Resolution no. 21361

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 https://platinumproinvestment.com website

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://platinumproinvestment.com:

i. the website is active and offers the possibility, after registration, of trading in binary options on underlying shares, commodities, currencies and indices, through a dedicated trading platform;

ii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into the account opened online;

iii. the website mentions the company "Platinumpro Investment Ltd". In particular, on the home page there is a copy of the alleged certificate of registration of the company in the Register of UK firms; at the bottom of the pages of the website there are the addresses of the main and secondary offices, as declared by the company in New York and Moscow, respectively;

WHEREAS the services offered through the website https://platinumproinvestment.com are considered to be investment services, pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account on which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments may be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://platinumproinvestment.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS the company “Platinumpro Investment Ltd” mentioned on the website https://platinumproinvestment.com is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered 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 article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, headed '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 the Consolidated Law on Finance performed through the website https://platinumproinvestment.com, consisting in the offering and 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.

13 May 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona