Resolution no. 20348

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to discontinue the infringement of Article. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.trades.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 on site www.trades.com website, it emerged that:

1. the www.trades.com website is in Italian;
2. the potential investor, after registration to the said website and opening an account via a specific form available online, has the opportunity to trade in the FOREX market and in CFDs through MT4 platform;
3. in order to carry out trading transactions, an investment of money is required, that has to be paid into an account opened online. In particular, the said website offers various types of account, namely “Bronze”, “Silver”, “Gold” and “Platinum”, which differ mainly in the amount of the minimum deposit required and the benefits;
4. the "FAQ" and Contact Us" sections mention the "Lead Capital Inc" company, with declared registered office in the Republic of Vanuatu;
5. the "Terms and Conditions" section mentions the Trade Up Ltd company, with declared registered office in the Marshall Islands;
6. the www.trades.com website and the services offered therein are therefore attributable to Leads Capital Inc and Trade Up Ltd.

HAVING CONSIDERED that the above described operations carried out via the www.trades.com website are directed to the Italian public, because the said website is also available in Italian and it has no blocking mechanism in place to prevent Italian users from registering;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activities carried out via the said website can be classed as the provision of investment services referred to Art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity to open a trading account against 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 Art. 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 Leads Capital Inc and Trade Up Ltd are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public since these companies are not included in the register of EU and non-EU authorised investment firms and companies authorised to freely provide the said services in Italy directly or through branches in Italy, register which is held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

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

HAVING CONSIDERED that, pursuant to 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: a) 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 also via the www.trades.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be notified to those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

21 March 2018

THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Maria Berruti