Resolution no. 20414

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 performed via the www.mrtmarkets.com website

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETA' 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 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and additions;

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

i. the www.mrtmarkets.com, website, registered in anonymous form by a user whose identity is not known, is also available in Italian;

ii. the potential investor, after the registration on the said website and the opening of an account via a specific online form, has the opportunity to trade on the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs through a MT4 platform;

iii. in order to perform the trading transactions, investors are required to invest money via payment into an account opened online. In particular, the said website offers various types of account, namely 'Standard', 'Gold', 'VIP', 'Islamic Account' and 'Trial account' distinguished above all by the minimum deposit required and by the benefits;

iv. in the 'Regulation' and 'Terms and Conditions'sections and at the footer of every page of the said website in mentioned the MRT Securities Limited company, with alleged offices in Vanuatu;

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

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the www.mrtmarkets.com website are directed to Italian investors, insofar as the said website is also available in Italian and has no blocking mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, according to the information available, people operating in the name of 'MRT Markets' have contacted Italian investors by telephone in order to persuade them to open an account and trade on the said website;

HAVING CONSIDERED that MRT Securities Limited is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the register held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to authorised entities as referred to under 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 the operations in question can be classed 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, according 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 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:

To order the cessation of the infringement of Art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the www.mrtmarkets.com website, consisting in 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.

24 April 2018

On behalf of THE CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese