Resolution no. 22463

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 via the websitehttps://bstrade.co and the respective webpage https://webtrader.bstrade.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 https://bstrade.co website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade CFDs on currencies and shares via the platform hosted on the separate https://webtrader.bstrade.cc domain;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://bstrade.co website – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – open an account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, the https://bstrade.co website mentions three types of account referred to as "Community", "Premium" and "Business", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iv. as regards ownership, at the bottom of the pages of the https://bstrade.co website there is the following statement "This website is owned and operated by Florishing Group LLC", with registered offices in Saint Vincent and Grenadines;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://bstrade.co website and relevant https://webtrader.bstrade.cc webpage constitutes 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 opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://bstrade.co website and the relevant https://webtrader.bstrade.cc webpage, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the https://bstrade.co website is available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calls being made by parties operating on behalf of the https://bstrade.co website to retail investors in Italy. In addition, no mechanism was found on the https://bstrade.co website aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to subscribe to the said domain from Italy/through Italian IP addresses and complaints have also been received from Italian savers in relation to the initiatives promoted through the https://bstrade.co website;

WHEREAS Florishing Group LLC, with its registered address in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, mentioned on the https://bstrade.co websites, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not enrolled 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 to licensed 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 carried out through the https://bstrade.co website and its https://webtrader.bstrade.cc webpage, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the all 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.

28 September 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona