Resolution no. 22776

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance committed via the website www.trezocapital.net and its page https://webtrader.trezocapital.net

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, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

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

1. potential investors are offered the opportunity via the website trezocapital.net – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade CFDs on currencies, shares and cryptocurrencies;
2. in order to place such trades, users must register with the website trezocapital.net through a process that is also available for Italian users, open an account and deposit relevant funds;
3. n particular, the website trezocapital.net lists eight types of account, referred to as “Bronze”, “Silver”, “Gold”, “Platinum”, “Diamond”, “Premium”, “Vip” and “Islamic” depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;
4. after registration, users may log into the reserved area directly via the page https://webtrader.trezocapital.net;
5. as to traceability, a general reference is made to “Trezocapital” on the website trezocapital.net;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22657 of 29 March 2023, whereby “Trezocapital” was ordered to cease its infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate website www.trezocapital.com;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22690 of 3 May 2023, whereby “Trezocapital” was ordered to cease its infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the separate website www.trezocapital.co;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a web domain that is partially superimposable on those of the aforementioned websites www.trezocapital.com and www.trezocapital.co, the website www.trezocapital.net replicates the content and graphic format of the said websites  www.trezocapital.com and www.trezocapital.co;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the website www.trezocapital.net and its page https://webtrader.trezocapital.net 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 domain to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out via the website www.trezocapital.net and its page https://webtrader.trezocapital.net, is ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the website www.trezocapital.net is available in Italian, and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy in relation to the initiatives promoted via the said website. Furthermore, complaints have been received from Italian retail investors who complained about not being able to obtain a refund of the capital deposited to trade via the website www.trezocapital.net and it was ascertained that there are no mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the website www.trezocapital.net from Italy through Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS the website www.trezocapital.net cannot be linked to any entity authorised to engage in the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public, since the company “Trezocapital”, referred to on the above-mentioned website, does not 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 breach 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 to do so pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the breach”;

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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via the website www.trezocapital.net and the respective page https://webtrader.trezocapital.net, 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.

12 July 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona