Resolution no. 21388

Prohibition, pursuant to article 101, paragraph 4, letter c) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 of the advertising activities carried out by Mr Alberto Simoni through the website www.umoperte.dazeroamrketer.com relating to the offer to the public of "Deposit plans / investment packages" promoted by UMO Finance Ltd

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 and subsequent amendments and supplements ('Consolidated Law on Finance');

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, as a result of its supervisory activity, Consob has acquired evidence that the company UMO Finance Ltd, with stated addresses in the United Kingdom and in the United Arab Emirates, has been offering users of its website (www.umo-finance.com) the possibility of purchasing investment packages called "Deposit plans / investment packages";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, through its own website, UMO Finance Ltd has also been promoting a partnership program that involves a series of bonuses for users who procure new clients;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from the evidence acquired, the initiative in question has been advertised through the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, linked to Mr Alberto Simoni;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that there is a link on the home page of the website www.umoperte.dazeroamaketer.com for viewing - in sequence - five "video-guides" made by Mr Alberto Simoni, who introduces himself and appears in these clips, which can also be found on "YouTube", about www.umo-finance.com, a different website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that through these "video-tutorials", Mr Simoni describes the initiatives promoted by "UMO Finance" to users, including by using documents which appear to be certified extracts from the business registers of the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, together with a "report" on the trading activities allegedly undertaken by "UMO Finance";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, in the aforementioned guides, the details of how to join the initiative are also illustrated, namely i) "opening an account" on the "UMO Finance" website"; ii) uploading an UMO account"; iii) "depositing in a UMO plan", and iv) "withdrawing from the UMO account"; in particular, on the page that hosts the "opening an account" videoclip, users are provided with a referral link that redirects directly to the www.umo-finance.com website; in addition, on the same page there is a message inviting the user to view the next page/guide "click the button below [labelled "continue", Ed.] only after having opened an account";

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that the information presented in the aforementioned "video-guides" is substantially the same as that obtainable on the offering site, www.umo-finance.com, in that, in the aforementioned clips, Mr Simoni explains how the various "deposit plans / investment packages" work, how much they cost, and the returns they promise, clarifying the mechanisms for registration, deposit and withdrawal, and, moreover, commenting on the aforementioned clips which, in reality, are "video-captures" of the content of the aforementioned site;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, after having presented "UMO Finance" as a company operating in the "forex and trading sector", Mr Simoni defines the company as "a reliable partner", and the people who work on its behalf as "experts", and suggests that, after having registered on the "UMO Finance" site free of charge, his viewers should start to invest with packages that can be acquired in fiat currency, and only later proceed to purchase packages using so-called "cryptocurrencies";

HAVING ESTABLISHED, in particular, that in presenting the single packages and their related returns, he suggests purchasing, initially "50 dollar" packages, explaining that this is a "safe" investment with a "limited risk" and a return of "1.40% net daily", stating that "I know that seems crazy, but we're on the forex";

FURTHERMORE, HAVING ESTABLISHED that, on proceeding to register on the website www.umo-finance.com through the aforementioned referral link, the user encounters a specific form that includes the contact details of Mr Alberto Simoni and that, upon completion of registration, the user receives various e-mails from Mr Simoni in which he states that, after having signed up to the aforementioned deposit plans and transferred the sum of "7000 dollars", he receives a "daily return ... of $128", and offers to assist any "UMO Finance" users on request;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, based on the information obtainable on the offeror's website and in the aforementioned video-guides that may be viewed on the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, the return on the purchase of the aforementioned "deposit plans / investment packages" is paid after a specific period of time, in exchange for the use of the investor's capital, and that this return is correlated with the amount paid, and the user is not asked to undertake any other activity;

WHEREAS, consequently, the legal reason for the contract in question may be considered to be the production of a financial return, expressed as a percentage, at pre-established intervals, as consideration for the use of capital transferred by the recipients of this return, who, therefore, transfer their own money with the expectation of profit, namely, the increase in the cash invested, in the presence of a potential financial risk inherent to the type of operations in question;

CONSIDERING therefore, that, the trading proposal, based on the foregoing, appears to qualify as an "investment of a financial nature";

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that the purchase of the aforementioned "deposit plans / investment packages" promoted by UMO Finance Ltd through its website, fulfils the criteria to constitute a public offering of financial products defined in Art. 1, para. 1, letter t) of the Consolidated Law on Finance as "every offer or incentive, invitation to offer or promotional message, in whatsoever form addressed to the public, whose objective is the sale or subscription of financial products including the allocation through authorised people";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com presents information, which may also be found on the website www.umo-finance.com on:

- UMO Finance Ltd, which, moreover, is described by Mr Simoni as "a reliable partner [operating through] experts";

- the features of the UMO Finance Ltd trading proposal (meaning, of the aforementioned "deposit plans / investment packages" and the related referral programme);

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, on the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, Mr Simoni presents the initiatives proposed by UMO Finance Ltd, describing them using highly laudatory terms as a very profitable opportunity, presenting the alleged economic advantages and substantial absence of risks with words that would encourage potential investors to sign up to the proposal (such as, for example "I too am an investor, and I have already invested 7000 dollars"; "safe investment... with a limited risk"; "a yield of 1.40% daily..... it sounds crazy, but this is forex", etc...);

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that after registration on the website www.umo-finance.com through the referral link on the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, the user receives e-mails from Mr Alberto Simoni stating that he receives daily yields, with the likely purpose of making the user want to sign up to one of the aforementioned packages;

CONSIDERING, therefore, that Mr Alberto Simoni carried out, through the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, advertising activity aimed at promoting acceptance of the offer to the public promoted by UMO Finance Ltd;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED, that the advertising activity is aimed at the public resident in Italy, as the content of the site www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com is only available in Italian;

CONSIDERING that Article 101 of the Consolidated Law on Finance states, in paragraph 2, that: "Prior to the publication of the prospectus is prohibited any form of advertisement concerning public offerings of financial products other than community financial products";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, in relation to the offering described, the relevant prospectus has not been published;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob's Resolution no. 21280 of 26 February 2020, with which, pursuant to Article 101, paragraph 4, letter b), of the Consolidated Law on Finance, CONSOB implemented the precautionary suspension measure, for a period of ninety days, of the advertising activity carried out through thewww.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com website for the offer to the public resident in Italy, promoted by Umo Finance Ltd, involving investments of a financial nature;

WHEREAS the author of the content on the website in question has not sent any observations about the facts on which the precautionary suspension measure is based;

HAVING CONSIDERED, therefore, that, in the light of the findings outlined above and in the absence of any evidence to suggest a situation other than that outlined in the aforementioned suspension measure, the circumstances de facto and de jure established in the suspension measure are considered to have been ascertained;

CONSIDERING, therefore, that advertising activity has been ascertained - according to the methods described above, and recorded at the time of adoption of the said suspension measure - in relation to the offer to the public of investments of a financial nature in breach of the above law;

HAVING REGARD TO article 101, paragraph 4, letter c) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which Consob may "prohibit the further distribution of the advertisement, if violation of the provisions or regulations referred to under paragraphs a) or b) are confirmed";

RESOLVES:

that the advertising activity undertaken by Mr Alberto Simoni through the website www.umoperte.dazeroamarketer.com, relating to the offer to the public of investment packages called "Deposit plans / investment packages" promoted by UMO Finance Ltd, is prohibited.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the person with whom it is concerned 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 27, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona