Resolution no. 22326

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.4capital.io

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 audits conducted on the website www.4capital.io ascertained that:

i. the www.4capital.io website is active and offers investors the opportunity to trade on the Forex market and place trades on CFDs and commodities;

ii. in order to be able to trade via the website www.4capital.io, users must register and open an account and deposit the necessary funds;

iii. in particular, four types of account are mentioned on the www.4capital.io website, referred to as "Classic", "Gold", "Platinum" and "VIP", depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;

iv. as to traceability, the www.4capital.io website contains references to GrouPolo LTD, with its registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the website www.4capital.io constitutes 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 and placing buy and/or sell orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity carried out by GrouPolo LTD through the www.4capital.io website, is still ongoing and also aimed at Italian investors, given that there have been reports linked to it of cold calls to investors in Italy;

WHEREAS GrouPolo LTD, with alleged registered office in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, mentioned on the website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, given that it is not registered in the register kept by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, as per 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 article 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 abuse" - Consob "may, with regard to anyone who offers or carries out investment services or activities through the Internet without being qualified pursuant to this decree: […] b) order that the infringement cease";

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. 58/1998 carried out through the www.4capital.io website, which constitutes the provision of 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.

4 May 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona