Resolution no. 22022

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://investifx.com website and relative https://client.vestlefx.com page

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 https://investifx.com website, which is active and also available in Italian, offers potential investors the possibility to trade CFDs with underlying indices, shares, bonds, commodities, currencies and cryptocurrencies through a dedicated trading platform;

ii. in order to trade, users must register with the https://investifx.com website and open one of the accounts advertised on it. In particular, four types of account are available, known as "Silver", "Gold", "Diamond" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. on completion of the registration procedure, access is granted to the reserved area of the website which is available in Italian at the address https://client.vestlefx.com, which contains a range of functionalities, including the use of the trading platform;

iv. the https://investifx.com site contains generic references to "Vestlefx" without any indication of a legal form, while the contact us section contains an address in Cyprus;

WHEREAS the activity conducted via the https://investifx.com website and the https://client.vestlefx.com webpage can be classed as the provision of investment services as per article 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;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out through the https://investifx.com website and the https://client.vestlefx.com webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS the company "InvestiFX" mentioned on the https://investifx.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is not listed on 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 in order to provide investment services, 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 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 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 provision of investment sevices" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement 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 conducted via the https://investifx.com website and the https://client.vestlefx.com webpage, consisting in offering and providing 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.

29 September 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona