Resolution no. 23305

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 https://iginvest247.eu website and the relative page https://client.iginvest247.eu

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:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through thehttps://iginvest247.eu website - which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian - to trade in contracts for difference (CFDs) with underlying currencies, shares, commodities, indices and cryptocurrencies via a specific trading platform;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://iginvest247.eu - through a process that is available, also for users connected from Italy through Italian IP addresses, on the page https://client.iginvest247.eu, which is directly accessible from the homepage of the website https://iginvest247.eu - open an account and deposit the relevant funds;

iii. in particular, six types of accounts are listed on the website https://iginvest247.eu, referred to as "Micro", "Standard", "Commerciante" (Trader),"Premio" (Premium), "Pro" and "VIP ", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to traceability, the website https://iginvest247.eu contains generic references to "Iginvest", while at the bottom of the pages of the same domain mention is made of "Finance Management" with its alleged registered office in London. An e-mail address (supporto@iginvest247.eu) is provided on the website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://iginvest247.eu and the respective page https://client.iginvest247.eu is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://iginvest247.eu and its page https://client.iginvest247.eu is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said domains are available in Italian and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy through Italian IP addresses. In addition, complaints were received from Italian retail investors who claimed that they were unable to get their money back to trade on the websitehttps://iginvest247.eu, with reports of contact being made with Italian retail investors;

WHEREAS the transactions recorded on the website https://iginvest247.eu and the related page https://client.iginvest247.eu cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that "Finance Management" which is mentioned on the website https://iginvest247.euis not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the register kept 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 commercial 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, 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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via the https://iginvest247.eu website and its https://client.iginvest247.eu page, 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 concerned parties and published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the communication.

29 October 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona