Resolution no. 29415 of 7/07/2021

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 https://solidstocks.co and the relevant page https://client.solidstocks.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 audits conducted on the internet ascertained that:

- the website https://solidstocks.co, which is active and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, indices and shares;

- in order to carry out the above transactions, users must register with the website https://solidstocks.co via a process that is also available for Italian users, and access the reserved area of said website, which is also available in Italian at the address https://client.solidstocks.co, and subsequently open a trading account and deposit relevant funds;

- in particular, the website https://solidstocks.co mentions three types of account referred to as "Basic", "Premium" and "Luxury", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

- as to traceability, the bottom of the pages of the website makes reference to Scintilla Enterprise Ltd, with stated registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://solidstocks.co website and the relevant page https://client.solidstocks.co 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 above-described activity, carried out through the website https://solidstocks.co and the relevant page https://client.solidstocks.co, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, given that regarding the website https://solidstocks.co reports of cold calling towards Italian savers and moreover the personal area of the website https://solidstocks.co - available at the address https://client.solidstocks.co - is available in Italian;

WHEREAS Scintilla Enterprise Ltd, with stated registered office in the Commonwealth of Dominica, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

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 website https://solidstocks.co and the relevant page https://client.solidstocks.co, which constitutes the 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.

7 July 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Digitally signed by
Paolo Savona