Resolution no. 20349

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to discontinue the infringement of Article. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.chimerainvcorp.com website

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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, and subsequent amendments and additions (Consolidated Law on Finance);

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.chimerainvcorp.com website, it emerged that:

1. the www.chimerainvcorp.com website is in Italian and contains a telephone number specifically dedicated to Italian investors (+39011196202001);
2. the potential investor, after registration on certain websites and opening an account via a specific form available online, can trade in the FOREX market, CFDs, cryptocurrencies and commodities through MT5 platform;
3. in order to carry out trading transactions, an investment of money is required, that has to be paid into the account opened online.In particular, the said website offers various types of account, namely “Bronze”, “Silver”, “Gold” and “Platinum”, which differ mainly in the amount of the minimum deposit required and the benefits;
4. the Chimera Investment Corporation company, with registered office in London, is mentioned in the "Terms and Conditions" section and at the bottom of every page of the said website;
5. the www.chimerainvcorp.com website and the services offered therein are therefore attributable to the Chimera Investment Corporation company. The said company is not to be confused with the Chimera Partners Limited company, the latter being duly authorised by the British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, according to the information available, people operating in the name of "Chimera Investment Corporation" have telephoned Italian investors in order to convince them to open an account and carry out trading transactions on the said website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED in this regard that Chimera Investment Corporation uses forms of contact and interaction, including immediate ones, with Italian clients, and this also through the aforementioned website, providing procedural and operational instructions for investing in financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the above described operations carried out also via the www.chimerainvcorp.com website are directed to the public of Italian investors, as the said company contacts Italian clients by the telephone and the said website contains a telephone number specifically dedicated to Italian clients and has no blocking mechanism in place to prevent Italian users from registering;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activities carried out via the said website can be classed as the provision of investment services referred to Art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity to open a trading account against purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to Art. 18, para. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which “The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks”;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that Chimera Investment Corporation, with declared registered office in London, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public since this company is not included in the register of EU and non-EU investment firms and companies authorised to freely provide the said services in Italy directly or through branches in Italy, register which is held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question are configured as the professional provision of investment services involving financial instruments to the Italian public in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, pursuant to Art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - “Powers to counteract abuse” - CONSOB “may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified therefor pursuant to this decree: a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement cease”;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 implemented also via the www.chimerainvcorp.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be notified to those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

21 March 2018

THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Maria Berruti