Resolution no. 22491

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 through the website https://cryptohold.pro

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 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24th February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. the https://cryptohold.pro website, which is active and available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility of trading CFDs with underlying currencies, commodities and futures;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://cryptohold.pro and open a trading account on which to deposit funds; specifically, a "personal trading account" is advertised on the website, divided into five types called "Principiante", "Classic", "Premium", "Ultra", "VIP", "Cryptoholding", as well as a so-called "Conto MAM" - managed by third parties and divided into three types called "Conservative", "Ottimale", "Aggressivo" - which would guarantee an "average rate of return of more than 35% per month";

iii. as for the traceability of the website https://cryptohold.pro, there is a generic reference to "Cryptohold";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://cryptohold.pro is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out through the website https://cryptohold.pro, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since said website is available in Italian and complaints have been received from Italian savers who were unable to return to possession of the sums paid to trade on the website;

WHEREAS the websitehttps://cryptohold.pro is not linked 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 operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 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 activity"- 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 such infringement must 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 https://cryptohold.pro website, 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 all 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.

26 October 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona