Resolution no. 22204

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 website https://wamcapital.co and the respective page https://accounts.wamcapital.co

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, it emerged that:

i. the website https://wamcapital.co, which is active and available in Italian, offers among other things, the opportunity to trade stock derivatives and CFDs on currencies, indices, commodities and bonds by means of an online trading platform that is "completely customisable";

ii. in order to trade on the platform, users must register with the website at the URL https://accounts.wamcapital.co and open an account and then deposit the necessary funds. In particular, four types of accounts are advertised, referred to as "Micro", "Standard", "Premium" and "VIP", which differ according to the minimum deposit required and the benefits promised; Among these, a "Funds Management" service was found, which is provided to the holders of two types of account ("Premium" and "VIP");

iii. WAM-Capital UK Ltd is referred to on the homepage of the website https://wamcapital.co. The footer of the site conversely states that the site is owned by the company Gabioni Ltd, with no reference to the latter’s registered office;

WHEREAS activity carried out through the website https://wamcapital.co and the respective page https://accounts.wamcapital.co are deemed to constitute the provision of investment services as referred to in article 1, paragraph 5, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, insofar as clients are offered the opportunity of opening a trading account and consequently carrying out buy and/or sale orders on financial instruments;

WHEREAS the above-described activity, carried out through the website https://wamcapital.co and the respective page https://accounts.wamcapital.co, is still ongoing and aimed at Italian investors, given that the aforesaid domains are available in Italian; moreover, reports of cold calling of Italian retail investors have been received;

WHEREAS the companies mentioned on the website https://wamcapital.co are not authorised to engage in the provision of investment services to the Italian public, insofar as they do not appear on the register maintained by Consob pursuant to article 20 of the Consolidated Law on Finance;

HAVING REGARD TO the requirement to hold a relevant licence in order to provide investment services, as per 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 abusive practices" - 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 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. 58/1998 carried out through the website https://wamcapital.co and the relevant page https://accounts.wamcapital.co, constituting the provision of 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.

10 February 2022

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona