Resolution no. 22023

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 performed through the www.app-trader.biz website and relative https://trading.app-trader.biz webpage

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, it emerged that:

i. the www.app-trader.biz website, which is active and available in Italian, offers the opportunity of trading on the Forex market, in CFDs on cryptocurrencies, indices, shares and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade via the www.app-trader.biz website, registration and opening of an account are required by accessing the reserved area, at the https://trading.app-trader.biz address, where several features are available, including a special function for making cash deposits into the trading account;

iii. as far as traceability is concerned, the www.app-trader.biz website mentions RT Global, with its alleged registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 21615 of 3 December 2020, whereby the aforesaid RT Global, allegedly based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.apptrader.com website;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the www.app-trader.biz website and the relevant https://trading.app-trader.biz webpage can be classed as the provision of investment services as per article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account where they can place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, conducted by RT Global via the www.app-trader.biz website and relevant https://trading.app-trader.biz webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the aforementioned domains are available in Italian;

WHEREAS RT Global, with its alleged registered address in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which is mentioned on the www.app-trader.biz website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is 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 in order to provide investment services, 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 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. 58/1998 carried out through the www.app-trader.biz website and relevant https://trading.app-trader.biz webpage, 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.

29 September 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona