Resolution no. 23471

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://affidabiletop.com concerning the operation of the website https://apolloinvestfx.com and its page https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com 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. an advertising campaign is conducted through the website https://affidabiletop.com - which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously - which, also through the use of undue references to Italian public figures, offers users of the website a "revolutionary platform, powered by artificial intelligence" to which it would be possible to access with "an initial contribution of 250 euros that (...) generates a profit over time";

ii. to subscribe to the initiatives covered by the advertising communication in question, the user is asked to enter their details on a specific form on the website https://affidabiletop.com; in particular, by completing the aforementioned form, the user registers on the website covered by the advertising campaign. This registration is followed by the automatic activation of an account. In fact, once the aforementioned form has been completed, the user is redirected to the https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com website domain where they view their trading account, the features dedicated to depositing and withdrawing money on a trading account as well as the link to a specific trading platform;

iii. the domain https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com was related to the website https://apolloinvestfx.com through which users are offered the possibility to trade shares and CFDs relating to commodities, indices, shares and cryptocurrencies;

iv. as regards traceability of the website https://apolloinvestfx.com, the "Terms and Conditions" of the https://apolloinvestfx.com website indicate that the contractual counterparty of the user operating through the aforementioned platform is "Apollo Trade FX

v. as for the advertising website https://affidabiletop.com, no useful elements were found to identify the entity to which this can be attributed;

WHEREAS the advertising website https://affidabiletop.com has been linked to the online trading platform available on a separate internet address https://apolloinvestfx.com and its related page https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com as the user who wishes to subscribe to the initiatives advertised on the website https://affidabiletop.com and who fills out the form for this purpose accesses the reserved area of the website https://apolloinvestfx.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website https://apolloinvestfx.com and the related webpage https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in Article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, since users are offered the opportunity via the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per 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";

WHEREAS the https://apolloinvestfx.com website and its page https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com may not be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING ESTABLISHED, therefore, that the activities on the website https://apolloinvestfx.com and its related page https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com 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://apolloinvestfx.com and relative webpage https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com have been the subject of the advertising campaign conducted through the website https://affidabiletop.com;

WHEREAS the aforementioned advertising campaign is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website https://affidabiletop.com is available in Italian and the website contained undue references to Italian public figures 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://affidabiletop.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://affidabiletop.com concerning the operation of the website https://apolloinvestfx.com and its related page https://cfd.apolloinvestfx.com 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.

12 March 2025

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona