Resolution no. 22654

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://firsttrade-cfd.com website and relevant https://my.firsttrade-cfd.com and https://webtrader.firsttrade-cfd.com webpages

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 the checks carried out, it emerged that:

1. the website https://firsttrade-cfd.com offers users - after opening of an account - the possibility to trade forex instruments, shares, indices and commodities;
2. in order to trade, users must access the reserved section of the site available at the address https://my.firsttrade-cfd.com, where it is possible to access the trading platform available at the address https://webtrader.firsttrade-cfd.com;
3. as regards its traceability, the website makes generic references to "First Trade CFD", with reported registered office at "14 Great Queen St, London";

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution no. 22480 of 11 October 2022, which ordered "PX Fintech Limited" with reported registered address similar to that of "First Trade CFD" to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate website https://first-tradecfd.com and the respective pages https://my.first-tradecfd.com and https://webtrader.first-tradecfd.com, with an analogous name and appearance to the website https://firsttrade-cfd.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website https://firsttrade-cfd.com and the relative pages https://my.firsttrade-cfd.com and https://webtrader.firsttrade-cfd.com 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 possibility through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website https://firsttrade-cfd.com and relevant pages https://my.firsttrade-cfd.com and https://webtrader.firsttrade-cfd.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, insofar as reports have been received of ostensible brokers of the company referred to in the website https://firsttrade-cfd.com contacting Italian investors, and no mechanism was found to block registration by users attempting to register with the website from Italy/Italian IP addresses.

WHEREAS "First Trade CFD", mentioned on this website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 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 article 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 unauthorised provision of investment services" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities over the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease";

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://firsttrade-cfd.com and relevant pages https://my.firsttrade-cfd.com and https://webtrader.firsttrade-cfd.com, consisting in the offering and provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the all 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.

29 March 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona