Resolution no. 21362

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 www.marketscfd.net 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 www.marketscfd.net website, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and offers the possibility, after registration and opening of an account, of trading in CFDs with underlying currencies, shares, commodities and indices, through a dedicated trading platform;

ii. in order to trade, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are six types of account available - depending on the minimum deposit required and also on the benefits promised - called 'Basic,' 'Bronze', 'Silver', 'Gold', 'Platinum' and 'Black';

iii. in the “Terms & Conditions” section and at the bottom of the site's web pages it is specified that 'This site is owned and operated by SWISSGEMS Ltd'with alleged registered address in Bulgaria;

iv. the "Contact-Us" section mentions the company named Media Solutions Ltd with alleged registered address in Bulgaria and e-mail address support@marketscfd.net;

WHEREAS the services offered through the website www.marketscfd.net 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 www.marketscfd.net, 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 companies called “Swissgems Ltd” and “Media Solutions 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 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.marketscfd.net, consisting of the offering and provision of investment services and transactions 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