Resolution no. 22490

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 https://instanttrade.net website and the relative https://panel.instanttrade.net and https://trading.instanttrade.net webpages

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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. the website https://instanttrade.net, also available in Italian, offers the possibility - after opening an account referred to as "Conto Classico", "Conto Oro", "Account Premium" - depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised, to trade CFDs with currencies, cryptocurrencies, indices, shares and commodities as underlying assets; the website refers to three trading platforms and there is a section dedicated to the various types of accounts available, including "savings accounts", which would guarantee a "monthly return" of up to 45% on invested capital;

ii. after registering, users can access the reserved area of the website on https://panel.instanttrade.net, where they can make deposits on the account and access the trading platform, in this area there is a command that provides access to a webtrading platform available at the address https://trading.instanttrade.net that allows various CFDs to be traded;

iii. as regards the traceability of the website, it should be noted that the "Terms and Conditions" and the Privacy Policy refer generally to "InstantTrade.com" and a company called "TradingSR", respectively.

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://instanttrade.net and the relative pages https://panel.instanttrade.net and https://trading.instanttrade.net 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 possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the https://instanttrade.net website and the respective pages https://panel.instanttrade.net and https://trading.instanttrade.net, is ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website https://instanttrade.net and the page https://panel.instanttrade.net may be consulted in Italian, and there have also been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy and complaints have also been received from Italians;

WHEREAS the companies "InstantTrade.com" and "TradingSR", as mentioned on the website, are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are not listed in the register maintained 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 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. 58/98 carried out through the website https://instanttrade.net and relevant pages https://panel.instanttrade.net and https://trading.instanttrade.net, which constitute the offering and provision of 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.

26 October 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona