Resolution no. 21716

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.marketcfd.com and the relevant page https://trading.marketcfd.com

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 www.marketcfd.com, it emerged that:

i. it has similar content to the content previously recorded the separate websitewww.marketscfd.net;

ii. the website www.marketcfd.com offers the possibility of trading CFDs with currencies, shares, indices and commodities as their underlying assets, through a dedicated trading platform;

iii. in order to trade on the platform, users must complete registration and open an account on which to deposit the necessary funds. In particular, six types of accounts are offered, named "Green","Silver", "Gold" and "Platinum", "VIP" and "Black", which differ in the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. by registering with the site www.marketcfd.com, access is gained to the reserved area which can also be reached through theURL https://trading.marketcfd.com, where it is possible to deposit money into an account and carry out trades;

v. the website www.marketcfd.com states among its contacts an address in Tallinn (Estonia), while at the bottom of the pages of the reserved area, available as mentioned at the address https://trading.marketcfd.com, the company Plus One Ltd is shown, with stated address in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21362 of 13 May 2020, which ordered the company to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.marketscfd.net;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the website www.marketcfd.com and relative https://trading.marketcfd.com page 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 activity, carried out through the websitewww.marketcfd.com and the related page https://trading.marketcfd.com is still ongoing, and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling of retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS Plus One Ltd, mentioned in the reserved area available at the URL https://trading.marketcfd.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register maintained 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 Italian Investment 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 article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed through the website www.marketcfd.comand its relative https://trading.marketcfd.com page, 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.

February 10, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona