1. INTRODUCTION
The term ‘MeritKapital’, ‘the Company’, ‘us’, ‘we’ or ‘MKUK’ refers to MeritKapital UK Limited, a limited liability entity formed in England and registered at the Companies House (09779913). The term ‘you’, ‘your’, ‘user’, ‘viewer’ or ‘visitor’ is interchangeable and refers to the individuals viewing our website.
This policy sets out the following:
- It is a privacy notice that informs visitors as to how MeritKapital UK Limited will collect, store and retain information about individuals (personal data).
- It states the purposes for which we use personal data, the monitoring we do, user rights under applicable law and how users can contact us.
- It contains information visitors should be aware of when communicating to MKUK electronically. By visiting https://meritkapital.co.uk/ all visitors are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
2. PRIVACY OF YOUR INFORMATION
MKUK is committed to protecting the privacy, accuracy and reliability of any personal information you choose to provide. The Company is further committed to safeguarding such information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure and alteration.
The privacy notice may be changed from time to time and so all visitors are advised to review this page to ensure that they are content with the changes made.
3. TYPE OF INFORMATION THAT WE MAY COLLECT
MKUK may collect the following types of personal information if you deal with us as a client or as a prospective employee:
| Type of information | Examples |
|---|---|
| Personal details | Name, age, occupation, date of birth, gender, citizenship and marital status |
| Contact details | Address, telephone, fax, email and work related contact details |
| Identity Documents | Passport, national identity card, armed forces identity document and driver’s licence |
| Visitor’s Personal History | Information about current or former employers, education, business activities, affiliations, roles and responsibilities |
| Financial Information | Investment experience, investment objective, tolerance of risk and certain representations required under applicable law or regulation, and source of wealth |
| Browsing information | Internet protocol (IP) address, information about the pages visited and clickstream to and from our side |
4. MKUK MAY USE PERSONAL INFORMATION IN A RANGE OF DIFFERENT WAYS
| Activity | Details |
|---|---|
| Account opening | Personal information may be used to set up an account. For example, it could include entering an individual as a shareholder / Director to ensure MKUK meets its compliance obligations. |
| Contact | Maintain records of contact details and the manner to be contacted, for example, phone, fax, post or e-mail |
| Marketing | MKUK may use information to contact individuals about products and services unless told otherwise. It may use viewers personal data to provide users with a personalised service and the product or service users have requested, to fulfil their other requests, process their order(s) and as otherwise may be necessary to perform or enforce a contract between the Company and users. |
| Compliance matters | Personal information to carry out various compliance checks as required by law, regulation or its service providers internal policies and procedures. This personal information will aid in creating policies, guard money laundering or fraud and to ensure compliance with potential sanctioned regimes. |
| Business continuity | In the event of an interruption or cessation of MeritKapital business, MeritKapital need to ensure that it can implement its business continuity procedures wind down planning to protect users’ interest. This may involve a transfer of personal data to a third party. |
| Legal | MKUK may process and store some of user’s data in order to fulfil the company regulatory obligations. MeritKapital may capture and share user’s personal data with organisations that can confirm the identity and provide information to prevent fraud or other financial crimes. Details may be requested by legal or regulatory authorities or the Financial Ombudsman Service. |
| Litigation | In a court action or other proceedings require, to the extent necessary, to exercise and defend MKUK’s legal rights and may require using visitors and individual’s information |
| Recording | Record and or monitor communications (including CCTV, e-mail, instant messaging, telephone and other electronic communications) for compliance, internal control and security purposes and as evidence of transactions. |
5. WHERE WE MAY COLLECT INFORMATION FROM
MKUK uses numerous methods to gather information. For example, the Company will capture details from individuals submitting applications to apply for a vacancy advertised directly on the website. The Company will collect information when being contacted directly, for example, if you submit a query via our website.
Further information may be gathered from third parties to provide services. This includes other persons that may be instructed to mail us through our website, for example, a professional advisor, custodian or investment manager. MKUK may request individual reporting agencies to undertake due diligence to assist combat against financial crime.
The personal data MKUK obtains through third parties may include personal details, contact details, identification documents, personal identifiers where permitted by applicable law and where relevant; information relating to criminal convictions and political affiliations.
Some of the information we use is publicly available. MKUK may utilize databases provided by third party providers; in which MKUK provide personal data for the purpose of performing required identity verification procedures.
Following the market practice in the financial services industry, communications may be recorded including any e-mails received. This will be done under relevant legislation and ensure privacy is respected. The purpose is solely for compliance to comply with legal and regulatory obligations as evidence of transactions.
6. PURPOSE AND LEGAL BASIS FOR WHICH WE USE PERSONAL DATA
MKUK may not process personal data without a valid legal basis. Therefore, MKUK will only process personal data in the following instances:
1. If necessary for MKUK legitimate interests (in each scenario provided that users legitimate interests do not override MKUK’s):
- To provide operational support and development of MKUK including to evaluate customer service, efficiency, and cost as well as risk management purposes
- To contact users about other services we may offer (with users prior consent where required by relevant law.
- To administer and operate services that align with customer documents (including but without limitation authorising or confirming transactions and for billing purposes.)
2. MKUK may need to use personal data to exercise and defend our legal rights anywhere in the world including in relation to potential litigation, disputes or contentious matters MKUK are involved in and/or to assist with investigations, complaints, regulatory requests, litigation, arbitration, mediation any other requests from individuals / regulatory bodies.
3. MKUK may need to use personal data in order to comply with legal and regulatory obligations and requests, (including regulatory legal or guidance, codes or opinions), applicable to MKUK or for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, including:
- carrying out money laundering checks, view international sanctions lists and for fraud, financial crime prevention purposes (and this may include consideration of information regarding political affiliations and criminal offences committed or alleged to have been committed)
MKUK may need to collect personal data from users for reporting (including without limitation transaction reporting) to, and audits by, national and international regulatory, enforcement or exchange bodies and complying with any potential court orders or legal requests associated with MKUK; and for monitoring purposes.
7. HOW MKUK WILL PROTECT THE PRIVACY OF INFORMATION?
This will be done through appropriate access controls to the data available and MKUK will only allow authorized individuals access. Additionally, we maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards intended to protect the information against accidental or unauthorized loss, misuse, damage, modification and unauthorized access. The Company will do its best to ensure business continuity, restrict access to personal information, conduct privacy impact assessments, train staff and contractors on data security and manage third party risks through the use of contracts and security.
8. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP PERSONAL DATA?
MeritKapital will retain data only for so long as it is reasonable and depending upon the nature of the data and processing. Any account that is inactive will be archived and the information will be erased after 14 days. Certain records must be kept meeting the FCA’s rules and so the Company will restrict access by an archiving process. All information must be retained for a period of seven years from the end of your relationship with us, unless it is subject to actual or potential legal or regulatory investigations. This is in line with our internal data retention policy
9. WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE GDPR?
If an individual wishes to access a copy of their personal information or alter any personal information that MKUK holds, they can do so by writing to MKUK or sending a request on our contact us page – https://meritkapital.co.uk/contact-us/. Individuals can also correct any details that are incomplete, incorrect, outdated and request information to be deleted if it is not held under legal or regulatory obligations, regulatory claim or defense of a legal matter.
At any time, individuals may object to personal data being used for marketing purposes, sending promotional materials, profiling or performance of market research. Where your personal data is processed based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent for such processing at any time. If your request is considered to be repetitive, wholly unfounded and/or excessive, we are entitled to charge a reasonable administration fee.
10. PERSONAL DATA TRANSFER OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA
If processing of personal data requires a transfer to other countries outside the UK (to the EU and outside the European Economic Area ‘EEA’), MKUK will ensure that necessary safeguarding and protections are implemented as set out by the UK GDPR law and guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office; for example, checking the applicable adequacy regulations and implementing robust contractual and security safeguards with third-party providers.
11. COMPLAINTS
If you would like to contact MKUK in respect of any part of this Privacy Policy, including, without limitation and subject to applicable data protection law, where you may wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or where you may wish to raise a grievance or complaint contact the MKUK Data Protection Officer (DPO), you can reach our DPO on the following email address compliance@meritkapital.co.uk
If you wish to make a complaint about any breach of applicable data protection laws by MKUK, MKUK shall respond as soon as possible, we will let you know who is responsible for managing your complaint. MKUK shall investigate the complaint and where necessary we will consult with third parties who may be involved in the processing of your personal data. MKUK shall respond to all complaints within such timeframes required under applicable legislation. If further investigation is required, it will be carried out and users will be notified of a proposed solution. This will be confirmed to you in writing.
If you do not receive a response from MKUK within such timeframes required under applicable legislation or your complaint is not resolved within that time to your satisfaction, you may apply to the applicable data protection authorities to have your complaint heard and resolved. Their details are below.
MKUK will investigate any complaint and will notify you of the making of a verdict in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made.
If you wish to, you have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues at the following address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
USE OF COOKIES
A cookie is a small piece of code, sent from a website to a user’s internet browser, which allows that website to track the user’s previous activity when they return to that website. This allows us to provide you with the experience that you expect from us and lets us continually improve our service.
You can block cookies by changing the settings on your browser, but if you do you will not be able to access all or parts of our website.
The types of cookies we may use are:
Strictly necessary cookies.
These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website or make use of e-billing services.
Analytical/performance cookies.
These allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.
Functionality cookies.
These are used to recognise you when you return to our website. This enables us to personalise our content for you, greet you by name and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language or region).
Targeting cookies.
These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our website and the advertising displayed on it more relevant to your interests. We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.
We do not have any control over the use of cookies by third parties, including our partners and affiliates. To manage cookies from third party websites, you will need to visit their site to adjust your settings.
If you want more information about how cookies operate, or how to manage them, please visit About Cookies at http://www.aboutcookies.org.uk/ .
For the purposes of meeting the Data Protection Act 2018 territorial scope requirements, the United Kingdom is identified as the named territory where the processing of personal data takes place.
If users have any requests concerning their personal data or any queries regarding this notice, please contact the Compliance department at compliance@meritkapital.co.uk. Information on the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) is also available on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://ico.org.uk/. Under the GDPR, your individual rights in relation to your personal data are as follows (you can read more about your rights in detail at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/);
- the right to be informed about the personal data being processed,
- the right of access to the data,
- the right to rectification,
- the right to erasure,
- the right to restrict processing,
- the right to data portability (to receive an electronic copy of your personal data),
- the right to object to processing of your personal data and
- the right not to be subject to automated decision-making. including profiling.