Resolution no. 22446

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 via the website https://fivemarkets.io and the respective webpage https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc

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://fivemarkets.io website – which is active and registered anonymously – offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares via the platform available on the https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc domain;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://fivemarkets.io website – through a procedure that is also available to Italian users – access their personal area – also available in Italian – open a trading account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, the https://fivemarkets.io website mentions three types of account referred to as "Beginner", "Intermediate"and"Advanced", depending on the benefits offered;

iv. as regards ownership, the footer of the https://fivemarkets.io website states that "this website is operated by Uncanny Services LLC", with its registered office in Saint Vincent and Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22307 of 21 April 2022, which ordered Uncanny Services LLC, with its registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://5markets.co website and respective https://webtrader.5markets.cc webpage;

WHEREAS, in addition to using domains that are partially superimposable on those of the aforementioned https://5markets.co website and its respective https://webtrader.5markets.cc web page, the https://fivemarkets.io website and its respective https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc web page replicate the content and graphic format of the said https://5markets.co and https://webtrader.5markets.cc domains;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://fivemarkets.io website and relevant https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc webpage 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 opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://fivemarkets.io website and relevant https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as registration on the https://fivemarkets.io website and the personal area of users registered with the said website are available in Italian and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the https://fivemarkets.io website from Italy/Italian IP addresses. In addition, financial losses have been reported by Italian savers in relation to the initiatives promoted through the https://fivemarkets.io website and the relevant https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc webpage;

WHEREAS Uncanny Services LLC, with its registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear 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 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://fivemarkets.io and the relevant page https://webtrader.fivemarkets.cc, which constitutes the 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.

6 September 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona