Resolution no. 23005 

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://global-trade-group.com website and related page https://cfd.global-trade-group.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, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance"), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. via the https://global-trade-group.com website - which is active and available in Italian - the potential investor is offered the possibility of trading in contracts for difference (CFDs) with currencies, shares, indices, and commodities as underlying assets;

ii. in order to be able to trade, registration on the page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com and opening of an account where funds can be deposited are required. In particular, seven types of account are offered, referred to as "Process", "Standard", "Argento " (Silver)," Oro " (Gold),"Platino" (Platinum)," VIP "and "Prestigio" (Prestige), depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;

iii. as to the traceability of the operations in question, on the website https://global-trade-group.com there are references to "Global Trade Group", with its alleged registered office in the Marshall Islands. The contacts on the website also include a Swiss address and an e-mail address;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://global-trade-group.com website and relevant page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com 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://global-trade-group.com website and the relevant page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since the mentioned https://global-trade-group.com website is available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy. Moreover, no mechanisms were found aimed at blocking registration with this website by users attempting to register with the page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com from Italy via Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS the website https://global-trade-group.com and its page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com may not be linked to any entity authorised to provide investment services and activities to the Italian public, given that Global Trade Group, i.e. the company which is mentioned on the https://global-trade-group.com website, does not appear 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 activities in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in breach of Article 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the provisions of Article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which 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 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. 58/1998 carried out through the website https://global-trade-group.com and the relevant page https://cfd.global-trade-group.com, constituting 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.

14 February 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona