Resolution no. 22345

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 websitewww.bitaroma.net

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 www.bitaroma.net, which is available in Italian, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website www.bitaroma.net – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – open an account referred to as a "bank account", and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. after registration, customers may log into the reserved area of the website, where it is possible to deposit and withdraw funds on the trading account;

iv. as for the traceability of the aforementioned activity, the website www.bitaroma.net contains generic references to "Bitaroma" without any indication of the registered office; the "Terms and Conditions" section states that "The relationship between the parties shall be regulated and interpreted in accordance with the laws of Saint Vincent";

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22297 of 6 April 2022, by which "Bitaliana"was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website www.bitaliana.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.bitaliana.com website, the www.bitaroma.net site replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.bitaliana.com website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.bitaroma.net constitutes the provision of investment services within the meaning of 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 transactions, carried out through the website www.bitaroma.net, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, since said domain is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS "Bitaroma"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 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 www.bitaroma.net, 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 of the date of service.

25 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona