Resolution no. 22370

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://globesfxp.com website and relative https://client.globesfxp.com page

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 https://globesfxp.com website, which is active and also available in Italian through machine translation, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares, cryptocurrencies and commodities through a dedicated trading platform;

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

iii. there are three types of account mentioned on the https://globesfxp.com site, known as ‘Mini’, ‘Classic’, and ‘Premium’, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for traceability, the website contains generic references to "Globecfds"; the "Terms and Conditions" section of the said https://globesfxp.com domain states that "The terms indicated must be understood according to the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands";

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolutions no. 22039 of 13 October 2021 and no. 22318 of 27 April 2022, whereby"Globecfds" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.globecfds.com (and relative https://client.globecfds.com webpage) and www.globecfd.com websites, respectively;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.globecfds.com and www.globecfd.com websites, the https://globesfxp.com domain replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.globecfds.com and www.globecfd.com websites;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://globesfxp.com website and the relevant page https://client.globesfxp.com 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 place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out through the https://globesfxp.com website and its respective https://client.globesfxp.com page, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, since said website is available in Italian by means of machine translation systems. Moreover, regarding the https://globesfxp.com website, reports have been received of investment solicitation by cold calling retail investors in Italy, and furthermore complaints have been received from Italian retail investors regarding the offerings advertised by the said https://globesfxp.com website;

WHEREAS such activity carried out through the https://globesfxp.com site and the relevant https://client.globesfxp.com webpage cannot be attributed to any entity that is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public on a commercial basis. Specifically, "Globecfds", which is mentioned on the https://globesfxp.com website, is not registered on the list 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 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://globesfxp.com and the relevant page https://client.globesfxp.com, 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.

22 June 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona