Resolution no. 22414

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://alphaprofx.co.uk website and relevant https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk and https://trade.alphaprofx.co.uk webpages.

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://alphaprofx.co.uk website, which is active, available in Italian and registered anonymously, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs with underlying currencies, indices, shares, commodities and cryptocurrencies;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website, open an account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. after registering, through a process that is also available for users connecting from Italy, the user can access the reserved area of the site at the address https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk, where several features are available, including a special function dedicated to making cash deposits in the trading account;

iv. through the "Web Trader" link on the aforementioned https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk page, the user is directed to the additional https://trade.alphaprofx.co.uk page, where the trading platform is available;

v. five types of account are listed on the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website, referred to as "Entry", "Standard", "Premium", "Gold" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

i. as for traceability, there are generic references on the website to "Alphapro FX" with no indication of the registered office;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website and relevant https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk and https://trade.alphaprofx.co.uk webpages constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that the above domains offer users the possibility of opening a trading account on which to place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website and relevant https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk and https://trade.alphaprofx.co.uk webpages, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the said domains may also be consulted in Italian; moreover, no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website from Italy/Italian IP addresses. Finally, with regard to the https://alphaprofx.co.uk 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;

WHEREAS "Alphapro FX", mentioned on the https://alphaprofx.co.uk website, 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 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 cessation of the infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the website https://alphaprofx.co.uk and relevant pages https://client.alphaprofx.co.uk and https://trade.alphaprofx.co.uk, which constitute the offering and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the public through publication in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

20 July 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona