Resolution no. 21823

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 https://goldmans.cc 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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the website https://goldmans.cc is active and also available in Italian;

ii. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://goldmans.cc website, 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 be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into the account opened online;

iv. you are then redirected to the trading platform through the website;

v. the company "Goldmanbanc, Inc." is indicated in the uploaded pages.

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 via an online platform;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activities, performed through the https://goldmans.cc website, are still ongoing and are directed at Italian investors, given that the website is available in Italian and there have also been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ("cold calling") to the Italian public;

WHEREAS the company named "Golmanbanc, Inc." mentioned on the website is not authorised to engage in the provision of 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 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 article 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 that such infringement must 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 https://goldmans.cc website, consisting in the offering and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This resolution will be published in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days.

28 April 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona