Resolution no. 21412

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 www.skycapital.cc

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 supplements;

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

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the website www.skycapital.cc, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity, through the www.skycapital.cc website, which is also available in Italian, subject to prior opening of an account via the registration process which is also available to Italian users, to trade CFDs with underlying currencies and indices, and to trade on shares;

ii. in order to trade and carry out transactions a cash investment is required, by paying money into an account opened online; in particular, there are three types of account available which differ depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. as to traceability, the document entitled "Terms and Conditions" states that "this website is owned and operated by [...] Sucaba Enterprise Ltd", with its registered office in the Marshall Islands;

HAVING REGARD TO resolution no. 20480 of 12 June 2018, which ordered the company Sucaba Enterprise Ltd and the company Joshua Partners EOOD to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.centrobanc.com website;

Likewise, HAVING REGARD TO resolutions no. 20846 of 13 March 2019 and no. 20867 of 27 March 2019, which ordered the company Sucaba Enterprise Ltd to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the www.ptbanc.com website and through the distinct www.centrobancitaly.com, www.mycentrobancitaly.com and www.centrobancit.com websites, respectively;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.skycapital.cc 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 above transactions, carried out through the www.skycapital.cc website, are still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, since the website is also available in Italian;

WHEREAS Sucaba Enterprise Ltd, with its registered address in the Marshall Islands, mentioned on the www.skycapital.cc 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;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for 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 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 article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - 'Powers to counteract abusive practices' - 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 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 websitewww.skycapital.cc, consisting of the offering and 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.

June 17, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona