Resolution no. 21576

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 www.tradesrun.com website and its page https://client.trading-dashboard.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, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.tradesrun.comwebsite to trade CFDs on currencies, shares and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade, the user must sign up to the www.tradesrun.comwebsite through the registration procedure which is also available for Italian users. In particular, through the electronic "Sign Up" button present on the homepage of the www.tradesrun.com website, the user is routed to the https://client.trading-dashboard.co page, which is also available in Italian, where the registration form is available;

iii. after registering, the user has access to their personal area of the site where they can activate one of the types of accountsproposed on the www.tradesrun.com site and spend sums of money. In particular, the www.tradesrun.com website offers four types of account, known as "Classic", "Gold", "Platinum" and "VIP", which differ based on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as for the links to the site, at the bottom of the www.tradesrun.com website pages and in the "Terms of Business" it says "this site is owned and operated by Evergo Ltd", with its registered address in the Marshall Islands;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.tradesrun.com website and its https://client.trading-dashboard.co page 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 activity, carried out through the www.tradesrun.com website and its https://client.trading-dashboard.co page, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors: in fact, with reference to the www.tradesrun.com site which is not available in Italian, there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy; as to the https://client.trading-dashboard.co page, this may also be consulted in Italian;

WHEREAS Evergo Ltd, with its registered address in the Marshall Islands, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public insofar as it 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 Stock brokerage 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 www.tradesrun.com website and its https://client.trading-dashboard.co page, 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.

6 November 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona