Resolution no. 22325

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- investousfx.com websiteand related https://client.global-investousfx.com 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 7 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. through the https://global-investousfx.com site – which is active and registered anonymously – users are offered the opportunity of trading on the Forex market and trading ETFs, indices, bonds, cryptocurrencies and commodities;

ii. in order to carry out such transactions, users must register with the https://global-investousfx.com website, through the https://client.global-investousfx.com web page;

iii. in particular, four types of accountare advertised on the https://global-investousfx.com 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-investousfx.com website;

HAVING REGARD to Resolutions no. 22050 of 20 October 2021 and no. 22147 of 22 December 2021, whereby the order was given to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.globalinvestous.eu and https://global-investous.eu websites and https://client.global-investous.eu web page respectively;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on those of the aforementioned www.globalinvestous.eu and https://global-investous.eu websites, the https://global-investousfx.com site replicates the content and graphic format of the sites already described in the resolutions mentioned in the previous point;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the https://global-investousfx.com website and the relevant https://client.global-investousfx.com 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://global-investousfx.com website and the relevant https://client.global-investousfx.com 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", mentioned on the https://global-investousfx.com website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register kept 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;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 carried out through the https://global-investousfx.com website and relevant https://client.global-investousfx.com page, consisting in the offer and 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.

4 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona