Resolution n. 23316

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 www.zodiacspeck.com and its page https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com

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 the www.zodiacspeck.com website - which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian - to trade financial contracts on currencies via a specific trading platform;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register, open an account and access the trading platform available at https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com;

iii. in particular, the website www.zodiacspeck.com lists seven types of account, referred to as "Bronze", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum", "Diamond", "Premium" and "Vip" depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as to traceability, the website www.zodiacspeck.com contains generic references to "Zodiac Speck" with its alleged registered office in London. An e-mail address (supporto@zodiacspeck-mail.com) is provided on the website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.zodiacspeck.com and the respective page https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com 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 www.zodiacspeck.com website and its page https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website www.zodiacspeck.com has been found to be available in Italian and complaints have been received of Italian investors not being able to withdraw their deposited funds to trade on the website www.zodiacspeck.com and interactions with Italian investors have been reported;

WHEREAS the transactions recorded on the website www.zodiacspeck.com and on its page https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com 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 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 www.zodiacspeck.com website and its https://webtrader.zodiacspeck.com 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.

13 November 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona