Resolution no. 21602

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 www.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites

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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites, which are active and registered by an anonymous user, to trade in the Forex market and trade CFDs;

ii. in order to be able to trade as mentioned above, the user is asked to register, access their personal area, open a trading account and invest sums of money in it;

iii. four types of account are mentioned on the www.toltechfx.com website, known as 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. three types of account are mentioned on the www.cmcxxmarket.com website, known as 'Basic', 'Standard'' and 'VIP' depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

v. three types of account are mentioned on the www.newtradersholdings.com website, known as 'Micro', 'Standard' and 'Professional', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

vi. as for the links to the site in question, the www.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites, indicate the company NewTraders Holdings Ltd with alleged offices at St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Marshall Islands.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites can be classed as an offer 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 sites to open a trading account on which it is possible to issue purchase and/or sale orders relating to financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the aforesaid websites, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of investment solicitation through remote communication techniques of the public in Italy; moreover, the www.cmcxxmarket.com website is also available in Italian through machine translation;

WHEREAS New Traders Holdings Ltd, mentioned in the www.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the register kept by Consob pursuant to article 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 Stock brokerage 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 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.toltechfx.com, www.cmcxxmarket.com and www.newtradersholdings.com websites, 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.

26 November 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona