Resolution no. 22488

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 www.cmsltd.io website and the relative https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io 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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website www.cmsltd.io – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade currency CFDs, commodities futures and shares via the platform hosted on the separate domain https://webtrader.cmsltd.io;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website www.cmsltd.io, through a procedure that is also available to Italian users, then access their personal area at the further address https://client.cmsltd.io and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. as for traceability, the site www.cmsltd.io contains references to "CMS Ltd", the registered office of which is not disclosed. The website www.cmsltd.io displays an e-mail address (support@cmsltd.io);

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.cmsltd.io and the respective pages https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io is deemed to constitute 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 said domains of opening a trading account where they can place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described activity, carried out through the website www.cmsltd.io and the respective pages https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the website www.cmsltd.io is also available in Italian and there have also been reports regarding the domain of cold calling of retail investors in Italy; In addition, no mechanism was found on the website www.cmsltd.io aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to subscribe to the said domain from Italy/through Italian IP addresses and complaints have also been received from Italian savers in relation to the initiatives promoted through the website www.cmsltd.io;

WHEREAS CMS Ltd, mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 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 www.cmsltd.io website and relevant https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io pages, which constitute the offering and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the all 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.

19 October 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona