Resolution no. 22091

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 by the website www.fundiza.org

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 www.fundiza.org - which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian - offers the opportunity, after opening an account, of trading currencies, commodities, indices and shares through the Metatrader 5 platform; in the https://www.fundiza.org/trading/platform section, reference is made to an "all-in-one platform for trading currencies, shares and derivatives" which is also available on mobiles;

ii. five types of account are offered on the website, known as "Beginner", "Basic", "Elite", "Elite Plus" and "Vip", which vary according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. there is also a document, entitled "Risk Disclosure", which informs users that "Trading derivatives, futures, currency pairs, and other leveraged assets may not be suitable for all types of traders".

iv. as to the site’s traceability, it should be noted that reference is made in the Footer and in the "Terms & Conditions" to Fundiza Ltd, with its alleged registered office at "Victoria Park Road, Kingstown, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Kingstown P.O. Box 4457";

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22002 of 15 September 2021, whereby "FUNDIZA LTD", allegedly based in St. Vincent & Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.fundiza.com website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.fundiza.org websitemay be considered as the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that the domain offers users the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments may be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the www.fundiza.org website, is ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the site may be consulted in Italian, and there have also been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS "FUNDIZA LTD", mentioned on this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which, "The commercial 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 abuse" - 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the www.fundiza.org website, consisting in 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.

25 November 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona