Resolution no. 21550 of 21/10/2020

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 websites https://investactive.io, https://investactive.cc and related page https://status.investactive.cc

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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the website https://investactive.io is active and also available in Italian;

ii. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website https://investactive.io, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, which is also available to Italian users, to trade in financial instruments;

iii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are six types of account called “Easy start”, “Trader”, “Pro trader”, “Premium”, “Lux” and “Royal”, differentiated by the minimum deposit required as well as by bonuses, services and guarantees provided;

iv. through the website's reserved area, where there are no mechanisms for blocking the registration of users connecting from Italy, you are then redirected to the tradingplatforms reachable at the web addresseshttps://investactive.cc and https://status.investactive.cc;

v. the company Hanabishi Partners Ltd, with its alleged registered office in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, is indicated in the acquired pages.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the websites https://investactive.io, https://investactive.cc and related page https://status.investactive.cc 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 websites https://investactive.io, https://investactive.cc and related page https://status.investactive.cc, are still ongoing and are directed at Italian investors, given that the websites are available in Italian, and there have also been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public;

WHEREAS the company named Hanabishi Partners Ltd mentioned in the websites, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is not 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 Stock brokerage firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms';

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. 58/1998 performed through the websites https://investactive.io, https://investactive.cc and related page https://status.investactive.cc, consisting in the 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.

21 October 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona