Resolution no. 22813

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance committed via the website www.orionusdeal.com and its page https://clientzone.orionusdeal.com

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, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance"), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

1. the website www.orionusdeal.com offers potential investors the opportunity to trade CFDs on currencies, commodities, indices and shares;
2. in order to place such trading transactions, users must register with the website, through a process that is also available to users connecting from Italy, and open an account in which to deposit funds; specifically, four types of accounts are advertised on the website named "Classic", "Standard", "Pro" and "Vip", which differ, among other things, based on the required deposit. After registering, it is possible to access the reserved area of the website from which, among other things, it is possible to access the web trading platform available at https://clientzone.orionusdeal.com;
3. as to traceability, the website www.orionusdeal.com make references to Ether Arena LTD based in the Marshall Islands;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution No. 22510 of 15 November 2022 ordering Ether Arena LTD to cease infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance implemented through its separate websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com and the related page https://clientzone.vineab.com;

WHEREAS the website www.orionusdeal.com closely replicates the content and graphic format of the websites www.ether-arena.com and https://vineab.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website www.orionusdeal.com and the page https://clientzone.orionusdeal.com 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 possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-mentioned activity, carried out through the website www.orionusdeal.com and the respective page https://clientzone.orionusdeal.com was addressed to the Italian public, insofar as the website was available in Italian language through automatic translation systems, and reports of communication activity, via e-mail, between operators of www.orionusdeal.com and Italian savers were received. Furthermore, it was ascertained that there are no mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the website www.orionusdeal.com from Italy through Italian IP addresses and complaints have been received from Italian retail investors who complained about not being able to obtain a refund of the sums of money deposited;

WHEREAS the company Ether Arena Ltd, with reported registered address in the Marshall Islands, mentioned on this 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 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 - "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. 58/98 carried out through the website www.orionusdeal.com and its page https://clientzone.orionusdeal.com, which constitutes the offer 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.

20 September 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona