Resolution no. 23324

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://macan-holdings.limited website and the https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com webpage

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 https://macan-holdings.limited website – which is active, also available in Italian and registered anonymously – to trade shares, bonds, futures, ETFs, contracts on currencies and digital currencies via a trading platform;

ii. in order to place trading transactions, users must register with the website, through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, and open a trading account; specifically, six different types of accounts are advertised on the website ("Standard ", "Bronzo" (Bronze), "Argento" (Silver), "Oro" (Gold), "Platino" (Platinum) and "VIP") which differ, moreover, also according to the requested minimum deposit;

iii. after registering, users can access the reserved area, available at https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com, where they can make deposits and access the trading platform;

iv. as to traceability, in the website https://macan-holdings.limited reference is made to "Macan Holdings" and in the reserved area the email address support@macan-holdings.com is indicated;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://macan-holdings.limited website and the https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com webpage 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 above activity, carried out via the website https://macan- holdings.limited and the related page https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that said domains are available in Italian through automatic translation systems and that no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy through Italian IP addresses; in relation to said website, interactions with Italian customers were reported and complaints were received from Italian retail investors;

WHEREAS the https://macan-holdings.limited website and its page https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com may not 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 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 infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the https://macan-holdings.limited website and the https://cfd.macanholdingslimited.com webpage, consisting in offering and providing 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.

20 November 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona