Resolution no. 22253

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 performed through the https://solidstocks.cc 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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://solidstocks.cc website, which is active and registered anonymously, to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities, shares and cryptocurrencies;

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

iii. in particular, the https://solidstocks.cc website mentions three types of account referred to as "Basic", "Premium" and "Luxury", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as to traceability, the company Scintilla Enterprise Ltd, with its registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, is mentioned at the foot of the https://solidstocks.cc domain pages;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21945 of 8 July 2021, which ordered Scintilla Enterprise Ltd, with its registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://solidstocks.co website and the relevant https://client.solidstocks.co web page;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned https://solidstocks.co website and the relevant https://client.solidstocks.co web page, the https://solidstocks.cc site replicates the content and graphic format of the said https://solidstocks.co site and the relevant https://client.solidstocks.co web page;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://solidstocks.cc 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 transactions, carried out through the https://solidstocks.ccwebsite, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the https://solidstocks.cc website is partially available in Italian and there have also been reports, in relation to the site, ofcold calling of retail investors in Italy.

WHEREAS Scintilla Enterprise Ltd, with its registered address in the Commonwealth of Dominica, 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 fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved to licensed parties as referred to under 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 transactions 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 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 carried out through the https://solidstocks.cc website, 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.

3 March 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona