COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE

Transcription

1 COMPLAINTS HANDLING PROCEDURE

2 1. INTRODUCTION Constance Investment Ltd (hereinafter called Constance Investment ), is governed by the provisions of the Markets of Financial Instruments Directive ( MiFID ) of the European Union, following the implementation of MiFID in the European Union and its transposition in Cyprus, through the Investment Services and Activities and Regulated Markets Law of 2007 (Law 144(I)/2007) as amended DEFINITION «Complainant» means any person, natural or legal, which is eligible for lodging a complaint to Constance Investment and who has already lodged a complaint. «Complaint» means a statement of dissatisfaction addressed to Constance Investment by a complainant relating to the provision of investment services. 2. POLICY As per paragraph 13 of the Directive OF 2012 (as amended) for the authorization and operating conditions of the CIFs where is stated that: A CIF is required to establish, implement and maintain effective and transparent procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints or grievances received from retail clients or potential retail clients, and to keep a record of each complaint or grievance and the measures taken for the complaint s resolution. The Policy is based on the Directive DI of 2012 for the authorization and operating conditions of CIFs (paragraph 13) and Circular C100 Clients Complaints Handling by CIFs dated The clients complaints obligations fall under the Managing Director and the Compliance Officer responsibility, who examines any complaints received from clients. The board of directors is responsible for implementation of the policy and for monitoring the Constance Investment s compliance with it. The policy is also included in the internal operation manual. The policy should be available to all relevant stuff and should be published on the official website of Constance Investment. info@constancei.com Page 1 of 9

3 3. COMPLAINTS As part of our commitment to provide the best possible services to our Clients, we uphold effective and transparent procedures for prompt complaint handling for existing and potential Retail Clients. We maintain Records of Complaints and measures taken for expedient complaint resolution, in line with applicable Laws, Rules and/or Regulations and we are pleased to operate in accordance with the Complaint Management Procedures of the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission ( CySEC ). Constance Investment will monitor complaints and the outcomes in order to improve the quality of service provision. We will ensure that no client will in any way be disadvantaged as a result of making a complaint. To allow us to fully and fairly investigate a complaint, we would expect the client to make us aware of the cause of the complaint as soon as possible of the issue arising. 4. TYPES OF COMPLAINT HANDLED In line with the foregoing, we will investigate a Complaint, if it is submitted to us, in accordance with the Complaint Handling Procedures set forth herein. 5. PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS Any Complaint must be dealt with within Cyprus, in accordance with the Complaint Handling Procedures set forth herein and you agree that we shall have the right to resolve any Complaint between us in accordance with the Complaint Handling Procedures set forth herein. If the Complaint or dispute cannot be resolved internally by us in accordance with our Complaint Handling Procedures set out herein, you may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman of the Republic of Cyprus. 6. HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT There are two stages in our Complaints Handling process: a. An informal stage, by contacting the Company s Back-office Department with any concerns or issues that you may have; and b. A formal stage, by filing a Formal Complaint with the Company s Compliance Officer. info@constancei.com Page 2 of 9

4 7. HOW TO MAKE AN INFORMAL REQUEST The quickest and most effective way of dealing with any concerns or issues that you may have is to contact the Company s Back-office Department on an informal basis either by , or by telephone. The officers of the Back-office Department will inform you of the appropriate process to follow. If you are contacting us on behalf of another person, we may ask you to provide a proof of that person's consent to your handling of their Complaint. We aim to resolve the matter within five (5) business days. If you remain dissatisfied with the response of the Back-office Department or if you are unable to reach a satisfactory outcome within fifteen (15) business days after your first contact with the officers of the said Department, you can, at this stage, ask for your concerns or issues to be escalated to our Complaints Officer for action in accordance with the formal Complaint Procedures described below. 8. HOW TO MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT OR GRIEVANCE Clients who wish to file a Formal Complaint with the Company s Compliance Officer can do so, at any time, in writing by completing and sending the relevant document named Complaints Form, which you may download from our Company s website. The Formal Complaint must only be forwarded to the following electronic mail addresses which solely belongs to the Company s Complaints Officer: complaints@constancei.com All Formal Complaints must be forwarded to the Company s Complaints Officer in writing, in the manner set forth above, for action in accordance with the procedures described below. Upon receipt of a Formal Client Complaint, written Acknowledgment will be sent to you by within two (2) business days from the date the Complaint was received along with a Reference Number. Constance Investment should communicate in a plain language which is clearly understood. This Acknowledgement will confirm that we are taking the necessary action needed to resolve the Complaint, and will also provide an approximate timescale up to four (4) weeks required in order to do so. The officers of the Back-office Department, who receives the Complaint, ensures that all the required details are provided. In case not all the details have been submitted, the receiver of the Complaint requests the Complainant to provide the missing data. The following information should be provided in Annex 1, attached below: info@constancei.com Page 3 of 9

5 The details of the identity of the customer who filed the complaint. The service to which the complaint refers to. The details of the employee that undertook to provide the service to the customer. The department or organisational unit to which the employee relates to. The date of receipt of the complaint. Details of employees that undertook to provide the service to the client. Department to which the relevant employee relates to. The details of the complaint full description, including dates, figures, amounts, etc. The extent in financial terms of the potential loss that the customer claims he/she has suffered or as it is derived from the content of the complaint. The date and in summary, the content of the reply of the company to the said complaint. As soon as the Complaint is submitted, the Compliance Office registers the Complaint and notifies the Complainant regarding the receipt of the Complaint and provides the Complainant with the Complaints Handling Process of the Constance Investment. The Compliance Officer gathers and investigates all relevant evidence and information regarding the complaint. Within 4 weeks from the date a complaint is received, the Company will send to the client a Final Response about the outcome/decision. During the investigation of the complaint, Constance Investment informs the complainant of the handling process of his/her complaint. However if a complaint cannot be processed within this period, Constance Investment will inform the client in writing that the investigation is continuing, the reasons for the delay and when Constance Investment expects to be able to contact the customer again. If the investigation is not concluded within 2 months of receipt of the complaint, Constance Investment must inform the client of the reasons for the further delay, indicating when it is likely to provide a final response. This period of time cannot exceed 3 months from the submission of the complaint. When a final decision does not fully satisfy the complainant s demands, Constance Investment should notify in writing the complainant using a thorough explanation of its position on the complaint and set out the complainant s option to maintain the complaint e.g. through the Commission, the Financial Ombudsman, ADR Mechanism, or the relevant Courts. Once the issue has been resolved the Compliance Officer documents the resolution of the complaint, inputs in to the system/register a closed status for the complaint, indicating description of taken actions. The Compliance Officer shall on an on-going basis analyze complaints-handling data, to ensure that Constance Investments employees identify and address any recurring or systemic problems, and potential legal and operational risks. info@constancei.com Page 4 of 9

6 9. MAINTAINING INTERNAL REGISTER As soon as Constance Investment receiver the Formal Complaint or Grievance Form, Constance Investment must register it in an internal register with an appropriate manner, as well as for easy reference and retrieval, Constance Investment should apply the following procedure: 1) Upon receiving the complaint, Constance Investment must register the complaint directly to an internal register, giving it a unique reference number. 2) The unique reference number must be consisted of ten digits: the first two digits are the code of Constance Investment regarding the Transaction Reporting System - TRS (click here for the TRS code), the following four digits define the year, and the last four digits denote the number of each complaint serial number (e.g. for AA , AA , for AA , AA ). 3) The unique reference number is communicated to the complainant. 4) Constance Investment informs the complainant that he should use the said reference number in all future contact with Constance Investment, the Financial Ombudsman and/or the CySEC regarding the specific complaint. 10. SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION TO THE CYSEC Every month, Constance Investment should provide to the CySEC information regarding the complaints it receives and how these are being handled. In particular, Constance Investment should complete every month (reporting month) the form ΧΧ_yyyymmdd_T (excel file, the 'Form') and send it to the CySEC within five days after the reporting month. The Form is sent in electronic form via the TRS. In case where Constance Investment did not receive any complaint within the reporting month, it has no obligation to send the Form. In the event where Constance Investment has resolved and/or revised a complaint which was referred to the CySEC in a previous submission of the above mentioned Form, Constance Investment must complete all the fields of the Form and select the 'U' from the column Record Type. info@constancei.com Page 5 of 9

7 11. REPORTING REFERENCE DATE FOR SUBMITTING INFORMATION TO THE CYSEC The reporting reference date for submitting information to the CySEC is the 31st January annually. 12. PROVISION INFORMATION TO THE COMMISSION. Constance Investment is required to provide to the Commission information regarding the complaints it receives via Document The said Document is submitted in an electronic form to the Commission on a monthly basis, the details/dates of submission set in a Commission Circular C100 issued on 07 December 2015 with the SUBJECT: Clients Complaints Handling by CIFs. info@constancei.com Page 6 of 9

8 ANNEX 1 CLIENT FORMAL COMAPLAINT OR GRIVANCE FORM Information Reference Complaint Date Complainant_Full_Name Identification Account Information/Agreement type Account Number/Agreement Number Complainant ; Contact phone number/fax Complainant Country Please indicate the Department to which the complaint refers to Please indicate the relevant employee to whom the complaint refers to Please provide any reference to any correspondence exchange between you and Constance Investment Complaint Cause Format Unique reference number in the following format: XXyyyynnnn XX Investment Firm two capital letters code given by CySEC (same code used for TRS) yyyy Year nnnn Sequential number (starting from i.e. AA ) yyyy-mm-dd Complainant Surname and Name ID or Passport Number; Registration Number date Choose one of the following: Execution of orders (e.g. delay in execution, re-quotes, slippage, erroneous trades etc.) Quality or lack of information provided to the client Terms of contract/fees/charges (including withdrawal problems, cancelation of profits etc.) General admin/customer services (including custody/safekeeping services) info@constancei.com Page 7 of 9

9 Complaint Cause Comments Financial Instrument Financial Instruments Comments Disputed Amount Will you be available to speak to Compliance Manager? Are you willing to provide additional documentation? Client signature Date Unauthorised business being offered or carried out Other (please specify in comments section below) The other option should only be used after ensuring that the Complaint Cause does not fall under any of the above categories. If this option is used then a short and detailed description is expected in the Complaint Cause Comments. Should only be used if other category was selected in previous column. Choose one of the following categories: Shares/stock/equities Bonds/debentures/loan stock/debt securities Structured securities (including securities with capital protection and structured funds) Money-market securities Mutual funds/ucits (excluding structured funds) Options, futures, swaps, warrants, forward rate agreements and any other derivatives Financial contracts for differences Other investment products/funds (please specify in comments section below) The other option should only be used after ensuring that the Financial Instrument does not fall under any of the above categories. If this option is used, then a short and detailed description is expected in the Financial Instruments Comments. Name of Security, ISIN code or equivalent Did you suffer any financial loss? Please provide amount in Euros (no decimals) info@constancei.com Page 8 of 9

10 Internal records, Completed by the Compliance Officer Complaint review date: Initial feedback sent to the Client, date: Final feedback sent to the Client, date: Comments: Page 9 of 9