Resolution no. 21683

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.axedo.co

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.axedo.co website, it emerged that:

i. through the www.axedo.co website, which is active and registered from an anonymous user, investors are offered CFD trading opportunities relating to currencies and on shares;

ii. in order to perform the abovementioned trading transactions, the user is asked to register with the website www.axedo.co, log in to its personal area of the same domain also available in Italian, open a tradingaccount and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, three types of account are mentioned on the www.axedo.co website, known as 'Fruit Juice', 'Tequila'' and 'Whisky', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as regards traceability, the “Terms and Conditions” section of the www.axedo.co website states that “these terms and conditions, together with all policies are inseparable part of a binding agreement between me and Axedo”;

v. in the 'Contact Us' section of the www.axedo.co website, among other things, an e-mail address of "Axedo”is made available, containing a reference to Italy (compliance.it@axedo.co) and an address in Missouri (United States) is indicated;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.axedo.co websitemay be considered as the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments may be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the www.axedo.co website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports about the said domain, of cold calling retail investors in Italy and as part of the “Contact Us” section of the same website there is a contact e-mail address containing a reference to Italy. In addition to this, the personal area of the www.axedo.co website - to which the user has access after registering on the www.axedo.co website - is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS “Axedo”, which is mentioned on the www.axedo.co website, is not a subject authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it not listed in the register kept 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 article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - 'Powers to counteract abusive practices' - CONSOB 'may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the infringement';

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 www.axedo.co website, consisting in offering 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.

January 14, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona