Resolution no. 21271

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 carried out through the website www.kronosinvestit.co

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 supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website www.kronosinvestit.co, it emerged that:

i. through the website, subject to registration and opening of an account, potential investors are offered the opportunity to trade in CFDs relating to cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities, forex and shares;

ii. on completion of the online registration procedure, potential investors may access the private area of the website, which may also be viewed in Italian;

iii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are four types of account called “Blue”, “Silver”, “Gold” and “Elite”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. at the bottom of the pages of the website www.kronosinvestit.co the name "Kronosinvestit Ltd"appears and it is stated that "KRONOSINVESTIT is an international company providing trading services and facilities for all trader categories [...]" without indicating the registered office;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21090 of 25 September 2019, which ordered “Kronosinvest” to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.kronosinvest.co containing similar content to the website www.kronosinvestit.co;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.kronosinvestit.co can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in Article 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, carried out through the website www.kronosinvestit.co, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the reserved area of the website is also available in Italian, and there have also been reports of cold calling the Italian public;

WHEREAS Kronosinvestit Ltd is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 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 operations in question qualify 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 that the infringement cease';

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 article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.kronosinvestit.co, 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.

February 19, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona