Resolution no. 20329

Order, pursuant to Art. 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (Consolidated Law on Finance) to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.spot2trade.com website

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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, and subsequent amendments and additions ("Consolidated Law on Finance");

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks of www.spot2trade.com website, it emerged that:

1. the www.spot2trade.com website is found to also be available in Italian;

2. potential investors, subject to registration on the said website by means of a form available on line and opening an account to be chosen from the types called "Standard", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum" and "VIP", distinguished mainly by the amount of the minimum deposit for bonuses and benefits, have the opportunity to trade in the Forex markets and in CFDs on different assets (currencies, indexes and commodities) via a dedicated platform;

3. the bottom of all the pages of the said website, its "Terms and Conditions" section and "Contact us" page include indication of the Spot2Trade company, with offices in London (UK);

4. The www.spot2trade.com website and the services offered therein can therefore be attributed to the Spot2Trade Ltd company.

HAVING ALSO NOTED that, according to the information available, persons operating in the name of "Spot2Trade" have contacted Italian savers by telephone to persuade them to open an account and perform trading transactions on the said website;

HAVING NOTED in this regard that the Spot2Trade Ltd company employs immediate and other forms of contact and interaction with Italian clients via the said website, providing procedural and operational instructions to be followed in order to invest in financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the operations described above, carried out via the www.spot2trade.com website, are directed towards the public of Italian investors, insofar as the said website is in Italian and has no mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING NOTED that the activity carried out via the website in question can be identified as the provision of investment services as referred to under Art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as the opportunity is offered to clients to open a trading account against which to issue purchase and/or sales orders for financial instruments;

HAVING SEEN that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which "The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks ";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the Spot2Trade Ltd company, with offices in London (UK), is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public insofar is not included in the special register held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question can be identified as the professional provision to the Italian public of investment services on financial instruments in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that according to Art. 7-octies 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 therefor pursuant to this decree:

a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activities indicated in Art. 1 paragraph 5; (b) order that the infringement cease";

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998, also implemented via the www.spot2trade.com website, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This resolution shall be notified to those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

7 March 2018

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese