Resolution no. 21689

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://splittrades.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 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 https://splittrades.com website, it emerged that:

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

ii. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the https://splittrades.com website, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process which is also available to Italian users, to trade financial instruments such as CFDs on currencies, indices and shares, using the trading platform present there;

iii. in order to carry out trading operations, a money investment is required by depositing money into the account opened on line; in this regard, the site offers various types of accounts called "Standard", "Classic", "Premium" and "Gold";

iv. as to the https://splittrades.com site's traceability, the "Terms and Conditions" section indicates "COLESPITE PARTNERS LTD" as the contractual party, whilst at the bottom of the website pages reference is made to "TEAM NORTH PARTNERS LTD" with its registered address at "71-75 Shelton, London";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://splittrades.com website 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 transactions, conducted through the https://splittrades.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS none of the companies mentioned on the https://splittrades.com website is authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as none of them 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 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. 58/1998 performed through the https://splittrades.com website, 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.

January 20, 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona