Resolution no. 21997

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://gs4trade.com

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 web, it emerged that:

i. the website https://gs4trade.com offers potential investors the opportunity to carry out forex transactions and trade CFDs on "Shares, Futures, Indices, Metals & Energie";

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://gs4trade.com, open a trading account and deposit relevant funds;

iii. in particular, four types of accounts are mentioned on the website, referred to as "Mini", "Standard", "Gold" and "Platinum", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. at the bottom of the pages of the website https://gs4trade.com, it is specified that "GS4trade is a brand name of GS4trade Invest LIMITED" with stated address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

v. the "Contact us" section of the website https://gs4trade.com contains a telephone number and an e-mail address (support@gs4trade.com) for information enquiries;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://gs4trade.com is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, given that users are offered the opportunity to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://gs4trade.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling towards retail investors in Italy (cold calling);

WHEREAS the company https://gs4trade.com cannot be attributed to an entity which is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since the company "GS4trade Invest LIMITED", as mentioned on the website https://gs4trade.com, is not listed on 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 Italian investment 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 https://gs4trade.com website, consisting in the offering 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.

15 September 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona