Resolution no. 21289

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 https://financepro24.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 supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website https://financepro24.com, it emerged that:

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

ii. the site offers the possibility of trading in precious metals and raw materials CFDs, futures and shares, through a dedicated trading platform;

iii. in order to trade, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are four types of account available - depending on the minimum deposit required and also on the benefits promised - called 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP';

iv. the companies named "Redal Ltd" and "Elit Property Vision Ltd" are mentioned at the foot of the pages of the site, without specific indication of their registered offices;

v. in the "Contact Us" section there are three different addresses located in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Singapore, an Italian telephone number (+390810104679) and three email addresses.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21152 of 20 November 2019, which ordered the companies “Redal Ltd” and Elit Property Vision Ltd, among others, to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://richmondfx.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://financepro24.com 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 activities, performed through the website https://financepro24.com are still ongoing and are addressed to Italian investors, given that the website is available in Italian, and there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public;

WHEREAS the companies called “Redal Ltd” and “Elit Property Vision Ltd”, mentioned within the website, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since they do 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 carried out through the website https://financepro24.com, consisting in offering and providing 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.

March 4, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona