Resolution no. 22103

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://euromts.io 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://euromts.io, which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://euromts.io – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – open a trading account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, the website https://euromts.io mentions seven types of accounts, referred to as "Iniziale", "Basico", "Pro", "Pro+", "Avanzato", "Perla" and "Nero", which vary according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as regards ownership, the bottom of the pages of the website https://euromts.io informs that "this website is owned and operated by Dzikanta Limited", with stated registered offices in Saint Vincent and Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22004 of 15 September 2021, which ordered the company Dzikanta Limited to cease the infringement of art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://euromts.uk;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned https://euromts.uk website, the https://euromts.io website replicates the content and graphic format of the said https://euromts.uk site;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://euromts.io 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 the above-described activity, carried out through the https://euromts.io website, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors since the aforesaid website is also available in Italian and reports have been received of cold calling of members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS Dzikanta Limited, with stated registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, because it does not appear on the register kept 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 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 performed through the website https://euromts.io, 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.

1 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona