Resolution no. 20537

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 website www.axeinvest.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 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 website www.axeinvest.com, it emerged that:

i. the website www.axeinvest.com, registered under the company Madar Partners Ltd, is also available in Italian;

ii. subject to registration with the website and opening an account using the form available online, potential investors have the opportunity to trade on the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs on various assets that include shares, indexes, raw materials and cryptocurrencies through different types of trading platform;

iii. in order to carry out the trading transactions, an investment of money is required, through the payment of sums into the account opened online. In particular, the said website offers different types of account, namely 'Micro', 'Basic', 'Platinum', 'Premium' and 'VIP' (according to the wording used on the site in question) which differ mainly for the amount of the minimum deposit required and the benefits;

iv. following registration to the website, in the document entitled "Terms and Conditions", it is specified that "this website is owned and operated by Madar Partners Ltd", with alleged offices in the Marshall Islands;

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

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

HAVING CONSIDERED that Madar Partners Ltd 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 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 order is issued to discontinue the infringement of art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the website www.axeinvest.com , consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those concerned and published in CONSOB's Bulletin.

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

July 25, 2018

On behalf of THE CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese