Resolution no. 22344

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 websitehttps://clydetrade.io and the respective page https://webtrader.clydetrade.cc

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. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the website https://clydetrade.io – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade CFDs on currencies, shares, indices and commodities through a dedicated trading platform referred to as WebTrader available at the address https://webtrader.clydetrade.cc;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://clydetrade.io - via a process that is also available to Italian users - and open an account and deposit the relevant funds; specifically, three types of account are offered, known as "Semplice", "Avanzato" and "Professionale" [Simple, Advanced, Professional], depending on the minimum deposit required and the promised benefits;

iii. concerning the traceability of the website https://clydetrade.io, the footerof the website states that "This website is owned by Tetris Group LTD with a registration number 2021/IBC00019, registered at 8 Copthall, Roseau Valley, 00152, The Commonwealth of Dominica";

HAVING REGARD TO resolutions no. 22211 of 16 February 2022 and no. 22286 of 31 March 2022, whereby Tetris Group Ltd, with its alleged registered office in the Commonwealth of Dominica, was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate and distinct domains https://clydetrade.pro and https://cyldetrade.co, https://sierrainvest.pro and https://sierrainvest.co as well as the further websites https://battletrade.pro and https://battletrade.co;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that very similar to the domain of the aforementioned websites https://clydetrade.pro and https://clydetrade.co, the website https://clydetrade.io also replicates the content and graphic format of the said domains https://clydetrade.pro and https://clydetrade.co;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://clydetrade.io and the page https://webtrader.clydetrade.cc is deemed to constitute the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above activity, carried out through the website https://clydetrade.io and the related page https://webtrader.clydetrade.cc, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since these domains are also available in Italian;

WHEREAS Tetris Group LTD, with registered office in the Commonwealth of Dominica, as mentioned on the website https://clydetrade.io, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that it is not listed on the register held 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 to authorised parties as referred to under 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 fact that, according to the provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abusive practices" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the 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. 58/98 conducted via the website https://clydetrade.io and the page https://webtrader.clydetrade.cc, which is constituted by the sale 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 of the date of service.

25 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona