Resolution no. 22147

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://global- investous.eu websiteand related https://client.global-investous.eu webpage

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 7th 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 checks on the website, it emerged that:

i. users are offered the opportunity through the https://global-investous.eu website, which is active and registered anonymously, to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares, cryptocurrencies and commodities;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://global-investous.eu website – through a procedure available, including for Italian users, on the https://client.global-investous.eu page, which can be reached directly from the https://global-investous.eu site’s homepage – then open a trading account and deposit the relevant funds;

iii. in particular, four types of accountare advertised on the https://global-investous.eu website, referred to as “Micro”, “Standard”, “Premium” and “Vip”, depending on the benefitsoffered;

iv. as far as traceability is concerned, generic references to the "Globalinvestous" brand have been found on the https://global-investous.eu website;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22050 of 20 October 2021, whereby an order was issued to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.globalinvestous.eu website;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.globalinvestous.eu website, the https://global-investous.eu website and relative https://client.global-investous.eu page replicate the content and graphic format of the said www.globalinvestous.eu site;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the https://global-investous.eu website and the relevant https://client.global-investous.eu page 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 on which they can place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://globalinvestous.eu website and the relevant https://client.global-investous.eu page, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors since, in relation to the said domains, there have been reports of cold calling of retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS "Globalinvestous", which is mentioned on the https://global-investous.eu website and on the relevant https://client.global-investous.eu page, 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 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 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;

R E S O L V E S:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 carried out through the website https://global-investous.eu and the relevant page https://client.global-investous.eu, constituted by 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.

22 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona