Resolution no. 20461

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 through the www.bitex360.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 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.bitex360.com website, it emerged that:

i. the www.bitex360.com website, registered by the Future Media Group Ltd company with alleged offices in the Marshall Islands, is also available in Italian;

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

iii. in order to carry out trading transactions, investment of money is required, to be deposited into the account opened online. In particular, the said website offers different types of account, namely ‘Bronze’, ‘Silver’, ‘Gold’, ‘Platinum’ and ‘Diamond’, which differ mainly for the amount of the minimum deposit required and the benefits;

iv. the 'Terms and Conditions' section mentions the KM Media Ltd company, with alleged offices in the Marshall Islands;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activities also 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 purchase and/or sale orders involving financial instruments can be issued;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the above described operations carried out via the www.bitex360.com website are directed to the Italian investing public, because this website is also available in Italian and has no mechanism in place to prevent Italian users from registering;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, according to the information available, people operating in the name of 'Bitex360' have contacted Italian investors by telephone in order to convince them to open an account and trade on the said website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that KM Media Ltd and Future Media Group Ltd are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as these companies are not included on the dedicated register kept by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Article 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:

The cessation of the infringement of Art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed through the www.bitex360.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.

May 31, 2018

THE CHAIRMAN
Mario Nava