Resolution no. 23048

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 committed via the https://imperialcap24.com website and its https://wt.imperialcap24.com page

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:

i. via the website https://imperialcap24.com - which is active and can be consulted in Italian via automatic translation systems - the potential investor is offered the possibility of trading in contracts for difference (CFDs) with currencies, shares, indices and commodities as underlying assets via a trading platform;

ii. in order to place such trades, users must register with the https://imperialcap24.com website through a procedure that is also available to Italian users, then open a trading account and deposit the necessary funds. After registration on the website https://imperialcap24.com, customers may log into the reserved area at https://wt.imperialcap24.com, where a specific function is available to deposit funds on the trading account;

iii. in terms of traceability of the website https://imperialcap24.com, there are several generic references in the domain to "Imperialcap24", purportedly based in the United Kingdom, while, at the About page, it is stated that "Top Markets Ltd" is a trade name, a company registered in Hong Kong;

WHEREAS the activity carried out via the https://imperialcap24.com website and its https://wt.imperialcap24.com page 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 the aforementioned activity, which is carried out via the https://imperialcap24.com website and its page https://wt.imperialcap24.com is still ongoing and is aimed at Italian investors, as said website is available in Italian via automatic translation systems and no mechanism has been found to block registration by users attempting to register on the website from Italy/via Italian IP addresses. Moreover, there have been reports of cold calling of Italian consumers;

WHEREAS the abovementioned domains cannot be attributed to any party authorised to provide investment services to the Italian public;

HAVING REGARD to the fact that the provision of investment services and activities is reserved for licensed parties as referred to under article 18, paragraph 1, of the Consolidated Law on Finance, pursuant to which "The commercial 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 activities 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 provisions of Article 7-octies, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance - "Powers to counteract unauthorised provision of investment services" - pursuant to which 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 breach of article 18 of Legislative Decree no. 58/98 conducted via the https://imperialcap24.com website and its https://wt.imperialcap24.com page, constituted by the offer and 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 of the date of service.

21 March 2024

THE CHAIRMAN
Paolo Savona