Resolution no. 22642

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 www.cryptoneyx.capital

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 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from the checks carried out, it emerged that:

1. the website www.cryptoneyx.capital - which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - offers users the opportunity to operate on the forex market and trade shares, CFDs and digital currencies, after registering with the website and opening one of the advertised trading accounts;
2. 7 types of account are advertised on the website, named "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum", "Diamond", "Premium" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;
3. as to the website's traceability, it was ascertained that the legal documents "Terms and Conditions" and "Privacy Policy" make generic references to "Cryptoneyx", and the "Contact Us" section, which contains an information request form, states the address "20 Primrose St. London EC2A 2EW, United Kingdom";

HAVING REGARD to Resolution no. 22456 of 21.09.2022, whereby "CRYPTONEYX" with its alleged registered office at "20 Primrose St. London EC2A 2EW, United Kingdom" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://cryptoneyx.io website;

HAVING REGARD to Resolution no. 22583 of 08.02.2023, whereby "CRYPTONEYX" with its alleged registered office at "20 Primrose St. London EC2A 2EW, United Kingdom" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.cryptoneyx.net;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.cryptoneyx.capital is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity, through the aforesaid domain, to open a trading account where they can place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out through the website www.cryptoneyx.capital, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said website is available in Italian and complaints have also been received from Italian users;

WHEREAS "CRYPTONEYX", mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

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 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 over the Internet without being qualified 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.cryptoneyx.capital, constituted by the offer 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.

22 March 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona