Resolution no. 21286

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 performed through the website www.wincapitalpro.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 www.wincapitalpro.com, it emerged that:

i. the site is active, and offers potential investors the opportunity to trade on Forex and commodities, after having opened an account via a registration process also available to Italian users;

ii. in order to be able to trade, a cash investment is required, to be paid into an account opened online; specifically, three types of account are available, with various names, according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised (“standard”, “classico”, “gold” and “premium”);

iii. the entity named "Light Media LTD", with stated address in the Marshall Islands, is named at the foot of several pages of the website;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 20819 of 14 November 2019, which ordered the company Light Media Ltd to cease the infringement of Article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out through the website https://it.wincapitalpro.com;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through this website can be classed as the provision of investment services as referred to in art. 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening an account to trade in financial instruments, against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS the aforementioned activity, carried out through the website www.wincapitalpro.com, is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, since there have been reports of cold calling of members of the public in Italy;

WHEREAS the company mentioned on this website is not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, since this company does not appear on the dedicated register held by Consob pursuant to art. 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for the authorised entities referred to in art. 18, paragraph 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, therefore, that the operations in question qualify as the professional provision of investment services regarding financial instruments 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 art. 7-octies, 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 therefore 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;

RESOLVES:

To order the cessation of the infringement of art. 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 performed through the website www.wincapitalpro.com, consisting in offering and providing investment services and activities to the Italian public.

This Resolution shall be brought to the attention of those whom it concerns and will be 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.

February 26, 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona