Resolution no. 22102

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://coniusfx.com website

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 24th 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 https://coniusfx.com, which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities, shares and cryptocurrencies as well as index futures;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://coniusfx.com, open a trading account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, the website https://coniusfx.com mentions three types of account referred to as "Bronze", "Silver" and "Gold", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. the website https://coniusfx.com makes references to "ConiusFx", with stated registered office in London;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://coniusfx.com constitutes the provision of investment services according to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out through the website https://coniusfx.com, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, insofar as said website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS "ConiusFx", with its stated registered office in London, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since 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 authorisation 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 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 activity"- 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 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 https://coniusfx.com website, consisting in offering 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 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona