Resolution no. 23361

Prohibition, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1-bis of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance"), of the advertising campaign conducted via the website https://clickafino.com concerning the operation of the website https://ecasset.cm and its page https://client.ecasset.cm carried out in breach of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance

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. the website https://clickafino.com which is active, also available in Italian and registered anonymously - conducts an advertising campaign which, also through the improper use of the image of well-known people and references to Italian entities, proposes the possibility of "participating in the Ufficiale di ENI Investment project " through "a trading platform" that would allow users to generate an "average profit of Euro 3526 per week";

ii. within the website https://clickafino.com, there is an electronic button called "Get access" by selecting which the user is administered a questionnaire consisting of multiple-choice questions aimed at acquiring information and data about the user themselves;

iii. once the aforementioned questionnaire has been completed, the user sees a screen containing the following message: "Congratulations! Eni Investment gives you access to the trading platform! Leave your contact details to obtain access" together with a form to be filled in with personal data such as name, surname, email and telephone number in order to be able to sign up to the initiatives covered by the advertising communication in question;

iv. as a result of filling in the aforementioned form, the user is redirected to the domain https://client.ecasset.cm where there are features dedicated, among other things, to the deposit and withdrawal of liquidity to a trading account.

v. the domain https://client.ecasset.cm was related to the website https://ecasset.cm through which users are offered the possibility to trade commodities, shares, indices and cryptocurrencies on the forex market and on CFDs;

vi. the website https://ecasset.cm contains generic references to "Ecasset.cm".

WHEREAS the advertising website https://clickafino.com directs the user who wishes to subscribe to the initiatives advertised therein to the online trading platform available on a separate internet address https://ecasset.cm and its related page https://client.ecasset.cm;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://ecasset.cm website and the its page https://client.ecasset.cm is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services pursuant to Article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that the above domain allows users to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the https://ecasset.cm website and its page https://client.ecasset.cm 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 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 on the website https://ecasset.cm and its related page https://client.ecasset.cm 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;

WHEREAS the website https://ecasset.cm and relative webpage https://client.ecasset.cm have been the subject of the advertising campaign conducted through the website https://clickafino.com;

WHEREAS the aforementioned advertising campaign is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website https://clickafino.com is available in Italian and the website contained undue references to publicly known Italian figures and entities aimed at inducing Italian investors to subscribe to the proposals covered by the advertising campaign;

HAVING CONSIDERED, therefore, that the advertising campaign conducted via the website https://clickafino.com involves investment services and/or activities provided by unauthorised parties pursuant to Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the provisions of Article 7-octies, paragraph 1-bis of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract the unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which Consob "may prohibit advertising campaigns conducted through the Internet or any other means of communication when they directly or indirectly involve investment services and activities provided by unauthorised parties pursuant to Article 18 of this Decree";

CONSIDERING it therefore necessary, in the light of the foregoing, to adopt this Resolution immediately for reasons of urgency;

RESOLVES:

To prohibit the conducting of the advertising campaign carried out via the website https://clickafino.com concerning the operation of the website https://ecasset.cm and its related page https://client.ecasset.cm implemented in breach of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance (TUF).

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the parties concerned with publication in the Consob Bulletin.

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

10 December 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona