Resolution no. 21333

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://tradefxzone.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 24 February 1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website https://tradefxzone.com, it emerged that:

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

ii. the website offers users the opportunity to trade in CFDs and futures

iii. covering currency pairs, precious metals and commodities;

iv. in order to trade a cash investment is required which must be paid into an account opened online; in particular, there are four types of account called 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

v. in the section of the site called "Company's Profile" there are references to SolutionsCM LTD, with stated address in Bulgaria and to Tradefxzone LTD, with its purported address in the United Kingdom;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 20857 of 20 July 2019, which ordered the company SolutionsCM Ltd to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate website www.carterfs.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://tradefxzone.com can be classed as the offer of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are proposed the opportunity of opening a trading account to issue purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activities, performed through the website https://tradefxzone.com, are still ongoing and are directed at Italian investors, given that the website is available in Italian, and there have been reports of unsolicited telephone calls ('cold calling') to the Italian public;

WHEREAS none of the companies mentioned in this website, are authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since same do not appear on 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 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 carried out through the website https://tradefxzone.com, consisting in offering 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.

April 22, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona