Resolution no. 22587

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to terminate the violation of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the www.vantagefx.comand www.vantagemarkets.com websites and their https://secure.vantagemarkets.com page

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 audits on thewww.vantagefx.com and www.vantagemarkets.com websites ascertained that:

i. any user who types the www.vantagefx.com url into their browser bar is redirected to the www.vantagemarkets.com domain;

ii. the www.vantagemarkets.com website is active, available in Italian and offers the opportunity to trade on the forex market, trading on CFDs, indices and commodities;

iii. in order to be able to trade via the www.vantagemarkets.com website, users must register and open one of the trading accounts through the https://secure.vantagemarkets.com login page;

iv. as to its traceability, in the "Regulations" subsection on the www.vantagemarkets.com website, it reads "Vantage is a trademark of Vantage Global Limited”, based in Vanuatu.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through thewww.vantagefx.com and www.vantagemarkets.com websites with their https://secure.vantagemarkets.com page can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which orders to purchase and/or sell financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through thewww.vantagefx.com and www.vantagemarkets.com websites with their https://secure.vantagemarkets.com page, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the www.vantagemarkets.com website may be consulted in Italian, and cold calling of Italian retail investors has also been reported;

WHEREAS the abovementioned internet domains cannot be attributed to any party authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, as per 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, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - entitled “ Powers to counteract abuse” - Consob “ may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree : […] b) order that the 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 conducted via thewww.vantagefx.com and www.vantagemarkets.com websites and their https://secure.vantagemarkets.com page, consisting in offering and providing 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.

8 February 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona