Resolution no. 22511

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 www.capmarketstrategy.io website and its respective https://client.capmarketstrategy.io webpage

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 24th February 1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”) and subsequent amendments and supplements;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the web, it emerged that:

i. potential investors are offered the opportunity through the www.capmarketstrategy.io website – which is active, registered anonymously and available in Italian – to trade CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and shares;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the www.capmarketstrategy.io website – through a procedure that is also available to Italian users – and access their personal area available on the https://client.capmarketstrategy.io domain, where they can also deposit funds;

iii. as far as traceability is concerned, there are generic references at the bottom of the www.capmarketstrategy.io website's pages to "Cms Ltd’”; moreover, in the www.capmarketstrategy.io website's "Terms and Conditions", the aforementioned "Cms Ltd’” is named as the contractual counterparty of any user signing up to the www.capmarketstrategy.io website and opening a trading account on it. The www.capmarketstrategy.io website does not contain any information about the registered office of "Cms Ltd” or any e-mail addresses for the Company;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 22485 of 19 October 2022, whereby "Cms Ltd" was ordered to cease its infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate www.cmsltd.io website and relative https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io webpages;

CONSIDERING that the www.capmarketstrategy.io website and its https://client.capmarketstrategy.io webpage replicate the contents and graphic format of the www.cmsltd.io website and its https://client.cmsltd.io and https://webtrader.cmsltd.io webpages;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.capmarketstrategy.io website and relevant https://client.capmarketstrategy.io webpageconstitutes the provision of investment services, within the meaning of article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity, through the aforementioned domains, of opening a trading account and placing orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS the aforementioned transactions, carried out via the www.capmarketstrategy.io website and relevant https://client.capmarketstrategy.io webpage, are still ongoing and are aimed at Italian investors, given that the www.capmarketstrategy.io website is also available in Italian and capital losses have been reported by Italian retail investors in relation to the initiatives promoted on the aforesaid www.capmarketstrategy.io website. Moreover, no mechanism was found aimed at blocking registration by users attempting to register with the www.capmarketstrategy.io website from Italy/via Italian IP addresses;

WHEREAS "Cms Ltd", mentioned on the www.capmarketstrategy.io website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not listed on the register maintained 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 unauthorised provision of investment services” - 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 carried out through the www.capmarketstrategy.io website and its respective https://client.capmarketstrategy.io webpage, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be disclosed to the public through publication in the Consob Bulletin.

This measure may be appealed before the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio within 60 days.

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona