Resolution no. 22485

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 website https://dakkengroup.pro

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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://dakkengroup.pro website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities and indices;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://dakkengroup.pro – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – open an account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. as regards traceability, the footer of the website https://dakkengroup.pro states that "this website is owned and operated by Clandestiny Group LLC", with registered offices in Saint Vincent and Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22334 of 10 May 2022, which ordered Clandestiny Group 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 website https://dakkengroup.com and the respective webpage https://webtrader.dakkengroup.cc;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially similar to the domains of the aforementioned website https://dakkengroup.com and the respective page https://webtrader.dakkengroup.cc, the website https://dakkengroup.pro replicates the content and graphic format of the website https://dakkengroup.com and the respective web page https://webtrader.dakkengroup.cc;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through thehttps://dakkengroup.pro websiteconstitutes the provision of investment services pursuant to article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity through said domain to open a tradingaccount and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described activity, carried out through the website https://dakkengroup.pro, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors since the https://dakkengroup.pro site is also available in Italian by means of automatic translation mechanisms and there have also been reports regarding the website https://dakkengroup.pro ofcold calling of retail investors in Italy. In addition, reports have been made of Italian savers losing capital and no mechanism was found on the website https://dakkengroup.pro aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to subscribe to the website https://dakkengroup.pro from Italy/through Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS Clandestiny Group LLC, with its registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, as mentioned on the website https://dakkengroup.pro, 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 https://dakkengroup.pro website, consisting in 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.

19 October 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona