Resolution no. 21353

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.24proinvestors.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 www.24proinvestors.com, it emerged that:

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

ii. the website offers the possibility, after registration and opening of an account, of trading in CFDs with underlying commodities and currencies, 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 'Standard', 'Classic', 'Gold' and 'Premium';

iv. in the “Terms & Conditions” section and at the bottom of the site's web pages it mentions the company “Game Capital ADS” with alleged registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

v. in the "Contacts" section it gives the email address support@24proinvestors.com.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolutions no. 20806 of 6 February 2019; no. 21036 of 3 September 2019 and no. 21092 of 25 September 2019, whereby, amongst others, the company named “Game Capital ADS” was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the websites https://procapitalfx.com; https://it.probtctrade.com; https://it.btcglobefx.com; https://firstfxclub.com; https://it.protradefx.com; https://it.smartbtcfx.com; https://capitalfxclub.com; https://it.capitalbtcfx.com; https://cryptoclubfx.com; https://gamebtcfx.com; https://it.360smartfx.com www.smartprofx.com; www.capitalgbp.com https://it.247worldbtcfx.com, respectively;

HAVING NOTED that the website www.24proinvestors.com presents similarities with the aforementioned websites in terms of content and graphics;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.24proinvestors.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 operations, performed through the website www.24proinvestors.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 “Game Capital ADS”, mentioned on this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear to be listed in the register maintained 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 to licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, 'The professional provision of investment services and activities to the public is reserved to 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 www.24proinvestors.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.

May 6, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona