Resolution no. 21438

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 through the website www.daxcapitals.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 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.daxcapitals.com, it emerged that:

i. after opening an account through the registration process which is also available to Italian users, potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.daxcapitals.com website, which is also available in Italian, to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares and futures on underlying currencies, indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required to be paid into an account opened online;

iii. regards traceability, at the bottom of the site's registration page it states: "One Thousand One Ltd operating under Daxcapitals brand and using daxcapitals.com domain";

HAVING REGARD TO resolutions no. 20826 of 20 February 2019, no. 21311 of 25 March 2020 and no. 21356 of 6 May 2020, whereby the company One Thousand One Ltd was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate and distinct www.dax1001.com, dax1001.com and www.daxcfd.com websites, respectively;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is partially superimposable on the domain of the aforementioned www.dax1001.com, dax1001.com and www.daxcfd.com websites, the www.daxcapitals.com website replicates the content and graphic format of the said www.dax1001.com, dax1001.com and www.daxcfd.com websites;

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

WHEREAS One Thousand One Ltd, mentioned on the www.daxcapitals.com website, is not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public, since 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 article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.daxcapitals.com, consisting in offering and providing 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.

July 8, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona