Resolution no. 21895

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 https://kiplar.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, it emerged that:

i. the website https://kiplar.com offers potential investors the possibility to trade on shares and instruments relating to currency pairs, indices and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade and carry out transactions, it is necessary to open a personal account among those available on the website https://kiplar.com and named "Starter", "Basic", "Advanced", "Professional" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iii. as for traceability, at the bottom of the website pages and in the "Terms and Conditions" document, the company name "Kiplar Ltd" is stated with registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

iv. the website reports the following email addresses: "livesupport@kiplar.com" and "assistance-en@kiplar.com".

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the https://kiplar.com website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in article 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 activity, carried out through the website https://kiplar.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling retail investors in Italy;

WHEREAS the company Kiplar Ltd, with its registered address at Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, to which the website https://kiplar.com is attributable, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it does not appear on the dedicated 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 to 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 to Italian Investment firms, EU investment firms, Italian banks, EU banks and non-EU firms";

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 https://kiplar.com, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of the concerned parties and 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.

10 June 2021

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona