Resolution no. 23065

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 committed via the https://smart-limited-group.com website and the relative https://cfd.smart-limited-group.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, 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:

i. the https://smart-limited-group.com website - which is active, also available in Italian and registered anonymously - offers potential investors the possibility to trade shares and CFDs on commodities;

ii. in order to place such trades, the user must register with the https://smart-limited-group.com website, via a procedure available, including to Italian users, on the https://cfd.smart-limited-group.com page, open an account and access the trading platform;

iii. in particular, the https://smart-limited-group.com website lists six types of account, referred to as "Process", "Classic", " Gold ", "Platinum ", " VIP " and "Prestige", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. regarding traceability, the website https://smart-limited-group.com contains generic references to "Smart Limited Group", with no references to a possible registered office or further contact details provided;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://smart-limited-group.com website and the related https://cfd.smart-limited-group.com webpage constitutes 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 via the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the activity described above, carried out via the https://smart-limited-group.com website and its related page https://cfd.smart-limited-group.com is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the https://smart-limited-group.com website and related page https://cfd.smart-limited-group.comare also available in Italian and in relation to the same website https://smart-limited-group.com, reports have also been received of investment solicitation by cold calling retail investors in Italy. Furthermore, in the website https://smart-limited-group.com it was ascertained that there are no mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the same website from Italy/through Italian IP addresses and complaints have been received from Italian retail investors who claimed that they were unable to get their money back to trade on the website https://smart-limited-group.com;

WHEREAS the https://smart-limited-group.com website and its webpage https://cfd.smart-limited-group.com could not be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

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 activities in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in breach of Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD to the provisions of Article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which 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 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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via the https://smart-limited-group.com website and its https://cfd.smart-limited-group.com page, constituted by the offer and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the parties concerned with publication in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days of the date of service.

10 April 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona