The regulation of the securities market is the result of a complex process of legislative production that began, in Italy, with the establishment of the National Commission for Companies and the Stock Exchange ("CONSOB") and has undergone a rapid process of acceleration since the 1990s, due in part to the effects of the transposition of numerous EU Directives on the subject.

CONSOB is the supervisory body of the Italian financial market, with the task of verifying the transparency and fairness of the conduct of operators and, if necessary, sanctioning misconduct.

In Italy, the first organic regulation of brokerage activities carried out on the securities market dates back to the, so-called, "SIM Law" No. 1 of January 2, 1991, by which securities brokerage firms were established. With a view to strengthening investor protection, pervasive rules were introduced to regulate the provision of various investment services.

Securities brokerage firms are companies registered in a special register maintained by CONSOB. The professional performance of investment services is reserved for them.

As a transposition in Italy of EU Directive number 6 of 1993 and Directive number 22 of 1993, Legislative Decree No. 58/1998, also known as the Consolidated Law on Financial Intermediation ("TUF"), was issued in 1998, which, even today, is the benchmark, in Italy, of securities market law.

In the years following the enactment of the TUF, the European Union has continued the process of harmonizing national legislation on the securities and financial markets in general. In the present day, the impact of European regulation is decisive.

The reforms introduced in Europe after the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis innsecrated major transformations on the institutional level as well, including the introduction of a European System of Financial Supervision, which led to the creation of the European Securities Market Authority ("ESMA"), which, among its tasks, contributes to the development of common regulatory and supervisory standards and practices.

Italian regulation of investment services is divided into European legislation, national primary legislation, national secondary legislation, ESMA guidelines/opinions and CONSOB Guidelines.

For more details, please refer to the "Regulation" section of CONSOB's website, which can be found at the following link.