Resolution no. 22260

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://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io websites

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 24th February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that checks on the websites ascertained that:

i. the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io offer potential investors the chance of trading CFDs on currencies, shares, indices, commodities and cryptocurrencies, subject to the opening of an account through a process that is also available for Italian users;

ii. in order to carry out such transactions, users must deposit funds in their online account; specifically, both websites offer various types of account depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised; Specifically, the website https://tradingtech.io contains four types of account referred to as: "Cent Account", "Pro Account", "Pro + Account" and "Luxury Account", while the website https://aceinvesting.io lists three types of account referred to as "Cent", "Pro Trader" and "Prime";

iii. as to traceability of the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io, the footer of the home pages of the sites makes reference to the company Eudaimon Consulting LLC with registered office in "St. Vincent and the Grenadines";

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io is deemed to constitute 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 and issuing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling towards Italian retail investors regarding the website https://tradingtech.io, while the website https://aceinvesting.io was found to be translatable in Italian thanks to automatic translation systems;

WHEREAS the company Eudaimon Consulting LLC, with registered office in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, mentioned on the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed in the register kept by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence to provide investment services and activities as per 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 provisions of article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised activity"- pursuant to which 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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the websites https://tradingtech.io and https://aceinvesting.io, consisting in the provision of 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 March 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona