As you may know, the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) came into effect on 25th May 2018. The new Privacy notice below is intended to provide you with general information on the processing of your personal data. 

Policy Updates: we have updated our privacy policy to align the details with the GDPR

Data collected

Merger consulting collects data (personal and otherwise) such as name, email address, postal address, telephone number, as well as website data via cookies – IP address, data and time of website access, pages viewed, browsing preferences, type of browser, domain name, access times.

The categories of personal data we collect 

We collect the following categories of personal data about you: 

• Your name and contact information such as your home or business address, job title, email address and telephone number;
• Biographical information which may confirm your identity including your date of birth, tax identification number and your passport number or national identity card details, country of domicile and or your nationality;
• Information relating to your financial situation such as income, expenditure, assets and liabilities, sources of wealth, as well as your bank account details;
• An understanding of your goals and objectives in procuring our services;
• Information about your employment, education, family or personal circumstances, and interests, where relevant;
• Information to assess whether you may represent a politically exposed person or money laundering risk. 

Purpose of data collection:

1. Performance of a contract with you

We process your personal data because it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. In this respect, we may share your personal data with or transfer it to the following:

• Third parties whom we engage to assist in delivering the services to you;
• Our professional advisers where it is necessary for us to obtain their advice or assistance, including lawyers, accountants.

2. Legitimate interests

We also process your personal data because it is necessary for our legitimate interests, or sometimes where it is necessary for the legitimate interests of another person. In this respect, we use your personal data for the following: 

• For the administration and management of our business, including recovering money you owe to us, and archiving or statistical analysis; 

• Seeking advice on our rights and obligations, such as where we require our own legal advice. 

3. Legal obligations

We also process your personal data for our compliance with a legal obligation which we are under. In this respect, we will use your personal data for the following:

• To meet our compliance and regulatory obligations, such as compliance with anti-money laundering laws; 

• As required by tax authorities or any competent court or legal authority.

In this respect, we will share your personal data with the following:

• Our advisers where it is necessary for us to obtain their advice or assistance;
• With third parties who assist us in conducting background checks;
• With relevant regulators or law enforcement agencies where we are required to do so. 

4. Marketing

Merger Consulting collects your data in order to be able to communicate with you efficiently, send you our news and offers which might be of interest to you.

How data is collected

Please keep in mind that if you directly disclose personally identifiable information or personally sensitive data through contact and/or quotation forms, this information may be collected and used by the employees of our company or its associates and authorised users.

We collect your personal data in several ways, for example: 

• From the information you provide to us when you meet us;
• From information about you provided to us by your company or an intermediary ;
• When you communicate with us in writing, by telephone, fax, website registration, email or other forms of electronic communication. In this respect, we may monitor, record and store any such communication; 
• When you complete (or we complete on your behalf) client on-boarding or application or other forms; 
• From your agents, advisers, intermediaries, and custodians of your assets; 
• From publicly available sources or from third parties, most commonly where we need to conduct background checks about you;
• Other web-related data is collected automatically via cookies on our web site.

How long data is kept

Merger Consulting keeps your data as long as you are in a business relationship with us, only for the purpose intended, and always in compliance with all applicable laws (including the EU 4th Directive regarding Anti Money Laundering (AML)). In particular:

• Where we have collected your personal data as required by anti-money laundering legislation, including for identification, screening and reporting, we will retain that personal data for between five and seven years after the termination of our relationship, unless we are required to retain this information by another law or for the purposes of court proceedings; or 
• Otherwise, we will in most cases retain your personal data for a period of seven years after the termination of our contractual or other relationship with you in case any claims arise out of the provision of our services to you.

How we protect data

Merger consulting places the highest importance on protecting your data and we maintain a strict privacy policy to make sure that data located on our servers is not lost or unlawfully disclosed.

Your rights 

Under the GDPR you have the following rights:

• To obtain access to, and copies of, the personal data that we hold about you;
• To require that we cease processing your personal data if the processing is causing you damage or distress;
• To require us not to send you marketing communications;
• To require us to erase your personal data;
• To require us to restrict our data processing activities;
• To receive from us the personal data we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal data to another data controller; and
• To require us to correct the personal data we hold about you if it is incorrect.

Please note that the above rights are not absolute, and we may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply.

Information about our use of cookies

From time to time, we may place information on your computer which allows us to recognize your computer. This information is commonly known as a “cookie”. Typically, cookies enable collection of certain information regarding your computer, including your internet protocol (IP) address, your computer’s operating system, your browser type and the address of any referring sites. Cookies are intended to enable and enhance the services of Merger Consulting as provided by accessing the website or entering into a contract for services. By accessing or continuing to access the Service, you agree to our use of cookies.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email info@merger-consulting.eu

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