Resolution no. 21383

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://profit-trade.net

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 website https://profit-trade.net, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and may also be consulted in Italian;

ii. the website offers the possibility, after registration, of performing trading transactions on CFDs with currencies, shares, indices and commodities as their underlying assets;

iii. in order to carry out trading transactions, registration and a cash investment are required, through payment into an account opened online. In particular, the website offers six types of account named 'Educational', 'Standard', 'Premium', 'VIP', 'Tailored' and 'Robot', depending on the minimum deposit required and the expected benefits;

iv. the website's contractual terms indicate Global Top Marketing Ltd as the company that manages the website, and refers the user to the regulations in force in the Marshall Islands;

v. on the website pages where the customer is asked to indicate the method of payment and the invoicing address, however, the information given alleges that the site is operated by GPS Marketing Ltd, with its registered office in Sofia.

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21261 of 12 February 2020, which ordered the companies Global Top Marketing Ltd and GPS Marketing Ltd to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the https://profit-trade.com website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://profit-trade.net can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in Article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out through the https://profit-trade.net website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the website is available in Italian;

WHEREAS the companies Global Top Marketing Ltd and GPS Marketing Ltd - mentioned on the website, respectively, in the contractual terms and on the pages where the customer is asked to indicate the method of payment and the invoicing address - are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public because they do 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 for authorised entities as referred to under art. 18, paragraph 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, 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 art. 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 the Consolidated Law on Finance performed through the website https://profit-trade.net, consisting in the offering and provision of 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.

May 27, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona