Resolution no. 20482

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, para. 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 performed through the www.capitalmbit.com website and the https://my.capitalmarketbanc.com webpage

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 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Resolution 20330 of March 7, 2017, with which CONSOB, pursuant to art. 7- octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, took the decision to order the cessation of the infringement of art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance with regard to the www.capmb.com, www.capmbeu.com www.capmbit.com websites;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from subsequent checks on www.capmbeu.com website, it emerged that:

i. by accessing the Italian version of the www.capmbeu.com, website, users are currently redirected automatically to the www.capitalmbit.com, website that can be consulted in Italian and that includes in ‘Contacts’ section two email addresses (support.it@capmb.com and compliance.it@capmb.com) and a telephone number (+390256569869), all intended for Italian customers;

ii. by clicking on the ‘Registration’ link, the user is taken directly to the https://my.capitalmarketbanc.com page, written in Italian, where there is a special form for entering details in order to open an account with which the user can trade on the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs via the MT4 platform;

iii. in order to carry out the trading transactions, an investment of money is required, through the payment of sums into the account opened online. In particular, the website offers various types of account, namely ‘Micro’, ‘Standard’ and ‘Pro’, distinguished above all by the minimum deposit required and by the benefits.

iv. according to that indicated in the ‘Terms and Conditions’ section, the website in question “is operated by Joshua Partners EOOD”, with alleged registered address in Bulgaria;

v. moreover, at the bottom of every page of the website, is mentioned another company, Joshua Development Ltd, with declared registered address in Dominica. The same information is displayed on the page https://my.capitalmarketbanc.com, where it is specified that this company is “owned and operated by the group of companies”.

HAVING CONSIDERED that the activities carried out via the www.capitalmbit.com website and the https://my.capitalmarketbanc.com webpage can be classed as the provision of investment services referred to in art. 1, para. 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which they can issue purchase and/or sales orders of financial instruments;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the website and webpage mentioned above are directed to Italian investors, insofar as the they are also available in Italian and have no mechanism in place to prevent the registration of Italian users; moreover, considering the www.capitalmbit.com website displays two email addresses and a phone number, specifically dedicated to Italian customers;

HAVING ALSO ESTABLISHED that, according to the information available, people operating in the name of ‘CMB Capital Markets Banc’ have contacted Italian investors by telephone in order to persuade them to open an account and trade on the aforementioned websites and via the web page in question;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that Joshua Partners EOOD and Joshua Development Ltd are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as these companies are not registered on the dedicated register held by CONSOB pursuant to art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under article 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 operations in question can be classed as the professional provision of investment services involving financial instruments to the Italian public, 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 performs investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified therefore pursuant to this decree: a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the fact that the party is not authorised to perform the activity indicated under article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement be discontinued”;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to cease the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 perpetrated in part via the www.capitalmbit.com website and the https://my.capitalmarketbanc.com webpage, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those concerned and published in CONSOB’s Bulletin.

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

12 June 2018

THE CHAIRMAN
Mario Nava