Resolution no. 23475

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 https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com website and its page https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com website - which is active, also available in Italian via automatic translation systems and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the possibility to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities, share indices and crypto-currencies, through a trading platform, after registering and opening a trading account; in this regard, 6 types of accounts are mentioned on the website ("Standard", "Bronzo (Bronze)", "Argento (Silver)", "Oro (Gold)", "Platino (Platinum)" and "Persona di spicco (Prominent Person)") that differ from each other depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

ii. after registration, users can access the reserved area of the website available at the address https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com, where it is possible to make deposits on the trading account;

iii. with regard to the legal entity to which the website refers, it should be noted that there are generic references in it to "Liberty Invested Limited";

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com and the page https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.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 possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out via the website https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com and its page https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website is active, available also in Italian via automatic translation systems, there have been reports of contact between "Liberty Invested Limited" operators and Italian customers; furthermore, no mechanism was found to limit or block registration by users attempting to register from Italy also through Italian IP addresses and reports have been received from Italian individuals who have complained that they were unable to get their money back;

WHEREAS such activity carried out through the website https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com and the relevant page https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com cannot be attributed to any entity that is 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 operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b), of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that such 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 website https://libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com and the page https://cfd.libertyinvestedlimitedltd.com, which constitutes 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 of the date of service.

19 March 2025

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona