Resolution no. 21162

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 performed through the website https://capitaltech24.com

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 additions;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from the checks carried out, it emerged that:

i. subject to registration, the https://capitaltech24.com website, which is active and also available in Italian, offers the opportunity of trading on CFDs related to indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to perform trading transactions, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online.

iii. four types of account are offered on the website, known as 'Micro', 'Standard', 'Premium' and 'VIP', depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. at the bottom of the website pages the brand 'CapitalTechFX' is mentioned, specifying that 'CapitalTechFX is a trade name of Crowd Tech Ltd', with alleged registered addresses in London, Limassol and Singapore;

v. the website does not appear to be attributable to Crowd Tech Ltd;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through this website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned operations, performed through the https://capitaltech24.com website, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS 'CapitalTechFX', mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it does not appear on the register kept by CONSOB pursuant to Article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, and, contrary to the indications on the https://capitaltech24.com website, this brand is not attributable to the company Crowd Tech Ltd which is instead authorised by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and features 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 for authorised entities as referred to under art. 18, paragraph 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, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services to the Italian public, in infringement of art. 18, paragraph 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that, according to the provisions of art. 7-octies, letter b) 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 over the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order the cessation of the infringement';

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 art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website https://capitaltech24.com, consisting in the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be 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.

November 27^th, 2019

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona