Resolution no. 21727

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.forexone.co and the relevant page https://client.forexone.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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website www.forexone.co, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process, which is also available to Italian users, to trade in financial instruments;

ii. in order to carry out trades, users are invited to register with the website, then access the personal area at https://client.forexone.co and open an account by transferring funds; in particular, the accounts "Micro", "Pro" and "VIP" differ in the minimum deposit requirement and relevant conditions;

iii. through the website's reserved area, which has no mechanisms for blocking the registration of users connecting from Italy, users are then redirected to the tradingplatform;

iv. the website's pages refer to the companies HB Enterprises OU and Fina Holding Incorporated, which are part of the corporate group "ForexOne Group".

WHEREAS the activity carried out through this website can be classed as the provision of investment services as per art. 1, paragraph 5 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account and placing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.forexone.co and the relevant page https://client.forexone.co, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling of retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the companies HB Enterprises and Fina Holding Incorporated, mentioned on the website, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are 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 article 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 Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 carried out through the website www.forexone.co and the relevant page https://client.forexone.co, constituted by 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.

February 18, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona