Resolution no. 22499

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://isaacspartners.com and the respective webpage https://webtrader.isaacspartners.com

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://isaacspartners.com website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, shares and commodities through the platform hosted on the https://webtrader.isaacspartners.com domain;

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

iii. in particular, the https://isaacspartners.com website mentions five types of account known as "Mini", "Standard", "Gold", "Platinum" and "VIP++" depending on the minimum deposit required;

iv. as for the traceability of the https://isaacspartners.com website, at the bottom of the webpages of the website it is specified that "Isaacs Partners is a brand name of Isaacs Partners Limited", a company that in the "Contacts Us" section states to be based in the Marshall Islands;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://isaacspartners.com website and relevant https://webtrader.isaacspartners.com 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 above activity, carried out through the website https://isaacspartners.com and the respective webpage https://webtrader.isaacspartners.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the above-mentioned website is available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms, that it has been reported that remote communication methods have been used to contact Italian consumers by means of distance communication techniques, that no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy/through Italian IP addresses and complaints from Italian savers have been received;

WHEREAS the activity cannot be attributed to any party that is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

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 carried out through the https://isaacspartners.com website and its https://webtrader.isaacspartners.com 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.

3 November 2022

THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Maria Berruti