LEGAL NOTICE
George & Partners in Hong Kong is a registered foreign law firm regulated by the Law Society of Hong Kong.
Disclaimer
This website contains general information about George & Partners. The content of this website does not constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be used as such. A suitably qualified lawyer should always be consulted when any legal advice is required.
George & Partners accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss whatsoever which may arise from the use of this website or the content of any of its pages.
George & Partners is not responsible for the content of any other website to which you may gain access from this website, or from which you may have gained access to this website. George & Partners does not accept any responsibility or liability in connection with any such links or websites.
No permission is granted to copy, modify, upload, post, publicly display or perform, frame, produce derivative works from, distribute or otherwise transmit the content of this website except for informational purposes only.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
George & Partners is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are aware of the concern which exists over the security of information which you provide to us (both over the internet and otherwise). The following statement sets out our privacy policy and gives an explanation of what we do with any information provided by our users and clients.
For the purposes of this statement, Information includes:
If you wish to communicate with us about our processing of your personal data you may contact us via email at [email protected] or by post at George & Partners, Wilson House 1001-2, 19 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong (Attention: Duncan Smith).
Information we collect
We collect different types of personal data for different reasons – this may include:
How we collect your Information
We may collect personal data about you in various cases, such as for example:
How we share your Information
We may share your personal data in the following circumstances:
We will otherwise only disclose your personal data when you direct us or give us permission to do so, when we are required by applicable law or regulations or judicial or official request to do so, or as required by law enforcement authorities to investigate actual or suspected fraudulent or criminal activities.
Your rights and choices in relation to the personal data we hold and process
In general, we receive your personal data where you provide this on a voluntary basis, and there will typically be no detrimental effect for you if you wish not to provide this or otherwise withhold your consent for it to be processed. However, there are certain cases where we will unfortunately be unable to act without receiving such data, for example where we need to carry out legally required compliance screening or require such data to process your instructions or orders, or otherwise to provide you with our online services or communications.
Where it is not possible for us to provide you with what you request without the relevant personal data, we will let you know accordingly.
How we keep your personal data safe
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your personal data confidential and secure, in accordance with our internal policies and procedures regarding storage of, access to and disclosure of personal data. We may keep your personal data in our electronic systems, in the systems of our contractors, or in paper files.
Personal data we receive from you about other people
Where you provide us with the personal data of other people, such as your employees, directors of your companies, or other persons you may have dealings with, you must ensure that you are entitled to disclose that personal data to us and furthermore that, without being required to take further steps, we can collect, use and disclose that data in the manner described in this policy. More specifically, you must ensure that the individual whose personal data you are sharing with us is aware of the matters discussed in this Privacy Policy, as these are relevant to that individual, including our identity, how to get in touch with us, the purposes for which we collect data, our disclosure practices, and the rights of the individual in relation to our holding of the data.
Transfers of personal data abroad
George & Partners provides international services – this means that we may transfer your personal data abroad if required to do so for the Permitted Purposes. In certain cases, this may include transferring data to countries which do not offer the same level of protection as the laws of your country (such as for example the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and the BVI Data Protection Act, 2021).
When making such transfers, we will ensure that they are subject to appropriate safeguards in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation 2016/679) or other relevant data protection legislation. This may include entering into the EU Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. Please get in touch at [email protected] if you wish to obtain further information on the appropriate safeguards to which we are adhering.
George & Partners will ensure an adequate level of protection for your personal data at all times.
How long we retain your personal data
We delete your personal data once it is no longer reasonably necessary for us to keep it for the Permitted Purposes, or, where we have relied on your consent to keep your personal data, once you withdraw your consent for us to do so, and we are not otherwise legally permitted or required to keep the data.
Importantly, George & Partners will keep your personal data as necessary for the purposes of defending or making legal claims until the end of the period during which we may retain the data and otherwise until the settlement of any such claims, as relevant.
Your rights regarding your personal data
Subject to certain conditions under applicable legislation, you have the right to:
We may charge you a reasonable administrative fee for any unreasonable or excessive requests we may receive, and for any additional copies of the data you may request.
In relation to complaints, we will promptly respond to your requests and complaints. In the event that you are unhappy with our response, you may submit a complaint to the relevant privacy regulator.
Correcting and updating your personal data
Where any personal data you have provided us with has changed, or where you believe the personal data we hold is inaccurate, please contact your usual George & Partners legal manager. In addition, please note that if you hold an office or are interested in or have certain relationships with a Related Entity to which we provide services, you and/or the Related Entity may have a contractual or legal obligation to notify us of any change within a prescribed time period. We cannot be responsible for any loss that may arise due to us having any inaccurate, incomplete, inauthentic or otherwise deficient personal data which you or a Related Entity have provided to us. Please also let us know if you wish to withdraw any request.
Who decides why and how we process your personal data?
George & Partners determines why and how we process your personal data. Your personal data will be controlled by the George & Partners entity which you have given instructions to, or with which you are otherwise dealing with or receiving communications from or the George & Partners entity which provides services to a third party which you are associated with, for example a company of which you are a director or shareholder.
Defining George & Partners as an “affiliate” or a “business partner” is not intended to, nor shall be deemed to, establish any actual affiliation, partnership or joint venture between such entities and George & Partners, nor shall it constitute any party asthe agent of another party, nor authorise any party to make or enter into any commitments for or on behalf of any other party.
Contact
We would be happy to hear your views about our website and this Privacy Policy – please let us know any questions, comments or clarifications you may have at [email protected] or send us a letter at FAO Re. Data Management Compliance, George & Partners, Wilson House 1001-2, 19 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files that many internet sites automatically download to a user's computer to store information. Our website uses cookies to collect anonymous information about how visitors use our website, for example which pages visitors go to most often. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous and used for managing the performance and design of the site. You do not have to accept cookies from our website.
If you would like to learn more about cookies you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org for more information.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 9 May 2023. We have the right to update the contents of this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect any changes in the way in which we process your personal data or to reflect legal requirements as these may change. In case of updates, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on our website. Changes will take effect as soon as the revised version is made available on our website.
George & Partners in Hong Kong is a registered foreign law firm regulated by the Law Society of Hong Kong.
Disclaimer
This website contains general information about George & Partners. The content of this website does not constitute legal or other professional advice and should not be used as such. A suitably qualified lawyer should always be consulted when any legal advice is required.
George & Partners accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss whatsoever which may arise from the use of this website or the content of any of its pages.
George & Partners is not responsible for the content of any other website to which you may gain access from this website, or from which you may have gained access to this website. George & Partners does not accept any responsibility or liability in connection with any such links or websites.
No permission is granted to copy, modify, upload, post, publicly display or perform, frame, produce derivative works from, distribute or otherwise transmit the content of this website except for informational purposes only.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
George & Partners is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We are aware of the concern which exists over the security of information which you provide to us (both over the internet and otherwise). The following statement sets out our privacy policy and gives an explanation of what we do with any information provided by our users and clients.
For the purposes of this statement, Information includes:
- all the details we hold about you and the matters (if any) upon which we are instructed; and
- all personal data, if any, about you and your officers, employees, associates and, where applicable, family members.
If you wish to communicate with us about our processing of your personal data you may contact us via email at [email protected] or by post at George & Partners, Wilson House 1001-2, 19 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong (Attention: Duncan Smith).
Information we collect
We collect different types of personal data for different reasons – this may include:
- Contact information: Information such as your name, job title, postal address, home address where you provide this to us, business address, telephone number, mobile number, fax number and email address.
- Business details: Business information which we necessarily process as part of our instructions or projects we are involved in or otherwise provided by you voluntarily.
- Payment data: Data necessary for us to process payments and implement fraud prevention measures, including bank details and other such relevant billing details.
- Compliance details: Information we are legally required to collect for compliance purposes, such as ‘know your client’ (KYC) information, details relevant to international sanctions and restrictive measures, which may impact our ability to provide services.
- Preferences: Information about your preferences, where it is relevant to the services we provide, such as the jurisdictions of relevance to the services provided to our clients.
- Publicly available information: Information collected from publicly available resources, including but not limited to information collected from databases we use to carry out compliance checks, the corporate website of the organisation you are working for, or your LinkedIn profile.
- Statutory Register Information: Information about you on account of an interest or office you may hold in, or certain relationships you may have with, a corporate entity, partnership, trust or other vehicle to which we provide services (each such entity, a Related Entity).
- Details for events: In some cases, we may collect information about you, which may include sensitive information in relation to your health, for the purpose of tailoring our events to your needs. The processing of such data is based entirely on your consent – in the event that you do not want us to maintain such data, we may not be able to take the necessary precautions.
How we collect your Information
We may collect personal data about you in various cases, such as for example:
- when you or your organisation seek our services;
- when you or your organisation make an enquiry through our website, in person, over email or over the telephone;
- when you attend a George & Partners seminar or other events we may organise, or sign up to receive communications from us, including training;
- when you meet and pass your details to a George & Partners representative at a related industry event;
- when a Related Entity engages us to provide services and you hold an office or an interest in or have certain relationships with that Related Entity; or
- when you or your organisation provide services to us, or otherwise offer to do so.
How we share your Information
We may share your personal data in the following circumstances:
- We may share your personal data on a confidential basis where this is required for the purpose of providing our products and services, as well as for administrative, billing and other business purposes.
- If you are a George & Partners client, or you are otherwise contracted by, are an agent of, or otherwise represent a George & Partners client, we may disclose your personal data to:
- Legal specialists, consultants or experts engaged in your matter; or
- Foreign law firms for the purpose of obtaining foreign legal advice, as may be relevant.
- If we have collected your personal data in the course of providing services to any of our clients, we may disclose it to that client, and where permitted by law to others for the purpose of providing those services.
- We may share your personal data with companies providing services for money laundering checks, credit risk reduction and other fraud and crime prevention purposes and companies providing similar services, including financial institutions, credit reference agencies and regulatory bodies with whom such personal data is shared.
- We may share your personal data with any third party to whom we assign or novate any of our rights or obligations.
- If we are involved in a merger, acquisition, financing due diligence, reorganisation, bankruptcy, receivership, sale of company assets, or transition of service to another provider, then your information may be sold or transferred as part of such a transaction as permitted by law and/or contract. In such event, George & Partners will endeavour to direct the transferee to use personal data in a manner that is consistent with the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such Information was collected.
- We may also instruct service providers, domestically or abroad, eg shared service centres, to process personal data for the Permitted Purposes on our behalf and in accordance with our instructions only. George & Partners will retain control over and will remain fully responsible for your personal data and will use appropriate safeguards as required by applicable law to ensure the integrity and security of your personal data when engaging such service providers.
- We may also use aggregated personal data and statistics for the purpose of monitoring website usage in order to help us develop our website and our services. (See ‘Cookies’ below.)
We will otherwise only disclose your personal data when you direct us or give us permission to do so, when we are required by applicable law or regulations or judicial or official request to do so, or as required by law enforcement authorities to investigate actual or suspected fraudulent or criminal activities.
Your rights and choices in relation to the personal data we hold and process
In general, we receive your personal data where you provide this on a voluntary basis, and there will typically be no detrimental effect for you if you wish not to provide this or otherwise withhold your consent for it to be processed. However, there are certain cases where we will unfortunately be unable to act without receiving such data, for example where we need to carry out legally required compliance screening or require such data to process your instructions or orders, or otherwise to provide you with our online services or communications.
Where it is not possible for us to provide you with what you request without the relevant personal data, we will let you know accordingly.
How we keep your personal data safe
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your personal data confidential and secure, in accordance with our internal policies and procedures regarding storage of, access to and disclosure of personal data. We may keep your personal data in our electronic systems, in the systems of our contractors, or in paper files.
Personal data we receive from you about other people
Where you provide us with the personal data of other people, such as your employees, directors of your companies, or other persons you may have dealings with, you must ensure that you are entitled to disclose that personal data to us and furthermore that, without being required to take further steps, we can collect, use and disclose that data in the manner described in this policy. More specifically, you must ensure that the individual whose personal data you are sharing with us is aware of the matters discussed in this Privacy Policy, as these are relevant to that individual, including our identity, how to get in touch with us, the purposes for which we collect data, our disclosure practices, and the rights of the individual in relation to our holding of the data.
Transfers of personal data abroad
George & Partners provides international services – this means that we may transfer your personal data abroad if required to do so for the Permitted Purposes. In certain cases, this may include transferring data to countries which do not offer the same level of protection as the laws of your country (such as for example the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) and the BVI Data Protection Act, 2021).
When making such transfers, we will ensure that they are subject to appropriate safeguards in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation 2016/679) or other relevant data protection legislation. This may include entering into the EU Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses. Please get in touch at [email protected] if you wish to obtain further information on the appropriate safeguards to which we are adhering.
George & Partners will ensure an adequate level of protection for your personal data at all times.
How long we retain your personal data
We delete your personal data once it is no longer reasonably necessary for us to keep it for the Permitted Purposes, or, where we have relied on your consent to keep your personal data, once you withdraw your consent for us to do so, and we are not otherwise legally permitted or required to keep the data.
Importantly, George & Partners will keep your personal data as necessary for the purposes of defending or making legal claims until the end of the period during which we may retain the data and otherwise until the settlement of any such claims, as relevant.
Your rights regarding your personal data
Subject to certain conditions under applicable legislation, you have the right to:
-
- request a copy of the personal data which we hold about you;
- have any inaccurate data we hold about you corrected;
- object or restrict our use of your personal data; and
- submit a complaint if you have concerns about the way in which we are handling your data.
We may charge you a reasonable administrative fee for any unreasonable or excessive requests we may receive, and for any additional copies of the data you may request.
In relation to complaints, we will promptly respond to your requests and complaints. In the event that you are unhappy with our response, you may submit a complaint to the relevant privacy regulator.
Correcting and updating your personal data
Where any personal data you have provided us with has changed, or where you believe the personal data we hold is inaccurate, please contact your usual George & Partners legal manager. In addition, please note that if you hold an office or are interested in or have certain relationships with a Related Entity to which we provide services, you and/or the Related Entity may have a contractual or legal obligation to notify us of any change within a prescribed time period. We cannot be responsible for any loss that may arise due to us having any inaccurate, incomplete, inauthentic or otherwise deficient personal data which you or a Related Entity have provided to us. Please also let us know if you wish to withdraw any request.
Who decides why and how we process your personal data?
George & Partners determines why and how we process your personal data. Your personal data will be controlled by the George & Partners entity which you have given instructions to, or with which you are otherwise dealing with or receiving communications from or the George & Partners entity which provides services to a third party which you are associated with, for example a company of which you are a director or shareholder.
Defining George & Partners as an “affiliate” or a “business partner” is not intended to, nor shall be deemed to, establish any actual affiliation, partnership or joint venture between such entities and George & Partners, nor shall it constitute any party asthe agent of another party, nor authorise any party to make or enter into any commitments for or on behalf of any other party.
Contact
We would be happy to hear your views about our website and this Privacy Policy – please let us know any questions, comments or clarifications you may have at [email protected] or send us a letter at FAO Re. Data Management Compliance, George & Partners, Wilson House 1001-2, 19 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong.
Cookies
Cookies are small text files that many internet sites automatically download to a user's computer to store information. Our website uses cookies to collect anonymous information about how visitors use our website, for example which pages visitors go to most often. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous and used for managing the performance and design of the site. You do not have to accept cookies from our website.
If you would like to learn more about cookies you can visit www.allaboutcookies.org for more information.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy was last updated on 9 May 2023. We have the right to update the contents of this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect any changes in the way in which we process your personal data or to reflect legal requirements as these may change. In case of updates, we will post the revised Privacy Policy on our website. Changes will take effect as soon as the revised version is made available on our website.