Resolution no. 22528

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://winexconsulting.com website and its respective https://client.winexconsulting.com webpage

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 24 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://winexconsulting.com website, which is also available in Italian, subject to prior opening of a trading account via the registration process which is also available to Italian users, to invest in shares, indices, commodities and currencies;

ii. in order to be able to trade, users are invited to register with the website, then access their personal area at https://client.winexconsulting.com and open an account by transferring funds; in particular, the five advertised accounts differ according to the minimum deposit required and the features offered;

iii. through the website’s reserved area, which has no mechanisms for blocking the registration of users connecting from Italy, users are then redirected to the trading platform;

iv. the pages of the website mention the "Winnex Consulting" trademark/name;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22481 of 11 October 2022, whereby "Winnex Consulting" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate www.winnexconsulting.com website and relevant https://client.winnexconsulting.com webpage;

WHEREAS the https://winexconsulting.com website and its respective https://client.winexconsulting.com webpage replicate the content and graphic format of the separate www.winnexconsulting.com website and relevant https://client.winnexconsulting.com webpage;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://winexconsulting.com website and its respective https://client.winexconsulting.com 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 is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website and the webpage are available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calling of retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the aforementioned website cannot be attributed to any party authorised to provide investment services to Italian investors;

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 article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - “Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services” - Consob “may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that such infringement cease”;

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. 58/1998 carried out through the https://winexconsulting.com website and its respective https://client.winexconsulting.com webpage, constituting the 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.

30 November 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona