Resolution no. 21436

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 website www.aj-asset.net

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 website www.aj-asset.net, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.aj-asset.net website, which is also available in Italian, to trade CFDs relating to currencies;

ii. to carry out trading activities, users must register with the www.aj-asset.net site and employ a sum of money there.

iii. the section of the site entitled “Contacts”, indicates "A. J. Asset Management" with its alleged headquarters in the United Kingdom. The same section also indicates an email address, a telephone number with an Italian country code (+390510217782) and an information request form is made available;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolutions no. 21155 of 20 November 2019 and no. 21281 of 2 March 2020, which respectively ordered “Aj Asset Management Ltd” and “A.J. Asset Management Limited” (entities not to be confused with the company “A.J. Asset Management Limited” which instead is authorised by the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and appears on the register maintained by Consob pursuant to Article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance), to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out, in order, through the separate websites www.ajassetmanagement.com, www.ajasset.com and https://platform.aj-asset.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.ajassetmanagement.com, www.ajasset.com and https://platform.aj-asset.com websites, the www.aj-asset.net website replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.ajassetmanagement.com, www.ajasset.com and https://platform.aj-asset.com websites;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.aj-asset.net can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the above transactions, carried out through the www.aj-asset.net website, are still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS the www.aj-asset.net website is not linked to investment companies authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for 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 for investment firms and banks';

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.aj-asset.net website, consisting in offering investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be 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.

July 8, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona