Resolution no. 22275

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 www.empiretrading.net website and related https://live.empiretrading.net web page

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 24th 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 www.empiretrading.net, which is available in Italian, offers the possibility to trade futures and CFDs on currencies, cryptocurrencies, indices, shares and commodities;

ii. in order to place orders on the trading platform on the website, users must register on the page https://live.empiretrading.net and open an account, and subsequently deposit the required funds. In particular, two types of account are advertised, referred to as "STP" and "ECN";

iii. the site www.empiretrading.net also offers the possibility of depositing funds for investment purposes on the so-called "PAMM" accounts ("Percentage Allocation Management Module");

iv. the site www.empiretrading.net mentions the brand "Empire Trading" and bears at its footer reference to the companies Empire Trading LLC and Techsync Management and Consultancies LLC. Regarding these companies, it is stated that Empire Trading LLC, whose registered office is not provided, is owned by Techsync Management Consultancies LLC and that the latter is registered in Dubai;

v. the documents entitled "Privacy Policy" and "Order Execution Policy", published on the site, make reference to Empire Trading Ltd, whose registered office is not provided, as well as the aforementioned Techsync Management Consultancies LLC, with declared registered offices in Dubai and London;

CONSIDERING that the activity carried out through the website www.empiretrading.net and the related page https://live.empiretrading.net is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, pursuant to art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

CONSIDERING that the above-described activity, carried out through the site www.empiretrading.net and the related page https://live.empiretrading.net, is still being carried out and is also aimed at Italian retail investors, insofar as the site was available in Italian;

WHEREAS the website www.empiretrading.net and the relevant page https://live.empiretrading.net cannot be attributed to any entity authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

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 art. 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abuse" - according to which 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 the offending party to cease 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. 58/1998 carried out through the website www.empiretrading.net and the respective page https://live.empiretrading.net, constituted by the 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.

24 March 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona