Resolution no. 23314

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 https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites

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 via the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites - which are active, also available in Italian, registered anonymously and have the same graphic interface, sections and content - to trade shares and CFDs on indices and commodities;

ii. within the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.ccwebsites, users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account from among the four mentioned and named, "Mini", "Standard", "Classic" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iii. as to traceability, the "Terms and Conditions" of the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites indicate that the contractual counterparty of a user operating through the aforementioned platforms is "Finance Advice";

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.ccwebsites constitutes 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 possibility, via the said domains, to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the mentioned domains are also available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calls soliciting investments being made to retail investors in Italy. In addition, complaints were received from Italian retail investors who claimed that they were unable to obtain a refund of the money deposited to trade on the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites;

WHEREAS the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites cannot be 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, 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. 58/98 carried out via the https://finance-advice.pro and https://finance-advice.cc websites, consisting in the 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 of the date of service.

13 November 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona