Resolution no. 21290

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 website https://terra-finance.co

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 checks on the website https://terra-finance.co, it emerged that:

i. the website is active and also partially available in Italian;

ii. the site offers the possibility of trading in currencies, indices and raw materials CFDs and shares, through a dedicated trading platform, after having registered and opened an account;

iii. in order to trade, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are six types of account available - depending on the minimum deposit required and also on the benefits promised - called 'Enthusiast,' 'Investor', 'Advanced', 'Premium', 'Platinium' and 'Super';

iv. within the 'Terms and conditions' section is a statement that "this website is owned and operated by Terra Finance";

v. in the "Our Contacts" section there is an address in Luxembourg, an e-mail address for Italian users (compliance.it@terra-finance.co) and an Italian telephone number (+390230579018).

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://terra-finance.co can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned operations, performed through the website https://terra-finance.co, are still ongoing and are addressed to Italian investors, given that the website is partially available in Italian, and there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public;

WHEREAS “Terra Finance”, mentioned within this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under art. 18, paragraph 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, 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 art. 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 performed through the website https://terra-finance.co, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be 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.

March 4, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona