Resolution no. 20330

Order, pursuant to Art. 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b), of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com 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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998, and subsequent amendments and additions ("Consolidated Law on Finance");

HAVING ESTABLISHED THAT, from checks of the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com website, it emerged that:

1. by keying in the www.capmb.com domain name one is automatically directed to the www.capmbeu.com website, which is found to be available in Italian as well;

2. by accessing the Italian version of the www.capmbeu.com website one is automatically directed to the www.capmbit.com website, which is found to be in Italian;

3. potential investors, subject to registration on the www.capmbit.com website by means of a specific form available on line and subject to opening an account into which to deposit sums of money, can trade in the Forex market and in CFDs via a dedicated platform. In particular, the said website offers various types of account, called "Mini", "Standard" and "Pro", distinguished above all by the minimum deposit required and the benefits;

4. as a result of registering, the user receives a number of standardised e-mails written in Italian; the said e-mails include, inter alia, a set of instructions for the use of the said platform;

5.  two email addresses (support.it@capmb.com and compliance.it@capmb.com) are indicated in the "Contact Us" section as well as an Italian telephone number (+390256569869), all specifically dedicated to Italian clients;

6. the bottom of all the pages of the www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com websites include indication of the "Joshua Partners Eood" company, with declared registered office in Bulgaria;

7.  the e-mails received upon registration to the said websites also include indication of the "Astra Financial Limited" company with declared registered office in the Republic of Vanuatu, the "Joshua Consulting Ltd" company with declared registered office in the United Kingdom and the "Joshua Development Limited" company with declared registered office in Dominica;

8. the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com websites, as well as the services offered therein can therefore be attributed to Joshua Partners Eood, Astra Financial Limited, Joshua Consulting Ltd and Joshua Development Limited.

HAVING ALSO NOTED that, from the information available, persons operating in the name of "Capital Markets Banc" have contacted Italian savers by telephone to persuade them to open an account and perform trading transactions on the said websites;

HAVING NOTED in this regard that Joshua Partners Eood, Astra Financial Limited, Joshua Consulting Ltd and Joshua Development Limited employ immediate and other forms of contact and interaction with Italian clients via the above mentioned website, providing procedural and operational instructions to be followed in order to invest in financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the above described operations, carried out via the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com websites, are directed at the public of Italian investors, as the Italian version of the said website is accessible from all these domains and has no mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users;

HAVING NOTED that the activity carried out via the websites in question can be identified as the provision of investment services as referred to under Art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as the opportunity is offered to clients to open a trading account against which to issue purchase and/or sales orders for financial instruments;

HAVING SEEN that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which "The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks ";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the Joshua Partners Eood, Astra Financial Limited, Joshua Consulting Ltd and Joshua Development Limited companies are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public because they are not included in the special register held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question can be identified as the professional provision to the Italian public of investment services involving financial instruments, in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that according to Art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract abuse" - CONSOB "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified therefor pursuant to this decree:

a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activities indicated in Art. 1 paragraph 5; (b) order that the infringement cease";

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998, also implemented via the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com and www.capmbit.com websites, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This resolution shall be notified to those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed with the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days from the date of notification.

7 March 2018

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese