Resolution no. 22298

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 website https://alphaforex.eu and the relevant page https://client.alphaforex.eu

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://alphaforex.eu – which is active and registered anonymously – offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://alphaforex.eu – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users on the page https://client.alphaforex.eu, which can be reached directly from the homepage of the website https://alphaforex.eu – open a trading account and deposit the relevant funds;

iii. in particular, four types of account are listed on the website https://alphaforex.eu, referred to as "Micro", "Standard", "Premium" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the site in question, the footer of the website states that "this website is owned and operated by FX Publications, INC".

HAVING REGARD to Consob resolutions no. 21978 of 29 July 2021, no. 22092 of 25 November 2021, no. 22148 of 22 December 2021 whereby FX Publications, INC was ordered to cease the infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate website https://primaatrade.com and the relevant page https://client.primaatrade.com, through the different domain https://primea-trade24.com and the relevant page https://client.primea-trade24.com as well as through the further website https://acetopfin.com and the relevant page https://accounts.acetopfin.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://alphaforex.eu website and relevant https://client.alphaforex.eu web page constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and issue orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

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

WHEREAS FX Publications, INC, mentioned within the website https://alphaforex.eu, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on 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 authorised 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 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 carried out through the website https://alphaforex.eu and the relevant page https://client.alphaforex.eu, which constitutes 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.

06 April 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona