Resolution no. 21600

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.brightfinance.co 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 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 thewww.brightfinance.co website it emerged that the website is also available in Italian and offers, after opening an account, the possibility of "trading shares, Forex, options and Crypto", whilst benefiting from the "lowest trading fees";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that the section of the website dedicated to the various types of accounts offers five different types of account named "Explorer", "Basic", "Silver", "Gold", "Platinum";

HAVING ESTABLISHED that on the aforementioned website it states that "brightfinance is the trading name of BRIGHT FINANCE that belongs to CAPITAL LETTER GMBH, German Investment Firm Incorporation: HRB242418, 23/07/2018 and CAPITAL LETTER LTD";

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21357 of 6 May 2020, whereby the order was given to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, also being carried out by "Capital Letter GMBH" through the separate www.stsroyal.com website;

HAVING REGARD TO Consob Resolution no. 21512 of 22 September 2020, whereby the order was given to cease the infringement of article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Finance carried out by "Capital Letter GMBH" through the separate www.gfxroyal.com website;

WHEREAS the activity carried out through the www.brightfinance.co website can be classed as 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 aforesaid site of opening a trading account against which purchase and/or sale orders for financial instruments can be issued;

WHEREAS such operations may still be carried out, through the www.brightfinance.co website and that they are available to Italian investors, since the website is available in Italian;

WHEREAS both CAPITAL LETTER GMBH and CAPITAL LETTER LTD are not authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they are not listed in 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 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. 58/98 performed through the www.brightfinance.co website, 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.

26 November 2020

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona