Resolution no.  20303

Order, pursuant to Art. 7-octies, para. 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of the Consolidated law on Finance performed via the www.xlrtrade.com website

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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, and subsequent amendments and additions (Consolidated Law on Finance);

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks of the www.xlrtrade.com website, undertaken on January 16, 2018, it emerged that:

i. the www.xlrtrade.com website is found to include translation into Italian;

ii. potential investors can trade on Forex and in CFDs in various assets (currencies, indexes and commodities), subject to opening one of three trading accounts to be chosen from the 'Micro', 'Standard' and 'Exclusive' accounts, which are distinguished mainly by the amount of the minimum deposit and by the benefits;

iii. the bottom of every page of the said website and the 'Terms and Conditions' section include indication of the company Nostro Technology Ltd with registered office in the Marshall Islands;

iv. the www.xlrtrade.com website and the services offered on it can therefore be attributed to Nostro Technology Ltd.

HAVING ESTABLISHED, furthermore, from the information available, that individuals operating in the name of 'xlrtrade' have contacted Italian savers by telephone for the purpose of persuading them to open an account and trade on the aforementioned website;

HAVING ESTABLISHED to this regard that the company Nostro Technology Ltd uses methods of contact and interaction, including direct ones, with Italian clients via the aforementioned website, providing instructions on the procedures and operations to be followed for the purpose of investing in financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the www.xlrtrade.com website are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as this website is written in Italian and has no mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activity performed via the website in question can be identified as the provision of investment services, as referred to under Art. 1, para. 5 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as the opportunity is offered to open a trading account on which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Article 18, para. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which 'The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks';

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the Nostro Technology Ltd company is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is a non-EU company, with registered office in the Marshall Islands, and is not included in the special register of authorised investment firms and companies of non-EU countries held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance.

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question can be identified as the professional provision to the Italian public of investment services involving financial instruments, in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to that outlined under Art. 7-octies 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 therefor pursuant to this decree:

1. make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement cease';

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 implemented via the www.xlrtrade.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This resolution shall be brought to the attention of those concerned and published in CONSOB's Bulletin.

Appeal against this provision is permitted before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

14 February 2018

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese