Resolution no. 21876

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 https://tradesaction.com and the relevant page https://accounts.tradesaction.com

LA COMMISSIONE NAZIONALE PER LE SOCIETÀ E LA BORSA

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:

the website https://tradesaction.com, which is active and registered anonymously, is composed of the sections "Home", "About", "Trading Tools", "Trading Platform" and "Contact", and offers users the possibility, after opening an account, of placing trades on the forex market, indices, commodities, stocks and cryptocurrencies through a trading platform;

in order to carry out such transactions, users must register with the website https://tradesaction.com, through a procedure that is also available for Italian users and access the reserved area at the address https://accounts.tradesaction.com;

in particular, three types of account are indicated on the website, known as "MICRO", "STANDARD" and "PREMIUM/ ECN", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

as to the website's https://trasaction.comtraceability, the "Contact Us" section makes reference to the companies "Trade Action Ltd", with declared registered office in "House of Francis, Room, 303, Ille Du Port, Mahe, Seychelles", and "TradeSaction Ltd", which is stated at the bottom of the website pages in the phrasing "tradesaction.com is owned/operated by TradeSaction Ltd";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://tradesaction.com and the relevant page https://accounts.tradesaction.com constitute the provision 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 domains 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 website https://tradesaction.com and the relevant page https://accounts.tradesaction.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling towards retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the companies "Trade Action Ltd" and "TradeSaction Ltd", as mentioned on the website, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are not listed in the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per 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 article 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 abuse" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified 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 infringement of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the website https://tradesaction.com and the relevant page https://accounts.tradesaction.com, constituting the offer and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

3, June 2021

The Chairman
Paolo Savona