Resolution no. 20594

Order, pursuant to Article 7-octies, paragraph 1, letter b) of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') to discontinue the infringement of Art. 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance performed via the www.pbninvest.com website

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 June 7, 1974, and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING REGARD TO Legislative Decree no. 58 of February 24, 1998 ('Consolidated Law on Finance') and subsequent amendments and additions;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that, from checks on the www.pbninvest.com website, it emerged that:

i. the www.pbninvest.com website, registered by a user whose identity is not known, it is also available in Italian;

ii. potential investors, subject to registration with the websites and opening an account using the online form available, have the opportunity of trading on the currency market (FOREX) and in CFDs with different assets:raw materials, shares, indexes, as well as in cryptocurrencies;

iii. in order to perform the trading transactions, investors are required to invest money by means of paying sums into the account opened online.

iv. the “Terms and Conditions” section specifies that the website “is owned by Capital Tech Ltd “ with an alleged registered address in the Marshall Islands

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the activity carried out via the said website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in Art. 1, para. 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;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the aforementioned operations performed via the www.pbninvest.com website are directed towards Italian investors, insofar as the website is also available in Italian;

HAVING CONSIDERED that CAPITAL TECH Ltd is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as it is not registered on the register held by CONSOB pursuant to Art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for authorised entities as referred to under Art. 18, para. 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which “The professional provision of investment services and activities for the public is reserved for investment firms and banks”;

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the operations in question can be classed as the professional provision of investment services involving financial instruments to the Italian public, in infringement of Art. 18, para. 1 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING CONSIDERED that, according to Art. 7-octies of the Consolidated Law on Finance - “Powers to counteract abuse” - CONSOB “may, with regard to anyone who offers or performs investment services or activities through the Internet without due authorisation pursuant to this decree: a) make public, even by way of a precaution, the circumstance that the party is not authorised to carry out the activity indicated by article 1, paragraph 5; b) order that the infringement cease”;

HEREBY RESOLVES:

The order is issued to discontinue the infringement of art .18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 also performed via the website www.pbninvest.com, consisting of the provision of investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those concerned and published in CONSOB's Bulletin.

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

26 September 2018

THE DEPUTY CHAIRMAN
Anna Genovese