Resolution no. 22750

Order, pursuant to article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ("Consolidated Law on Finance") to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out via the https://crystalscapitals.info website and the relevant page https://platform.crystalscapitals.org.

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, as subsequently amended and supplemented;

HAVING REGARD to Legislative Decree no. 58 of 24 February 1998 (“Consolidated Law on Finance”), as subsequently amended and supplemented;

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

1. the https://crystalscapitals.info website, active and available in Italian language, offers potential investors the opportunity to trade options and shares through a platform available at the web page https://platform.crystalscapitals.org belonging to the https://crystalscapitals.info website;
2. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://crystalscapitals.info website through a process that is also available for Italian users, open an account and deposit relevant fund raising;
3. in particular, the https://crystalscapitals.info website advertises six types of account, referred to as “Student”, “Standard”, “Islamic”, “Investor”, “CrystalsCapitals VIP” and “CrystalsCapitals VIP Platinum”, depending on the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised;
4. as to traceability, the bottom of the pages of the https://crystalscapitals.info website makes reference to Shadlake LTD, with purported registered office in Bulgaria;

HAVING REGARD to resolution no. 22646 of 22 March 2023, whereby the order was given to the above-mentioned Shadlake Ltd to cease the breach of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance conducted through the separate https://crystalscapitals.com website and the relevant https://platform.crystalscapitals.com web page;

WHEREAS, in addition to using a domain that is similar to the domain of the aforementioned https://crystalscapitals.com website, the https://crystalscapitals.info website replicates the content and graphic format of the former website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://crystalscapitals.info website and respective webpage https://platform.crystalscapitals.org constitutes the provision of investment services, as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as users are offered the opportunity through the aforementioned domains to open a trading account and place orders to buy and/or sell financial instruments;

WHEREAS such activity, carried out via the https://crystalscapitals.info website and the respective https://platform.crystalscapitals.org page, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, given that said websites are available in Italian, and that there have been reports on solicitation to retail investors for investment in cash in Italy in relation to the initiatives promoted by the same https://crystalscapitals.info website. In addition, no mechanism was found on the https://crystalscapitals.info website aimed at preventing registration by users who attempt to subscribe to the said domain from Italy through Italian IP addresses and complaints have also been received from Italian savers in relation to the initiatives promoted via the https://crystalscapitals.info website;

WHEREAS, Shadlake LTD, with registered office in Bulgaria, as mentioned on the https://crystalscapitals.info website, is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since it is not listed 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 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 breach 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 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 breach”;

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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via https://crystalscapitals.info the website and the respective page https://platform.crystalscapitals.org, 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.

21 June 2023

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona