Newsletter - CONSOB AND ITS ACTIVITIES
Newsletter
News of the week:
Abusive financial services: CONSOB blacks out 7 abusive sites
Brexit - Notice to clients about investment firms and banks based in the United Kingdom and operating in Italy
Brexit - Expiry of the transitional period provided for in the UK withdrawal agreement from the EU: warning to intermediaries
Brexit - ESMA updates the Q&As relating to prospectus regulation, transparency directive and reporting declarations
ESMA risk dashboard
Cycle of online seminars "Securities Markets: Trends, Risks and Policies"
Investor protection warnings from other regulatory authorities
- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
Consob has ordered the blackout of 7 new websites that abusively offer financial services/financial products: 5 abusive financial intermediation sites and 2 sites through which financial products are offered without a prospectus.
The Authority availed itself of the powers deriving from the "growth decree" (Law no. 58 of 28 June 2019, article 36, paragraph 2-terdecies) regarding the blackout of the sites of abusive financial intermediaries, as well as the power introduced by Law no. 8 of 28 February 2020 (article 4, paragraph 3-bis), regarding the blackout of the site through which the abusive offer is made.
Below are the sites Consob has ordered to be blacked out:
- "Pro Star" (website www.golden-cfd.com);
- "European Trade 24" and "Allegra TM" (website www.eutrade24.com);
- Maginito Services Ltd and NBG Market (KI) Limited (website www.nbgmarket.com);
- "Mistertrader" and "Redfin Capital" (websiteshttps://imrtrader.com and www.redfin.capital);
- Arbistar 2.0, S.L. (websites arbistar.com and app.arbistar.com).
The number of sites blacked out since July 2019, when Consob got the power to order that the websites of fraudulent financial intermediaries be blacked out, has thus risen to 330.
The measures adopted by Consob can be consulted on the website www.consob.it. The black-out of these websites by internet service providers operating on Italian territory is ongoing. For technical reasons, it can take several days for the black-out to come into effect.
Consob draws investors’ attention to the importance of adopting the greatest diligence in order to make informed investment choices, adopting common sense behaviours, essential to safeguard their savings: these include, for websites that offer financial services, checking in advance that the operator with whom they are investing is authorised, and, for offers of financial products, that a prospectus has been published.
To this end, Consob would remind you that on the website www.consob.it there is a section on the homepage "Be aware of fraud!", providing useful information to warn investors against financially abusive initiatives.
* * *
Consob has also suspended, pursuant to Article 99, paragraph 1, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, as a precautionary measure, for a period of 90 days, the activity of offering to the public resident in Italy carried out by Arbistar 2.0, SL through the websites https://arbistar.com and https://app.arbistar.com (Resolution no. 21583 of 11 November 2020).
From 1 January 2021, as a result of the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU), English investment firms and banks will be able to continue to provide investment services and activities in Italy only if authorised, respectively, by Consob and the Bank of Italy as third-country firms.
In the absence of the required authorisations, UK intermediaries must have ceased their operations in Italy or transferred the activity to other authorised intermediaries by 31 December 2020.
Consequently, Consob will update the list of EU investment companies and those from non-EU countries authorised to operate in Italy from 1 January 2021, also providing adequate evidence in the appropriate section of its institutional website (http://www.consob.it/web/area-pubblica/imprese-di-investimento) of companies in the United Kingdom no longer authorised to offer services to Italian customers.
UK investment service providers have been called – both by ESMA and Consob – to provide clients with appropriate information promptly regarding the consequences of Brexit on existing contractual relationships.
In view of the approaching 31 December deadline, clients of UK intermediaries are invited to verify that they have received adequate and complete information. Otherwise, it is important to contact the intermediaries as soon as possible to obtain clarifications on existing relationships and client rights; the intermediaries’ contacts can also be found on the website of the competent authority for the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (https://register.fca.org.uk/s/).
Client interested in withdrawing from the contract or transferring it to another intermediary authorised to operate in Italy, are invited to take prompt action, in compliance with the provisions of the law and contracts (which may provide for special procedures for exercising the rights of clients), to avoid possible misunderstandings related to the foreseeable concentration of requests close to 31 December.
For banks providing investment services and activities, please also consult the Bank of Italy website: https://www.bancaditalia.it/compiti/stabilita-finanziaria/informazioni-brexit/index.html.
The Commission reminds UK investment firms providing investment services and activities in Italy and their clients that the "transition period" will end on 31 December 2020 (Warning No. 10/20 of 12 November 2020).
Following what was represented in the Communication of 23 July 2020 (http://www.consob.it/documents/46180/46181/c20200723_08_en.pdf/de9674a2-1246-41c5-80fd-d3449750743f), the attention of British investment companies is once again called for attention due to the fact that only those that have obtained authorisation by 31 December 2020 will be able to continue operating in Italy from 1 January 2021.
An investment firm that submits the request for authorisation or that replies to the preliminary requests with times incompatible with those necessary for a full examination by Consob and for the issuance of the envisaged opinion by the Bank of Italy will incur the risk that the authorisation cannot be granted by 31 December 2020. In this case, the company will have to stop the activity from 1 January 2021 and take the consequent initiatives in good time, also towards clients.
British intermediaries will in any case have to provide Italian customers with updated information, in the light of the decisions made on whether or not to continue their activity in Italy, including the consequences on existing relationships.
In anticipation of the end, on 31 December 2020, of the transition period between the European Union and the United Kingdom relating to Brexit, ESMA, the European financial markets regulator and supervisor, published on 9 November the update of three Q&As already published – relating to the application of the prospectus regulation and of the transparency directive – and referring to the hypothesis of a withdrawal without agreement (no deal) of the United Kingdom from the EU.
The updated Q&As, which aim to promote common supervisory approaches and practices among the competent authorities of the EU, take into account the withdrawal in the meantime, the transition period, as well as the fact that from 1 January 2021 EU legislation will no longer be applicable to the United Kingdom.
The European authority has also published the update of three additional Q&A on the prospectus concerning the application of the 20% threshold for exemption from the prospectus requirement provided for in Article 1(5)(a) of the prospectus regulation, the adjustments to the basis for calculating this threshold in the case of transactions leading to changes in the number of outstanding shares and the application of the definition of "profit forecasts" in order to adapt the regulatory references to the prospectus regulation.
ESMA has recently published a statement regarding the review of Q&As already published under the Prospectus Directive.
In addition, ESMA updated three statements on reporting, originally envisaged with reference to a no-deal Brexit hypothesis, which concern the EMIR (European Market Infrastructure Regulation) and SFTR (Securities Financing Transactions Regulation) regulations, as well as the operation of ESMA’s databases and information systems. They cover in particular the following documents:
(a) statement on EMIR and SFTR reporting – relating to: reporting, record-keeping, reconciliation, access to data, portability and aggregation of derivatives pursuant to Article 9 of the EMIR as well as securities financing transactions reported pursuant to Article 4 of the SFTR regulation;
(b) statement on the use of UK data in ESMA databases and how MiFID II calculations are carried out – relating to MiFID II / MiFIR publications made on the various ESMA databases, as well as to the annual calculations of ancillary activities;
(c) ESMA’s data operational plan statement - relating to activities concerning FIRDS, FITRS, DVCAP systems, transaction reporting as well as lists and data managed by ESMA.
ESMA published last 11 November its second "risk dashboard" for 2020.
The document highlights a persistent risk of decoupling between valuations of the assets and the economic fundamentals in the financial markets of the European Union, against a recovery in prices in the third quarter of 2020, albeit heterogeneous between sectors and geographical areas, and a deterioration in fundamentals linked to the Covid-19 crisis.
According to ESMA, the risk of a downward correction is therefore significant. The Authority therefore maintains its assessment of the risks, albeit very high, for European markets unchanged, in particular on the basis of the following elements: the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, market expectations on monetary and fiscal support measures and, finally, possible external events that could affect an already fragile global environment.
Today, 16 November at 3 p.m., Prof. Raffaele Corvino (University of Turin and CERP) will present a study entitled: "Hedging labor income risk over the life-cycle".
The webinar is the second one in a series of 10 seminars organised by Consob, ESMA and Bocconi University, through the Baffi – Carefin research centre, on the following topics: market microstructure; post-trading and market efficiency; corporate governance and sustainability; investor protection and financial innovation. Prof. Elsa Fornero (University of Turin and CERP) will hold a speech and Prof. Henriette Praast (Tilburg University) will hold a discussion; Consob Commissioner Carmine Di Noia will initiate the works.
Link to seminar poster: http://www.consob.it/documents/46180/46181/ceb_seminars.pdf/eb1f4add-d6db-42e0-b7d1-869eb2a58096.
Link for joining: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/755296861.
The supervisory authorities of the United Kingdom (Financial Conduct Authority - FCA), Spain (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores - CNMV), Switzerland (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority - FINMA), Luxembourg (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier - CSSF), Hong Kong (Securities and Futures Commission - SFC), Austria (Financial Market Authority - FMA), Belgium (Financial Services and Markets Authority - FSMA), New Zealand (Financial Markets Authority - FMA) and Portugal (Comissão do Mercado de Valores Mobiliários – CMVM), report the companies and websites offering investment, financial and insurance services without the required authorisations.
Reported by the FCA:
- Mortgage Audits (www.mortgageaudit.co.uk);
- Charleston Corporate Partners (www.charlestoncorporatepartners.com);
- Lane Capital Group (www.lanecapitalgrp.com);
- UkPropertyInvestorhub.com (www.ukpropertyinvestorhub.com);
- UK Bond Advisory (www.ukbondadvisory.com; uk-bondadvisory.com);
- Uk Income Isas (www.incomeisas.co.uk);
- Topwealthinvestments.com (www.topwealthinvestments.com);
- Bigstonemax (www.bigstonemax.com);
- Ukbondcompany.com (http://Ukbondcompany.com);
- RMItrade (www.rmitrade.com);
- Coolbaugh Securities (www.coolbaughsecurities.com);
- Best Overseas Property Investments (www.bestoverseaspropertyinvestments.com);
- Sovereign Resources (www.sovereign-resources.com);
- Morgan-Kingston International Consultancy LLC (www.morgan-kingstonintlconsultancyllc.com);
- Best Bond Finder (www.bestbondfinder.com);
- Search Investment Guides (www.searchinvestmentguides.com);
- Topukpropertybonds.co.uk (www.topukpropertybonds.co.uk);
- Top Wealth Bonds (Topwealthbonds.com);
- Get.betterbondrate.co.uk (www. get.betterbondrate.co.uk);
- Broker Unity / Brokerunity / Kode Tech Solutions LTD (https://brokerunity.com);
- Aussie Trust (https://aussietrust.com);
- UK Bonds Trust (www.ukbondstrust.com, www.uk-bondstrust.com);
- The Bond Finder (www.thebondfinder.com);
- KM Asset Holdings (email: account@kmassetholding.co.uk);
- Bitrend (https://www.bitrend.io);
- Compare investment options (www.compareinvestmentoptions.com);
- IFSL Group (https://www.ifslgroup.com);
- Investec Plc / Investec Asset Management (email:lewis.forbes@investecfixedincome.com, bondoffer@investecplc.com, apply@investecplc.com), clone of a licensed company;
- Redmaine Cooper Price (www.redmainecooperprice.co.uk), clone of a licensed company;
- BDS London (https://www.bds-london.co.uk), clone of a licensed company;
- Standard Life Aberdeen (www.standardlife-uk.com), clone of a licensed company;
- RBC Capital Markets / RBC Investor & Treasury Services / RBC Financial Group (www.standardlife-uk.com), clone of a licensed company;
- Catalysts Partners Africa Limited (https://catalysts-africa.com), clone of a licensed company;
- Integral Fund / Integral Asset Management Ltd (www.integralassetmanagement.co.uk; www.integralfund.co.uk; https://integralfund.co.uk/ru), clone of a licensed company,
- Live Forex Times (www.livefxtm.com), clone of a licensed company;
- Atlas Global Recovery Solutions (https://atlasglobalrecoverysolutions.com).
Reported by the CNMV:
- Eurizon Capital Spain (https://eurizoncapitalspain.com), clone of a licensed company;
- The Far Limited (www.thefarlimited.com);
- Laino Group Limited / Exchange Cloud, Srl (www.bdvmarkets.com);
- Kripto (https://kripto.mx);
- Bitrane (https://bitrane.com);
- Xifralifestyle (www.xifralifestyle.com; https://myxifralifestyle.com);
- Rehoboth Ltd (https://es.ubanker.com);
- Trade Time / Capital Process Ltd (www.tradetime.com);
- Tontine Investment (https://tontineinvestment.org);
- Global Wealth Investment Limited (https://globalwealthinvestment.com);
- Crypto Limited (https://cryptolimited.net);
- Red Fin Stocks / Plan Bit Global Ltd / Plan Bit Tech Ltd (https://redfinstocks.com/es);
- Sky Capital (https://skycapital.cc/es);
- Lone Robot Ltd (https://lonerobot.ltd);
- Puma Broker / Taboo Capital Llc (https://pumabroker.com/?lang=es);
- Premier Fxt / Lemarilo Trade (https://premierfxt.com);
- Fxt Premier / Lemarilo Trade (https://fxtpremier.com);
- Premier Fx Trade (https://premierfxtrade.com);
- My Central Investments Llc (https://mycentralinvestments.com, https://centralinvestments.us);
- Fx Live Limited (https://362liveoption.com);
- Wave Makers Ltd (www.iqcent.com/es);
- Paying Invest Llc (www.payinginvest.com);
- Fx Plus (https://fxplus.co);
- Forex Liberty (https://forexliberty.com.mx);
- Fx24options Ltd (https://fx24options.org);
- Cruxinv (https://cruxinv.com/es), clone of a licensed company;
- Crux24 (https://crux24.com/es), clone of a licensed company;
- Mitz Holdings Ltd / Widdershins Group Ltd (https://finlay.io/es);
- Enevis Limited (Https://Enevislimited.com);
- Empirex Capital (https://empirexcapital.com);
- B2trades (https://b2trades.com);
- Astrica Ltd (https://elite-market.com, www.market4fx.com);
- Wineshtock Trading Ltd (https://finschool.co);
- Beforex Capital / The Capital Holdings Funds (https://beforexcapital.com);
- Alpari International / Exinity Limited (www.alpari.org/es);
- Elite Fx Ltd (https://elitefxltd.club);
- https://www.octagontrade.com/es;
- Cryptoarb (https://cryptoarb.io/es);
- Golden Dawn (It) (Https://Www.Ctxholdings.Com);
- https://alphainvestmentspty.ltd.
Reported by the FINMA:
- iCapital Consultants / I Capital Limited (https://icap-consultants.com).
Reported by the CSSF:
- Presidio Investments Limited (www.presidioinvestmentsltd.com);
- Deutsche Investment Loans - Deutsche Financial Investment, clone of a licensed banking intermediary;
- Tan Allen Piguet Asset Management (www.tapam.com);
- CoinglobeFX Ltd (CoinglobeFX Ltd).
Reported by the SFC:
- https://everbright-sun-hung-kai-ebshk-direct.business.site, clone of a licensed company;
- 廣東省深圳市羅福區京基100五十六樓, Chinese name only (https://haitongcaifu8.com).
Reported by the FMA (Austria):
- Triton Partnership Ltd (https://lcoinmarket.com);
- Stanton Wade (https://stantonwade.com);
- XTRGate or South Bay Holdings Ltd (www.xtrgate.com);
- Prime Funder (www.primefunder.co);
- MonaCoins.co (www.monacoins.co);
- Kolusha OU / FMR International OU ("Barons VC") (www.baronsvc.com);
- Prime-InvestFX / Prime-InvestFX Ltd (www.primeinvest-fx24.com).
Reported by the FSMA:
- Sotafin (www.sotafin.online and www.sotafin.be);
- Milecljk Bank (www.milecljk.com);
- Krediet S.A. (www.kredietsa.be);
- FNP Diensten (www.fnp-diensten.com);
- Eeden Lening (www.eeden-lening.com);
- Easy Loans / Allinone Loans (www.allinone-loans.com);
- Dringende Lening (email: infos@dringendelening.com, associesgiuriani@dringendelening.com).
Reported by the FMA (New Zealand):
- Carrera Corporation Ltd (www.carreracorporationltd.com).
- Reported by the CMVM:
- AnyTrades (https://any-trades.com, https://anytrades.com).
- Expiry of the transitional period provided for in the UK withdrawal agreement from the EU (Warning no. 10/20 of 12 November 2020).
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Order, pursuant to art. 7-octies, letter b) of Italian Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to cease infringement of art. 18 of the said Legislative Decree, put in place by:
- Pro Star through the website www.golden-cfd.com (Resolution no. 21581 of 11 November 2020);
- European Trade 24 and Allegra Tm through the website www.eutrade24.com (Resolution no. 21580 of 11 November 2020);
- Maginito Services Ltd and Nbg Market (Ki) Limited through the website www.nbgmarket.com (Resolution no. 21582 of 11 November 2020);
- Mistertrader and Redfin Capital through the websites https://imrtrader.com and www.redfin.capital (Resolution no. 21579 of 11 November 2020).
- Based on the provisions of article 147-ter of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) and article 144-ter et seq. of the Issuers’ Regulation, the Head of Consob’s Corporate Governance Division has determined the minimum shareholdings for the submission of slates of candidates for the election of the board of directors and internal control bodies of the company I Grandi Viaggi Spa, whose financial year ended on 31 October 2020. Unless the company’s articles of association prescribe a lower quota, the threshold has been set at 2.5%. The full text of the management decision (no. 41 of 11 November 2020) is available on the website www.consob.it, together with a table setting out the criteria used to determine the qualifying shareholding.