm, there are specific features, including the one dedicated to depositing money on the trading account as well as the possibility of accessing the trading area available on the additional domain https://webtrader.rgroupltd.cm, also available in Italian;
4. the https://rgroupltd.cm website contains the email address support@rgroupltd.cm.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://rgroupltd.cm website and relevant https://client.rgroupltd.cm and https://webtrader.rgroupltd.cm pages constitute the provision of investment services, within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity, through the aforementioned domains, of opening a trading account and placing orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since these domains were found to be available in Italian. Furthermore, in relation to the initiatives promoted through these domains, a complaint was received from an Italian investor who claimed that they had lost the amounts invested and no mechanism was found aimed at blocking registration with the https://rgroupltd.cm website by users attempting to register from Italy via Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS the transactions recorded on the https://rgroupltd.cm website and on its https://client.rgroupltd.cm and https://webtrader.rgroupltd.cm pages are not attributed to any entity 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 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 activities in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in breach of Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the provisions of Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - “Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services” - pursuant to which 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 that the 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. 58/1998 carried out through the https://rgroupltd.cm website and relative https://client.rgroupltd.cm and https://webtrader.rgroupltd.cm, webpages, consisting in offering and providing investment services and transactions 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.

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona