Resolution no. 21735

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 www.nabconsulting.eu website

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, it emerged that:

i. users are offered the opportunity through the www.nabconsulting.eu website - which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - to trade CFDs relating to currencies, indices and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, the user is invited to register with the www.nabconsulting.eu website through a registration procedure that is also available to Italian users, access their personal area, open an account and spend sums of money;

iii. in particular, five types of account are mentioned on the www.nabconsulting.eu website, known as "Micro", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum" and "Esclusive", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as regards traceability, in the section of the www.nabconsulting.eu website entitled "Privacy Policy" it states "Our site is owned and operated by Nab Europe Limited" with its alleged registered office in London;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.nabconsulting.eu website can be classed as the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, since users are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account on which to issue purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described transactions, carried out through the www.nabconsulting.eu website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the aforesaid website is also available in Italian and moreover, there have been reports for the said website of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS Nab Europe Limited, with its alleged registered office in London, which is mentioned within the www.nabconsulting.eu website, is not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public, since it is 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 unauthorised activity" - 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;

R E S O L V E S:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the www.nabconsulting.eu website, consisting in offering and providing 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.

25 February 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona