Resolution no. 21940

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.maxinvesto.com and the relevant page http://secure.maxinvesto.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. the website www.maxinvesto.com offers potential investors the possibility to trade forex instruments, shares, commodities and index derivatives;

ii. in order to operate through the site www.maxinvesto.com, a cash deposit is required through access to the reserved area of the site available at https://secure.maxinvesto.com. Five types of account are advertised, namely "Micro", "Standard", "ECN", "ECN Pro" and "VIP". The website also contains an "Introducing Broker" section, which sets out the advantages of users who wish to take part in such scheme;

iii. as regards the traceability of the site www.maxinvesto.com, generic references to "Max Investo" were found on the site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.maxinvesto.com and the relevant page http://secure.maxinvesto.com is deemed to constitute 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.maxinvesto.com and the relevant page http://secure.maxinvesto.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling towards retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the website www.maxinvesto.com and the relevant page http://secure.maxinvesto.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 unauthorised activity" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out 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. 58/98 carried out through the www.maxinvesto.com website and relevant http://secure.maxinvesto.com page, which constitutes 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.

1^st July 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona