Resolution no. 21155

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 website www.ajassetmanagement.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 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

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

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

i. the www.ajassetmanagement.com website is active and also available in Italian;

ii. subject to registration, the website www.ajassetmanagement.com offers the possibility of performing transactions through 'a trusted platform for trading cryptocurrencies, forex and commodities';

iii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online;

iv. at the bottom of the homepage and the other pages of the site, as well as in its 'Contacts' section, the 'AJ Asset Management' brand is cited, specifying that the "company" it relates to is purportedly based in the United Kingdom; an e-mail address and a telephone number with an Italian prefix (+39 051 0217782) are also provided, to be contacted for more information;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through this website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 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;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, performed through the www.ajassetmanagement.com website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian, and there have been reports of cold calling members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS the party named “AJ Asset Management” mentioned on the website is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it does not appear on the dedicated register kept by CONSOB pursuant to Article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, and, in addition, that this subject should not be confused with the company 'A J Asset Management Limited', which is instead authorised by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and features on the dedicated register kept by CONSOB pursuant to Article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under art. 18, paragraph 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, therefore, that the activity in question qualifies as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) 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:[…] b) order the cessation of the infringement';

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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.ajassetmanagement.com, consisting in the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be 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.

November 20^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paola Savona