Resolution no. 21831

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.swissqb247.com and the relevant page client.swissqb247.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 web, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website www.swissqb247.com and the relevant page client.swissqb247.com - which are active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - to trade currencies, cryptocurrencies, shares, and index and commodity derivatives;

ii. in order to be able to trade via the website www.swissqb247.com, users must register and open an account and deposit relevant funds; the website also contains a "Referral" section, which explains the advantages for users who wish to become affiliate partners;

iii. in the section dedicated to the various "types of account", reference is made to three trading accounts, named "Base", "Premium" and "Luxury", which also claim to offer an "Automated Trading" service;

iv. concerning the traceability of the website www.swissqb247.com, no elements were ascertained that would enable the website to be attributed to a specific legal entity.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.swissqb247.com website and the relevant client.swissqb247.compage constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.swissqb247.com and the relevant page client.swissqb247.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the site www.swissqb247.com is available in Italian, and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the website www.swissqb247.come and the relevant page client.swissqb247.com cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per 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.swissqb247.com website and relevant client.swissqb247.com page, constituting the offer and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

5 May 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona