Resolution no. 22844

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 via the website https://globalnews.icu and its page https://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info

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 https://globalnews.icu website – which is active, registered anonymously and also available in Italian – to trade derivatives such as CFDs on currencies, shares, indices and commodities;
2. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://globalnews.icu website through a process that is also available for Italian users, open an account and deposit relevant funds;
3. in particular, 6 types of account are mentioned on the website https://globalnews.icu, referred to as "Easy start", "Standard", "Professionista" (Professional), "TraderPro", "Premium", and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits offered;
4. following registration, the customer accesses the reserved area of the website via which it is possible to open a trading account and access the trading platform at addresshttps://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info, selecting the "webtrader" link;
5. as to traceability, a general reference is made to "Global News" on the https://globalnews.icu website;

HAVING REGARD to resolution no. 22702 of 18 May 2023, whereby the order was given to the above-mentioned "Global News" to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://globalnewstrade.top website and the relevant https://webtrader.glblntrd.top web page;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially similar to the domain of the aforementioned site https://globalnewstrade.top, the site https://globalnews.icu replicates the content and graphic format of the former website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://globalnews.icu website and the https://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info page are to be considered as 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 activity, carried out via the https://globalnews.icu website and its pagehttps://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, given that the aforesaid domains are available in Italian and there have been reports of cold calls being made to retail investors in Italy regarding the initiatives promoted via the aforesaid 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 https://globalnews.icu and it was ascertained that there are no mechanisms aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to register with the abovementioned website from Italy through Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS the https://globalnews.icu website and the https://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info page may not be linked to any entity authorised to provide investment services and activities to the Italian public, given that "Global News ", i.e. the company which is mentioned on the https://globalnews.icu website, does not appear on 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 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 through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that such 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 https://globalnews.icu website and the https://webtrader.glblnwstrd.info page, 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 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 October 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona