Resolution no. 22108

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.24tradex.com and www.24tradex.co websites and relevant https://client.fx-trade.tech webpage

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 7th June 1974 and subsequent amendments and supplements;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. by accessing the www.24tradex.com website, the user is automatically redirected to the separate www.24tradex.co website;

ii. through the www.24tradex.co website - which is active and registered anonymously - potential investors are offered the opportunity to trade on the forex market and CFDs with underlying indices and commodities;

iii. in order to place such trades, users must open an account and deposit sums of money; specifically, four types of account are advertised, known as "Classic", "Platinum", "Gold" and "Vip", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. starting from the "login" section on the www.24tradex.co website, users can reach the address https://client.fx-trade.tech that hosts a login/registration page through which they can access the reserved area of the www.24tradex.co website, which is also available in Italian;

v. as for traceability, there are generic references on the www.24tradex.co website to "24Tradex" without any indication of the company's registered office;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through thewww.24tradex.com and www.24tradex.co websites and the respective https://client.fx-trade.tech webpageconstitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, given that the reserved area of the www.24tradex.co website that can be reached from the https://client.fx-trade.tech page is also available in Italian, and moreover there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS "24Tradex", mentioned on the www.24tradex.co website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear to be enrolled 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. 58/98 carried out through the www.24tradex.com andwww.24tradex.co websites and the relevant https://client.fx-trade.tech webpage, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

9 December 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona