Resolution no. 22500

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 via the websitehttps://smarttrade-cfd.com and the respective webpage https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.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 24th February 1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and supplements;

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

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the https://smarttrade-cfd.com website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms – to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website https://smarttrade-cfd.com – through a procedure that is also available for Italian users – to access the personal area available in correspondence to the domain https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.com where it is possible to deposit sums of money;

iii. as for traceability, in the website https://smarttrade-cfd.com contains numerous references to "Smart Trade Cfd", with its declared registered office in Tallinn (Estonia);

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22403 of 13 July 2022, whereby "Smart Trade Cfd" with its declared registered office in Tallinn (Estonia), was ordered to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://smarttradecfd.com and respective page https://platform.smarttradecfd.com;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the https://smarttradecfd.com website and its respective https://platform.smarttradecfd.com web page, the https://smarttrade-cfd.com website and its respective https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.com web page replicates the content and graphic format of the https://smarttradecfd.com website and relevant https://platform.smarttradecfd.com web page;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://smarttrade-cfd.com website and relevant https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.com webpage constitutes 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 opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described transactions, carried out through the website https://smarttrade-cfd.comand and the relevant https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.com web page, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors since the https://smarttrade-cfd.com website is available in Italian through automatic translation mechanisms and there have also been reports, in relation to the website https://smarttrade-cfd.com, ofcold calling of retail investors in Italy. Finally, financial losses have been reported by Italian investors

in relation to the initiatives promoted through the website https://smarttrade-cfd.com and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the https://smarttrade-cfd.com website from Italy/Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS "Smart Trade Cfd", with its stated registered office in Tallinn (Estonia), mentioned in the website https://smarttrade-cfd.com, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is not listed in 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 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 website https://smarttrade-cfd.com and the relevant page https://platform.smarttrade-cfd.com, which constitutes the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the public through publication in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days.

3 November 2022

THE ACTING CHAIRMAN
Giuseppe Maria Berruti