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Your privacy is important to us. At Aura (“we”, “us” or “our”), we are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of the personal information we collect and hold by complying with the requirements under applicable privacy laws. We are equally committed to ensuring that all our employees and agents uphold these obligations.
This policy explains how we manage personal information within our organisation. It applies to us and all of our related companies, affiliates and associates.
We collect personal information from you in the following circumstances: when you register an account with us; order products or services from us; subscribe to our newsletter; or complete any application form to us or submit a query or request to us. In some cases, we may be required by law to collect personal information about you. The personal information will generally be acquired through our channels, but we may however obtain information through a third party, such as representatives, agents or contractors who provide services to us, or third parties whom may refer you to us as they think you may be interested in our products or services.
The kinds of personal information that we collect and hold about you may include:
Without this information, we may not be able to provide you with our products or services (or with all of the features and functionality offered by our products or services) or to respond to queries or requests that you submit to us.
We use personal data that we collect about you for the following purposes:
EEA Residents: For individuals who reside in the European Economic Area (including the United Kingdom) or Switzerland (collectively “EEA Residents”), pursuant to Article 6 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or any equivalent legislation (collectively “EEA Data Protection Law”), we process this personal information based on our contract with you to comply with our legal obligations, to satisfy our legitimate interests as described above and to satisfy on your consent.
We may share personal information about you with:
Under this privacy policy, you consent to your personal information being disclosed in such circumstances.
In some cases, the people to whom we disclose your personal information may be located overseas. There may not be in place data protection laws which are substantially similar to, or serve the same purposes as Hong Kong. As such, your personal information may not be protected to the same or similar extent as in Hong Kong.
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or enter, submit, or access your personal information.We offer the use of a secure server. All personal information provided to us is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our database, which can only be accessed by those with special access rights to our systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. We update these physical and technical security processes and procedures from time to time to address new and emerging security threats that you become aware of.
Yes, however your personal data will not be kept longer than required.
We may retain your personal information for a period of at least seven (7) years from the date on which we collect the information until the last transaction is completed with you or our relationship ends (whichever occurs last). At our discretion, we may retain personal data for longer than this period if we consider it necessary or desirable to do so to meet our legal or regulatory obligations.
Yes. If you want to access any of the personal information that we hold about you or to correct some aspect of it (e.g. because you think it is incomplete or incorrect), please contact us using the contact details set out below. To protect the integrity and security of the information we hold, we may ask that you follow a defined access procedure, which may include steps to verify your identity. In certain cases we may charge you an administration fee for providing you with access to the information you have asked for, but we will inform you of this before proceeding. There may be cases where we are unable to provide the information you request, such as where it would interfere with the privacy of others or result in a breach of confidentiality. In these cases we will let you know why we cannot comply with your request.
Even if you do not request access to and/or correct your personal data held by us, if we are satisfied that, having regard to the reasons for which we hold your personal data, that personal data is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date, irrelevant or misleading, we may take reasonable steps to correct that data.
Yes, we use cookies on our website/platform to monitor and observe your use of our websites, compile aggregate data about that use, and provide you with more effective service (which may include customising parts of our websites based on your preferences and past activities on those websites). “Cookies” are small text files created and stored on your hard drive by your internet browser software, in order to hold relevant information and the webpage you are currently viewing. Most internet browsers have a facility that will allow you to disable cookies altogether – please refer to your browser’s help menu to find out how to do this. While you will still be able to browse our websites with cookies disabled on your internet browser, some website functionality may not be available or may not function correctly.
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include links to third party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. Further, we do not verify their content. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
By using our site, providing personal information and/or using any of our products or services, you agree that you consent to our privacy policy, as updated from time to time.
We may make changes to this policy from time to time, to take into account changes to our standard practices and procedures or where necessary to comply with new laws and regulations. The latest version of this policy will be available at https://www.hextrust.com/legal-privacy/aura-privacy-policy
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), we are the controller with respect to your personal information. We determine the means and purposes of processing data in relation to e-wallet and cryptocurrency transactions.
Our legal bases for processing under General Data Protection Regulation are described above in the sections entitled “What do we use your personal information for?”. We may process your personal information if you consent to the processing, to satisfy our legal obligations, if it is necessary to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts we entered with you, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you, or for our legitimate interests to protect our property, our rights or safety and our customers or others.
If you are a current customer residing in the EEA, we will only contact you by electronic means (email) with information about our services that are similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale or negotiations of a sale to you.
If you are a new customer and located in the EEA, we will contact you if you are located in the EU by electronic means for marketing purposes only if you have consented to such communication. If you do not want us to use your personal information in this way, or to pass your personal information on to third parties for marketing purposes, please contact us to opt-out immediately. You may raise such objection with regard to initial or further processing for purposes of direct marketing, at any time and free of charge. Direct marketing includes any communications to you that are only based on advertising or promoting products and services
EEA users have the following rights, which can be exercised by contacting us:
We try to meet the highest standards in order to protect your privacy. However, if you are concerned about the way in which we are managing your personal data and think we may have breached any applicable privacy laws, or any other relevant obligation, please contact us by using the contact details set out below. We will make a record of your complaint and refer it to our internal complaint resolution department for further investigation. We will deal with the matter as soon as we can, and keep you informed of the progress of our investigation.
If we have not responded to you within a reasonable time or if you feel that your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you are entitled to make a complaint to the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
If you want any further information from us on privacy matters, please contact us at: aura.support@hextrust.com
This Master Trading Agreement (this “Master Agreement” or “Agreement”) is made between HT MARKETS (SVG) LIMITED, a company incorporated under the laws of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines having company number 26756 (“HT”) and you (the “Counterparty” and, together with HT, the “Parties”).
By clicking on “I agree” to accept this Agreement or entering into any one or more Transactions (as defined below), you confirm that you have read, understood, accepted and agreed to be bound by all of the terms and conditions stipulated in this Agreement. If you do not agree to any of the terms and conditions in this Agreement, or any additional applicable terms and conditions, do not enter into Transactions. If you are entering into this Agreement on behalf of a company or other entity, you represent that you have the authority to bind such entity to this Agreement. If you do not have such authority, you must not accept this Agreement.
WHEREAS:
NOW IT IS HEREBY AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
1.1. In this Master Agreement and in the Schedules, unless the context requires otherwise:
“Accepted Order” means an Order that has been validly accepted by the Offeree pursuant to Clause 4.2 below.
“AML/CFT Requirements” has the meaning given to it in Clause 3.4 below.
"Applicable Laws" means, with respect to any person, any and all applicable treaties, statutes, legislation, laws, regulations, ordinances, codes, rules, rulings, judgments, orders, awards, or any form of decisions, determinations or requirements of or made or issued by, any governmental, statutory, regulatory or supervisory bodies (including without limitation, any relevant stock exchange or securities council) or any court or tribunal with competent jurisdiction, whether in Hong Kong, Dubai, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines or elsewhere, as amended, modified or replaced from time to time, and to which such person is subject.
“Authorised Person(s)” means an individual duly appointed by the Counterparty whose name has been submitted to and accepted by HT from Counterparty and is authorised to provide Instructions (as defined herein) to HT. Any change to the Authorised Person(s) shall be made in writing in accordance with the terms set out in Schedule A and will constitute an integral and substantial part of this Master Agreement.
"Business Day" means a day (other than a Saturday, Sunday or gazetted public holiday) on which commercial banks are open for business in Hong Kong and Dubai.
“Collection Account” means the bank account and digital wallet, address, account, or storage device belonging to a Party, the details of which: (a) in the case of the Counterparty, have been submitted to and accepted by HT from Counterparty (which may be amended, modified or supplemented by the Counterparty in writing from time to time in accordance with the terms set out in Schedule A); and (b) in the case of HT, as notified by HT to the Counterparty from time to time.
"Confidential Information" means any information which is proprietary and confidential to HT and the Counterparty including but not limited to the terms and conditions of this Master Agreement, each Order, each Accepted Order, information concerning or relating in any way whatsoever to the HT’s investments or other arrangements, principals, any of the trade secrets or confidential operations, processes or inventions carried on or used by HT, any information concerning the organisation, business, finances, transactions, investments or affairs of HT and the Counterparty, HT’s dealings, secret or confidential information which relates to its business or any of its investee companies’ transactions or affairs, financial statements or information, any information therein in respect of trade secrets and information and material which is either marked confidential or is by its nature intended to be exclusively for the knowledge of the recipient alone.
“Confirmation” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.7.
“Confirmation Date” has the meaning given to it in Clause 2.1 below.
“Cryptocurrency” means digital tokens or units of other blockchain-based assets, which do not constitute a security or any regulated product or asset under the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571) of Hong Kong, or under any similar securities laws or regulations in other jurisdictions including but not limited to the Emirate of Dubai, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the United States of America or Singapore.
“Cryptocurrency Network” means the peer-to-peer computer network or protocol that governs the transfer of the applicable Cryptocurrency.
“Default Interest” has the meaning given to it in Clause 5.4 below.
“Due Acceptance” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.2 below.
“Eligible Collateral” means, with respect to a Forward:
(a) if the relevant Confirmation provides that “Physical Settlement” is applicable and the Counterparty’s obligation, upon settlement of such Forward, is (subject to any conditions applicable to such settlement) to:
(i) pay the Total Price to HT, USDC, such other stablecoin as HT may specify or USD, in each case as specified by HT; and
(ii) to deliver the Relevant Cryptocurrency to HT, such Relevant Cryptocurrency; and
(b) if the relevant Confirmation provides that “Cash or Other Cryptocurrency Settlement” is applicable, USDC, such other stablecoin as HT may specify or USD, in each case as specified by HT; and/or
(c) if any, such other Cryptocurrency, Fiat Currency or other assets specified in the applicable Confirmation.
"Encumbrance" means any mortgage, assignment of receivables, debenture, lien, hypothecation, charge, pledge, title retention, right to acquire, security interest, option, pre-emptive or other similar right, right of first refusal, restriction, third-party right or interest, any other encumbrance, condition or security interest whatsoever or any other type of preferential arrangement (including without limitation, a title transfer or retention arrangement) having similar effect.
“Fiat Funds” has the meaning given to it in Clause 5.11 below.
“Fiat Transfer” has the meaning given to it in Clause 5.11 below.
“Force Majeure Events” means any material change of circumstance or other event which caused by reasons, in HT’s sole view, beyond HT’s reasonable control (including but not limited to nationalization, expropriation, currency restrictions, acts of state, acts of God, earthquakes, fires, floods, typhoons, tsunami, wars, civil or military disturbances, sabotage, terrorism and cyber-terrorism, virus or hackers attacks, security, integrity, and availability of the Blockchain networks, epidemics, pandemics, riots, interruptions, loss or malfunctions of utilities, computer (hardware or software) or communications service, accidents, labour disputes, regulatory changes, central securities depository and central bank including their regulatory agencies, power failures or breakdowns in communications links or equipment of HT or its agent or service provider.
“Foreign Shell Bank” means an organisation that (i) is organized under the laws of a foreign country, (ii) engages in the business of banking, (iii) is recognized as a bank by the bank supervisory or monetary authority of the country of its organization or principal banking operations, (iv) receives deposits to a substantial extent in the regular course of its business, (v) has the power to accept demand deposits, but does not include the Hong Kong branches or agencies of a foreign bank, and (vi) without a physical presence in any country, but does not include a regulated affiliate.
“Forward” means a transaction under which a Party (“Party X”) agrees to buy Cryptocurrency from the other Party (“Party Y”) and Party Y agrees to sell such Cryptocurrency to Party X on a future date at an agreed price.
“Forward Order” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1 below.
“Instructions” means the Counterparty’s instruction, request, communication, application or order given to HT in connection with an Order, an Accepted Order and this Master Agreement through a Recognised Communication Channel, and includes any instruction, request, communication or order to revoke, ignore or vary any previous request or order in respect of an Order or an Accepted Order.
“Non-Cooperative Jurisdiction” means any country or territory that has been designated as non-cooperative with international anti-money laundering principles or procedures by an intergovernmental group or organization, such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (“FATF”), of which Hong Kong is a member and with which designation the Hong Kong representative to the group or organization continues to concur. See <http://www.fatf-gafi.org> for FATF’s list of non-cooperative countries and territories.
“OFAC” means the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control. The lists of OFAC prohibited countries, territories, persons and entities can be found on the OFAC website at <http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/>.
“Offeree” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1 below.
“Offeror” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1 below.
“Order” means a Sales Order, a Purchase Order or a Forward Order.
“Personal Data” means data, whether true or not, about an individual who can be identified from that data or from that data and other information to which HT has or is likely to have access which is treated in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486 of the laws of Hong Kong).
“Pre-funding” has the meaning given to it in Clause 5.5 below.
“Process”, in relation to Personal data, means (i) to carry out any operation or set of operations in relation to Personal Data, and includes recording, holding, organisation, adaptation/alteration, retrieval, combination, transmission and erasure/destruction; and (ii) to copy, use access, display, run, store, review, manage, modify, transform, translate, extract components into another work, integrate or incorporate as part of a derivative work, and (iii) to permit others to do (i) and (ii). “Processing” shall have the corresponding meaning as a noun for the same.
“Purchase Order” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1 below.
“Recognised Communication Channels” means the communication channels which are recognised for the purposes of communications between the Parties in connection with an Order or an Accepted Order, the details of which are set out in Schedule B (which may be amended, modified or supplemented from time to time in accordance with the terms of Schedule B).
“Relevant Cryptocurrency” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1(b) below, and “Relevant Cryptocurrencies” shall have the corresponding meaning.
“Rectifying Period” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.3 below.
"Representatives" means, in relation to a Party, its advisers, agents, employees, officers or other representatives.
“Sales Order” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.1 below.
“Sanctioned Jurisdiction” means, at any time, a country or territory which is itself the subject or target of any country-wide or territory-wide Sanctions.
“Sanctions” means the applicable economic or financial sanctions or trade embargoes imposed, administered or enforced from time to time by relevant Governmental Authorities, including, but not limited to, those administered by the U.S. government through OFAC or the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations Security Council, the European Union or Her Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom.
“Settlement Date” means, (a) in respect of a purchase pursuant to a Purchase Order or a sale pursuant to a Sales Order, the date of the relevant Accepted Order (or such other date for settlement of the relevant purchase or sale as the Parties agree in writing) and (b) in the case of a Forward, the date specified as the “Settlement Date” in the relevant Confirmation.
“Stablecoin” means only those particular Cryptocurrencies recognised and accepted by HT as “Stablecoins” from time to time, such as USDC.
"Surviving Clauses" means Clauses 1, 7, 8 and 9.
“Term” has the meaning given to it in Clause 3.1 below.
“Total Price” means the price for selling or purchasing the Relevant Cryptocurrency, which shall be the product of Clauses 4.1 (c) and (d) measured by reference to Stablecoins or by reference to another Cryptocurrency.
“Transaction” means each purchase, sale, Forward and/or transfer of Margin under this Agreement.
“USD” or “US Dollar” means the United States Dollar, the lawful currency of the United States of America.
“USDC” or “USD Coin” means the USD-referencing Stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Financial, LLC.
“Withdrawal Request” has the meaning given to it in Clause 5.6 below.
In this Master Agreement, a reference to: the "Master Agreement" includes all amendments, additions, and variations thereto agreed between the Parties and "clauses" are to the clauses of, and the schedules to, this Master Agreement (unless the context otherwise requires); "person" shall include an individual, corporation, company, partnership, firm, trustee, trust, executor, administrator or other legal personal representative, unincorporated association, joint venture, syndicate or other business enterprise, any governmental, administrative or regulatory authority or agency (notwithstanding that "person" may be sometimes used herein in conjunction with some of such words), and their respective successors, legal personal representatives and assigns, as the case may be, and pronouns shall have a similarly extended meaning; and "written" and "in writing" include any means of visible reproduction (including, for the avoidance of doubt, by way of electronic mail).
2.1. This Master Agreement contains the terms and conditions applicable to the sale and purchase of Cryptocurrency but does not specify any specific terms or details of any transaction (including but not limited to types, prices, quantities of the Cryptocurrency to be delivered and purchased pursuant to such sale and purchase). There shall be no binding commitment to sell and purchase Cryptocurrency unless an Order has been accepted by the Offeree pursuant to Clause 4.2 below. The date on which the Order has been duly accepted by the Offeree is the “Confirmation Date”. The Order shall be irreversible and binding upon acceptance by the Offeree on the Confirmation Date.
2.2. Upon acceptance of the Order, all the terms and conditions in this Master Agreement shall be incorporated by reference into and made a part of the Order.
2.3. In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Master Agreement and the terms contained in an Accepted Order, this Master Agreement shall prevail to the extent of such inconsistency.
3.1. This Master Agreement shall be in full force and effect from the date first above written and shall remain in effect unless terminated by either Party in accordance with this Clause 3 (“Term”). The Counterparty may terminate this Master Agreement by giving HT thirty (30) days’ prior written notice via the Recognised Communication Channel. HT may terminate this Master Agreement immediately with or without cause upon giving the Counterparty one (1) Business Day prior written notice via the Recognised Communication Channel.
3.2. Either Party (the “Non-Defaulting Party”) may terminate this Master Agreement immediately upon the occurrence of any of the following events or circumstances in respect of the other Party (the “Defaulting Party”):
(a) the Defaulting Party fails to pay any amount payable or deliver any Cryptocurrency deliverable under this Agreement (including any Margin) and/or a Transaction when due;
(b) a breach of any representation, warranty, undertaking or obligations in this Master Agreement or any Accepted Order (other than a breach set out in paragraph (a) above) by the Defaulting Party and the Defaulting Party fails to remedy or rectify the breach, to the reasonable satisfaction of the Non-Defaulting Party, within one (1) Business Day after the Defaulting Party becoming aware of the breach or the Non-Defaulting Party having notified the Defaulting Party of the breach (whichever is earlier);
(c) the Defaulting Party disavowing, disaffirming, repudiating, rejecting in whole or in part, or challenging the validity of, this Agreement, any Confirmation or any Transaction; or
(d) the Defaulting Party (1) is dissolved (other than pursuant to a solvent consolidation, amalgamation or merger); (2) becomes insolvent or is unable to pay its debts or fails or admits in writing its inability generally to pay its debts as they become due; (3) makes a general assignment, arrangement or composition with or for the benefit of its creditors; (4)(A) institutes or has instituted against it, by a regulator, supervisor or any similar official with primary insolvency, rehabilitative or regulatory jurisdiction over it in the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organisation or the jurisdiction of its head or home office, a proceeding seeking a judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy or any other relief under any bankruptcy or insolvency law or other similar law affecting creditors’ rights, or a petition is presented for its winding-up or liquidation by it or such regulator, supervisor or similar official, or (B) has instituted against it a proceeding seeking a judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy or any other relief under any bankruptcy or insolvency law or other similar law affecting creditors’ rights, or a petition is presented for its winding-up or liquidation, and such proceeding or petition is instituted or presented by a person or entity not described in clause (A) above and either (I) results in a judgment of insolvency or bankruptcy or the entry of an order for relief or the making of an order for its winding-up or liquidation or (II) is not dismissed, discharged, stayed or restrained in each case within 15 days of the institution or presentation thereof; (5) has a resolution passed for its winding-up, official management or liquidation (other than pursuant to a consolidation, amalgamation or merger); (6) seeks or becomes subject to the appointment of an administrator, provisional liquidator, conservator, receiver, trustee, custodian or other similar official for it or for all or substantially all its assets; (7) has a secured party take possession of all or substantially all its assets or has a distress, execution, attachment, sequestration or other legal process levied, enforced or sued on or against all or substantially all its assets and such secured party maintains possession, or any such process is not dismissed, discharged, stayed or restrained, in each case within 15 days thereafter; (8) causes or is subject to any event with respect to it which, under the applicable laws of any jurisdiction, has an analogous effect to any of the events specified in clauses (1) to (7) above (inclusive); or (9) takes any action in furtherance of, or indicating its consent to, approval of, or acquiescence in, any of the foregoing acts,
and liquidate, close-out, cancel and/or terminate all Transactions under this Agreement. Any proceeds obtained from the liquidation, closing-out, cancellation or termination of Transactions under this Agreement shall be applied to the discharge of the Defaulting Party’s obligations to the Non-Defaulting Party under this Agreement.
3.3. Upon termination pursuant to Clauses 3.1, 3.2 or 3.8, the rights and obligations of each Party under this Master Agreement shall cease, provided that (i) the Surviving Clauses and, to the extent not fully performed, Clauses 3.4-3.7, shall survive the termination and remain in full force; (ii) such termination shall not relieve any Parties from liability for any breach of this Master Agreement or any Accepted Order prior to the termination.
3.4. If this Agreement is terminated in accordance with Clauses 3.1, 3.2 or 3.8 (an “Early Termination” and the date of such Early Termination, the “Early Termination Date”), (x) amounts, if any, due from HT to Counterparty but unpaid, or Cryptocurrency, if any, due to be delivered by HT to Counterparty but undelivered, as the case may be, as of the Early Termination Date, including an amount equal to the value of any Margin which has then been transferred to HT (including the liquidated value of any non-cash Margin) will be deemed to be unpaid amounts or undelivered Cryptocurrency due to be paid or delivered from HT to Counterparty; and (y) amounts, if any, due from Counterparty to HT but unpaid, or Cryptocurrency, if any, due to be delivered by Counterparty to HT but undelivered, as the case may be, as of the Early Termination Date will be deemed unpaid amounts or undelivered Cryptocurrency due to be paid or delivered from Counterparty to HT.
3.5. With respect to each Transaction, HT shall calculate, having regard to prevailing market rates and/or prices, the amount of losses or costs that are or would be incurred by HT under then prevailing circumstances (expressed as a positive number) or the amount of gains by HT that are or would be realised by HT under then prevailing circumstances (expressed as a negative number) in replacing, or in providing for HT, the economic equivalent of the material terms of that Transaction, including the payments and deliveries (whether the underlying obligation was absolute or contingent and assuming the satisfaction of each applicable condition precedent) by the Parties in respect of such Transaction that would, but for the occurrence of the relevant Early Termination Date, have been required after that date (the "Close-out Amount"), which amount of losses or costs or amount of gains may be expressed in Fiat Currency or Cryptocurrency. Each Close-out Amount will be determined by HT in good faith and in a commercially reasonable manner as described above.
3.6. HT will determine in good faith and in a commercially reasonable manner the amount equal to (a) the sum of (i) the Close-out Amounts determined in accordance with Clause 3.5 plus (ii) any unpaid amount owing to HT under Clause 3.4 minus (b) any unpaid amount owing to Counterparty under Clause 3.4, such amount being denominated in any Fiat Currency or Cryptocurrency (the “Early Termination Amount”).
3.7. If the Early Termination Amount is a positive number, the Counterparty shall pay it to HT; if it is a negative number, HT shall pay the absolute value of the Early Termination Amount to the Counterparty. The Parties agree that the amounts recoverable under this Clause 3 are a reasonable pre-estimate of loss and not a penalty. Such amounts are payable for the loss of bargain and the loss of protection against future risks and, except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, neither Party will be entitled to recover any additional damages as a consequence of such losses.
3.8. This Master Agreement is subject to and contingent upon the Counterparty having completed HT’s onboarding process to the satisfaction of HT and HT being satisfied in its sole discretion with the compliance with all relevant laws and regulations, including without limitation all anti-money laundering, sanctions and countering the financing of terrorism regulations (“AML/CFT Requirements”), and HT reserves the right to terminate this Master Agreement or any Accepted Order at any time if, at any time, it has reason to believe that the entry into or any transaction contemplated under this Master Agreement will be non-compliant with any AML/CFT Requirements and HT shall not be held liable to the Counterparty for its non-performance of its obligations in this Master Agreement or any Accepted Order. In addition, if (x) HT is notified by any regulatory authority that any obligation of HT under this Agreement, including any obligation to receive a payment of any amount or delivery of any Cryptocurrency, is in violation of, or not permitted under, Applicable Law; or (y) any obligation of HT under this Agreement violates Applicable Law, or the performance of which would cause HT to be in violation of Applicable Law, then HT shall have the right, by notice to the Counterparty, to terminate this Agreement and the Transactions entered into between the Parties hereunder.
4.1. Any Party (“Offeror”) may at any time during the Term deliver to the other Party (“Offeree”) a sales order (“Sales Order”) for the purpose of offering to sell Relevant Cryptocurrency, a purchase order (“Purchase Order”) for the purpose of offering to purchase Relevant Cryptocurrency or an order for the purpose of offering to purchase or sell Relevant Cryptocurrency on a forward basis (“Forward Order”). The Order shall only be delivered in writing or verbally (if and only if it is being recorded by HT), through a Recognised Communication Channel, and include the following:
(a) full name of Offeree and Offeror;
(b) the type of Cryptocurrency (“Relevant Cryptocurrency”) to sell and/or to purchase;
(c) the total number of units of Relevant Cryptocurrencies to sell and/or to purchase;
(d) the price per unit of Relevant Cryptocurrency (measured by reference to Stablecoins or by reference to another Cryptocurrency) being sold and/or being purchased;
(e) the type of Order (whether the Offeror acts as seller or purchaser);
(f) the expiry time (if any) of the Order (for the avoidance of doubt, if no expiry time is specified, then the Order shall remain valid for acceptance until expressly canceled by the Offeror through a Recognised Communication Channel);
(g) in the case of a Forward Order, the proposed Settlement Date; and
(h) any other conditions attached to the Order, as an example, including but not limited to setting limit for any maximum or minimum average price per unit or any maximum or minimum order volume.
Each Order may only be accepted within the time (e.g. 30 seconds) as may be set out in the Order by the Offeror (for the avoidance of doubts, if no time is expressly defined or mentioned, the Order will be considered as valid for acceptance until it is being explicitly cancelled by the Offeror or rejected by the Offeree through a Recognised Communication Channel) (“Acceptance Window”).
If the Offeror submits multiple Orders, each and every Order shall be considered valid unless explicitly cancelled through a Recognised Communication Channel. For clarity, if a client submits multiple Orders, the subsequent Orders should not be considered as an amendment or replacement of the prior Orders unless explicitly specified.
4.2. The Offeree may accept an Order only by confirmation of acceptance in writing (for the avoidance of doubts, using the words such as ‘accepted’, ‘agreed’, ‘completed’, ‘done’ or other synonyms in responding to an Order would be deemed as ‘confirmation of acceptance’) through a Recognised Communication Channel within the Acceptance Window ("Due Acceptance”), provided that the Offeror who deliver the Order may withdraw the Order through a Recognised Communication at any time prior to the Due Acceptance by the Offeree. Once the Due Acceptance is made by the Offeree, the Order will be deemed to become an accepted Order (“Accepted Order”) and a binding irrevocable transaction between the Offeror and the Offeree will be deemed to have been executed at the time of Due Acceptance, on the terms set forth in the Accepted Order, subject to Clause 4.3 and 4.4 below. The Accepted Order shall be final, irrevocable and binding on the Parties, subject to Clause 4.3 and 4.4 below and/or to mutual agreement in writing by the Parties to amend or terminate the Accepted Order.
4.3. Notwithstanding any Accepted Order being made, if HT reasonably determines that (i) an Accepted Order contained an obvious and unmistakably apparent error with respect to the price or amount of Cryptocurrency set forth therein or missing any material terms as set out in Clause 4.1 (a) to (g), (ii) performance of the Accepted Order will be or will become non-compliant with any AML/CFT Requirements or applicable law and regulations, (iii) any Force Majeure Events has occurred or threatened to occur, or (iv) any extreme or abnormal market conditions exist or are imminent, then HT shall have the sole discretionary right to cancel or suspend the Accepted Order by delivering a notice to Counterparty, via Recognised Communication Channels. For the avoidance of doubt and only in respect of Clause 4.3(i) above, HT’s right to cancel or suspend any Accepted Order in this Clause shall be exercised within a reasonable time after the Due Acceptance by the Offeree . For further clarity, there is no time restriction on HT to exercise its rights under Clause 4.3(ii), (iii) and (iv).
4.4. Counterparty may, after the making of any Accepted Order, inquire about the execution status of that Accepted Order through a Recognised Communication Channel. If a portion, and not all, of the Accepted Order has been filled, HT may, in its sole discretion with no obligation to do so, upon the Counterparty’s request through a Recognised Communication Channel, cancel that portion of the Accepted Order that has not yet been filled.
4.5. The terms of use of communications through the Recognised Communication Channels are set out in Schedule B.
4.6. The Parties agree that HT shall have the right (but not obligation) to record all telephone calls or any other means of communication via any Recognised Communication Channels relating to this Agreement, the Order and the Accepted Order and all transactions contemplated thereunder. The Parties agree to accept such recordings and transcripts of such recordings by HT as supporting evidence in any actions, proceedings or disputes between the Parties. HT may, upon the Counterparty’s written request via a Recognised Communication Channels, provide a copy of such recordings or transcripts to the Counterparty, subject to availability of such recordings and transcripts and the Counterparty shall bear all relevant costs and expenses. For clarity, HT shall not have any obligation to maintain or provide to the Counterparty any copies of such recordings and transcripts unless otherwise required by the applicable law or court order.
4.7. After an Accepted Order is concluded, HT shall provide, by email or other means of communication as HT sees fit, the Counterparty a confirmation to record the terms of the transaction under the Accepted Order (a “Confirmation”). The Confirmation may include the information set out in Clause 4.1 (a) to (g) above, the date and time of conclusion of the Accepted Order, the settlement addresses or accounts of the Offeror and the Offeree, and the relevant Settlement Date; provided that Confirmations may be in any form that HT deems appropriate and shall in all cases prevail over the terms of this Agreement and any Order in the event of any conflict or inconsistency between the terms of this Agreement and/or any Order and such Confirmation. The contents of the Confirmation may contain Confidential Information that is private, confidential and privileged, intended only for the Counterparty. The failure by HT to issue a Confirmation shall not prejudice nor invalidate the terms of any Transaction. Counterparty shall be deemed to have agreed to the terms of any Confirmation if Counterparty has not notified HT of any ambiguity or error in the Confirmation within four (4) hours of receipt of the Confirmation.
4.8. Unless specifically contemplated by an Order, this Master Agreement shall not be construed to include in the Relevant Cryptocurrency any additional cryptocurrencies resulting from a Fork that occurs prior to the Settlement Date. For the purpose of this Clause, “Fork” shall mean a change to the protocol of a given cryptocurrency wherein a permanent divergence in the blockchain results in two or more versions of a single cryptocurrency, or an airdrop or any other event which results in the creation of a new token/cryptocurrency.
5.1. Upon or after Due Acceptance of a Sales Order or a Purchase Order, the Counterparty shall immediately on the Settlement Date:
(a) in the event that the Counterparty is the purchaser of the Relevant Cryptocurrency in respect of the relevant Accepted Order, deliver the relevant Total Price to the Collection Account of HT, provided that:
(i) if the Total Price is due to be settled in Fiat Funds as stated in the Accepted Order, the Total Price shall be paid in immediately available cleared and unencumbered Fiat Funds (increased as may be necessary to pay any applicable bank or remittance charges) by electronic transfer to the Collection Account of HT; and
(ii) if the Total Price is due to be settled in Cryptocurrency (including Stablecoins) as stated in the Accepted Order, the Total Price shall be paid in immediately available cleared and unencumbered Cryptocurrency on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network.
Notwithstanding the above, upon Due Acceptance of the Purchase Order or Sales Order (as applicable) by HT, HT is authorised and entitled to set off or net, without further notice or consent, the Total Price against any amounts (whether in Stablecoins or Cryptocurrency (as the case may be) previously transferred to HT (including but not limited to the Pre-funding) or owed by HT to the Counterparty, whereupon HT shall have full title and ownership to the Total Price (whether in Stablecoins or Cryptocurrency (as the case may be)).
(b) in the event that the Counterparty is the seller of the Relevant Cryptocurrency in respect of the relevant Accepted Order (other than a Forward Order), transfer and deliver the immediately available cleared and unencumbered Relevant Cryptocurrency under the applicable Accepted Order on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network to the Collection Account of HT.
Notwithstanding the above, upon Due Acceptance of the Purchase Order or Sales Order (as applicable) by HT, HT is authorised and entitled to transfer to itself, without further notice or consent, the Relevant Cryptocurrency out of any Cryptocurrency previously transferred to HT (including but not limited to the Pre-funding) or owed by HT to the Counterparty, whereupon HT shall have full title and ownership to the Relevant Cryptocurrency.
5.2. Upon Due Acceptance of a Purchase Order or Sales Order, and conditional upon the Counterparty having fulfilled (or unless otherwise waived by HT in writing) in full its obligations in Clause 5.1 (a) and/(b) (as the case may be) on the Settlement Date to the satisfaction of HT, HT shall immediately thereafter (or on such other date as the Parties otherwise agreed in writing):
(a) in the event that HT is the purchaser of the Relevant Cryptocurrency in respect of the relevant Accepted Order, transfer and deliver the relevant Total Price to the Collection Account of the Counterparty, provided that:
(i) if the Total Price is due to be settled in Fiat Funds as stated in the Accepted Order, the Total Price shall be paid in immediately available cleared and unencumbered Fiat Funds (net of any bank or remittance charges) by electronic transfer to the Collection Account of the Counterparty, conditional upon the satisfaction of Clause 5.11 to the satisfaction of HT; and
(ii) if the Total Price is due to be settled in Cryptocurrency as stated in the Accepted Order, the Total Price shall be paid in immediately available cleared and unencumbered Cryptocurrency on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network; and
(b) in the event that HT is the seller of the Relevant Cryptocurrency in respect of the relevant Accepted Order (other than a Forward Order), transfer and deliver the immediately available cleared and unencumbered Relevant Cryptocurrency under the applicable Accepted Order on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network to the Collection Account of the Counterparty.
5.3. In respect of any Accepted Order (other than a Forward Order), in the event that the Counterparty does not satisfy and comply with Clause 5.1 in all respects by the Settlement Date, without prejudice to any other rights or remedies available and the Default Interest applying as per Clause 5.4 below, HT may in its sole and absolute discretion:
(a) waive the requirements under Clause 5.1 in respect of such Accepted Order;
(b) defer the Settlement Date to a date as HT and the Counterparty may agree in writing (and so that the provisions of this Clause 5 shall apply to such completion as so deferred but without prejudice to HT rights and remedies hereunder including but not limited to the entitlement to the Default Interest);
(c) effect completion of such Accepted Order so far as practicable having regard to the defaults which have occurred (without prejudice to HT rights and remedies hereunder);
(d) not effect completion of such Accepted Order (without prejudice to HT rights and remedies hereunder); or
(e) terminate the Accepted Order, save for the Surviving Clauses and without prejudice to HT rights and remedies hereunder.
5.4. Without prejudice to Clause 5.3 and any other remedies available, in the event that the Counterparty does not satisfy and comply with Clause 5.1 or 5.12 (as applicable) in all respects by the Settlement Date and fails to remedy or rectify, to the satisfaction of HT, the breach or non-compliance within one (1) day after the original Settlement Date, the Counterparty shall, to the fullest extent permitted by law, pay a default interest (“Default Interest”) on such unpaid amount (whether in relation to the Total Price or Relevant Cryptocurrency) from the original Settlement Date to the date that the Counterparty having fulfilled to the satisfaction of HT (or otherwise waived by HT) all of the Counterparty’s obligations under Clause 5.1 at a rate equals to the average effective federal funds rate as quoted and published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on its website of the five (5) consecutive Business Days preceding the Settlement Date plus 10% per annum (provided if the rate exceeds the maximum rate permitted by the applicable law, the maximum rate permitted by the applicable law shall prevail). Such Default Interest shall be calculated by HT on the normal basis for the currency concerned on a daily basis and shall be payable on demand. The Default Interest is not a penalty but instead is intended by the Parties to be, and shall be deemed, liquidated damages which reflects the estimated loss to HT of being deprived of the use of the Total Price or Relevant Cryptocurrency.
5.5. For each Purchase Order or Sales Order, Counterparty shall, unless otherwise agreed by HT to waive the Pre-funding requirement, before delivering or accepting any Order, transfer or deliver available, cleared and unencumbered Cryptocurrency via the applicable Cryptocurrency Network and/or available, cleared and unencumbered Fiat Funds by electronic transfer (as the case may be) (the “Pre-funding”) sufficient to settle the relevant Total Price or Relevant Cryptocurrency to the Collection Account of HT. For the avoidance of doubts, any Pre-funding paid or delivered to HT (a) will occur by way of title transfer meaning that Counterparty will convey the Pre-funding to HT and HT will become the full owner of the Pre-funding, (b) the Pre-funding will not be held by HT on trust for or on the account of the Counterparty, and (c) HT’s obligation to the Counterparty in relation to such Pre-funding will be a contractual obligation to return to Counterparty an equivalent amount of Pre-funding if HT determines such Pre-funding is no longer required.
5.6. The Counterparty shall have the right to request for a refund or withdrawal of the Pre-funding by written notice through a Recognised Communication Channel to HT (“Withdrawal Request”), and HT shall return the Pre-funding to the Counterparty’s Collection Account as soon as reasonably possible upon receipt of the Withdrawal Request, provided that HT shall have right to refuse or delay any refund or withdrawal or allow only partial refund of the Pre-funding if HT reasonably considers that (i) the Counterparty does not have sufficient funds (whether in fiat currency or Cryptocurrency) to settle any Orders or Accepted Orders; (ii) HT has obligation to withhold the Pre-funding in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations, rules, orders, warrants or government investigations; (iii) returning of the Pre-funding or complying with the Withdrawal Request will have deemed HT to breach or put HT at risk of breaching any applicable laws, regulations, rules, orders or warrants; or (iv) there is outstanding amount due from the Counterparty to HT.
5.7. The Counterparty agrees, acknowledges, undertakes and warrants to HT that:
(a) any Pre-funding paid or delivered to HT (a) will occur by way of title transfer meaning that Counterparty will convey the Pre-funding to HT and HT will become the full owner of the Pre-funding, (b) the Pre-funding will not be held by HT on trust for, or on the account of the Counterparty, and (c) HT’s obligation to the Counterparty in relation to such Pre-funding will be a contractual obligation to return to Counterparty an equivalent amount of Pre-funding if HT determines such Pre-funding is no longer required;
(b) no interest, dividends or any additional payment in relation to the Pre-funding will be accrued, distributed or paid out to the Counterparty;
(c) HT may at any time and at its sole discretion (but not obligation) return the Pre-funding to the Counterparty’s Collection Account if (i) it has reason to believe that maintaining the Pre-funding will be at risk of non-compliance with any applicable laws and regulations (including but not limited to the AML/CFT Requirements) or due to any other unexpected events that would prevent HT from keeping the Pre-funding or performing its obligations in this Agreement, (ii) no Accepted Order has been concluded within five (5) days after the date of receipt of the Pre-funding; or (iii) for any other reasons as HT sees fit;
(d) the funds used by the Counterparty to pay the Pre-funding were legally and lawfully acquired by the Counterparty which shall not violate any applicable laws or regulations including without limitation to applicable anti-money laundering laws;
(e) at all times comply with all laws and regulations applicable to its respective businesses and jurisdictions, including but not limited to, laws relating to prevention of money laundering, suspicious transaction, AML/CTF and KYC obligations (including any future obligations that may be imposed by laws or regulations, to know its customers, their source and use of funds and/or digital assets, and to monitor for and identify suspicious activity), regulatory filings; and
(f) provide without delay the documentary evidence obtained in the course of carrying out client due diligence measures upon request from overseas or local regulators or otherwise as reasonably required by HT.
5.8. Save as otherwise set out herein or otherwise expressly agreed by HT, payments or transfers to be made or payable by the Counterparty to HT under an Accepted Order or pursuant to the Pre-funding requirement as set out in Clause 5.5 above are not subject to any set off or netting against any other amounts due from HT to the Counterparty.
5.9. Each payment of any amount owing hereunder shall be for the full amount due, without reduction, withholding or offset for any reason (including, without limitation, any exchange charges, bank transfer charges, any other fees, other than pursuant to any applicable withholding tax obligations).
5.10. Save and except for the purpose set out in Clause 5.11, HT does not accept or receive any fiat currency transfer from the Counterparty.
5.11. HT may accept fiat currency (“Fiat Funds”) transfer from the Counterparty (“Fiat Transfer”) subject to the following:
(a) the Fiat Funds currency that HT would accept is only limited to United States Dollars or such other currency as HT may agree to accept from time to time;
(b) the sole purpose of the Fiat Funds is to purchase Cryptocurrency in accordance with this Agreement;
(c) any Fiat Funds under a Fiat Transfer shall be legally and lawfully acquired by the Counterparty which shall not violate any applicable laws or regulations including without limitation to AML/CFT Requirements;
(d) any Fiat Funds under a Fiat Transfer shall be transferred by the Counterparty via electronic transfer from a bank account owned by, and on the name of, the Counterparty constituting a Collection Account of the Counterparty;
(e) if the transfer of any Fiat Funds by HT to any Collection Account of Counterparty is refused by any relevant financial institution, then HT may, in its sole discretion, upon HT’s receipt of the returned funds, convert those funds to USDC (or another USD based Stablecoin selected by HT), and transfer such USD or other USD based Stablecoin to an address for receipt of such Stablecoins which is a Collection Account of Counterparty (net of all applicable fees and charges, including, for the avoidance of doubt, all fees applicable to the purchase of Stablecoins under this Agreement); and
(f) HT shall have sole discretion to reject all or any Fiat Transfer, and (if Fiat Funds have been transferred to HT) return the Fiat Funds to the Collection Account of the Counterparty with or without cause at any time.
5.12. On each Settlement Date for a Forward, no later than 5:00 am (Atlantic Standard Time):
(a) if the relevant Confirmation specifies that “Physical Settlement” is applicable:
(i) if HT is the purchaser of Cryptocurrency under the Forward, the Counterparty shall transfer the relevant Cryptocurrency, cleared and unencumbered, on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network, to the Collection Account of HT whereupon HT shall, as soon as practicable but no later than twenty four (24) hours following confirmation of such transfer of Cryptocurrency to the Collection Account of HT, transfer the Total Price to the Collection Account of the Counterparty; or
(ii) if the Counterparty is the purchaser of Cryptocurrency under the Forward, the Counterparty shall transfer the Total Price to the Collection Account of HT (in cleared and unencumbered Cryptocurrency on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network or cleared and unencumbered Fiat Funds by electronic transfer, as applicable) whereupon HT shall, as soon as practicable, but no later than twenty four (24) hours following confirmation of the transfer of the Total Price to the Collection Account of HT, transfer the relevant Cryptocurrency to the Counterparty’s Collection Account.
(b) if the relevant Confirmation specifies that “Cash or Other Cryptocurrency Settlement” is applicable, the buyer or seller of the relevant Cryptocurrency, as applicable, shall pay or transfer the Cash or Other Digital Asset Settlement Amount (as defined in and determined in accordance with the relevant Confirmation) to the other Party’s Collection Account (in cleared and unencumbered Cryptocurrency on the applicable Cryptocurrency Network or cleared and unencumbered Fiat Funds by electronic transfer, as applicable).
5.13. HT may, at its sole option, by notice to the Counterparty, require Eligible Collateral from the Counterparty in respect of any Forward. Upon delivery by HT of such notice, Counterparty shall be obliged to pay or deliver Eligible Collateral to HT in accordance with the terms of this Clause.
5.14. The amount of Eligible Collateral required to be transferred by Counterparty to HT in respect of any Forward (“Margin”), shall be determined by HT, acting in a commercially reasonable manner, in its sole and unfettered discretion or as otherwise agreed between the Parties. One demand for Margin from the Counterparty shall not restrict HT from making further calls for Margin. The Counterparty is responsible for ensuring arrangements are in place at all times to pay or transfer the relevant amount of Margin with respect to a Margin Call Notification (as defined below).
5.15. Except for Forwards that have been fully paid by the Counterparty, the Counterparty agrees to transfer Margin (including, without limitation, any liability for initial, original, variation and maintenance Margin together with any additional Margin) upon notification of a Margin call (each, a “Margin Call Notification”) by HT in accordance with this Agreement.
5.16. A Margin Call Notification shall be deemed to have been validly given by HT to Counterparty upon delivery by HT of such Margin Call Notification through a Recognised Communication Channel.
5.17. No later than twenty four (24) hours after receipt by Counterparty of a Margin Call Notification, the Counterparty shall pay or transfer the required Margin specified in that Margin Call Notification.
5.18. If HT determines that additional Margin is required, the Counterparty agrees to pay or transfer such additional Margin upon demand and no later than twenty four (24) hours after receipt by Counterparty of each subsequent Margin Call Notification.
5.19. HT may determine the value of any Margin which has been paid or transferred to HT or which is payable or transferrable to HT pursuant to a Margin Call Notification, in its absolute discretion, and may revalue such Margin from time to time, by such means as it, in its discretion, considers appropriate, acting in a commercially reasonable manner. For the purposes of this Clause, the value of Margin paid or transferred to HT or which is payable or transferrable to HT pursuant to a Margin Call Notification shall be its USD value as of the time HT determines such value.
5.20. When HT receives Margin from Counterparty, or from a third party on Counterparty’s behalf, Counterparty agrees that full ownership of such Margin is transferred to HT on a title transfer basis. The Counterparty agrees that all right, title, and interest in and to any Margin which Counterparty transfers to HT shall vest in HT free and clear of any Encumbrances or any other claim or interest Counterparty or any third party may have. The Counterparty acknowledges that the Margin HT receives from the Counterparty will not be segregated from HT’s own assets and that HT is permitted to deal with such Margin as HT’s own. In the event of HT’s default, Counterparty will rank as an unsecured creditor of HT’s for return of such Margin pursuant to this Agreement.
5.21. Nothing in this Agreement is intended to create or does create in HT’s favour any mortgage, charge, lien, pledge, encumbrance or other security interest in cash or any property transferred by Counterparty to HT in accordance with this Agreement.
5.22. Subject to HT’s rights under this Agreement and the Confirmations, with respect to Margin, HT shall have a contractual obligation only to pay or transfer an equivalent amount of cash and/or Cryptocurrency to the Counterparty when HT determines, in its sole discretion, that (i) such cash and/or Cryptocurrency are no longer required as Margin in relation to any present, future or contemplated Transactions and/or (ii) there are no obligations of Counterparty outstanding under any Transaction or other liabilities of Counterparty under this Agreement.
6.1. Each Party hereby represents and warrants to the other Party, as of the date hereof and on each Settlement Date, that:
(a) it is duly organised and validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its place of incorporation or, (if the Party is an individual or acting as a sole proprietorship or a partnership) the Party and each of the partners of the Party (if applicable) is of the age of majority and is not an undischarged bankrupt;
(b) it has full capacity, power and authority to execute and deliver and perform all of its obligations under this Master Agreement and any other agreements to be executed by it hereunder and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby;
(c) all actions, conditions and things required to be taken, fulfilled and done (including the obtaining of any necessary consents) in order (i) to enable it lawfully to enter into, exercise its rights and perform or comply with its obligations under, this Master Agreement and any other agreements to be executed by it hereunder and to consummate the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby and (ii) to ensure that those obligations are legally binding and enforceable have been taken, fulfilled and done;
(d) this Master Agreement and any other agreements and instruments of it contemplated hereby shall be the legal, valid and binding agreement of it, enforceable against it in accordance with their terms;
(e) the execution, delivery and performance of this Master Agreement by it will not conflict with its constitution or any law, order, judgment, decree, rule or regulation of any court, arbitral, tribunal or government agency, or any agreement, instrument or indenture to which it or any of its related corporations is a party or by which it is bound;
(f) neither it, nor any Person who controls it or any Person for whom it is acting as an agent or nominee, as applicable (1) bears a name that appears on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons or Sanctions-related list of sanctioned Persons maintained by OFAC or the U.S. Department of State, by the United Nations Security Council, the European Union or Her Majesty’s Treasury of the United Kingdom from time to time; (2) is a Foreign Shell Bank; or (3) resides in or whose funds or Cryptocurrency are transferred from or through an account in a Non-Cooperative Jurisdiction or a Sanctioned Jurisdiction;
(g) no proceedings have been commenced or are pending for the bankruptcy, winding up, liquidation or reorganisation of it and it is not insolvent;
(h) it has not been the subject of any civil, criminal, arbitration, administrative or other proceeding or government investigations involving a default on its part, and to the best of its knowledge, no fact or circumstance exists which might give rise to such proceedings or investigations; and
(i) with respect to any Relevant Cryptocurrency to be sold or transferred by it to the Counterparty under any Accepted Order, it is the lawful owner of such Relevant Cryptocurrency with good and marketable title thereto, and it has the absolute right to sell, assign, convey, transfer and deliver such Relevant Cryptocurrency and such Relevant Cryptocurrency are free and clear of any and all Encumbrances.
6.2. The Counterparty hereby further represents and warrants to HT, as of the date hereof and on each Settlement Date, that:
(a) all statements and information provided by the Counterparty are true, complete and correct and that no material fact has been wilfully withheld;
(b) it has fully complied with all applicable laws or regulations of all relevant jurisdictions in connection with the source of funds or Cryptocurrency used or to be used for the settlement of any Accepted Order, and the Counterparty will not, by reason of acceptance and receipt of such proceeds, be in breach of any applicable law or regulation of any relevant jurisdiction, including but not limited to anti-money laundering laws;
(c) all transactions contemplated under Accepted Orders are for Counterpart’s own account as principal and not as trustee or otherwise on behalf of any other person. If the Counterparty acts on behalf of someone else, HT will not accept that person as an indirect customer;
(d) the Counterparty is qualified and acknowledge and agree to be treated as professional investors pursuant to the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap 571 of the laws of Hong Kong) or the Securities and Futures (Professional Investor Rules) (Cap 571D of the laws of Hong Kong), or as institutional investors or accredited investors (where applicable) pursuant to the Securities and Futures Act (Cap. 289 of the laws of Singapore) (as the case may be); and
(e) the Counterparty is the legal and beneficial owner of each of its Collection Accounts, and each of its Collection Accounts is owned and operated solely for the benefit of the Counterparty, and no Person, other than the Counterparty, has any right, title or interest in its Collection Accounts; and it is the legal and beneficial owner of each of its Collection Accounts, and each of its Collection Accounts is owned and operated solely for its benefit, and no person other than it has any right, title or interest in its Collection Accounts.
6.3. The Counterparty agrees, understands and acknowledges that:
(a) HT reserves the right to reject or delay executing any Instruction from the Counterparty if any such Instruction is, in its sole determination, unclear, conflicting, incorrect, incomplete, in an unapproved format, unauthorised, fraudulent or not otherwise authentic, or in breach of (or may breach) any of the security procedures of HT and/or any applicable law or regulation;
(b) it shall provide HT at any time with all documents and information as required prior to the establishment of the account or from time to time, as HT considers appropriate (including but not limited to the Counterparty shall make available to HT, within 7 calendar days of HT’s request, all updated financial information, which fairly represents the Counterparty’s financial condition on the dates and for the periods covered by such information);
(c) the Relevant Cryptocurrency will be created and delivered to the Counterparty at the sole risk of the Counterparty on an “as is” basis and no representation or warranty is made in respect of the Cryptocurrency Network applicable to the Relevant Cryptocurrency;
(d) any quote or order prices of any Relevant Cryptocurrency provided by HT need not be quoted or linked to any exchange market, and it needs not represent and may be difficult or impossible to determine a fair or market price, the Counterparty shall familiarise itself with the applicable rules and attendant risks before the Counterparty undertakes such transactions;
(e) the Relevant Cryptocurrency involve significant risks, all of which the Counterparty fully and completely acknowledges and assumes, including, but not limited to, the risk that the Relevant Cryptocurrency may decrease in value over time and/or lose all monetary value;
(f) the Counterparty acknowledges and accepts the risks set out in the Risk Disclosure Statement under Schedule C. The Counterparty agrees that HT shall not be responsible for and the Counterparty shall not hold HT liable for any damages, remedy, refund or compensation in respect of any loss incurred by the Counterparty, regardless of such loss being direct, indirect or incidental, arising from such risks and there may be no remedies available to the Counterparty as a result;
(g) no governmental authority has passed on or made any recommendation or endorsement of this Master Agreement, Accepted Orders or the fairness or suitability of the investment in the Relevant Cryptocurrency, nor has any governmental authority passed upon or endorsed the merits of any offer of Relevant Cryptocurrency under any Accepted Order;
(h) the Counterparty bears sole responsibility for any taxes as a result of the matters and transactions that are the subject of this Master Agreement, Accepted Orders, and any future acquisition, ownership, use, sale or other disposition of any Relevant Cryptocurrency pursuant to any Accepted Orders (each a “relevant matter”) held by or on behalf of the Counterparty. To the extent permitted by law, the Counterparty agrees to indemnify, defend and hold HT and any of its affiliates, employees, officers or agents (including developers, auditors, contractors or founders) harmless on an after-tax basis for any claim, liability, assessment or penalty with respect to any taxes associated with or arising from any relevant matter;
(i) HT engages in the purchase and sale of Cryptocurrency, including any such transaction contemplated by this Agreement, solely on a proprietary basis for investment purposes for its own account and each HT and Counterparty transacts in their capacity as principals and not agents;
(j) if HT transacts with the Counterparty it does so solely on a bilateral basis;
(k) HT is not providing and will not provide any fiduciary, advisory, exchange or other similar services with respect to the Counterparty, any person related to or affiliated with the Counterparty, or any transaction subject to this Master Agreement;
(l) the Counterparty authorises and grants HT the irrevocable consent to make the necessary checks and enquiries on the Counterparty, and obtain from and/or verify with any source and/or disclose or release any information and/or data on the Counterparty to any party or source as HT, may from time to time, deem fit or appropriate, without any liabilities or notice to the Counterparty;
(m) HT has the sole discretion to reject the proposed appointment of the Authorised Person of the Counterparty without assigning any reason;
(n) if any of the representation, warranties or covenants given by the Counterparty ceases to be true or if HT no longer reasonably believes that it has satisfactory evidence as to their truth, HT make take steps to terminate this Master Agreement in accordance with Clause 3 above, report and disclose the identity of the Counterparty to the relevant government authority and the Counterparty shall not have any claims against HT for any form of damages or losses suffered by the Counterparty due to this termination;
(o) all risk of unauthorised instructions, forgery, fraud, misunderstandings, errors and operation failure shall lie solely with the Counterparty;
(p) HT shall be indemnified from and against any and all losses resulting directly or indirectly from and against all claims or losses to the extent any claim or loss is based on (a) the breach of any representation, warranty or covenant of this Master Agreement by the Counterparty or caused by the Counterparty fraud, wilful misconduct or gross negligence; or (b) any communication and/or Instructions issued or purported to be issued by the Counterparty or any of its Authorised Person;
(q) HT shall not be held responsible for any non-performance or delay of any of its obligations arising directly or indirectly from any Force Majeure Event; and
(r) the Counterparty further agrees, represents and warrants that the Counterparty is solely responsible for any decision to enter into a transaction subject to this Master Agreement, including the evaluation of any and all risks related to any such transaction and in entering into any such transaction, the Counterparty has not relied on any statement or other representation of HT other than as expressly set forth herein.
7.1. Each Party undertakes that it shall (except with the prior written consent of the other Party):
(a) not make or issue, nor permit the making or issuing of, any announcement concerning the existence or provisions of this Master Agreement or all documents entered into pursuant to or in connection with this Master Agreement; and
(b) treat as strictly confidential and not disclose any Confidential Information of the other Party received or obtained as a result of entering into this Master Agreement (or any agreement entered into, pursuant to or in connection with this Master Agreement),
provided that HT may use or disclose the Confidential Information of the Counterparty for market research, business or data analysis or any other activities necessary for its business operation.
7.2. The confidentiality obligations under Clause 7.1 shall not apply to any information:
(a) which is in, or becomes available in, the public domain without breach of this Clause 7;
(b) which is required to be disclosed pursuant to any Applicable Laws, provided that the disclosing Party shall, as far as legally permissible and to the extent practicable, inform the other Party in advance of the disclosure to be made, to provide the other Party with the reasonable opportunity to contest such disclosure and to consult with the other Party as to the form, timing, content and manner of such disclosure, and the disclosing Party shall take into account the reasonable comments of the other Party when making such disclosure; and
(c) which is disclosed by a Party to its related corporations, shareholders, affiliates or any of its respective (including prospective) officers, directors, employees, bankers, financiers, financial advisers, consultants and legal or other advisers on a need-to-know basis and solely for the purpose of the subject matter of this Master Agreement, and provided that such disclosure is on the basis that such recipients of the information agree to comply with this Clause.
7.3. HT may collect, use and/or Process Personal Data relating to the Counterparty for the purposes of, inter alia, performance of its obligations under this Master Agreement, compliance with any applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules or to assist in law enforcement and investigations conducted by any governmental and/or regulatory authority, any other purposes for which the information has been provided for, and any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the foregoing.
7.4. HT may disclose and/or transfer such Personal Data, including transfer to foreign jurisdictions outside of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for the purposes of, inter alia, performance of its obligations under this Master Agreement, compliance with any applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules or to assist in law enforcement and investigations conducted by any governmental and/or regulatory authority, any other purposes for which the information has been provided for, and any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the foregoing. Such Personal Data to be transferred to foreign jurisdictions outside of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines shall be protected at a standard in accordance with Applicable Laws and shall procure the same written undertaking from any third party overseas (if applicable).
7.5. The Counterparty shall have the right of access to such Personal Data that is in possession or control of HT as prescribed by Applicable Laws.
7.6. HT may retain such Personal Data as may be necessary or desirable to comply with Applicable Laws, and for such period of time as may be reasonably required by HT in accordance with the relevant circumstances, including where required, with third parties appointed by HT under formal agreements to act as custodians of such Personal Data, or for Processing of the same by such third parties, in each case subject to confidential agreements under which HT shall exercise control and require standards as to safekeeping in accordance with Applicable Laws.
7.7. HT reserves the rights to update its data protection arrangements including, without limitation, issuing of further notices, guidelines or policies as may be required by it or by law or as may be relevant from time to time. The Counterparty agrees to abide by such updates and, generally, where necessary, agrees to respond promptly to any request for further consents (whether by ad hoc request or by way of such updates) as to the use of such Personal Data as required by HT from time to time.
8.1. Each and every communication under this Master Agreement, except in relation to an Order or an Accepted Order (for which all communications shall be made through a Recognised Communication Channel), shall be in writing in the English language and delivered either by hand, post, electronic mail, or via the Recognised Communication Channel. Each communication or document to be delivered to a Party shall be sent to that Party at the physical or electronic mailing address (as the case may be) and marked for the attention of the person (if any), from time to time designated by that Party for the purpose of this Master Agreement as set out below in the case of HT and as submitted to and accepted by HT from Counterparty in the case of the Counterparty:
HT Markets (SVG) Limited
P.O. Box 1510, Beachmont Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines
HT Markets Trading Execution Desk
trade@hextrust.com and support@hextrust.com
8.2. A demand, notice, or other communication made or given by a Party to another Party in accordance with this Clause 8 shall be effected and deemed to be duly served:
(a) if it is delivered by hand, when left at the address required by this Clause 8;
(b) if it is sent by prepaid post (air-mail, if international), three (3) Business Days after it is posted;
(c) if it is sent by electronic mail, at the time of transmission; or
(d) if it is sent via the Recognised Communication Channel, at the time of transmission.
In proving such service it shall be sufficient to prove that delivery by hand was made, the envelope containing such notice or document was properly addressed and posted as a prepaid mail letter, the electronic mail indicates the transmission was successful, or there was receipt of an electronic confirmation or reply indicating that the electronic transmission was made.
9.1. Costs: Each Party will pay their own fees and expenses (including legal expenses) related to or arising out of any transactions under this Master Agreement.
9.2. Illegality: The illegality, invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Master Agreement under the law of any jurisdiction shall not affect its legality, validity or enforceability under the law of any other jurisdiction nor the legality, validity or enforceability of any other provision.
9.3. Further Assurance: Each Party shall do and execute or procure to be done and executed all such further acts, deeds, things and documents as may be necessary to give effect to the terms of this Master Agreement.
9.4. Entire Agreement: This Master Agreement and any Accepted Order together shall constitute the entire agreement and understanding among the Parties relating to the subject matter contemplated herein, and supersede any previous or contemporaneous written or oral agreements or representations (whether written or oral) affecting the subject matter. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, this Master Agreement supersedes and extinguishes in its entirety any previously executed master trading agreement however named between the Parties with respect to the subject matter of this Agreement. Each Party acknowledges that it has not entered into this Master Agreement in reliance upon any representation, warranty or undertaking of any other Party which is not set out or referred to in this Master Agreement. Nothing in this Clause shall however operate to limit or exclude liability for fraud.
9.5. Assignment: This Master Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of the Parties and their respective successors, heirs, personal representatives, and permitted assigns. The Counterparty may not assign or delegate its rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of HT (consent not to be unreasonably withheld).
9.6. Variations: No variation of this Master Agreement (or of any of the documents referred to in this Master Agreement) shall be valid unless it is in writing and signed by or on behalf of each Party. The expression "variation" shall include any amendment, supplement, deletion or replacement however effected. Unless expressly agreed, no variation shall constitute a general waiver of any provision of this Master Agreement, nor shall it affect any rights, obligations or liabilities under or pursuant to this Master Agreement which have already accrued up to the date of variation, and the rights and obligations of the Parties under or pursuant to this Master Agreement shall remain in full force and effect, except and only to the extent that they are so varied.
9.7. Remedies and Waivers: Any release, waiver or compromise of any obligation or term under this Master Agreement shall be in writing and shall not be deemed to be a release, waiver or compromise of similar or any other obligations or terms in the future. No failure on the part of any Party to exercise, and no delay on its part in exercising, any right or remedy under this Master Agreement will operate as a release or waiver thereof, and any single or partial exercise of any right or remedy shall not preclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or remedy. Save as expressly provided otherwise, any right of termination conferred upon a Party shall be in addition to and without prejudice to all other rights, claims and remedies available to it and no exercise or failure to exercise such a right of termination shall constitute a waiver of any such other right, claim or remedy.
9.8. Independent Advice: The Counterparty confirms that it has received independent legal and financial advice relating to all the matters provided for in this Master Agreement, including the provisions of this Clause, and agrees, having considered the terms of this Clause and this Master Agreement as a whole, that the provisions of this Clause are fair and reasonable.
9.9. Cumulative Remedies: The rights and remedies conferred upon each Party under this Master Agreement shall be in addition, and without prejudice, to all other rights and remedies available to it at law, in equity, by statute or otherwise.
9.10. Time of Essence: Any date, time or period mentioned in any provision of this Master Agreement may be extended by mutual agreement between the Parties but as regards any time, date or period originally fixed and not extended or any time, date or period so extended as aforesaid, time shall be of the essence.
9.11. Surviving Clauses: Notwithstanding the termination of this Master Agreement, the Surviving Clauses shall continue to be binding and in effect unless mutually specifically terminated upon written notice.
9.12. Counterparts: This Master Agreement and each Order may be signed or accepted by any number of counterparts, all of which taken together shall constitute one and the same instrument. Any Party may enter into this Master Agreement by and each Order signing or accepting any such counterpart and each counterpart shall be as valid and effectual as if executed as an original.
9.13. Contracts (Right of Third Parties) Ordinance: A person who is not party to this Master Agreement has no rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance (Cap. 623) to enforce any provision of this Master Agreement, but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from the said Act.
9.14. Limitation of liability:
(a) Neither Party shall be liable to the other Party whether in tort (including, without limitation, for negligence or breach of statutory duty), contract, misrepresentation, restitution or otherwise for any loss of profits, loss of business, depletion of goodwill and/or similar losses or loss or corruption of data or information, or pure economic loss, or for any special, indirect or consequential loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses however arising under this Master Agreement.
(b) In no event shall HT, nor any of its officers, directors, employees, or agents, be responsible or liable for any losses incurred by Counterparty in connection with this Agreement, except to the extent that such losses arise directly as a result of the fraud, gross negligence, or wilful default of HT.
(c) HT’s total aggregate liability (including, without limitation, in negligence, breach of statutory duty, misrepresentation, restitution or otherwise), arising out of or in connection with the performance or contemplated performance of this Master Agreement shall be limited in each instance to the direct losses incurred by the Counterparty and any such liability shall be reduced to the extent that Counterparty’s own negligence has contributed to such losses;
(d) Counterparty acknowledges that in order to perform its obligations under this Agreement, HT may engage the services of certain third-party platforms or providers that allow trading of Cryptocurrency. Counterparty further acknowledges that HT may, by Instruction of the Counterparty or otherwise, need to temporarily either (i) hold Counterparty Cryptocurrency in an account or wallet address in the name of HT or (ii) place Counterparty Cryptocurrency into the custody of such third-party platforms or providers to perform HT’s obligations hereunder. While HT will use commercially reasonable efforts to implement adequate security measures to protect Counterparty Cryptocurrency, or vet any such trading platform or provider for adequate security measures to protect Counterparty Cryptocurrency, Counterparty agrees that HT shall not be responsible for any loss of Counterparty Cryptocurrency that is outside of HT’s reasonable control (including but not limited to a hacking incident or security breach), regardless of how Counterparty Cryptocurrency are held. In the event Counterparty Cryptocurrency are held by a third-party platform or provider, Counterparty Cryptocurrency shall be deemed to have been lost where, through no fault of HT, such platform or provider does not return Cryptocurrency within ninety (90) days of a request made in writing by HT. In such cases, HT will have the right to transfer to Counterparty any claim or portion of a claim it has against such platform or provider as such claim relates to Counterparty’s Cryptocurrency. HT will execute any required paperwork to facilitate such transfer and thereafter Counterparty shall have no right of action against HT for the return of such Cryptocurrency; after such transfer HT will cooperate reasonably with Counterparty to sign any additional documents or provide any requested information to facilitate Counterparty’s claim.
9.15. Governing Law: This Master Agreement (including the dispute resolution provisions under this Clause 9) shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of Hong Kong, without giving effect to the principles of conflicts of law thereof.
9.16. Dispute Resolution: Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Master Agreement, including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination, shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre ("HKIAC") in accordance with the arbitration rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre for the time being in force, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Clause, save with the following exceptions to such rules, if in conflict:
9.16.a. Each Party to the arbitration will pay an equal share of the expenses and fees of the arbitrator, administration fees and expenses, the costs of any expert appointed by the Tribunal and of any other assistance reasonably required by the Tribunal;
9.16.b. Arbitration may proceed in the absence of any Party if written notice (pursuant to the HKIAC’s rules and regulations) of the proceedings has been given to such Party;
9.16.c. Each Party shall bear its own attorneys’ fees and expenses;
9.16.d. The Parties agree to abide by all decisions and awards rendered and that all such decisions and awards shall be final and conclusive;
9.16.e. All such controversies, claims or disputes shall be settled in this manner in lieu of any action at law or equity;
9.16.f. Parties may not request the arbitral tribunal for the granting of an injunction or any other interim relief; and
9.16.g. The seat and place of arbitration will be Hong Kong. The arbitral tribunal will consist of one (1) arbitrator to be appointed mutually by the Parties if they can both agree on the same individual or, in the absence of agreement between the Parties, to be appointed by the HKIAC President. The language of the arbitration will be English.
Any change of the Counterparty’s Collection Accounts details shall be communicated and confirmed pursuant to the following procedure:
(i) notified in writing by (if the Counterparty is an individual) the Counterparty himself/herself, or (if the Counterparty is a corporation) an Authorised Person of the Counterparty via Recognised Communication Channel to HT; and
(ii) a test transaction of nominal amount (to be determined by HT) shall be sent by HT to the Counterparty’s Collection Account that is subject to change, and the same nominal amount shall be transferred back from the Counterparty’s Collection Account to HT’s Collection Account as a proof of the said Counterparty’s Collection Account is valid and under the Counterparty’s control (“Whitelisted Counterparty’s Collection Account”).
The change(s) shall be effective and the Whitelisted Counterparty’s Collection Account shall be deemed to be authentic and duly authorised by the Counterparty subject to HT’s satisfaction of the fulfillment of (i) and (ii) above, and upon confirmation of no objection to or acceptance of the change(s) by HT in writing via email or Recognised Communication Channel. The written confirmation of the change(s) and the Whitelisted Counterparty’s Collection Account shall form an integral part of this Master Agreement. For the avoidance of doubts, upon the change(s) coming into effect, HT may use and rely on the Whitelisted Counterparty’s Collection Account to settle any Accepted Orders without liability on HT’s part.
Any change of the composition or details of the Authorised Persons of the Counterparty shall be communicated and confirmed pursuant to the following procedure:
(i) notified in writing by (if the Counterparty is an individual) the Counterparty himself/herself, or (if the Counterparty is a corporation) the Counterparty’s authorised signatory of this Agreement or at least two (2) Authorised Persons of the Counterparty via Recognised Communication Channel to HT; and
(ii) in case of a change of Recognised Communication Channel details, a test message shall be sent by HT to the Counterparty via the proposed Recognised Communication Channel, and the Counterparty shall confirm receipt of HT’s test message by replying via the same proposed Recognised Communication Channel as a proof of the said Recognised Communication Channel is valid (“Whitelisted Recognised Communication Channel”).
The change(s) shall be effective and deemed to be authentic and duly authorised by the Counterparty subject to HT’s satisfaction of the fulfillment of (i) and, if applicable, (ii) above, and upon confirmation of no objection to or acceptance of the change(s) by HT in writing via email or Recognised Communication Channel. The written confirmation of the change(s) shall form an integral part of this Master Agreement. For the avoidance of doubts, upon the change(s) coming into effect, HT may communicate with or perform the Instructions provided according to the updated Authorised Persons and the updated Recognised Communication Channel of the Counterparty without liability on HT’s part.
Group Email Address of HT:
trade@hextrust.com, and support@hextrust.com
Email Address of Counterparty:
As submitted to and accepted by HT from Counterparty
If no corporate group email is being specified, an email shall be sent to the email contacts of at least 2 Authorised Persons
TELEGRAM#
Telegram group chat trading execution name:
1- The name of the chat shall be notified by HT to Counterparty
Telegram group chat Administrator/s*:
Hex Trust Client Operations Team
+852 7074 0400
@hextrustsupport
* only HT representatives can be chat administrators and any change of administrator set up shall be communicated via email or other Recognised Communication Channel.
# please check the appropriate box(es) to select the Recognised Communication Channel(s).
Any change of Recognised Communication Channel shall be confirmed in writing by HT and notified in writing via a then existing Recognised Communication Channel. Upon the change(s) becoming effective, it shall form an integral and substantial part of this Master Agreement.
Terms of use of communications through the Recognised Communication Channels
1. The Counterparty hereby irrevocably authorises HT and its officers, employees, agents and representatives (collectively, “HT Persons”) to act in accordance with and upon the Counterparty’s Instructions given through any of the Recognised Communication Channels from time to time. Such instructions may be given by any one of the Authorised Person(s) as duly appointed by the Counterparty as listed in Clause 6 below.
2. The Counterparty acknowledges that the aforesaid method(s) of communication is provided solely on the basis of the Counterparty’s request and at the risk of the Counterparty. The Counterparty further acknowledges and confirms that the Counterparty is aware of the nature of Instructions communicated through the aforesaid method(s) of communication whereby such Instructions may not be received properly or may not be read by the intended recipient and may be read by or be known to unauthorised persons. The Counterparty agrees to assume and bear all the risks involved in respect of such errors and misunderstanding and HT shall not be responsible in any way for the same or breach of confidentiality thereto and shall also not be liable for any loss arising therefrom. For the avoidance of doubt, HT shall not be liable for any loss which the Counterparty may suffer or incur arising from or in connection with HT acting on and/or execution, non-execution or delayed execution of any communications or Instructions from the Counterparty.
3. The Counterparty acknowledges that the Counterparty is fully aware of and understands the risks associated with communicating Instructions through the aforesaid method(s) of communication including the risk of misuse and unauthorised use of username and/or password by a third party and the risk of a person hacking into any electronic platform or system being used.
4. The Counterparty accepts full responsibility for the monitoring of its Instructions and safeguarding the secrecy of its username and password and agrees that the Counterparty shall be fully liable and responsible for any and all unauthorised use and misuse of his password and/or username, and also for any and all acts done by any person through using the Counterparty's username or through any of the Recognised Communication Channels in any manner whatsoever.
5. The Counterparty agrees that the HT Persons may act as aforesaid without inquiry as to: (a) the authority of the person giving or purporting to give any Instruction; or (b) the authenticity of any Instruction, and may treat the same as fully authorised by and binding on the Counterparty, regardless of the circumstances prevailing at the time of the Instruction or amount of the transaction and notwithstanding any error, misunderstanding, lack of clarity, fraud, forgery or lack of authority in relation thereto, and without requiring further confirmation in any form, provided that HT or the officer, employee, agent or representative concerned believed the Instruction to be genuine at the time it was given or the Instruction furnished via the communication channel of the Authorised Persons of the Counterparty provided to HT pursuant to Clause 6 below. Notwithstanding the foregoing, HT may at any time refuse to accept or act on any Instructions communicated by any of the Recognised Communication Channels for any reason and without providing the Counterparty with any reason, including if HT has any doubts as to the authenticity, clarity or completeness of such Instructions.
6. The authorised persons and Recognised Communication Channel details for HT from time to time will be separately provided by HT to the Counterparty.
The intention of this Risk Disclosure Statement is to inform the Counterparty that the risk of loss in relation to the following circumstances may be substantial. HT will not be responsible for the Counterparty’s loss in those circumstances unless it is directly caused by HT’s gross negligence, fraud and intentional misconduct.
Any part or all of the Cryptocurrencies subject to over-the-counter trading under this Agreement may be exposed or subject to the risk of expropriation and/or theft. Hackers or other malicious individuals, groups or organizations may launch attacks to the transactions, storage processes or other intended uses of such Cryptocurrencies in various forms, including, but not limited to, malware attacks, distributed denial of service attacks, consensus-based attacks, routing attacks, transaction malleability attacks, Sybil attacks, Eclipse attacks, double-spend attacks, majority mining power attacks, selfish-mining attacks, time jacking, smurfing and spoofing.
The integrity and security of the Recognised Communication Channel cannot be guaranteed over the Internet or any other media. The Counterparty acknowledges that the aforesaid method(s) of communication is provided solely on the basis of the Counterparty’s request and at the risk of the Counterparty. The nature of Instructions communicated through the aforesaid method(s) of communication whereby such Instructions may not be received properly or may not be read by the intended recipient and may be read by or be known to unauthorised persons. The Counterparty agrees to assume and bear all the risks involved in respect of such errors and misunderstanding and HT shall not be responsible in any way for the same or breach of confidentiality thereto and shall also not be liable for any loss arising therefrom. For the avoidance of doubt, HT shall not be liable for any loss which the Counterparty may suffer or incur arising from or in connection with HT acting on and/or execution, non-execution or delayed execution of any communications or Instructions from the Counterparty.
The Counterparty acknowledges the risks associated with communicating Instructions through the aforesaid method(s) of communication including the risk of misuse and unauthorised use of username and/or password by a third party and the risk of a person hacking into any electronic platform or system being used. The Counterparty accepts full responsibility for the monitoring of its Instructions and safeguarding the secrecy of its username and password and agrees that the Counterparty shall be fully liable and responsible for any and all unauthorised use and misuse of his password and/or username, and also for any and all acts done by any person through using the Counterparty's username or through any of the Recognised Communication Channels in any manner whatsoever.
Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Risk
Any Cryptocurrencies and their creation, development or production thereof may be based on any software, programs, source codes, object codes, algorithms, scripts, protocols, schematics, applications, data, software libraries, databases and/or any other computational language, code, programming or source in any structure or form containing intentional or unintentional or inherent syntax or logic errors, defects or vulnerabilities. The occurrence of any of the above circumstances may hinder, interrupt, disrupt or result in the delay or failure in the operation or performance of any transactions, storage processes or other intended uses of such Cryptocurrencies pursuant to over-the-counter trading under this Agreement or result in the loss of any part or all of such Cryptocurrencies or of the Counterparty’s ability to access or control any or part of such Cryptocurrencies. The Counterparty agrees that HT shall not be responsible for and the Counterparty shall not hold HT liable for any damages, remedy, refund or compensation in respect of any loss incurred by the Counterparty, whether direct, indirect or incidental, resulting from any such occurrence and there may be no remedies available to the Counterparty as a result.
As Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, any malfunction, breakdown or abandonment of the relevant blockchain may have a material adverse effect on such Cryptocurrencies. Moreover, advances in cryptography, or technical advances in general could present risks to Cryptocurrencies by rendering the cryptographic consensus mechanism underpinning the relevant blockchain on which the particular cryptocurrency is built ineffective. The future of cryptography and security innovations are highly unpredictable, and this may have an adverse impact on the value of Cryptocurrencies.
Transactions in Cryptocurrency may be irreversible, and, accordingly, losses due to fraudulent or accidental transactions may not be recoverable. The nature of cryptocurrency may lead to an increased risk of fraud or cyber attack.It is also possible that alternative networks or platforms could be established in an attempt to facilitate services that are similar to those offered by any of the protocols of a particular Cryptocurrency, or alternative networks could be established that utilize the same or similar software, programs, source codes, object codes, algorithms, scripts, protocols, schematics, applications and/or any other computational language, code, programming or source in any structure or form underlying the Cryptocurrencies. In such event, such alternative networks may be able to copy, replicate, change, enhance, reproduce, re-engineer, modify, reprogram or otherwise develop the same software, programs, source codes, object codes, algorithms, scripts, protocols, schematics, applications and/or any other computational language, code, programming or source in any structure or form underlying the Cryptocurrencies. Such alternative networks or platforms may compete with a particular Cryptocurrency, which could adversely impact any value or perceived value of the particular Cryptocurrency.
The software, programs, source codes, object codes, algorithms, scripts, protocols, schematics, applications, data, software libraries, databases and/or any other computational language, code, programming or source in any structure or form on which Cryptocurrencies are built may be open-sourced, such that any member of the public may at any time develop a patch or upgrade without prior permission of any individual party. The acceptance of patches or upgrades by a significant percentage of the blockchain’s users could result in a “fork” in the blockchain. The temporary or permanent existence of forked blockchains could adversely impact the operation of the blockchain or undermine the sustainability of the cryptocurrencies ecosystem, and may destroy or frustrate the ecosystem. While a forked blockchain could possibly be rectified by community-led efforts remerging the two separated blockchain branches, there is no guarantee of success and could take an undetermined amount of time to achieve. The above may have an adverse impact on any value or perceived value of the Cryptocurrencies.
The regulatory status of Cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology is unclear or unsettled in many jurisdictions. Numerous regulatory authorities across different jurisdictions have been outspoken about considering the implementation of regulatory regimes which govern Cryptocurrencies and Cryptocurrencies markets in general. It is difficult to predict how or whether regulatory authorities may apply existing regulations to such technology and its applications, including the cryptocurrencies. It is likewise difficult to predict how or whether legislatures or regulatory authorities may implement and enforce changes to the laws and regulations affecting distributed ledger technology and its applications, including the Cryptocurrencies. Regulatory and enforcement actions could negatively impact Cryptocurrencies in various ways, including, that the use or possession of Cryptocurrencies require registration or licensing. Any such possible regulatory developments may be unfavorable to the value or perceived value of Cryptocurrencies.
Transactions subject to this Agreement will be off-exchange. While some off-exchange markets are highly liquid, transactions in off-exchange, over the counter or “non-transferable” transactions may involve greater risk than investing in on-exchange transactions because there is no exchange market on which to close out an open position. It may be impossible to liquidate an existing position, to assess the value of the position arising from an off-exchange transaction or to assess the exposure to risk. Bid prices and offer prices need not be quoted, and even where they are, they will be established by dealers in these instruments and consequently it may be difficult to establish what is a fair price. The prices offered by HT in any Orders need not match and are not linked to prices elsewhere (including prices quoted on exchanges) and need not represent a fair price. HT considers a number of factors including but not limited to HT’s risk adjusted return, risk management requirements and costs when determining the prices. You acknowledge that the prices are agreed freely between the Parties based on arm’s length negotiation.
Cryptocurrency trading can be extremely risky. Cryptocurrency trading can lead to large and immediate financial losses. The volatility and unpredictability of the price of cryptocurrency relative to fiat currency may result in significant loss over a short period of time. Under certain market conditions, it is difficult or impossible to liquidate a position quickly at a reasonable price. This can occur, for example, when the market for a particular cryptocurrency suddenly drops, or if trading is halted due to recent news events, unusual trading activity, or changes in the underlying cryptocurrency system. The greater the volatility of a particular cryptocurrency, the greater the likelihood that problems may be encountered in executing a transaction. In addition to normal market risks, losses may occur due to one or more of the following: system failures, hardware failures, software failures, network connectivity disruptions, and data corruption.
The Counterparty understands and agrees that the brief Risk Disclosure Statement above cannot disclose all the risks and other significant aspects contemplated under this Agreement and the Counterparty should therefore carefully study these risks and aspects before executing this Agreement.
In particular, the Counterparty understands and acknowledges that:
1. the Counterparty has read and understood the nature and contents of the risk disclosures which are contained in this Risk Disclosure Statement;
2. the Counterparty is acting on its own account, and the Counterparty has made its own independent decision and upon advice from such advisers as the Counterparty have deemed necessary to enter into this Agreement;
3. the Counterparty confirms that neither HT, nor any of its affiliates, is acting as a fiduciary for, or an adviser or a broker to the Counterparty in respect of any transaction;
4. the Counterparty is not relying on any communication (written or oral) from HT or from any of its affiliates as investment advice or as a recommendation to enter into any transaction and the Counterparty understands that the information and explanations of the terms of any transaction as contained in any confirmation shall not be considered to be investment advice or a recommendation to enter into such transaction; and
5. If HT makes any suggestions, it assumes no responsibility for the Counterparty’s portfolio or for any investment or transaction which the Counterparty has entered into.
No communication (written or oral) received from HT or from any of its affiliates shall be deemed to be an assurance or guarantee as to the expected results of any transaction. This Risk Disclosure Statement is subject to this Agreement as amended or supplemented from time to time. This Risk Disclosure Statement, together with this Agreement and other Schedules shall form a single agreement between the Counterparty and HT.
These Terms of Service (the “Agreement” or these “Terms”, including all addenda, in each case as amended, supplemented or modified from time to time) are entered into between you (the “User” or “you”) and HT Aura Inc. (“Aura”, “Company”, “we” or “us”). By accessing, using or clicking “I agree” to any of the services (the “Services”) made available by Aura or its affiliate(s) or subsidiary(ies) (together with Aura, the “Service Providers”) through our mobile application software, application programming interfaces and/or any associated websites (together the “Aura Platform”) or through the authorized staff of the Service Providers, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and hereby accept to all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, and you also have read, understood, and hereby accept the personal data and privacy policies adopted by Aura from time to time which is available on the Aura Platform (the “Aura Privacy Policy”), which form part of this Agreement. You may purchase certain products (the “Products”) presented on Aura Platform, which are provided by product providers (the “Product Providers”) including Aura or third parties from which Aura will purchase the Products as your agent. All Products on Aura Platform shall be subject to these Terms as well as the agreements, terms and conditions set by the Product Providers (the “Product Provider Terms”), if applicable. You may be subject to additional terms and conditions applicable to such Services and Products. In this Agreement, any reference to “Services” includes the use of Services to purchase, hold or redeem any Products.
SUBSCRIBING FOR ANY DIGITAL ASSETS RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK. THE VALUE OF DIGITAL ASSETS MAY NOT BE BACKED OR SUPPORTED BY ANY GOVERNMENT. AS SUCH, DIGITAL ASSETS MAY SUFFER SIGNIFICANT VOLATILITY IN VALUE. THE DIGITAL ASSETS RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE NOT PRINCIPAL GUARANTEED AND YOU MAY LOSE A PART OR THE ENTIRETY OF THE PRINCIPAL INVESTED IN SUCH DIGITAL ASSETS RELATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES. YOU ARE ADVISED TO CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE RISK EXPOSURE AND ACT CAUTIOUSLY. YOU MUST HAVE THE FINANCIAL ABILITY, SOPHISTICATION, EXPERIENCE, TOLERANCE AND WILLINGNESS TO BEAR THE RISKS OF ANY DIGITAL ASSETS RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, AND A POTENTIAL TOTAL LOSS OF THE UNDERLYING ASSETS. A DIGITAL ASSET RELATED PRODUCT OR SERVICES IS NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERY PERSON. PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION AND OBJECTIVES TO DETERMINE WHETHER SUCH PRODUCT OR SERVICES IS SUITABLE FOR YOU. FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS AGREEMENT, “DIGITAL ASSETS” MEANS ANY ASSET THAT IS ISSUED AND/OR TRANSFERRED USING DISTRIBUTED LEDGER, BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY OR ANY EQUIVALENT TECHNOLOGIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY DIGITAL AND CRYPTO CURRENCIES, COINS, TOKENS AND ANY FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT DIGITAL SUBJECTS, EXCLUDING ANY FIAT CURRENCY. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING WHETHER THE USE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES OR PURCHASE OF PRODUCTS UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IS LEGAL IN YOUR JURISDICTION AND YOU SHALL NOT USE THE SERVICES OR PURCHASE ANY PRODUCTS SHOULD SUCH USE OR PURCHASE BE ILLEGAL IN YOUR JURISDICTION. IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN, PLEASE SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE. YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE REGULATORY STATUS OF DIGITAL ASSETS IS CURRENTLY UNSETTLED, VARIES AMONG JURISDICTIONS AND IS SUBJECT TO SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTY. LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY CHANGES OR ACTIONS RELATING TO DIGITAL ASSETS AT A STATE OR INTERNATIONAL LEVEL MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT OR RESTRICT, AS APPLICABLE, THE USE, TRANSFER, EXCHANGE AND VALUE OF YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS, AS WELL AS THE PROVISION OF THE SERVICES, THE PRODUCTS OR ANY OF THEM. THE VALUE OF DIGITAL ASSETS MAY BE DERIVED FROM THE CONTINUED WILLINGNESS OF MARKET PARTICIPANTS TO EXCHANGE FIAT MONEY FOR THE DIGITAL ASSETS, WHICH MAY RESULT IN PERMANENT AND TOTAL LOSS OF VALUE OF A PARTICULAR DIGITAL ASSET SHOULD THE MARKET FOR IT DISAPPEAR.
1.1. Aura reserves the right to modify or change the Terms at any time and at its sole discretion. Any and all modifications or changes to these Terms will be effective immediately upon being announced on the Aura Platform or released to users. As such, your continued use of Services acts as an acceptance of the amended agreements and rules. If you do not agree to any modification to these Terms, you must stop using the Services. Aura encourages you to frequently review the Terms to ensure you understand the terms and conditions that apply to your access and use of the Services.
1.2. Unless a contrary indication appears, any reference in this Agreement to:
(a) “including” shall be construed as “including without limitation” (and cognate expressions shall be construed similarly);
(b) a “regulation” includes any regulation, rule, official directive, order, request or guideline (whether or not having the force of law) of any governmental, intergovernmental or supranational body, agency, department or regulatory, self-regulatory or other authority or organization;
(c) a provision of law is a reference to that provision as amended or re-enacted;
(d) captions and headings are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal effect.
1.3 Unless a contrary indication appears, the singular includes the plural, and vice-versa, and the masculine includes the feminine and neuter, and vice-versa.
1.4. Any addenda, exhibits or schedules to this Agreement form part of this Agreement and shall have effect as if set out in full in the body of this Agreement. Any reference to this agreement includes such exhibits or schedules.
2.1. By registering to use an Aura account (an “Account”), you represent and warrant that (a) you are at least 18 years old or of legal age to form a binding contract under applicable law; (b) you are an individual, legal person or other organization with full legal capacity and authority to enter into these Terms; and (c) you have not previously been suspended or removed from using the Services. If you are entering into these Terms on behalf of a legal entity of which you are an employee or agent, you represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights and authority to bind such legal entity and all the information and materials you have submitted, or will submit, to Aura for the purposes of completing the know-your-customer process (the “KYC”) are true and accurate.
2.2. By accessing and using the Services, you possess the nationality and residency in a jurisdiction that Aura offers its Services legally and are not on any trade or economic sanctions lists, including, without limitation, the UN Security Council Sanctions List, designated as a “Specially Designated National” by OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Treasury Department) or placed on the U.S. Commerce Department’s “Denied Persons List”. Aura maintains the right to select its markets and jurisdictions to operate and may restrict or deny the Services in certain countries at its discretion.
2.3. You acknowledge and agree that Aura may refuse to provide Services to you or cancel your access to the Account or any Services if it determines that you are not eligible to use our Services.
2.4. Notwithstanding your meeting the eligibility criteria above, we reserve the right to refuse your request to use and access the Service, including your ability to open an Account or purchase any Products, and terminate your Account at any time in our sole discretion. Further, we reserve the right to change the eligibility criteria at any time at our sole discretion. If we become aware that you are ineligible or otherwise determine that you are in violation of any applicable terms and conditions, including these Terms, we may delete your Account immediately without notice and ban you from using any of the Products or Services. We are under no obligation to notify you in any way upon deciding that you are or have become ineligible to use the Products or Services. In addition to the other rights set forth herein and to those that may be available to us, you agree that you will indemnify and hold harmless Aura and its Affiliates from any legal or monetary consequences that arise from any unauthorized use of the Products or Services, including without limitation, all uses associated with an ineligible User.
2.5. You hereby appoint and authorize Aura as your agent to facilitate your subscription of the Products and entry of other Digital Asset transactions on Aura Platform and do or cause to be done all acts we shall determine to be desirable, necessary, or appropriate to implement and administer your authorization.
2.6. You acknowledge and agree that: (a) Aura has not engaged in any solicitation, invitation or sale of any products, services, or activities to you; (b) any transactions, purchases, or activities conducted on the Aura Platform are initiated solely at the discretion of the User; you are solely responsible for your decisions and actions on the Aura Platform, and Aura disclaims any liability arising from such transactions or activities; and (c) you are not relying on any communication (written or oral) from Aura or from any of its affiliates as investment advice or as a recommendation to enter into any transaction, and you agree to seek professional advice as to investment, legal, tax and other matters before initiating any transaction, purchase or other activity on the Aura Platform.
3.1. Individual Account
An “Individual Account” refers to an Account that is owned by only one natural person who is, and will continue to be, the only person authorized to take any action in the Account. By opening an Individual Account, you represent and warrant that you are, and shall at all times continue to be, the sole beneficial owner of the Account and user of all the Services facilitated or generated therefrom.
3.2. You acknowledge that your Account is not a deposit or investment account under any laws and will not:
(a) earn any interest on your Account; or
(b) be protected by any government-sponsored deposit protection schemes.
3.3. You shall not use your Account for any unlawful purposes or any abusive or other activities that Aura may prohibit on the Aura Platform from time to time.
4.1. Aura reserves the right to suspend, freeze or cancel Accounts that are used by persons other than the persons whose names they are registered under. You shall immediately notify Aura if you suspect or become aware of unauthorized use of your Account. Aura will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from any use of your Account by you or by any third party (whether or not authorized by you).
4.2. We strive to maintain the safety of user funds entrusted to us and have implemented industry-standard protections for the Services. However, there are risks that may arise from individual user actions. You agree to treat your Account access credentials such as user name and password as confidential information and not to disclose such information to any third party. You also agree that you are responsible for taking necessary safety precautions to protect your own Account and information. You shall be solely responsible for the safekeeping of your Account and password on your own, and you shall be responsible for all activities under your Account.
4.3. By creating an Account, you hereby agree that:
(a) you will notify Aura immediately if you are aware of any unauthorized use of your Account and password by any person or any other violations of the security rules;
(b) you will strictly observe the security, authentication, dealing, charging, and withdrawal mechanism or procedures as required by Aura;
(c) you will log out from your Account on the Aura Platform by taking proper steps at the end of every visit; and
(d) you will apply necessary security and protective measures to the device which you use to access the Account, including, without limitation, (i) updating the device’s browser to the latest version available; (ii) patching the device’s operating systems with regular security updates provided by the operating system provider; (iii) installing and maintaining the latest anti-virus software on the device, where applicable; and (iv) using strong passwords, such as a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols.
5.1. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable and non-sublicensable license to use the Services pursuant to the terms of this Agreement. Aura and its licensors retain all rights, title and interest in and to the Services, including all source code, object code, data, information, copyrights, trademarks, patents, inventions and trade secrets embodied therein, and all other rights not expressly granted to you hereunder. You agree not to copy, transmit, distribute, sell, license, reverse engineer, modify, publish, or participate in the transfer or sale of, create derivative works from, or in any other way exploit any of the content related to the Services, including for any purpose competitive to Aura or any commercial purpose, in whole or in part.
5.2. All content on the Aura Platform is the property of Aura and is protected by copyright, patent, trademark and any other applicable laws, unless otherwise specified hereby.
5.3. The trademarks, trade names, service marks, identifying marks, illustrations, designs and logos of Aura and others used on the Aura Platform (hereinafter the “Trademarks”) are the property of Aura and its respective owners. The software code (whether binary, assembly, source, object, HTML or otherwise), applications, text, images, graphics, data, files, prices, trades, charts, graphs, video and audio materials used on the Aura Platform belong to Aura. The Trademarks and other content on the Aura Platform should not be copied, reproduced, modified, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, scraped, collected or distributed in any form or by any means, no matter manual or automated, without prior written consent of Aura. The use of any content from the Aura Platform on any other site or application or a networked computer environment for any other purpose is strictly prohibited. Any such unauthorized use may violate copyright, patent, trademark and any other applicable laws and could result in criminal or civil penalties.
6.1. You may deposit Digital Assets in your Account in accordance with the Aura Account Agreement published by Aura from time to time.
6.2. Upon your subscription to a Product or your placement of an order for a Digital Assets transaction, the Digital Assets in the type and amount related to such subscription or transaction will be deducted from your Account for the purposes of settling the subscription or transaction. You shall ensure that you have sufficient Digital Assets in the Account in order to complete a Product subscription or a Digital Assets transaction or settlement. Aura shall not be responsible for any cost, loss or damage that you may incur due to any failure or delay in funding the Account with sufficient Digital Assets by you or any third party.
6.3. You shall make sure to use the correct address in the transfer of any Digital Assets. If you used an incorrect address to transfer any Digital Assets, the Digital Assets may be lost permanently, in which case the Company shall not be liable to you for any losses.
6.4. In the event you are permitted to use the credit card or bank account to exchange for Digital Assets and deposit into your Account, you will use your credit card or bank account to purchase those Digital Assets at a spot price determined by Aura and you agree that once such purchase is processed, the transaction shall be irreversible and binding on you.
6.5. You are solely responsible for any fees charged by your bank, credit card issuer(s) or any intermediary fees or costs (including, but not limited to, any international transaction fees, cash advance fees and transfer to overseas service charges) relating to deposit, transfer or purchase of Digital Assets in connection with your bank accounts or credit cards. You must check the exact amount of fees that may apply to your bank accounts or credit cards in connection with any transactions on your Account if you are not sure of the fee amounts. Certain banks and credit card issuers may treat the purchase of Digital Assets with the credit card as cash advance which may be subject to a high fee or interest rate as compared with other use of credit cards. For the avoidance of doubt, the Company shall not be liable for any such costs or fees under any circumstances.
6.6. The Company may also set requirements for your use of any bank account or credit card for transactions on the Aura Platform, and such requirements, including, but not limited to, relevant fees and the maximum or minimum transaction amount limit are available on the Aura Platform and the Company has the right to amend such requirements at any time in its sole discretion without prior notice to you.
6.7. The Company reserves the right to refuse to accept any transfer of Digital Assets or purchase of Digital Assets on your Account by delivering Fiat Money to the Company at its sole discretion, in which case you shall be liable for any costs and fees incurred for any return of Fiat Money or Digital Assets by the Company to you. In this Agreement, “Fiat Money” means any money denominated in a fiat currency, excluding (a) Bitcoins, (b) stable coins and (c) any other Digital Assets that are not directly issued by any governments or central banks as fiat currencies in the relevant jurisdictions.
6.8. You acknowledge and agree that only bank account(s) or credit card(s) which are issued to and/or registered in your own name (excluding joint accounts) may be used to effect related loading of Digital Assets to your Account.You may require a withdrawal of the Digital Assets in your Account. We may, at our sole discretion, impose daily, weekly, monthly, or other periodic limits on deposits and withdrawals, which we may implement, eliminate, increase or decrease without advance notice. Your withdrawal requests may be delayed or canceled as part of our compliance program.
6.9. Aura shall have the right to sell, pledge, rehypothecate, assign, invest, commingle or otherwise dispose of, or otherwise use, any Digital Assets you deposit in your Account, free from any claim, charge or encumbrance or any other interest or right of any nature whatsoever of you or any third person.
6.10. You may request to withdraw the Digital Assets in your Account. All fees, costs and charges for the bank transfer and/or blockchain transfer shall be at your expense.
6.11. Notwithstanding the preceding clause, you acknowledge and agree that the Company may conduct checks for the purposes of preventing fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes, and as requested by applicable law. Accordingly, you may be prevented or delayed from withdrawing from your Account until those checks are completed to our reasonable satisfaction in order to comply with our regulatory requirements. You further acknowledge and agree that the Company may also impose other specific rules to limit your withdrawal from your Account in its discretion from time to time.
6.12. You acknowledge and agree that any information provided by you in relation to withdrawal instructions of any Digital Assets to the Company is true, and accurately complete and the Company may process the withdrawal in reliance on such information. The withdrawal instructions cannot be canceled or reversed once processed by the Company.
6.13. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of any instructions submitted to the Company and that any errors may result in the irreversible loss of your Digital Assets. The Company shall not be responsible for any damage or loss caused by inaccuracy or mistakes in any of your instructions.
6.14. The Company will facilitate the withdrawal function. However, due to any events, including, but not limited to, technical reasons, underlying software protocols deficiencies or banking service suspension, the withdrawal may take a longer time or cannot be processed during certain period of time. You acknowledge and agree that the Company is not in any way liable for such delay and failure of withdrawal except for its willful misconduct, gross negligence or fraud.
7.1. By clicking “accept”, “agree” or any other words of equivalent meaning to initiate a transaction available to your Account on the Aura Platform, you are authorizing the Company to initiate such transactions and agree to pay the relevant prices, fees and costs in relation to the relevant transactions.
7.2. You cannot cancel, reverse, or change any transaction marked as complete or pending. If your payment is not successful, you authorize us, in our sole discretion, to cancel the transaction. You are responsible for ensuring you have sufficient Digital Assets on your Account to conduct any transaction.
7.3. Fees and charges on your Account shall be available on the Aura Platform and may be varied by Aura from time to time.
7.4. Aura may vary the rate or amount of any charge, fee or interest payable under this Agreement. Should you continue to keep or use your Account, you shall be considered to have accepted the changes.
8.1. No Aura entity is or is regulated as a bank or any other type of depository institution in any jurisdiction. Digital Assets held in your Account are not eligible for any public or private deposit insurance protection or any other protection programs of similar nature.
9.1. You acknowledge and agree that:
(a) the past performance of any Services or Product is not an indication of future performance;
(b) a Product is manufactured, issued or provided by the relevant Product Provider who shall be your sole counterparty for the purposes of such Product;
(c) Aura does not guarantee the performance of any Services or Product and does not provide any financial or legal advice to you, notwithstanding any statements by anyone to the contrary. You shall be solely responsible for determining the suitability of the Services or Products for you.
10.1. You shall be aware of the currency or Digital Asset to denominate your Account on Aura Platform (the “Default Currency”). You shall be solely responsible to bear any exchange risk if you choose a currency or Digital Asset other than the Default Currency in and for the purposes of using the Services.
10.2. From time to time, we may provide information to you which presents your multi-currency or Digital Asset balances in the equivalent value of your Default Currency, using the rates prevailing at the time the information is produced. However, you should note that the balances have not been physically converted and that the presentation of the information in your Default Currency is for information only.
11.1. Gapping is a sudden shift in the price of an underlying market from one level to another. Various factors can lead to gapping (for example, economic events or market announcements). When these factors occur, the price of Digital Assets in the underlying market may move fast and drastically, and you may not have the opportunity to sell your instruments or conduct other stop-loss activities. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for bearing all the relevant risks.
12.1. The market conditions of the Digital Assets and the Products may change significantly fast and drastically. Under certain circumstances, you may not be able to liquidate the Digital Assets or the Products under the desirable terms or timeframe. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible to bear all the relevant risks.
13.1. The insolvency or default of any exchanges or brokers involved with the Services and Products may lead to your trading positions being liquidated or closed out without your consent. In certain circumstances, you may lose the entire assets that you have invested.
14.1. To register for an Account, you must provide all the information required by Aura for the purposes of KYC and accept these Terms and the Aura Privacy Policy. Aura may, at its sole discretion, refuse to open an Account for you. You agree to provide complete and accurate information when opening an Account and agree to promptly update any information you provide to Aura so that such information is complete and accurate at all times. We will collect, use and share this information in accordance with the Aura Privacy Policy.
14.2. If there is any reasonable doubt that any information provided by you is wrong, untruthful, outdated or incomplete, Aura shall have the right to send you a notice to demand corrections, remove relevant information directly and terminate all or part of the Services to you. Aura shall not be responsible for any expense or loss incurred by you in such situations.
15.1. All the Services, Products and activities on the Aura Platform are subject to the laws, regulations, and rules of any applicable governmental or regulatory authority, including, without limitation, all applicable tax, anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism laws. You agree and understand that by using the Services in any capacity, you shall act in compliance with and be legally bound by these Terms and all applicable laws and regulations, and failure to do so may result in the suspension of your ability to use the Services or the closure of your Account.
15.2. You agree to adhere to the following market conduct rules (the “Market Conduct Rules”) which are designed to prevent the use of the Aura Platform for manipulative or deceptive market products, including, but not limited to, market abuse and misconduct. Any violations of such, in our reasonable opinion, may lead to your Account being immediately suspended or cancelled. The following are strictly prohibited:
(a) Wash Trading: You must not place simultaneous purchase and sale orders of the same Digital Asset at the same price in an attempt to artificially increase trading volumes;
(b) Prearranged Trading: You must not co-ordinate with another related party to simultaneously purchase and sale orders of the same Digital Asset at the same price in an attempt to artificially increase trading volumes;
(c) Layering and Spoofing: You must not place orders with no intent to execute them with the purpose of providing a false level of supply or demand. You must also not place multiple non bona fide orders on one side of the order book in an attempt to move the price followed by placing an order on the other side of the book and cancelling the original non bona fide orders; and
(d) Any other form of market manipulation and abuse is also strictly prohibited. Examples include, but are not limited to, front running another client when in possession of their order details and quote stuffing by entering larger numbers of orders and/or amendments and/or cancellations in an attempt to slow the market down.
16.1. Aura does not guarantee uninterrupted access to the Services at all times. Aura may suspend access without prior notice during scheduled or unscheduled system repairs or upgrades and modify the Services at any time without prior notice. The Aura Platform and all Services undergo regular maintenance. During such times, some or all of the functionality of the Aura Platform may be unavailable. Aura may temporarily halt operations in the event that the unanticipated maintenance is required. This may include, but is not limited to, unexpected outages or mul-functions of computers, virtual asset networks, powers or vendors, or cyber security incidents.
17.1. Aura does not own or control any of the underlying software or protocols through which blockchain networks are formed and Digital Assets are created and transacted. In general, blockchain networks tend to be open source such that anyone can use, copy, modify, and distribute them. By using any of the Services, you understand and acknowledge that Aura is not responsible for the operation of the underlying software and networks that support Digital Assets and that Aura makes no guarantee of functionality, security, or availability of such software and networks.
17.2. We assume no responsibility for the operation of the underlying protocols and we are not able to guarantee the functionality of network operations. You acknowledge and accept the risks that the underlying software protocols relating to any Digital Assets you use on Aura Platform may change.
17.3. In particular, the underlying protocols are likely to be subject to sudden changes in operating rules such as forks. Any such material operating changes may materially affect the availability of the value, functionality and/or the name of the Digital Assets you use on Aura Platform.
17.4. We do not control the timing and features of these material operating changes. It is your responsibility to make yourself aware of upcoming changes and you must carefully consider publicly available information and information that may be provided by us in determining whether to continue to transact the Digital Assets. In the event of any such operational changes, we reserve the right to take such steps as may be necessary to protect the security and safety of assets held on the Aura Platform, including temporarily suspending operations for the involved Digital Assets, and other necessary steps.
17.5. We assume no obligation to provide you with notices of any material operating changes though we may do so to the extent practicable; however, such changes are in any event outside of our control and may occur without our knowledge. We have full discretion to decide not to support any new Digital Assets, forks or other actions in relation to your Digital Assets.
17.6. You acknowledge and accept the risks of operating changes to Digital Assets protocols and agree that the Company is not responsible for operating changes and shall not be liable for any loss of value you may experience as a result of such changes in operating rules underlying those Digital Assets and the Company has no responsibility to assist you with the unsupported Digital Assets on the Aura Platform.
18.1. As a result of the decentralized and open-source nature of Digital Assets, it is possible that sudden, unexpected, or controversial changes (the “Forks”) can be made to any Digital Assets that may change the usability, functions, value or even name of a given Digital Assets. Such Forks may result in multiple versions of a Digital Assets (each a “New Digital Assets”) and could lead to the dominance of one or more such versions (each a “Dominant Digital Assets”) and the partial or total abandonment or loss of value of any other versions of such Digital Assets (each a “Non-Dominant Digital Assets”).
18.2. Due to the administrative complexity of being the repository for a forked Digital Assets, the support of any New Digital Assets in your Account is solely at the discretion of Aura. Aura is under no obligation to support a Fork of a Digital Assets that you hold in your Account, whether or not any resulting version of such forked Digital Assets is a Dominant Digital Assets or Non-Dominant Digital Assets or holds value at or following such Fork.
18.3. If Aura elects, at its sole discretion, to support a Fork of a Digital Assets, it may choose to do so by making a public announcement through the Aura Platform or otherwise notifying customers, and shall bear no liability for any actual or potential losses that may result based on the decision to support such Fork or the timing of implementation of support. If Aura, at its sole discretion, does not elect to support a Fork of a given Digital Assets, including the determination to support, continue to support, or cease to support any Dominant Digital Assets or Non-Dominant Digital Assets, Aura assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any losses or other issues that might arise from an unsupported Fork of a Digital Assets.
18.4. Aura does not generally offer support for the distribution of assets based on a triggering fact or event, such as the possession of another asset (each an “Airdrop”), the provision of rewards or other similar payment for participation in a Digital Assets’s protocol (the “Staking Rewards”), or any other distributions or dividends that Users might otherwise be entitled to claim based on their use or possession of a Digital Assets outside of the Aura Platform (collectively, “Digital Assets Distributions”). Aura may, at its sole discretion, elect to support any Digital Assets Distribution, but is under no obligation to do so and shall bear no liability to Users for failing to do so, or for initiating and subsequently terminating such support.
18.5. In the event of a Fork of a Digital Assets, we may be forced to suspend any or all activities relating to such Digital Assets (including trades, deposits, and withdrawals) on the Aura Platform for an extended period of time, until Aura has determined at its sole discretion that such functionality can be restored (the “Downtime”). This Downtime may occur at the time that a Fork of a given Digital Assets occurs, potentially with little to no warning. During such Downtime, you understand that you may not be able to trade, deposit, or withdraw the Digital Assets subject to such Fork. Aura does not bear any liability for losses incurred during any Downtime due to the inability to trade or otherwise transfer Digital Assets. All determinations regarding forks shall be made by Aura at its sole and absolute discretion and in accordance with applicable law.
19.1. It is your sole responsibility to determine whether, and to what extent, any taxes apply to you, and to withhold, collect, report and remit the correct amount of taxes to the appropriate tax authorities.
19.2. The Company has the right to make any tax withholdings or filings that the Company is required by applicable law to make, but the Company is not responsible for determining whether taxes apply to your transaction, or for collecting, reporting, or remitting any taxes arising from any transaction.
20.1. You agree to indemnify and hold Aura, the Service Providers, the Product Providers, and each of their respective officers, directors, agents, joint venturers, employees and representatives (the “Indemnified Parties”), harmless from any cost, loss, claim or demand (including, but not limited to, legal fees and any fines, fees or penalties imposed by any regulatory authority) arising out of or related to:
(a) your breach of or our enforcement of these Terms, Aura Privacy Policy and any other agreements that you have entered into with us;
(b) your improper use of your Account or the Services;
(c) your violation of any law, rule or regulation, or the rights of any third party; and
(d) any loss resulting from your wilful default, fraud, negligence or gross negligence.
20.2. Any invalidity, unenforceability, release or discharge of the liability of you to any of the Indemnified Parties shall not affect the liability of any other persons (if any) to the Indemnified Parties.
21.1. You agree that Aura shall have the right to immediately suspend, terminate or cancel your Account (and any accounts beneficially owned by related individuals, entities, subsidiaries or affiliates), freeze, lock or otherwise dispose the funds or Digital Assets in all such Accounts, and suspend your access to the Aura Platform for any reason including if it suspects any such Accounts to be in violation of these Terms, Aura Privacy Policy, or any applicable laws and regulations. You agree that Aura shall not be liable to you for any permanent or temporary modification, suspension or termination of your Account or access to all or any portion of the Services. Aura shall have the right to keep and use the transaction data or other information related to such Accounts. The above account controls may also be applied in the following cases:
(a) the Account is subject to a governmental proceeding, criminal investigation or other pending litigation;
(b) we detect unusual activity in the Account;
(c) we detect unauthorized access to the Account;
(d) the Account has not been used by the user for 12 consecutive months;
(e) you are in violation of the Market Conduct Rules;
(f) the Account has been used to send or receive funds from illegal gambling websites where local laws and regulations prohibit gambling;
(g) we are informed that any transaction or activity in the Account involves fraud (such as credit card theft);
(h) we are required to do so by a court order or command by a regulatory or government authority;
(i) after Aura terminates any Products or Services related to your Account;
(j) you allegedly register or register in any other person’s name as Aura user, directly or indirectly;
(k) the information that you have provided is untruthful, inaccurate, outdated or incomplete; when these Terms are amended, you expressly state and notify Aura of your unwillingness to accept the amended Terms;
(l) you request that the Services be terminated;
(m) we are informed or suspect that any transaction or activity in the Account involves fraud or illegal activities;
(n) if there is any breach of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, or if you breach the Agreement and fail to resolve the matter to our satisfaction;
(o) if you act in a manner that is abusive of your Account as determined by Aura;
(p) if you fail to pay the fees or charges you have incurred, or fail to pay us any shortfall;
(q) in the event of your demise; or
(r) any other circumstances where Aura deems it should terminate the Services.
21.2. Should your Account be terminated, the Account and transactional information required for meeting data retention standards will be securely stored for 5 years. In addition, if a transaction is unfinished during the account termination process, Aura shall have the right to notify your counterparty of the situation at that time. You acknowledge that a user-initiated account exit (right to erasure under GDPR or other equivalent regulations) will also be subjected to the termination protocol stated above.
21.3. If Aura receives notice that any funds or Digital Assets held in your Account are alleged to have been stolen or otherwise are not lawfully possessed by you, Aura may, but has no obligation to, place an administrative hold on the affected funds and your Account. If Aura does place an administrative hold on some or all of your funds or Account, Aura may continue such hold until such time as the dispute has been resolved and evidence of the resolution acceptable to Aura has been provided to Aura in a form acceptable to Aura. Aura will not involve itself in any such dispute or the resolution of the dispute. You agree that Aura will have no liability or responsibility for any such hold, or for your inability to withdraw funds or execute trades during the period of any such hold.
21.4. Upon payment of all outstanding charges to Aura following an Account closure, the User will have 5 business days to withdraw all funds or Digital Assets from the Account, except that Aura may hold the funds or Digital Assets and User data or information which may be turned over to governmental authorities in the event of Account suspension or closure arising from fraud investigations, violation of law investigations or violation of these Terms.
21.5. For so long as the User owes moneys, liabilities or obligations (of whatsoever nature and howsoever arising) to Aura or any of its affiliates, the User may not withdraw any cash or Digital Assets held with Aura without Aura's consent. Aura may at any time (i) withhold any cash or Digital Assets of the User pending full settlement of all such moneys, liabilities or obligations of the User; and (ii) conduct set-off of all or any part of such moneys, liabilities or obligations of the User against the cash and Digital Assets of the User held with Aura, in each case without further notice to the User.
21.6. You agree that we are under no obligation to disclose to you the reason for suspending, restricting, cancelling or terminating your Account.
21.7. In the event of suspension, restriction, or termination of your Account:
(a) Digital Assets on your Account may then be frozen, withheld or otherwise disposed in accordance with laws or due to investigations on your Account;
(b) Aura may immediately block your Account for security reasons; and
(c) you shall not be entitled to a refund on transactions Aura has processed or any fees accrued for use of the Account before your Account is suspended, restricted or terminated.
21.8. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, you shall remain liable for all amounts and obligations accrued under this Agreement after the suspension, restriction or termination of your Account or termination of this Agreement.
21.9. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, you may not terminate your Account in certain circumstances, including, but not limited to:
(a) evading an investigation;
(b) if you have a pending transaction or an open dispute or claim;
(c) if your Account has a negative balance;
(d) if your Account is subject to a hold, limitation, or restrictions;
(e) if Aura is informed or suspects that any transaction or activity in the Account involves fraud or illegal activity; or
(f) if you have an outstanding owing to other Service Providers.
22.1. In connection with your use of the Services, you will not:
(a) violate or assist any party in violating any law, statute, ordinance, regulation or any rule of any self-regulatory or similar organization of which you are or are required to be a member through your use of the Services;
(b) provide false, inaccurate, incomplete or misleading information;
(c) infringe upon Aura's or any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, or intellectual property rights;
(d) engage in any illegal activity, including, without limitation, illegal gambling, money laundering, fraud, blackmail, extortion, ransoming data, the financing of terrorism, or any other violent activities;
(e) distribute unsolicited or unauthorized advertising or promotional material, written media releases, public announcements and public disclosures, junk mail, spam or chain letters;
(f) use a web crawler or similar technique to access our Services or to extract data;
(g) reverse engineer or disassemble any aspect of the Aura Platform, or the Services in an effort to access any source code, underlying ideas and concepts and algorithms;
(h) perform any unauthorized vulnerability, penetration or similar testing on the API;
(i) take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure, or detrimentally interferes with, intercepts, or expropriates any system, data or information;
(j) transmit or upload any material to the Aura Platform that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, or any other harmful or deleterious programs;
(k) otherwise attempt to gain unauthorized access to or use of the Aura Platform, other Accounts, computer systems, or networks connected to the Aura Platform, through password mining or any other means;
(l) transfer any rights granted to you under these Terms; or
(m) engage in any behavior which breaches these Terms or is otherwise deemed unacceptable by Aura in its sole discretion.
23.1. Aura shall not be liable for any loss arising from:
(a) any malfunction, defect or error in any terminal used to process any instructions from you, or other machines or system of authorization whether belonging to or operated by other persons or us;
(b) any delay or inability on our part to perform any of our obligations under this Agreement because of any Force Majeure Event. For the purposes of these Terms, “Force Majeure Event” shall mean any of the events out of reasonable control of the Company, including, but not limited to, nationalization, expropriation, currency restrictions, acts of state, acts of God, earthquakes, fires, floods, typhoons, tsunami, wars, civil or military disturbances, sabotage, terrorism and cyber-terrorism, security, integrity, and availability of the internet or blockchain networks, epidemics, pandemics, public health crisis, riots, interruptions, loss or malfunctions of utilities, computer (hardware or software) or communications services, accidents, labor disputes, regulatory changes, power failures or breakdowns in communications links or equipment of the Company, its contractors, agents or representatives;
(c) your failure to complete any transactions due to restrictions or refusal to accept transactions under your Account from third parties, including any banks, merchants or other counterparties, or our refusal for any reason to authorise any transaction; for the avoidance of doubt, “transactions” includes Transactions (as defined in Addendum 1);
(d) any damage to or loss or inability to retrieve any data or information that may be related to the Account or our Services hereunder;
(e) any action, inaction, underperformance, negligence or default of the Product Providers;
(f) any underperformance, negligence or default of (a) any third parties that Aura may engage, including, without limitation, Product Providers and Digital Assets wallet providers, exchanges or brokers, in providing the Services, directly or indirectly or (b) any counterparties to Transactions (as defined in Addendum 1);
(g) fraud or forgery of any third parties;
(h) business interruption, loss of revenue or profits, loss of business opportunity, customers or contracts, goodwill, opportunity or anticipated savings whether direct or indirect, even if we are advised of or knew or should have known of the possibility of the same; or
(i) any indirect or consequential loss.
23.2. Subject to applicable laws, Aura shall have no liability to you for any liabilities, costs, expenses, damages or losses or any interest, penalties or legal costs in connection therewith (collectively, “Losses”) suffered by you in connection with this Agreement, except to the extent that such Losses arise directly as a result of the fraud, gross negligence, or wilful misconduct of Aura; provided, that, Aura’s total liability to you in respect of such Losses shall not exceed an amount equal to the fees you have actually paid to Aura to use the Services within the last 12 months, and any such liability of Aura liability shall be reduced to the extent that your own negligence has contributed to the Losses.
23.3. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, the obligations and liabilities of Aura will be without recourse to any other subsidiary or affiliate of Aura, or their respective officers, employees, directors, contractors, agents or representatives and you agree not to make any claims against any other subsidiary or affiliate of Aura, or their respective officers, employees, directors, contractors, agents or representatives.
23.4. You acknowledge that all Products and Services are subject to substantial risk, including the risk of significant or total loss of your principal. There are no assurances or guarantees made by Aura or any associated parties that any Product or Services will result in a profit or principal guarantee. For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall Aura be held liable for damages or for any loss of any kind caused, directly or indirectly, by errors, frauds, cybersecurity attacks, hacks, wrongdoings, performance failure, default, negligence or misconduct of counterparties or exchanges where assets may be held or traded, failure of transmission of communication facilities, government restrictions, war, terrorist acts, insurrection, riots, fires, flooding, strikes, failure of utility services, adverse weather or other events of like nature, including, but not limited to, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes, pandemics, or other conditions beyond Aura’s control.
24.1. Aura reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law, including, without limitation, the right to restrict, suspend or terminate your Account or deny you access to the Services without notice, and Aura shall be entitled to disclose information (including, but not limited to, your user identity and personal details) when cooperating with law enforcement inquiries (whether or not such inquiries are mandatory under applicable law) or where permitted under or otherwise comply with applicable law.
25.1. You undertake not to disclose to any person or persons any Confidential Information that you may acquire in the course of your use of the Services. For the purposes of these Terms, “Confidential Information” shall mean any written information (including information provided in electronic form) or oral information which is confidential or a trade secret or proprietary and which is clearly identified as confidential at the time of disclosure or would be assumed by a reasonable person to be confidential under the circumstances surrounding the disclosure. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Confidential Information shall not include information which is: (a) already known by you prior to receipt from us; (b) publicly known or becomes publicly known through no wrongful act of you; (c) rightfully received from a third party without you having knowledge of a breach of any other relevant confidentiality obligation; or (d) independently developed by you. The obligations of this clause do not prevent you from disclosing Confidential Information either: (a) to a third party pursuant to a written authorization from us; or (b) to satisfy a requirement of, or demand by, a competent court of law or other tribunal or governmental, or administrative or regulatory or self-regulatory body or listing authority or any applicable law, provided that Aura is notified prior to such disclosure to the extent permitted by applicable law.
25.2. Aura may collect, use and/or Process (as defined below) Personal Data (as defined below) relating to the User for the purposes of, inter alia, performance of its obligations under this Agreement, compliance with any applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules or to assist in law enforcement and investigations conducted by any governmental and/or regulatory authority, any other purposes for which the information has been provided for, and any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the foregoing.
25.3. Aura may disclose and/or transfer such Personal Data, including transfer to foreign jurisdictions outside of Panama for the purposes of, inter alia, performance of its obligations under this Agreement, compliance with any applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules or to assist in law enforcement and investigations conducted by any governmental and/or regulatory authority, any other purposes for which the information has been provided for, and any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the foregoing. Such Personal Data to be transferred to foreign jurisdictions outside of Panama shall be protected at a standard in accordance with applicable laws and shall procure the same written undertaking from any third party overseas (if applicable).
25.4. The User shall have the right of access to such Personal Data that is in possession or control of Aura as prescribed by applicable laws.
25.5. Aura may retain such Personal Data as may be necessary or desirable to comply with applicable laws, and for such period of time as may be reasonably required by Aura in accordance with the relevant circumstances, including where required, with third parties appointed by Aura under formal agreements to act as custodians of such Personal Data, or for Processing of the same by such third parties, in each case subject to confidential agreements under which Aura shall exercise control and require standards as to safekeeping in accordance with applicable laws.
25.6. Aura reserves the rights to update its data protection arrangements including, without limitation, issuing of further notices, guidelines or policies as may be required by it or by law or as may be relevant from time to time. The User agrees to abide by such updates and, generally, where necessary, agrees to respond promptly to any request for further consents (whether by ad hoc request or by way of such updates) as to the use of such Personal Data as required by Aura from time to time.
25.7. In this Clause, the following capitalised terms have the following meanings:
“Personal Data” means data, whether true or not, about an individual who can be identified from that data or from that data and other information to which Aura has or is likely to have access which is treated in accordance with applicable laws.
“Process”, in relation to Personal data, means (i) to carry out any operation or set of operations in relation to Personal Data, and includes recording, holding, organisation, adaptation/alteration, retrieval, combination, transmission and erasure/destruction; and (ii) to copy, use access, display, run, store, review, manage, modify, transform, translate, extract components into another work, integrate or incorporate as part of a derivative work, and (iii) to permit others to do (i) and (ii). “Processing” shall have the corresponding meaning as a noun for the same.
26.1. THE AURA PLATFORM AND ALL SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, AND THE COMPANY SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE AURA PLATFORM AND THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES THAT IT IS FREE OF DEFECTS, MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING, THAT THE SERVICES OR PRODUCTS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, AND THAT ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU WILL BE SECURE AND NOT LOST OR DAMAGED. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS IS BORNE BY YOU, TO THE EXTENT SUCH RISK IS NOT DUE TO THE COMPANY’S WILLFUL MISCONDUCT. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE AGREEMENT. NO USE OF THE SERVICES OR PRODUCTS IS AUTHORIZED HEREUNDER EXCEPT AS PERMITTED UNDER THE AGREEMENT. IN ADDITION, WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION OF THE AURA PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, AND WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF ANY INTERRUPTIONS OR ERRORS. ADDITIONALLY, NOTHING CONTAINED ON THE AURA PLATFORM SHALL BE CONSTRUED AS PROVIDING CONSULTATION OR ADVICE TO YOU.
27.1. If any provision of these Terms is found to be unenforceable or invalid under any applicable law, such unenforceability or invalidity shall not render these Terms unenforceable or invalid as a whole, and such provisions shall be deleted without affecting the remaining provisions herein.
28.1. You may not transfer any rights or obligations you may have under these Terms unless Aura has provided written consent to the transfer. Aura may assign or transfer to any third party (including, without limitation, any other corporation that is a subsidiary or affiliate of a Service Provider) any of Aura’s rights and obligations under these Terms without your consent or the need to provide you with any prior notice of such assignment or transfer and you irrevocably consent to any such assignment or transfer by Aura.
29.1. Without limiting the preceding clause, in the event that Aura or a Service Provider is restructured or is acquired, merged or consolidated with another entity, you agree that Aura may transfer or assign the information it has collected from you and our relationship with you (including this Agreement) as part of such restructuring, merger, acquisition or consolidation.
30.1. This Agreement and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with this Agreement, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
31.1. Any dispute, controversy, difference or claim arising out of or relating to this Agreement, including the existence, validity, interpretation, performance, breach or termination thereof or any dispute regarding non-contractual obligations arising out of or relating to it shall be referred to and solely, exclusively and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) under the HKIAC administered arbitration rules in force when the notice of arbitration is submitted. The law of this arbitration clause shall be Hong Kong law. The seat of arbitration shall be Hong Kong. The number of arbitrators shall be one. The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in English. Arbitration hereunder may proceed notwithstanding that any Party fails to participate in accordance with the HKIAC administered arbitration rules, provided that proper notice of such arbitration has been given to such party, and the final award of the arbitral tribunal shall be binding on such Party notwithstanding its failure to participate. The arbitral award is final and binding upon both Parties.
32.1. You hereby agree that Aura has not acted and is not acting as a professional advisor of you and has not provided (or held itself out as providing) to you recommendations or advice with respect to particular investment decisions or advice of any other nature.
33.1. In the event of any inconsistency between different versions of this Agreement, the English version shall prevail.
34.1. Except for any Indemnified Parties, a person who is not a party to this Agreement may not enforce any of these terms and conditions. Notwithstanding any term of this Agreement, the consent of any third party is not required to vary, release or compromise any liability, or terminate any of these Terms. For the purpose of this Agreement, any references to Aura shall include their successors and assigns.
35.1. Where any action relating to a Service or Product is initiated from your Account using your credentials, we will assume that you authorized such action unless you notify us otherwise. We shall not be liable for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of our acting on or acceding to any such instruction or request.
35.2. Notwithstanding the foregoing sentence, we may but shall not be obliged to accept and act on any instruction or request whether given by mail, electronic mail, facsimile transmission or through the telephone, if Aura or our officers, employees, agents or representatives suspect your Account might have been stolen or any subscription has not been authorized by you or we have received conflicting instructions, we may suspend your Order and make further inquiries. You agree that Aura shall not be liable for any losses due to such actions.
36.1. You agree and consent to receive electronically all communications, agreements, documents, notices and disclosures (collectively, “Communications”) that we provide in connection with Account and the Services.
36.2. Communications may include:
(a) terms of use and policies you agree to (e.g. the Agreement and Aura Privacy Policy), including updates to these agreements or policies;
(b) account details, history, transactions, receipts, confirmations, and any other account or transaction information;
(c) legal, regulatory, and tax disclosures or statements we may be required to make available to you; and
(d) responses to claims or customer support inquires filed in connection with Account and the Services.
36.3. Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, we will provide these Communications to you by posting them on Aura Platform, emailing them to you at your email addresses provided to us, and/or through other electronic communications such as text messages or mobile push notifications, and you agree that such Communications shall be deemed to have been received by you if Aura has delivered them based on the latest information on your profile.
36.4. You are responsible for keeping your contact details (including your email address and telephone number) up to date on your profile in order to receive any Communications we may send to you.
37.1. Any delay or failure by us to exercise our rights and/or remedies under this Agreement does not represent a waiver of any of our rights. We shall be considered to have waived our rights only if we specifically notify you of such a waiver in writing.
38.1. The Company may amend or modify the Agreement at any time by posting the revised agreement on the Aura Platform and/or providing a copy to you (the “Revised Agreement”). If you continue to use the Services under this Agreement after the Revised Agreement is posted on the Aura Platform or provided to you, you shall be deemed to have accepted the Revised Agreement and such Revised Agreement shall be binding on you. If you do not wish to accept the Revised Agreement, please notify us as promptly as possible. The Agreement can only be amended or modified pursuant to this clause. No employees of Aura or associated parties may unilaterally or jointly amend or modify this Agreement in any other way.
38.2. We may not be able to continue providing Services to you if you do not accept the Revised Agreement.
39.1. If any term of this Agreement is unlawful or unenforceable under any applicable law, it will, to the extent permitted by such law, be severed from this Agreement and rendered ineffective where possible without modifying the other terms of this Agreement.
40.1. Titles and subtitles used in this Agreement are used for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing or interpreting this Agreement.
41.1. This Agreement (including documents incorporated by reference herein) comprises the entire understanding and agreement between you, and Aura as to the subject matter hereof, and it supersedes any and all prior discussions, agreements and understandings of any kind (including, without limitation, any prior versions of this Agreement), and every nature between and among you and Aura.
42.1. You acknowledge that you may also access other products, services or facilities linked through your Account on Aura Platform or through our authorized staff (the “Other Services”), and you agree that use of Other Services may be subject to additional terms and conditions and by using Other Services you agree you shall read and understand and agree to be bound those terms and conditions as Aura may impose from time to time (the “Additional Terms”) should you choose to use those Other Services.
42.2. You acknowledge that for the purposes of subscribing to the Products, you may be subject to Product Provider Terms. Aura may, but shall not be obliged to, make available to you the Product Provider Terms on Aura Platform or through our authorized staff.
43.1. The Services may include the provision by a Service Provider (whether directly or through its representatives) to one or more licensed insurance brokers (each, a “Broker”) of contact information (including Personal Data) of a User who may be interested in purchasing insurance products through the Broker (an “Introduction”).
43.2. By using this Service, the User acknowledges and agrees that (a) the disclosures set out in this clause have been made to the User by the relevant Service Provider and (b) the User consents to the Introductions.
43.3. In any activities undertaken in connection with the Introductions, no Service Provider will:
(a) give advice or provide recommendations on any investment product;
(b) market any collective investment scheme; or
(c) arrange any contract of insurance in respect of life policies or otherwise.
43.4. The Service Providers or their representative may be remunerated by the Broker Partners for making Introductions and shall, upon written request of the User, inform the User of the amount of such remuneration.
43.5. If the User requires a type of financial advisory service provided by more than one Broker, The Service Providers (or their representatives) will, with the User’s consent, make an Introduction to every such Broker that provides the service the User requires.
43.6. No Service Provider will receive, hold, or deal with any client money or property in relation to the Introductions. All monetary transactions, premiums, or investments will be handled directly between you and the Broker or the relevant product provider.
Your use of the account and the Services provided by Aura includes the ability to enter into agreements and/or to make transactions electronically. You agree that your electronic submissions constitute your agreement and intent to be bound by and to pay for such agreements and transactions. Your agreement and intent to be bound by electronic submissions applies to all records relating to all transactions you enter into on the Aura Platform, including notices of cancellation, policies, contracts, and applications. in order to access and retain your electronic records, you may be required to have certain hardware and software, which is your sole responsibility.
Unless otherwise specified in this Addendum, capitalized terms in this Addendum have the same meanings given to them in the Agreement.
2.1. You hereby appoint and authorize Aura as your agent to execute the orders (the “Orders”) that you placed for transactions of Digital Assets (the “Transactions”) and do or cause to be done all acts we shall determine to be desirable, necessary, or appropriate to implement and administer your authorization to execute the Orders.
2.2. You acknowledge and agree that Aura does not act in a principal capacity or as your counterparty under the Transactions.
2.3. The Company provides you online access to its proprietary electronic order system (the “Order System”) for using the Services. Any access to and use of the Order System will be subject to the terms of this Agreement, and any other policies, and procedures, announced by the Company from time to time.
3.1. Aura may make available different types of Transactions (such as spot trading) for your placement of the relevant Orders from time to time. Aura may adjust the list of available Transaction types at any time in our sole discretion without notice to you.
3.2. A Transaction is not complete while it is in a pending state. A certain amount of Digital Assets and relevant Expected Trade Fees (as defined in clause 7.2) associated with your Orders. Order that is in a pending state will be locked accordingly, will not be included in your Digital Assets balance reflected in your Account, and will not be available for withdrawal or be used for Other Services.
3.3. We shall have no liability if we are unable to fulfill your Orders or other related requests or delayed in doing so. We will also have no liability for errors in instructions we receive or for delays in receiving or failure to receive instructions. Our security procedures are designed to control access to your Account, not the accuracy of your instructions and we may execute any transactions on the Orders received by us.
From time to time, the Company may impose limits or restrictions on Transactions, including, without limitation to, purchases or sales of Digital Assets and withdrawal of Digital Assets from your Account, without prior notice to you, in order to manage risks, combat fraud and unlawful activities or otherwise preserve the integrity of the Services.
You are responsible for ensuring you have sufficient Digital Assets on your Account for all Transactions before you place an Order. You represent and warrant that any Digital Assets you deposit into your Account is free and clear of all liens, claims and encumbrances. If you know or suspect that you have received an overpayment of Digital Assets, or if you know or suspect that the Company has not yet collected from your Account a fee you have incurred, you agree to notify the Company, in writing, as soon as you learn of the overpayment or uncollected fee. You further agree not to remove the overpayment of Digital Assets or the uncollected fee from the Account or to return the entire overpayment or uncollected fee to the Company if it has already been removed from your Account.
6.1. You cannot cancel, reverse, or change any Transaction marked as complete (or other phrases of equivalent meaning), and we do not guarantee that you will be able to cancel, reverse or change any other Transaction once it is entered into our system.
6.2. We reserve the right to refuse to process, or to cancel or reverse (to the extent possible), any Orders at our sole discretion:
(a) if we reasonably believe that the Transaction may involve money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, or any other type of financial crime;
(b) in response to a subpoena, court order, or other government order;
(c) if we suspect that the Transaction is erroneous; or
(d) if we reasonably suspect the Transaction relates to a prohibited use under this Agreement or otherwise. Regardless of whether the Company’s reason for blocking, canceling or reversing a transaction ultimately is validated, we are under no obligation to allow you to reinstate an Order at the same price or on the same terms as the canceled Transactions.
7.1. You shall pay trade fees to Aura which may consist of, including, but not limited to, the exchange trading fee, Aura service fee and other fees related to the execution of the Orders(the “Trade Fees”). You agree to pay our Trade Fees promptly once your Order has been placed.
7.2. The details of expected Trade Fees will be provided at our sole discretion and will be displayed on the Order Page (the “Expected Trade Fees”). You agree and authorize us to lock corresponding Expected Trade Fees when you order. The actual Trade Fees shall be deducted once the Order is executed completely.
7.3. Although the Company will endeavor to deduct the Trade Fees on a regular basis, the Company’s failure to deduct the Trade Fees from your Account at any time you incur those Trade Fees does not waive the Company’s right to deduct those Trade Fees from your Account at any time in the future.
7.4. The Company reserves the right to change or waive the rate of Trade Fees and other fees associated with the Services at our sole discretion from time to time while it does not affect the Order that has been previously placed.
8.1. The following procedures shall apply to your use of the Services:
(a) You may enter the Order Page on Aura Platform (the “Order Page”) for the Services you intend to use, which lists the key terms of the Services, including, but not limited to, the order type, trading pair, execution price and execution amount.
(b) You may specify the terms you intend to set in the Services on the Order Page and by clicking “Confirm” (or other phrases of equivalent meaning) button on the Order Page, you represent that you confirm and accept the terms specified on the Order Page, and you will be directed to the “Details”:
(i) if the Details shows “Failed Order” (or other phrases of equivalent meaning), it means there is no binding Order executed for you. Such failure may happen due to the Company’s rejection of the Order you submitted, computer malfunction, network congestion, market data error or some other reasons. Both Parties understand and agree that no Party shall be liable for such transaction failure and the Company shall have the right to reject any Order at our sole discretion; and
(ii) if the Details shows “Completed Order” (or other phrases of equivalent meaning), it means a binding Order is deemed to have been executed for you with the term specified in the Details, and the Company will acquire ownership and title of the Trade Fees immediately.
You hereby understand and agree that the Company has no responsibility for the speed or inaccuracy of the data transmission. You agree that if the Company determines that the Order placed by you contains an obvious error, then the Company shall have the right to cancel the Order at our sole discretion.
Unless otherwise specified in this Addendum, capitalized terms in this Addendum have the same meanings given to them in the Agreement.
2.1. You may earn rewards on certain supported Digital Assets (“Rewards”) by purchasing products with a fixed return or variable return (such products, “Earn Products”), in each case as displayed on the Aura Platform, with Digital Assets in your Account.
2.2. Each Earn Product may only contain one type of Digital Asset as displayed on the Aura Platform. The amount of Digital Assets that can be allocated to any Earn Product may be subject to a minimum or maximum value and each Earn Product may be subject to a fixed term or may be redeemable subject to a minimum prior notice period, in each case as displayed on the Aura Platform.
2.3. Rewards on any Earn Product will be paid in the same Digital Asset used to purchase the Earn Product.
2.4. Rewards may be subject to tax withholding and reporting if required by any applicable laws and regulations.
2.5. Aura does not guarantee return of principal nor any specific rate of Rewards on its variable return products. Any rate of Rewards or range thereof displayed on the Aura Platform is based on assumptions and expectations in light of currently available information and involve various risks, variables and uncertainties, and should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether or not such performance or results will be achieved. Such statements are in no way a form of advice, solicitation or offer of or for any Earn Products and should not be interpreted as such.
2.6. Fees and charges, automatic renewals, early withdrawal penalties and other terms applicable to a Product may be displayed on the Aura Platform.
3.1. Aura or the applicable Product Provider shall have the right to sell, pledge, rehypothecate, assign, invest, commingle or otherwise dispose of, or otherwise use, any Digital Assets you use to purchase a Product, free from any claim, charge or encumbrance or any other interest or right of any nature whatsoever of you or any third person.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT DOCUMENT.
PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY AND KEEP IT FOR FUTURE REFERENCE.
The terms and conditions contain important information which apply to your dealings with us in relation to the Services (as defined in this document). You should read this document carefully and keep it for future reference. Different terms and conditions may apply in relation to specific services offered by us. Any such terms and conditions are additional to the terms set out in this document.
Certain risks relating to the Services are described in this document; however, this document does not disclose or discuss all of the risks, or other significant aspects, of conducting transactions or of the transactions conducted. You should not construe these or any other statements as legal, tax or financial advice.
We are not acting as your financial advisor and you must not regard it as acting in that capacity. You should consult your own independent professional advisors before entering into any transaction and only enter into a transaction if you have fully understood its nature, the contractual relationship into which you are entering, all relevant terms and conditions and the nature and extent of your exposure to loss.
If you have any questions about this document, or in the event of any service difficulties or interruptions, please contact us using the details below.
Effective Date: September 2025 (Version 1.0)
ENTERING INTO ANY DIGITAL ASSET RELATED TRANSACTIONS INVOLVES A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK. THE VALUE OF DIGITAL ASSETS MAY NOT BE BACKED OR SUPPORTED BY ANY GOVERNMENT. DIGITAL ASSETS MAY SUFFER SIGNIFICANT VOLATILITY IN VALUE. IN PARTICULAR, THE PROVIDER DOES NOT GUARANTEE THAT THE VALUE OF ONE WRAPPED TOKEN WILL ALWAYS EQUAL ONE WRAPPABLE NATIVE TOKEN ON ANY EXCHANGE OR OTHER PLATFORM. DUE TO A VARIETY OF FACTORS OUTSIDE OF THE PROVIDER’S CONTROL, THE VALUE OF WRAPPED TOKENS ON ANY PARTICULAR EXCHANGE OR OTHER PLATFORM COULD FLUCTUATE ABOVE OR BELOW ONE WRAPPABLE NATIVE TOKEN. ALTHOUGH A WRAPPED TOKEN WILL BE REDEEMABLE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS AGREEMENT FOR ONE WRAPPABLE NATIVE TOKEN LESS ANY APPLICABLE FEES, THE PROVIDER CANNOT CONTROL HOW THIRD PARTIES QUOTE OR VALUE WRAPPED TOKENS, AND THE PROVIDER IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSSES OR OTHER ISSUES THAT MAY RESULT FROM FLUCTUATIONS IN THE VALUE OF WRAPPED TOKENS. YOU ARE ADVISED TO CAREFULLY CONSIDER THE RISK EXPOSURE AND ACT CAUTIOUSLY. YOU MUST HAVE THE FINANCIAL ABILITY, SOPHISTICATION, EXPERIENCE, TOLERANCE AND WILLINGNESS TO BEAR THE RISKS OF ANY DIGITAL ASSET RELATED PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, AND A POTENTIAL TOTAL LOSS OF THE UNDERLYING ASSETS. A DIGITAL ASSET RELATED PRODUCT OR SERVICE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR EVERY PERSON. PLEASE CAREFULLY REVIEW YOUR FINANCIAL SITUATION AND OBJECTIVES TO DETERMINE WHETHER SUCH PRODUCT OR SERVICES IS SUITABLE FOR YOU. YOU ARE RECOMMENDED TO SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL AND FINANCIAL ADVICE BEFORE TAKING ANY INITIATIVE IN CONNECTION WITH THE INFORMATION SET OUT HEREIN.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING WHETHER THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED BY THIS AGREEMENT ARE LEGAL IN YOUR JURISDICTION AND YOU SHALL NOT ENTER INTO ANY SUCH TRANSACTIONS IF ANY ASPECT OF SUCH TRANSACTIONS IS ILLEGAL IN YOUR JURISDICTION. IF YOU ARE UNCERTAIN, PLEASE SEEK INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE.
“Applicable Law” means, in respect of any person, asset or activity, any and all laws, statutes, ordinances, treaties, regulations, rules, judgments, orders, decrees, rulings, charges, guidelines and requirements of any government or quasi-government (including supranational organisations), any agency, authority, regulatory body or other instrumentality of any government or quasi-government, any court or any exchange or listing organisation that are, in each case, in effect from time to time and applicable to that person, asset or activity.
“Blockchain” means, with respect to any Digital Asset, a digital ledger in which transactions made with that Digital Asset are recorded.
“Digital Asset” means any digital representation of value or rights which may be transferred and stored electronically, using distributed ledger technology or other technologies.
“Event of Default” means:
“Fees” has the meaning given to it in Clause 4.
“Fee Supplement” means the fee supplement in such form as the Provider may determine;
“Hex Trust Custodian” means Hex Trust Limited, HEX TRUST MENA FZE or any of their affiliate(s) that provides custody services;
“Hex Trust Wallet” means the “Wallet” as defined in the terms and conditions relating to the custody services provided to you by a Hex Trust Custodian;
“Inbound Transfer” means the sending by you of Digital Assets to a Hex Trust Wallet from an external wallet not hosted by any Hex Trust Custodian;
“Indemnified Parties” means Indemnified Parties under Clause 9.1.
“Outbound Transfer” means a transfer of Digital Assets from your Hex Trust Wallet to an external wallet;
“Parties” means the Counterparty and the Provider and “Party” means either one of them.
“Services” means the wrapping and unwrapping services provided by the Provider in accordance with this Agreement;
“Travel Rule” has the meaning given to it in the Financial Action Task Force’s Updated Guidance for a Risk-Based Approach for Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers issued October 2021, as amended, updated, supplemented, restated or replaced from time to time.
“Wrappable Native Tokens” has the meaning given to it in Clause 3.1.
“Wrapped Token” has the meaning given to it in Clause 3.2.
For the Services, you shall pay all fees, charges, costs and other amounts to the Provider set out in the Fee Supplement (the “Fees”). The Fee Supplement shall be delivered by the Provider to you on or promptly after your onboarding to the Platform, and may be amended from time to time by the Provider on written notice to you. All Fees are non-refundable, regardless of whether this Agreement is terminated (with or without cause). Fees may be deducted directly from Wrapped Tokens or Wrappable Native Tokens in connection with any wrapping or unwrapping transaction.
The Counterparty represents and warrants to the Provider that:
The Counterparty understands and acknowledges that:
Each Party shall comply, at its own expense, with all Applicable Laws with respect to this Agreement. If the Counterparty receives any notice or becomes aware of any violation of any Applicable Law with respect to this Agreement, the Counterparty shall promptly notify the Provider of such notice or violation.
Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, but subject to the provisions of Clause 24, where the Provider is for the time being subject to any regulatory requirements under any Applicable Law in relation to its dealings with the Counterparty under this Agreement, the rights and obligations of the Provider under the provisions of this Agreement shall be read and construed to the greatest extent permitted by, and in accordance with such regulatory requirements.
The Counterparty acknowledges and agrees that the Provider has not acted and is not acting as a fiduciary or a professional advisor of the Counterparty and has not provided (or held itself out as providing) to the Counterparty recommendations or advice with respect to any particular financial or investment decisions or advice (including legal, tax or investment advice) of any other nature. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed or is intended to be deemed, nor shall it cause, the Counterparty and the Service Provider to be treated as partners, joint ventures, or otherwise as joint associates for profit.
Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, all requests, demands, notices or other communications (“Notices”) between the Parties, shall be delivered by email and/or such other means of communication as may be agreed between the Parties. Notices to the Provider shall be sent to the email address or other contact details as the Provider may specify to the Counterparty from time to time. Notices to the Counterparty shall be sent to the email address or other contact details on file with the Provider provided by the Counterparty or by posting to a page accessible by the Counterparty on the Platform. The Counterparty shall at all times ensure that correct and operational contact details for Notices to the Counterparty is on file with the Provider. Notices sent by email or other electronic method shall be deemed to be received immediately after transmission.
If any provision of this Agreement or part-provision of this Agreement is or becomes invalid, unenforceable or illegal, it shall be deemed modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid, legal and enforceable. If such modification is not possible, the relevant provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. Any modification to or deletion of a provision or part-provision under this Clause 21 shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of this Agreement.
Except for an Indemnified Party or an affiliate or related party of the Provider as contemplated in Clause 18.1, a person who is not a party to this Agreement shall not have any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this Agreement. Notwithstanding any term of this Agreement, the consent of any third person who is not a Party is not required to rescind or vary this Agreement at any time.
If this Agreement is translated into any language other than English, the English language text shall prevail.
This Agreement and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with this Agreement or its subject matter or formation shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales.
Your privacy is important to us. At Hex Trust (“we”, “us” or “our”), we are committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of the personal information we collect and hold by complying with the requirements under the Hong Kong Privacy (Data Protection) Ordinance (Chapter 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“PDPO”). We are equally committed to ensuring that all our employees and agents uphold these obligations.
This policy explains how we manage personal information within our organisation. It applies to us and all of our related companies, affiliates and associates.
We collect personal information from you in the following circumstances: when you register an account with us; order products or services from us; subscribe to our newsletter; or complete any application form to us or submit a query or request to us. In some cases, we may be required by law to collect personal information about you. The personal information will generally be acquired through our channels, but we may however obtain information through a third party, such as representatives, agents or contractors who provide services to us, or third parties whom may refer you to us as they think you may be interested in our products or services.
The kinds of personal information that we collect and hold about you may include:
Without this information, we may not be able to provide you with our products or services (or with all of the features and functionality offered by our products or services) or to respond to queries or requests that you submit to us.
We use personal data that we collect about you for the following purposes:
EEA Residents: For individuals who reside in the European Economic Area (including the United Kingdom) or Switzerland (collectively “EEA Residents”), pursuant to Article 6 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or any equivalent legislation (collectively “EEA Data Protection Law”), we process this personal information based on our contract with you to comply with our legal obligations, to satisfy our legitimate interests as described above and to satisfy on your consent.
We may share personal information about you with:
Under this privacy policy, you consent to your personal information being disclosed in such circumstances.
In some cases, the people to whom we disclose your personal information may be located overseas. There may not be in place data protection laws which are substantially similar to, or serve the same purposes as Hong Kong. As such, your personal information may not be protected to the same or similar extent as in Hong Kong.
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information when you place an order or enter, submit, or access your personal information.We offer the use of a secure server. All personal information provided to us is transmitted via Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology and then encrypted into our database, which can only be accessed by those with special access rights to our systems, and are required to keep the information confidential. We update these physical and technical security processes and procedures from time to time to address new and emerging security threats that you become aware of.
Yes, however your personal data will not be kept longer than required.
We may retain your personal information for a period of at least seven (7) years from the date on which we collect the information until the last transaction is completed with you or our relationship ends (whichever occurs last). At our discretion, we may retain personal data for longer than this period if we consider it necessary or desirable to do so to meet our legal or regulatory obligations.
Yes. If you want to access any of the personal information that we hold about you or to correct some aspect of it (e.g. because you think it is incomplete or incorrect), please contact us using the contact details set out below. To protect the integrity and security of the information we hold, we may ask that you follow a defined access procedure, which may include steps to verify your identity. In certain cases we may charge you an administration fee for providing you with access to the information you have asked for, but we will inform you of this before proceeding. There may be cases where we are unable to provide the information you request, such as where it would interfere with the privacy of others or result in a breach of confidentiality. In these cases we will let you know why we cannot comply with your request.
Even if you do not request access to and/or correct your personal data held by us, if we are satisfied that, having regard to the reasons for which we hold your personal data, that personal data is inaccurate, incomplete, out-of-date, irrelevant or misleading, we may take reasonable steps to correct that data.
Yes, we use cookies on our website/platform to monitor and observe your use of our websites, compile aggregate data about that use, and provide you with more effective service (which may include customising parts of our websites based on your preferences and past activities on those websites). “Cookies” are small text files created and stored on your hard drive by your internet browser software, in order to hold relevant information and the webpage you are currently viewing. Most internet browsers have a facility that will allow you to disable cookies altogether – please refer to your browser’s help menu to find out how to do this. While you will still be able to browse our websites with cookies disabled on your internet browser, some website functionality may not be available or may not function correctly.
Occasionally, at our discretion, we may include links to third party products or services on our website. These third-party sites have separate and independent privacy policies. Further, we do not verify their content. We therefore have no responsibility or liability for the content and activities of these linked sites. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our site and welcome any feedback about these sites.
By using our site, providing personal information and/or using any of our products or services, you agree that you consent to our privacy policy, as updated from time to time.
We may make changes to this policy from time to time, to take into account changes to our standard practices and procedures or where necessary to comply with new laws and regulations. The latest version of this policy will be available at kyc.hexcustody.com/privacy-policy.html
If you are a resident of the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), we are the controller with respect to your personal information. We determine the means and purposes of processing data in relation to e-wallet and cryptocurrency transactions.
Our legal bases for processing under General Data Protection Regulation are described above in the sections entitled “What do we use your personal information for?”. We may process your personal information if you consent to the processing, to satisfy our legal obligations, if it is necessary to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts we entered with you, or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract with you, or for our legitimate interests to protect our property, our rights or safety and our customers or others.
If you are a current customer residing in the EEA, we will only contact you by electronic means (email) with information about our services that are similar to those which were the subject of a previous sale or negotiations of a sale to you.
If you are a new customer and located in the EEA, we will contact you if you are located in the EU by electronic means for marketing purposes only if you have consented to such communication. If you do not want us to use your personal information in this way, or to pass your personal information on to third parties for marketing purposes, please contact us to opt-out immediately. You may raise such objection with regard to initial or further processing for purposes of direct marketing, at any time and free of charge. Direct marketing includes any communications to you that are only based on advertising or promoting products and services
EEA users have the following rights, which can be exercised by contacting us:
We try to meet the highest standards in order to protect your privacy. However, if you are concerned about the way in which we are managing your personal data and think we may have breached any applicable privacy laws, or any other relevant obligation, please contact us by using the contact details set out below. We will make a record of your complaint and refer it to our internal complaint resolution department for further investigation. We will deal with the matter as soon as we can, and keep you informed of the progress of our investigation.
If we have not responded to you within a reasonable time or if you feel that your complaint has not been resolved to your satisfaction, you are entitled to make a complaint to the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
If you want any further information from us on privacy matters, please contact us at: ops@hexcustody.com
Hex Trust cannot guarantee the value of Virtual Assets and does not provide such assurance. You acknowledge and agree that the value of Virtual Assets is highly volatile, and trading or holding them involves a significant risk of loss. The value of virtual assets can fluctuate rapidly and may even decline to zero. Additionally, virtual assets may not be transferable or liquid, and there may be instances of fraud, manipulation, theft, or loss. Please note that Hex Trust never requests users to disclose their account passwords, online banking or ATM passwords, debit/credit card CVV numbers, or to make payments in person or via cash deposits or money transfers (Western Union, MoneyGram, etc.).
Hex Trust is concerned to ensure that all personal data submitted through Hex Trust website www.hextrust.com (“Hex Trust Website”) are handled in strict adherence to the internal Privacy policy.
Hex Trust will record the visits to Hex Trust Website by using cookies and page tagging without collecting any personal identifiable information of users.
A cookie is a small amount of data created in a computer when a person visits a website. It often includes an anonymous unique identifier. A cookie can be used to identify a device. It, however, is not used to collect any personal information. In other words, it does not have the function of identifying an individual user of the website. Cookies are used by Hex Trust to collect statistics about the number of visits of users to Hex Trust Website and the users’ preference of websites and online services offered on Hex Trust. Cookies are also used as set out below under the caption “Google Analytics”. You may choose to accept or reject cookies. If you reject the cookies, you will not be able to use some of the functions of Hex Trust , such as saving your preferences in using Hex Trust Website and accessing some online services on Hex Trust Website.
Hex Trust uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses cookies to help the website analyse how you use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and Internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
Download Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on
Javascript and pixel tags are used to collect statistics on customer usage patterns of Hex Trust Website and Hex Trust online services offered on Hex Trust Website; and for tracking the performance of our online advertisements. A pixel tag is a transparent image placed on certain webpages to collect data on user activities. The collected data are aggregated and analysed for measuring the effectiveness, improving the usability of Hex Trust Website and the services provided on GovHK. No personal or identifiable information about a visitor would be collected. You may disable JavaScript on your device. Disabling JavaScript should not affect your access to Hex Trust Website, but you will not be able to use some of Hex Trust Website functions, such as changing text size and accessing Hex Trust online services offered through Hex Trust Website.
For different purposes and at different times you may be invited to provide personal data to Hex Trust through Hex Trust Website on a voluntary basis. Personal information may include your name, company name, telephone number or e-mail address. Hex Trust will specify the collection purpose and intended usage of your data when it invites you to provide such information. Unless permitted or required by law, Hex Trust will not disclose your personal data to any third parties without your prior consent. Hex Trust Website uses SSL protocol to encrypt data during network transmission to protect your personal data. All personal data you provide to Hex Trust via Hex Trust Website are secured, and access to them is restricted to authorised personnel only.
Reach out to us at privacy@hextrust.com for any general privacy related enquiries.
Reach out to us at privacy.italy@hextrust.com for any Italy privacy related enquiries.
Our e-mail message (including any attachments) is intended only for the named recipient(s). It may contain confidential information that is privileged or that constitutes attorney work product. We do not waive confidentiality if you have received this communication in error. Email from and to this address may be subject to monitoring and archiving procedures by Hex Trust. If you are not the intended recipient or you have received this e-mail in error, you are hereby notified that any use, dissemination, distribution, copying or any action taken in reliance of the content of this e-mail and any attachment(s) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. In addition, please immediately notify the sender by replying to this e-mail and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your system.
All content in our email messages has been obtained from sources deemed to be reliable, but is subject to unintentional errors, omissions and changes without notice, and is not warranted by Hex Trust as to its accuracy or completeness and Hex Trust does not accept liability for any errors or omissions in the contents of its emails that arise as a result of email transmission. It is the responsibility of the recipients to independently confirm its accuracy and completeness. The sender undertakes no obligation to update or correct the information in any of its emails.
Any views or opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hex Trust. This message is for general information purposes only, and it is not and does not constitute any investment advice, offer to perform investment advisory services, any solicitation or offer to buy or sell any assets or financial product or instrument or an official confirmation of any transaction in any jurisdiction. You should not rely on the information contained herein, and should rely solely on, and carefully read, the appropriate offering and related subscription materials relating to any specific investment product before making any investment decision. To the extent the contents hereof contain performance data, please be advised that past performance is not indicative of future results. Any investment in digital asset involve significant risks (including but not limited to digital assets may decrease in value over time and/or lose all monetary value), all of which you should fully acknowledge and assume before making any investment.
The instruments that Hex Trust invests in, finances, intermediates or risk-transfers are not suitable for all investors and trading in these instruments is considered risky and is appropriate only for institutional investors. All offering of services will be subject to Hex Trust policies and procedures, including ongoing credit and risk approvals and subject to change at any time. Any information contained herein or attached about Hex Trust products or services is for use by institutional investors only.
VL/23/08/002
Virtual Assets Custody Services - Authorised to serve Institutional Investors and Qualified Investors.
Office 426, Level 4, Convention Tower, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE.
Responsible Individuals: Alessio Quaglini, Filippo Buzzi
Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Officer: Miles Corney
View our Knowledge Base here.
View Our VA Standards here.
This Risk Disclosure Statement provides Clients with critical information regarding the risks associated with Virtual Assets. Clients are strongly encouraged to carefully read and fully understand this statement before engaging in any products or services offered by Hex Trust.
This statement does not purport to disclose all risks associated with Virtual Assets but offers a high-level overview of material risks to assist Clients in making informed decisions. Clients should conduct their own due diligence, seek independent professional advice where appropriate, and carefully consider their financial situation, objectives, experience, and risk tolerance before engaging in Virtual Asset activities.
Engaging in Virtual Asset activities involves significant risks, including but not limited to the following:
Virtual Assets are subject to high levels of price volatility and market uncertainty. Unlike traditional fiat currencies or regulated financial instruments, Virtual Assets often lack intrinsic value foundations, making their valuations susceptible to speculation, sentiment, and market dynamics.
Historically, Virtual Assets have demonstrated extreme price fluctuations over short periods, sometimes driven by limited liquidity, speculative trading, regulatory announcements, technological developments, or broader economic factors. As a result, Clients should be prepared to sustain substantial losses, including the possibility of a total loss of value.
Virtual Asset transfers may not always be possible or may encounter restrictions. Some Virtual Assets may have compatibility issues between different blockchain protocols, wallet formats, or platform requirements. Additionally, once a transaction is broadcast and confirmed on a blockchain network, it is typically irreversible.
Errors in inputting wallet addresses, incorrect transfer details, or fraud by malicious actors may result in a permanent loss of Virtual Assets without recourse or recovery options.
Liquidity risk refers to the difficulty in selling, exchanging, or realizing value for Virtual Assets at desirable prices. Not all Virtual Assets have active or deep secondary markets. In times of market stress or for niche or emerging Virtual Assets, liquidity may evaporate quickly, resulting in difficulty executing trades or converting assets to cash.
Limited liquidity can exacerbate price volatility, widen bid-ask spreads, and delay trade execution.
Transactions involving Virtual Assets are typically recorded on public Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), such as blockchains, which are transparent and immutable. While public blockchains often do not record personal identifying information directly, wallet addresses and transaction histories are publicly visible and may be linked to individuals or organizations through blockchain analytics or regulatory reporting measures.
This transparency may conflict with Clients’ expectations of privacy and could expose transactional histories to regulatory authorities, cyber attackers, competitors, or other third parties.
The digital and decentralized nature of Virtual Assets exposes them to heightened risks of fraud, market manipulation, theft, hacking, and cybercrime. Unlike traditional financial systems, the Virtual Asset ecosystem often lacks the robust consumer protections and regulatory safeguards that protect investors in fiat or securities markets.
Holders of Virtual Assets rely heavily on the security of private keys and wallet integrity. Loss of private keys due to negligence, theft, hacking, or fraud can result in permanent loss of access to Virtual Assets. Moreover, in many cases, there are no legal mechanisms for reversing unauthorized transactions or recovering stolen Virtual Assets.
Client Virtual Assets ("Client VAs") held by Hex Trust MENA FZE benefit from any form of deposit protection or guarantee scheme offered by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority or any other component authority in the United Arab Emirates.
If you have any questions regarding this Risk Disclosure Statement or wish to seek further clarification about Virtual Asset risks, please contact us at hello@hextrust.com.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to ensuring a fair, transparent, and responsive process for addressing client complaints in accordance with regulatory requirements. We value client feedback and view it as an essential part of maintaining trust and continuously improving our services.
We have made it easy for you to submit a complaint. You may:
We accept complaints through multiple channels and formats to ensure accessibility. You are not required to use a specific form for your complaint to be recognized.
If your complaint involves a third-party service provider linked to our Virtual Asset Activities, we will work directly with the third party to address your concerns. However, we will remain responsible for ensuring your complaint is fully resolved.
We do not impose any fees or charges for submitting or handling complaints.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, client satisfaction and regulatory compliance are of utmost importance. We are committed to addressing all concerns promptly, fairly, and professionally.
For any queries regarding our complaints handling process, please contact us at complaints.mena@hextrust.com.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to conducting our business with the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct. We recognise that maintaining the trust and confidence of our clients, partners, employees, and stakeholders is critical to our success. As part of this commitment, we have implemented a robust Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy that reflects our strict zero-tolerance approach to any form of bribery or corruption.
The Company, its Board of Directors, and all Staff must act professionally, fairly, and with integrity in all business dealings and relationships, both internally and externally. We expect the same high standards from all third parties acting on our behalf.
Failure to comply with our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy will result in immediate disciplinary action, including the potential termination of employment without notice. In addition, any instances of non-compliance must be immediately reported to the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) for evaluation, in line with our regulatory obligations.
We remain fully committed to upholding a culture of integrity and ensuring that bribery and corruption have no place in any aspect of our operations.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct across all areas of our operations. We foster a culture of accountability and compliance, encouraging all employees, stakeholders, and business partners to adhere to the principles that define our organization.
Maintaining an open and ethical environment is vital to our success and to maintaining the trust of our clients, employees, regulators, and partners. To support this, we have implemented a comprehensive Whistleblowing Policy that enables the reporting of any suspected misconduct, unethical behaviour, or regulatory violations.
Hex Trust MENA FZE actively encourages all employees, contractors, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders to report concerns or suspected wrongdoing, including but not limited to:
Reports may be made openly, confidentially, or anonymously. While we encourage open or confidential reporting to facilitate effective investigation and remediation, we also recognize that some individuals may prefer to report anonymously. In such cases, whistleblowers are asked to provide sufficient detail or supporting evidence to allow a responsible investigation to proceed.
Hex Trust MENA FZE has a strict zero-tolerance policy against retaliation. Any individual who reports a concern in good faith will be fully protected from any form of adverse action, discrimination, harassment, or retribution. Protection extends not only to the identity of the whistleblower but also to any identifying information that could indirectly reveal their identity, recognising that certain facts may act as a "signature."
All concerns reported will be treated with the highest degree of confidentiality and sensitivity. Investigations will be conducted thoroughly, fairly, and impartially, and where misconduct is substantiated, appropriate corrective and disciplinary actions will be taken.
No final finding of misconduct will be made solely based on anonymous allegations unless they are independently corroborated through investigation.
Hex Trust MENA FZE provides secure and confidential channels for whistleblowers to raise concerns safely.
If you suspect wrongdoing, unethical behaviour, or regulatory non-compliance, you can report your concerns securely via:
Email: whistleblowing@hextrust.com
All concerns will be escalated appropriately and handled by designated Compliance and Risk Officers to ensure a professional and impartial review.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we value and appreciate the essential role whistleblowers play in safeguarding our organisation’s ethical foundation. Your voice helps protect our integrity, ensure regulatory compliance, and build a stronger, more transparent future.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE ("Hex Trust MENA"), we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and regulatory compliance. As a regulated entity authorised by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in the Emirates of Dubai to provide Custody Services, we recognise the critical importance of identifying, managing, and mitigating any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may arise in the course of our operations.
Hex Trust MENA has established a comprehensive Conflicts of Interest Policy designed to:
We are committed to acting honestly, fairly, and professionally in accordance with the best interests of our clients at all times.
We have implemented the following key measures to ensure transparency, fairness, and client protection:
Client assets are held in segregated custody accounts, separate from the firm's own assets, ensuring clear asset ownership and eliminating risk of misuse.
Our risk and compliance frameworks provide for independent oversight by senior management and committees, ensuring objective decision-making and escalation procedures.
Hex Trust MENA does not provide preferential treatment to any client. All clients are treated fairly and equitably under consistent operational standards.
Hex Trust MENA does not engage in proprietary trading of Virtual Assets. Our sole focus is on safeguarding client assets in a neutral and conflict-free manner.
Employees are required to comply with a Code of Conduct that mandates disclosure of external interests, prohibits personal trading that could give rise to conflicts, and requires immediate reporting of any potential conflict situations.
Staff undergo regular training on conflicts of interest, ethical behaviour, and regulatory obligations to reinforce a culture of compliance and client-first responsibility.
Where an unavoidable conflict of interest is identified that cannot be fully eliminated, Hex Trust MENA will:
In all cases, we prioritise client protection, fairness, and regulatory compliance in line with VARA expectations and principles.
At the time of this statement, Hex Trust MENA FZE confirms that it has no known actual or material conflicts of interest arising from its custodial activities.
We remain committed to operating with full transparency and integrity, upholding the trust placed in us by our clients, regulators, and stakeholders.
Hex Trust MENA FZE ("Hex Trust MENA") confirms that it does not maintain any client accounts, funds, or Virtual Assets with third parties.
All client assets are held directly under Hex Trust MENA’s custody, fully segregated from the firm's own assets, and maintained in accordance with our regulatory obligations.
We ensure full control, transparency, and protection of client assets through robust custody operations, comprehensive internal controls, and adherence to the highest standards of security, governance, and regulatory compliance.
VL/23/08/003
Broker-Dealer Services and Management and Investment Services - Authorised to serve Institutional Investors and Qualified Investors.
Office 425, Level 4, Convention Tower, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE.
Responsible Individuals: Alessio Quaglini, James Harte
Compliance Officer and Money Laundering Officer: Miles Corney
View our Knowledge Base here.
View Our VA Standards here.
HT Markets MENA FZE determines the prices of Virtual Assets quoted to clients using a combination of real-time data from multiple Tier-1 liquidity providers, market makers, and exchanges. Pricing is derived algorithmically by aggregating bid/ask spreads and order book depth to ensure fair market value, with applied spreads disclosed to clients where relevant.
HT Markets MENA FZE routes client orders to a network of liquidity providers and OTC counterparties based on best execution principles, which consider price, speed, reliability, and settlement risk. As of the date of this disclosure, no single liquidity source accounts for 20% or more of routed client orders on a sustained basis.
HT Markets MENA FZE does not currently hold or maintain client funds or Virtual Assets, nor does it provide clearing or settlement services on behalf of other VASPs offering Broker-Dealer Services.
HT Markets MENA FZE does not hold client Virtual Assets or fiat funds directly. All client assets are held in segregated accounts under the custody of Hex Trust MENA FZE, an affiliated and regulated entity licensed to provide Virtual Asset Custody Services under the VARA framework. These arrangements are structured to ensure that client ownership is fully protected, with legal title and beneficial ownership remaining with the client at all times.
HT Markets MENA FZE does not maintain any accounts, funds, or Virtual Assets with third-party custodians or intermediaries. All client asset arrangements are conducted through internal group infrastructure and regulated counterparties, including Hex Trust MENA FZE, in accordance with applicable regulatory obligations.
This Risk Disclosure Statement provides Clients with critical information regarding the risks associated with Virtual Assets. Clients are strongly encouraged to carefully read and fully understand this statement before engaging in any products or services offered by Hex Trust.
This statement does not purport to disclose all risks associated with Virtual Assets but offers a high-level overview of material risks to assist Clients in making informed decisions. Clients should conduct their own due diligence, seek independent professional advice where appropriate, and carefully consider their financial situation, objectives, experience, and risk tolerance before engaging in Virtual Asset activities.
Engaging in Virtual Asset activities involves significant risks, including but not limited to the following:
Virtual Assets are subject to high levels of price volatility and market uncertainty. Unlike traditional fiat currencies or regulated financial instruments, Virtual Assets often lack intrinsic value foundations, making their valuations susceptible to speculation, sentiment, and market dynamics.
Historically, Virtual Assets have demonstrated extreme price fluctuations over short periods, sometimes driven by limited liquidity, speculative trading, regulatory announcements, technological developments, or broader economic factors. As a result, Clients should be prepared to sustain substantial losses, including the possibility of a total loss of value.
Virtual Asset transfers may not always be possible or may encounter restrictions. Some Virtual Assets may have compatibility issues between different blockchain protocols, wallet formats, or platform requirements. Additionally, once a transaction is broadcast and confirmed on a blockchain network, it is typically irreversible.
Errors in inputting wallet addresses, incorrect transfer details, or fraud by malicious actors may result in a permanent loss of Virtual Assets without recourse or recovery options.
Liquidity risk refers to the difficulty in selling, exchanging, or realizing value for Virtual Assets at desirable prices. Not all Virtual Assets have active or deep secondary markets. In times of market stress or for niche or emerging Virtual Assets, liquidity may evaporate quickly, resulting in difficulty executing trades or converting assets to cash.
Limited liquidity can exacerbate price volatility, widen bid-ask spreads, and delay trade execution.
Transactions involving Virtual Assets are typically recorded on public Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLTs), such as blockchains, which are transparent and immutable. While public blockchains often do not record personal identifying information directly, wallet addresses and transaction histories are publicly visible and may be linked to individuals or organizations through blockchain analytics or regulatory reporting measures.
This transparency may conflict with Clients’ expectations of privacy and could expose transactional histories to regulatory authorities, cyber attackers, competitors, or other third parties.
The digital and decentralized nature of Virtual Assets exposes them to heightened risks of fraud, market manipulation, theft, hacking, and cybercrime. Unlike traditional financial systems, the Virtual Asset ecosystem often lacks the robust consumer protections and regulatory safeguards that protect investors in fiat or securities markets.
Holders of Virtual Assets rely heavily on the security of private keys and wallet integrity. Loss of private keys due to negligence, theft, hacking, or fraud can result in permanent loss of access to Virtual Assets. Moreover, in many cases, there are no legal mechanisms for reversing unauthorized transactions or recovering stolen Virtual Assets.
Client Virtual Assets ("Client VAs") held by Hex Trust MENA FZE benefit from any form of deposit protection or guarantee scheme offered by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority or any other component authority in the United Arab Emirates.
If you have any questions regarding this Risk Disclosure Statement or wish to seek further clarification about Virtual Asset risks, please contact us at hello@hextrust.com.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to ensuring a fair, transparent, and responsive process for addressing client complaints in accordance with regulatory requirements. We value client feedback and view it as an essential part of maintaining trust and continuously improving our services.
We have made it easy for you to submit a complaint. You may:
We accept complaints through multiple channels and formats to ensure accessibility. You are not required to use a specific form for your complaint to be recognized.
If your complaint involves a third-party service provider linked to our Virtual Asset Activities, we will work directly with the third party to address your concerns. However, we will remain responsible for ensuring your complaint is fully resolved.
We do not impose any fees or charges for submitting or handling complaints.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, client satisfaction and regulatory compliance are of utmost importance. We are committed to addressing all concerns promptly, fairly, and professionally.
For any queries regarding our complaints handling process, please contact us at complaints.mena@hextrust.com.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to conducting our business with the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct. We recognise that maintaining the trust and confidence of our clients, partners, employees, and stakeholders is critical to our success. As part of this commitment, we have implemented a robust Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy that reflects our strict zero-tolerance approach to any form of bribery or corruption.
The Company, its Board of Directors, and all Staff must act professionally, fairly, and with integrity in all business dealings and relationships, both internally and externally. We expect the same high standards from all third parties acting on our behalf.
Failure to comply with our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy will result in immediate disciplinary action, including the potential termination of employment without notice. In addition, any instances of non-compliance must be immediately reported to the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) for evaluation, in line with our regulatory obligations.
We remain fully committed to upholding a culture of integrity and ensuring that bribery and corruption have no place in any aspect of our operations.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct across all areas of our operations. We foster a culture of accountability and compliance, encouraging all employees, stakeholders, and business partners to adhere to the principles that define our organization.
Maintaining an open and ethical environment is vital to our success and to maintaining the trust of our clients, employees, regulators, and partners. To support this, we have implemented a comprehensive Whistleblowing Policy that enables the reporting of any suspected misconduct, unethical behaviour, or regulatory violations.
Hex Trust MENA FZE actively encourages all employees, contractors, vendors, clients, and other stakeholders to report concerns or suspected wrongdoing, including but not limited to:
Reports may be made openly, confidentially, or anonymously. While we encourage open or confidential reporting to facilitate effective investigation and remediation, we also recognize that some individuals may prefer to report anonymously. In such cases, whistleblowers are asked to provide sufficient detail or supporting evidence to allow a responsible investigation to proceed.
Hex Trust MENA FZE has a strict zero-tolerance policy against retaliation. Any individual who reports a concern in good faith will be fully protected from any form of adverse action, discrimination, harassment, or retribution. Protection extends not only to the identity of the whistleblower but also to any identifying information that could indirectly reveal their identity, recognising that certain facts may act as a "signature."
All concerns reported will be treated with the highest degree of confidentiality and sensitivity. Investigations will be conducted thoroughly, fairly, and impartially, and where misconduct is substantiated, appropriate corrective and disciplinary actions will be taken.
No final finding of misconduct will be made solely based on anonymous allegations unless they are independently corroborated through investigation.
Hex Trust MENA FZE provides secure and confidential channels for whistleblowers to raise concerns safely.
If you suspect wrongdoing, unethical behaviour, or regulatory non-compliance, you can report your concerns securely via:
Email: whistleblowing@hextrust.com
Internal Reporting Form
All concerns will be escalated appropriately and handled by designated Compliance and Risk Officers to ensure a professional and impartial review.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE, we value and appreciate the essential role whistleblowers play in safeguarding our organisation’s ethical foundation. Your voice helps protect our integrity, ensure regulatory compliance, and build a stronger, more transparent future.
At Hex Trust MENA FZE ("Hex Trust MENA"), we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and regulatory compliance. As a regulated entity authorised by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in the Emirates of Dubai to provide Custody Services, we recognise the critical importance of identifying, managing, and mitigating any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may arise in the course of our operations.
Hex Trust MENA has established a comprehensive Conflicts of Interest Policy designed to:
We are committed to acting honestly, fairly, and professionally in accordance with the best interests of our clients at all times.
We have implemented the following key measures to ensure transparency, fairness, and client protection:
Client assets are held in segregated custody accounts, separate from the firm's own assets, ensuring clear asset ownership and eliminating risk of misuse.
Our risk and compliance frameworks provide for independent oversight by senior management and committees, ensuring objective decision-making and escalation procedures.
Hex Trust MENA does not provide preferential treatment to any client. All clients are treated fairly and equitably under consistent operational standards.
Hex Trust MENA does not engage in proprietary trading of Virtual Assets. Our sole focus is on safeguarding client assets in a neutral and conflict-free manner.
Employees are required to comply with a Code of Conduct that mandates disclosure of external interests, prohibits personal trading that could give rise to conflicts, and requires immediate reporting of any potential conflict situations.
Staff undergo regular training on conflicts of interest, ethical behaviour, and regulatory obligations to reinforce a culture of compliance and client-first responsibility.
Where an unavoidable conflict of interest is identified that cannot be fully eliminated, Hex Trust MENA will:
In all cases, we prioritise client protection, fairness, and regulatory compliance in line with VARA expectations and principles.
At the time of this statement, Hex Trust MENA FZE confirms that it has no known actual or material conflicts of interest arising from its custodial activities.
We remain committed to operating with full transparency and integrity, upholding the trust placed in us by our clients, regulators, and stakeholders.
Hex Trust MENA FZE ("Hex Trust MENA") confirms that it does not maintain any client accounts, funds, or Virtual Assets with third parties.
All client assets are held directly under Hex Trust MENA’s custody, fully segregated from the firm's own assets, and maintained in accordance with our regulatory obligations.
We ensure full control, transparency, and protection of client assets through robust custody operations, comprehensive internal controls, and adherence to the highest standards of security, governance, and regulatory compliance.
Hex Trust MENA FZE undertakes comprehensive due diligence to guarantee the adherence of all supported Virtual Assets to our VA Standards. The considerations we take into account for each virtual asset are those listed in the following list. In the best interest of our valued Clients, we recommend familiarising themselves with the available standards pertaining to all supported virtual assets.
For each Virtual Asset we take into consideration:
Hex Trust Italia rende disponibili le informazioni in tema di ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) per informare sulle pratiche di rispetto ambientale adottate nell’ambito dei propri processi ed allo scopo ultimo di aiutare gli Stakeholder a comprendere come la essa gestisca i sottostanti rischi ed opportunità.
Cio’ ai sensi e per gli effetti dell’art. articolo 66, comma 5 del Regolamento (EU) 2023/ 1114 (“MiCA”), nonche’ delle norme tecniche emanate da ESMA (European Security and Market Authority) e da EBA (European Banking Authority) in tema di contenuto, metodologie ed indicatori di sostenibilità dell’impatto sul clima.
Al riguardo, Hex Trust Italia ha redatto un piano di azione, “ESG Plan”, volto ad evidenziare l’impegno profuso nel presidio di tali rischi climatici e ambientali, secondo tematiche specificatamente individuate quali il modello di business e la strategia, la governance ed il sistema organizzativo fino al sistema di gestione dei rischi, declinato nel rispetto del “principio di proporzionalità” in funzione della propria complessità operativa, dimensionale e organizzativa nonche’ della natura dell’attività svolta.
Nell’analisi dell’impatto ambientale in tema di ESG particolare attenzione e’ stata data all’impronta di carbonio di alcuni cripto-asset, il funzionamento di alcuni dei quali puo’ utilizzare un’elevata quantità di energia da valutare se in linea con le politiche ambientali pubbliche e private e con gli obiettivi ambientali, sociali e di governance (ESG), co un potenziale rischio legato alla transizione climatica sotteso alla possibilita’ di incorporare nei prezzi delle criptovalute le esternalità legate agli impatti delle emissioni di CO2.
Cio’, in un’ottica di sempre maggiore trasparenza, anche allo scopo di consentire agli investitori se investire in determinati cripto-asset eventualmente in linea con i propri obiettivi ESG.
La societa’ registra un consumo energetico mensile compreso tra i 7.000 e gli 8.000 kWh, oltre ad essere coinvolta in iniziative volte ad un costante efficientamento energetico.
La maggior parte delle operazioni e, in particolare, i validatori di criptovalute escludono il mantenimento fisico per validatori, poiche’ attivita’ svolte in cloud.
Ai fini della sostenibilità ambientale, Hex Trust collabora con il proprio fornitore di data center per i cui dettagli si rimanda a https://www.nxera-dc.com/sustainability.
In Hex Trust, la sicurezza e la protezione degli asset dei nostri clienti rappresentano una priorità fondamentale.In linea con il nostro impegno verso standard di livello istituzionale, Hex Trust Limited (“Hex Trust”) e le altre società controllate operative sono coperte dalla polizza assicurativa globale sulla custodia di asset digitali di Hex Trust Limited, che protegge una parte delle valute digitali detenute nei nostri sistemi di archiviazione contro perdite derivanti da furto, incluse le violazioni della sicurezza informatica.Manteniamo questa copertura assicurativa per gli asset digitali in custodia al fine di fornire un ulteriore livello di protezione e rassicurazione ai nostri clienti.
La polizza assicurativa di Hex Trust fornisce una copertura limitata per le perdite di asset digitali detenuti in custodia sia in ambienti di archiviazione hot (online) che cold (offline). La copertura si applica in circostanze specifiche, quali:
Questa assicurazione integra i nostri rigorosi protocolli di sicurezza, i controlli di governance multi-livello e l'avanzata infrastruttura di custodia progettata per proteggere gli asset dei clienti da minacce esterne e interne.
Sebbene la nostra polizza assicurativa offra una protezione significativa, è importante notare che non copre tutti i tipi di perdite. Le esclusioni possono includere, a titolo esemplificativo ma non esaustivo:
Incoraggiamo tutti i clienti a familiarizzare con i termini e le condizioni complete della polizza per comprendere la copertura specifica, le limitazioni e le procedure di reclamo.
La polizza assicurativa di Hex Trust è sottoscritta da un primario assicuratore globale con esperienza nella copertura dei rischi legati agli asset digitali. La polizza è soggetta a revisione e rinnovo periodici, in linea con l'evoluzione del panorama dei rischi e delle tipologie di asset supportati dalla nostra piattaforma di custodia.I livelli di copertura sono definiti per riflettere la nostra esposizione al rischio e i profili operativi dei clienti che serviamo. I limiti specifici della polizza e i criteri di idoneità possono variare a seconda della classe di asset, della giurisdizione e del livello di servizio.
Consultazione della Polizza CompletaPer i dettagli completi sui termini, le condizioni e l'ambito di copertura della polizza, si prega di contattare il proprio relationship manager o di scriverci all'indirizzo legal@hextrust.com.
Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito anche la “società”) svolge attività di fornitore di servizi di cripto-asset (Digital Asset Service Provider) con specifico riferimento alle attività di Custody e Trading per clienti istituzionali, senza alcuna presenza nel “retail business”.
Il presente documento disciplina le attività poste in essere da Hex Trust Italia per mitigare il potenziale rischio di “Abuso di Mercato” (di seguito anche “Market Abuse” o “MAR”) in caso di negoziazioni di crypto attivita’ tramite piattaforma, intendendo con “Abuso di Mercato” la pratica di illecito sfruttamento di
informazioni privilegiate. Tale illecito sfruttamento si configura allorquando si realizza: - (abuso di informazioni privilegiate) utilizzo di informazioni non disponibili al pubblico da parte di particolari soggetti che, in virtu’ dello specifico ruolo ricoperto, possano influenzare l’andamento della negoziazione di asset finanziari. Piu’ in generale, trattasi dell’utilizzo di informazioni privilegiate con operazioni, per proprio conto o di terzi, su strumenti finanziari cui tali informazioni privilegiate siano riferite, intendendo con esse informazioni aventi un carattere preciso, non resa pubbliche e che, se resa pubblica, avrebbe un effetto significativo sui prezzi.
- (comunicazione illecita di informazioni privilegiate) comunicazione di informazioni privilegiate possedute da un soggetto a terzi (anche tramite invio di documenti riservati contenenti informazioni privilegiate), tranne nel caso in cui la comunicazione avvenga nel normale esercizio di un’occupazione, una professione o una funzione.
- (manipolazione del mercato) operazione o qualsiasi altra condotta che
o invii (anche potenzialmente) segnali falsi o fuorvianti su domanda/ offerta di prezzo di asset finanziari; o consenta (anche potenzialmente) di fissare il prezzo di uno strumento finanziario a un livello artificiale; o faccia uso di artifici, forme di inganno, diffusione o trasmissione di dati o informazioni false o fuorvianti,
qualsiasi azione che manipoli il calcolo di un parametro di riferimento. Tale fattispecie non e’ riconducibile all’operativita’ di Hex Trust poiche’ soggetto non quotato.
La societa’ fornisce copia del presente documento alla preposta Autorita’ di Vigilanza ed alle controparti in ambito di esecuzione di ordini di negoziazione di asset digitali, al fine di rilevare e mitigare i potenziali rischi di Abuso di Mercato, mitigare il rischio di asimmetrie informative e tutelare gli investitori. La presente Procedura si ricollega, tematicamente, agli aspetti descritti nelle Procedure “Best Execution” e “Trading” alle quali si rimanda per eventuali approfondimenti
- Normativa EU:
o Regolamento (UE) n. 596/2014 sugli abusi di mercato
o Regolamento di modifica (UE) 2016/1011
o Regolamento di modifica (UE) 2019/2115
o Regolamento delegato (UE) 2022/1959 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2022/1210 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2020/1406 della Commissione
o Regolamento delegato (UE) 2019/461 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2018/292 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2017/1158 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2016/1055 della Commissione
o Regolamento delegato (UE) 2016/1052 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2016/959 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2016/523 della Commissione
o Regolamento delegato (UE) 2016/522 della Commissione
o Regolamento di esecuzione (UE) 2016/378 della Commissione
o Direttiva 2014/65/UE del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio
o Direttiva 2014/57/UE del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio
o Pacchetto di proposte legislative del 24/04/2024 (riforma dei mercati di capitali del Listing Act). - Normativa Italiana:
o DLgs. n. 58, 28/02/1998 (di seguito il “TUF”)
o Delibera CONSOB n. 19925 del 22/03/2017
o Linee Guida CONSOB, 13/10/17 (“Gestione Informazioni Privilegiate”, “Raccomandazioni di investimento”). o Comunicazione CONSOB n. 1/ 2017 di Ottobre 2017
Con il termine di “Informazioni privilegiate” si intendono informazioni per cui sussistono quattro condizioni: 1. concernere direttamente l’emittente
2. non essere stata resa pubblica
3. avere carattere preciso
4. essere materiale cioè, qualora resa pubblica, potrebbe avere un effetto significativo sui prezzi degli asset.
Piu’ in particolare, le “informazioni privilegiate”:
- non sono (o non ancora) a disposizione del pubblico ed in grado variare il prezzo del sottostante asset; - riguardano circostanze esistenti o che si possono produrre tali da impattare sui prezzi di cripto-attività; - potrebbero pregiudicare, se divulgate in modo non regolamentato, i legittimi interessi di shareholders,
stakeholders, emittenti, offerenti o persone che chiedono l’ammissione alla negoziazione; - potrebbero pregiudicare la regolare formazione dei prezzi di mercato se non mantenute riservate.
La societa’ prevede che nessun soggetto divulghi informazioni privilegiate di cui sia in possesso, tranne nel caso in cui tale divulgazione avvenga nell’esercizio di un’attività lavorativa o professionale o funzionale.
La societa’ prevede che nessun soggetto impieghi informazioni privilegiate di cui sia in possesso a scopo di negoziare, per conto proprio o per conto di terzi, asset digitali a cui tali informazioni si riferiscano. In tale ambito e’ considerato abuso di informazioni privilegiate anche:
- annullamento o modifica di un ordine concernente cripto-attività a cui tali informazioni si riferiscono quando esso sia stato inoltrato prima che il soggetto interessato possedesse tali informazioni privilegiate; - presentazione, modifica o ritiro di un’offerta per conto proprio o per conto di terzi quando cio’ cio’ sia stato compiuto dopo l’entrata in possesso di tali informazioni.
Hex Trust Italia prevede che nessuno possa:
- abusare o tentare di abusare o utilizzare informazioni privilegiate per acquisire o cedere asset, direttamente o indirettamente, per conto proprio o di terzi;
- raccomandare ad altri di abusare informazioni privilegiate o indurre altri ad abusarne; - raccomandare o indurre un’altra persona sulla base di tali informazioni privilegiate ad: o acquistare o cedere cripto-attività;
o annullare o modificare un ordine riguardante cripto-attività.
Il ricorso ad una raccomandazione o ad una sua induzione è inteso abuso di informazioni privilegiate se il soggetto che vi ricorre sa che tali comportamenti sono compiuti in base ad informazioni privilegiate. Quanto sopra si applica a ogni soggetto che possieda informazioni privilegiate alla luce del fatto che: - sia membro di un organo interno a Hex Trust Italia;
- abbia una partecipazione al capitale;
- abbia accesso ad informazioni privilegiate nell’esercizio dell’attività lavorativa;
- possieda tali informazioni per ulteriori, diverse circostanze.
Se l’eventuale abuso di informazioni privilegiate si riferisce alla persona giuridica, le presenti disposizioni si applicano alle persone fisiche che partecipano alla decisione di effettuare l’acquisto, la cessione, la cancellazione o la modifica di un ordine per conto della persona giuridica in questione.
Tale fattispecie non e’ riconducibile all’operativita’ di Hex Trust poiche’ soggetto non quotato. Tuttavia, a fini di tracciabilita’, si specifica che:
- nessuno puo’ effettuare manipolazioni di mercato o tentare di effettuarne;
- sono considerate manipolazione del mercato le condotte seguenti:
o perfezionamento di un’operazione, collocazione di ordine di negoziazione che possa: ✓ fornire indicazioni false o fuorvianti su offerta, domanda prezzo di cripto-attività; ✓ fissare il prezzo di una o più cripto-attività a un livello anormale o artificiale;
✓ incidere sul prezzo di cripto-attività utilizzando strumenti fittizi o altri tipi di inganno o espediente; o diffusione di informazioni con media e web o altro mezzo tale da fornire indicazioni fuorvianti su domanda, offerta, prezzo di cripto-attività, rischiando di fissare artificialmente il prezzo di cripto-attività;
o acquisizione di una posizione dominante sull’offerta o sulla domanda di una cripto-attività che possa fissare i prezzi di acquisto o vendita o possa creare altre condizioni commerciali inique; o inoltro a piattaforme di negoziazione di ordini di acquisto, cancellazioni e modifiche; o compromissione o ritardo di funzionamento della piattaforma di negoziazione di cripto-attività o l’esecuzione di qualsiasi attività che possa avere tale effetto;
o esecuzione di azioni che ostacolino l’individuazione di ordini autentici sulla piattaforma di negoziazione di cripto-attività da parte di altre persone o qualsiasi attività che possa avere tale effetto, anche mediante l’inserimento di ordini che determinano la destabilizzazione della piattaforma stessa;
o creazione di un segnale falso o fuorviante in merito a offerta, domanda o prezzo di una cripto-attività; o uso di mezzi di informazione tradizionali o elettronici per esprimere pareri su cripto-attività in cui si siano prese posizioni in precedenza, approfittando poi degli effetti prodotti da tali pareri sul prezzo delle cripto-attività, senza avere reso pubblico detto conflitto di interesse in modo adeguato.
La societa’ implementa presidi organizzativi e di controllo” atti ad individuare e mitigare abusi di mercato: i. individuazione dei requisiti regolamentari e di Vigilanza in tema di Market Abuse ed analisi d’impatto; ii. verifica della coerenza dell'assetto organizzativo (processi, procedure e soluzioni) rispetto a tali requisiti: iii. redazione, aggiornamento e archiviazione del “Registro dei Soggetti Rilevanti” atto a monitorare i
Soggetti Rilevanti Gruppo che, in virtu’ delle attivita’ aziendali svolte, possano avere accesso a “Informazioni Privilegiate”. Tali “Soggetti Rilevanti” sono, in via generale, identificati in: o chi detenga partecipazioni almeno pari al 10% del capitale sociale rappresentato da azioni con diritto di voto, nonché ogni altro soggetto che ne detenga il controllo;
o soggetti apicali di Hex Trust Italia Srl;
o soggetti apicali del Gruppo Hex Trust;
iv. redazione, aggiornamento e archiviazione (almeno dieci anni) del “Registro delle transazioni effettuate da Soggetti Rilevanti”;
v. analisi di sospetti abusi di mercato, commessi o potenziali, e tempestiva segnalazione all’Autorita’ di Vigilanza mediante il “Modulo di Segnalazione di attivita’ riconducibili al Market Abuse”; vi. divieto di negoziare asset digitali da parte di dipendenti in base a informazioni privilegiate non pubbliche vii. divieto di discutere informazioni privilegiate non pubbliche senza una chiara necessità di condivisione; viii. divieto di negoziare cripto-asset prima del rilascio pubblico di sottostanti informazioni privilegiate; ix. divieto di trasmissione a terzi di informazioni privilegiate utilizzabili per transazioni commerciali; x. divieto di dichiarazioni fuorvianti su cripto-asset per influenzarne il prezzo;
xi. attenzione nella discussione di informazioni potenzialmente sensibili in contesti informali; xii. limitazione dell'accesso a informazioni sensibili solo a coloro che ne abbiano necessita’ lavorativa; xiii. monitoraggio delle transazioni che potrebbero suggerire atti di Market Abuse; xiv. divieto di comunicazione al mercato di informative pubbliche non chiare e/o non veritiere; xv. audit regolari atti a garantire l’efficacia dei presidi di controlli in atto;
xvi. divulgazione selettiva di informazioni privilegiate prima della messa a disposizione del pubblico; xvii. procedura di Whistleblowing per segnalare sospetti abusi d’informazioni privilegiate/ divulgazioni illecite; xviii. divieto di “Wash Trades” (negoziazione da parte di uno stesso soggetto per creare l’illusione di trading); xix. divieto di “Pump & Dump” (promozione forzosa di cripto-asset da rivendere a prezzi gonfiati); xx. divieto di “Spoofing e stratificazione” (grandi ordini di negoziazione da annullare prima dell'esecuzione); xxi. sistemi di sorveglianza dei trader per rilevare operazioni che potrebbero indicare manipolazione; xxii. meccanismi di supervisione dei trader per rilevare potenziali strategie manipolative; xxiii. conservazione dei registri di trading per rilevare eventuali strategie potenzialmente manipolative; xxiv.evasione delle richieste delle Autorità di Vigilanza e dei Mercati.
Hex Trust Italia’:
- è soggetta alle norme di notifica all’Autorita’ dello Stato membro in cui è registrata o ha la sede legale; - comunica senza indugio a tale Autorità ogni ragionevole sospetto su ordini, cancellazioni o modifiche se vi siano circostanze che indichino un abuso di mercato commesso o in atto o possa essere commesso.
Dal succitato perimetro sono esclusigli obblighi in tema di “Internal Dealing”, in quanto Hex Trust Italia non risulta una societa’ quotata con titoli negoziati su mercati regolamentati che possano essere oggetto compravendita da parte dei propri amministratori, sindaci e top managers.
organizzativi e di controllo atti a mitigare il potenziale rischio di Market Abuse, come indicati Flow Chart:
In conformita’ alla Comunicazione CONSOB n. 1/2017 di Ottobre 2017, la societa’ adotta presidi organizzativi e di controllo atti a mitigare il potenziale rischio di Market Abuse, come indicati Flow Chart:
La societa’ individua nella funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance la Funzione di Gestione delle Informazioni Privilegiate (“FGIP”) atta al presidio di tale Fase del Processo “Market Abuse”. Essa: 1. concorre alla definizione e alla valutazione periodica del monitoraggio delle Informazioni Privilegiate; 2. impartisce disposizioni per la corretta applicazione della stessa;
3. provvede alla mappatura dei tipi di informazioni rilevanti;
4. definisce i criteri per l’individuazione delle specifiche informazioni rilevanti;
5. individua le specifiche informazioni rilevanti;
6. impartisce disposizioni per la gestione dell’elenco delle persone con accesso alle informazioni rilevanti; 7. monitora la circolazione delle specifiche informazioni rilevanti;
8. individua il momento in cui la specifica informazione rilevante diviene privilegiata; 9. decide in merito alla tempistica di pubblicazione delle informazioni privilegiate;
10.monitora la sussistenza delle condizioni che consentono di ritardare tale pubblicazione; 11.monitora la circolazione delle informazioni privilegiate;
12.offre al personale un supporto per individuare la natura delle informazioni da queste trattate.
Hex Trust Italia, al fine di assolvere all’obbligo di pubblicare quanto prima le informazioni che assumono natura privilegiata (art 87 e 88 MiCA), monitora le fasi preliminari alla pubblicazione, in base al “principio di proporzionalita’” nel rispetto della riservatezza e della protezione di flussi informativi del Sistema di Governance. A tal riguardo, individua e monitora i tipi di informazioni rilevanti in quanto relative a dati, eventi, progetti o circostanze che possono assumere natura privilegiata.
A tal fine e per individuare se una specifica informazione “rilevante” assume la natura “privilegiata”, sono definiti ex ante i criteri per ciascun tipo di informazione rilevante: essi possono consistere in informazioni sull’emittente, informazioni non rese pubbliche, informazioni di carattere preciso (circostanze), informazioni materiali in grado di impattare in modo significativo sui prezzi degli asset.
Posto quanto sopra e nel rispetto del “principio di proporzionalita’”, Hex Trust, provvede a: - verificare l’adeguatezza di controlli e sanzioni in tema di violazione degli obblighi interni di riservatezza; - limitare e controllare l’accesso alle specifiche informazioni assicurando la sicurezza organizzativa, fisica e
logica delle stesse, anche tramite la strutturazione su diversi livelli di accesso, la protezione dei relativi supporti informatici (parole chiave, crittografia, ecc.) e limiti alla circolazione di dati e documenti; - richiedere una relazione periodica della “FGIP” sull’applicazione della Procedura; - determinare programmi di formazione per i dipendenti;
- specificare le modalità di condotta da adottare nei rapporti formali e informali con i terzi in genere; - adottare politiche di gestione e incentivazione del personale che non generino l’erroneo convincimento che il raggiungimento degli obiettivi di produttività sia oggetto di valutazione positiva indipendentemente dalle modalità seguite.
Al fine di adempiere agli obblighi previsti in tema di Market Abuse con specifico riguardo alla pubblicazione delle informazioni privilegiate, Hex Trust Italia si dota di meccanismi organizzativi e procedurali coerenti con il proprio Sistema di Governance. In particolare, ai sensi e per gli effetti degli artt. 87 e 88 del Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 (“MiCA”) relativo ai mercati delle cripto-attività, la societa’:
- comunica quanto prima le informazioni privilegiate che la riguardano per consentire alle controparti negoziali di accedervi tempestivamente e di valutarle in modo adeguato, completo e tempestivo, mitigando il rischio di asimmetrie informative, in un’ottica di tutela dell’investimento;
- pubblica sul sito web per almeno cinque anni l’Elenco delle Informazioni Privilegiate; - redige senza pubblicare sul proprio sito web la cd. Insider List ovvero il succitato l’Elenco in cui le Informazioni Privilegiate risultano associate ai Soggetti che possano avervi accesso,. I soggetti inseriti nell’Insider List:
o devono prendere atto per iscritto (con la presente Procedura) degli obblighi giuridici e regolamentari connessi e siano a conoscenza delle sanzioni applicabili in caso di abuso di informazioni privilegiate e di comunicazione illecita di informazioni privilegiate.
La FGIP:
o aggiorna l’Insider List se:
✓ cambia il motivo per cui la persona è inclusa nella sezione;
✓ una nuova persona ha accesso all’informazione privilegiata;
✓ una persona iscritta nella sezione non ha più accesso all’informazione.
o e’ responsabile di:
✓ corretta tenuta dell’Insider List anche in caso di delega ad altra funzione;
✓ aggiornamento dell’Insider List quando un’informazione privilegiata cessa di avere tale natura, con relativa informativa alle persone indicate.
L’Insider List:
o è tenuta su formato elettronico per almeno cinque anni;
o deve garantire in ogni momento:
✓ la riservatezza delle informazioni contenute assicurando che l’accesso all'Insider List sia limitato alle persone identificate che devono accedervi per la natura della rispettiva funzione o posizione; ✓ l’esattezza delle informazioni presenti nell’Insider List;
✓ l’accesso e il reperimento delle versioni precedenti dell’Insider List.
o e’ inoltrata alla Consob via PEC all’indirizzo consob@PEC.consob.it o a protocollo@consob.it. - non coniuga la comunicazione di informazioni privilegiate alla commercializzazione di propri asset; - puo’, sotto la propria responsabilità, ritardare la divulgazione al pubblico di informazioni privilegiate purché siano soddisfatte le condizioni seguenti:
o la divulgazione immediata potrebbe pregiudicare gli interessi di eventuali shareholders, stakeholders, emittenti, offerenti a vario titolo coinvolti;
o il ritardo nella divulgazione potrebbe non fuorviare il pubblico.
- notifica l’eventuale ritardo della divulgazione di informazioni privilegiate alla preposta Autorità di Controllo fornendone per iscritto una spiegazione, immediatamente dopo che le informazioni siano state divulgate al pubblico.
Quanto sopra indicato e’ svolto nel rispetto della normativa in tema di protezione dei dati e dei flussi informativi delineati nel Sistema di Governance.
Hex Trust, al fine di garantire una corretta informazione, tiene conto dei seguenti criteri nell’utilizzo del proprio sito internet rivolto agli investitori (area Investor Relation):
- riporta i dati secondo adeguati criteri redazionali, evitando di perseguire finalità promozionali; - indica in chiaro, in ciascuna pagina internet, la data e l'ora di aggiornamento dei dati; - assicura, nel caso di utilizzo di una seconda lingua oltre a quella italiana, che il contenuto sia il medesimo nelle due versioni, evidenziando, in caso contrario, le eventuali differenze;
- diffonde, nel più breve tempo possibile, un testo di rettifica in cui siano evidenziate le correzioni apportate, nel caso di errori contenuti nell’informazione pubblicata sul sito;
- cita la fonte dell’informazione in occasione della pubblicazione di dati e notizie elaborati da terzi; - dà notizia nel comunicato della eventuale pubblicazione sul sito internet dei documenti inerenti agli eventi riportati nel comunicato stesso;
- mette a disposizione del pubblico tramite internet i documenti preferibilmente in versione integrale, ovvero assicura che l’eventuale sintesi rispecchi fedelmente il quadro informativo del documento originale; - indica se i documenti pubblicati siano in versione integrale ovvero un estratto, esplicitando le modalità per il reperimento dei documenti in formato originale;
- effettua eventuali rinvii ad altri siti sulla base di principi di correttezza e neutralità e in modo tale da consentire all’utente di rendersi conto agevolmente in quale altro sito si è posizionato; - consente la libera consultazione del sito evitando di condizionarne l’accesso.
Hex Trust, prima della decisione in merito alla natura privilegiata dell’informazione, valuta se sussistano le condizioni per poterne ritardare la pubblicazione. Tale valutazione è tempestiva, dopo l’accertamento della natura privilegiata dell’informazione.
In tale contesto, la FGIP:
- accerta la disponibilità dello strumento tecnico che assicura l’accessibilità, la leggibilità e la conservazione su supporto durevole delle informazioni in cui deve registrare i dati relativi alla decisione; - adotta le misure organizzative volte a consentire la tempestiva pubblicazione delle informazioni privilegiate qualora non dovesse essere più garantita la riservatezza delle stesse;
- prepara una stima della data di pubblicazione dell’informazione eventualmente ritardata.
Hex Trust:
- può ritardare, sotto la propria responsabilità, la pubblicazione dell’informazione privilegiata a condizione che siano sodisfatte tutte le seguenti condizioni:
o l’immediata comunicazione pregiudicherebbe probabilmente i suoi legittimi interessi; o il ritardo nella comunicazione probabilmente non avrebbe l’effetto di fuorviare il pubblico; o la societa’ è in grado di garantire la riservatezza dell’informazione privilegiata.
- registra la decisione di ritardare la pubblicazione dell’informazione privilegiata su strumenti tecnici che assicurino accessibilità, leggibilità e conservazione su supporto durevole delle seguenti informazioni: o data in cui ha deciso di ritardare la pubblicazione dell’informazione;
o stima della data e dell’ora della probabile pubblicazione di tale informazione
o identità delle persone che hanno assunto la decisione di ritardare la pubblicazione; o identità delle persone che monitoreranno nel continuo le condizioni che consentono il ritardo; - controlla il soddisfacimento delle condizioni di ritardo, tra cui:
o barriere protettive delle informazioni erette sia all’interno che verso l’esterno per impedire l’accesso alle informazioni privilegiate da parte di persone ulteriori rispetto a quelle che devono accedervi nel normale esercizio della propria attività professionale o della propria funzione;
o modalità predisposte per divulgare al più presto le informazioni privilegiate non appena non sia più garantita la riservatezza.
Una volta pubblicata con ritardo motivato l’informazione privilegiata, Hex Trust notifica alla CONSOB la circostanza che l’informazione appena pubblicata è stata oggetto di ritardo e fornisce nella notifica per iscritto la spiegazione delle modalità con cui sono state soddisfatte le condizioni per il ritardo della comunicazione al pubblico ed i seguenti elementi:
- identità dell’emittente (ragione sociale completa);
- identità del notificante: nome, cognome, posizione presso la societa’;
- estremi di contatto del notificante (indirizzo di posta elettronica e numero di telefono professionali); - identificazione dell’informazione privilegiata interessata dal ritardo nella pubblicazione (titolo del comunicato; data della comunicazione dell’informazione privilegiata al pubblico);
- data della decisione di ritardare la pubblicazione dell’informazione privilegiata;
- identità di tutti i responsabili della decisione di ritardare la pubblicazione.
La societa’ notifica a CONSOB la pubblicazione ritardata dell’informazione privilegiata, indirizzando la comunicazione a consob@pec.consob.it o a protocollo@consob.it specificando come destinatario “Divisione Mercati” e indicando all'inizio dell'oggetto “MAR Ritardo comunicazione”.
Hex Trust sollecita a sempre più elevati standard di onestà e integrità di condotta del personale che deve: - rispettare le regole stabilite dalla presente procedura e usare la massima cautela nell'effettuare transazioni finanziarie da parte propria o per conto di altri o da parte di altri su propria raccomandazione, per salvaguardare la reputazione e la credibilità di Hex Trust stessa;
- chiedere supporto al Compliance Officer in caso di dubbi circa l’eseguibilità delle operazioni; - supportare il Compliance Officer nello svolgimento dei propri compiti sui temi della presente procedura; - avvisare tempestivamente il Compliance Officer segnalando eventuali attività non conformi. La non
comunicata inosservanza può portare ad azioni disciplinari e, in caso di danno finanziario o reputazionale per la societa’, la sospensione del rapporto con il personale coinvolto e la denuncia alle Autorità preposte; - contattare il Compliance Officer per accertare eventuali dubbi su divulgazioni informative che, se inappropriate, potrebbero presupporre un abuso di mercato;
- garantire i propri obblighi di riservatezza nei confronti di Hex Trust Italia e del Gruppo di appartenenza; - ottenere la preventiva autorizzazione del Compliance Officer per operazioni effettuate in proprio; - evitare di acquisire informazioni aziendali sensibili per uso personale, al di fuori dai locali o dei sistemi dell'azienda, salvo approvazione scritta di un responsabile.
Hex Trust prevede un sistema sanzionatorio sottostante il mancato rispetto delle presenti disposizioni, rimandando al riguardo alle normative nazionali applicabili in materia, unitamente al sistema disciplinare interno.
La societa’ effettua con frequenza almeno annuale, per il tramite della funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance, la formazione ai soggetti apicali, ai collaboratori e ad eventuali dipendenti in tema di Market Abuse. In particolare, le politiche e la formazione asseriscono a sessioni regolari per educare il personale su ciò che costituisca un'informazione privilegiata, sulle conseguenze del suo uso improprio e sui modi per individuare abusi di mercato in caso di negoziazioni di crypto asset su piattaforme.
20. AGGIORNAMENTO E ARCHIVIAZIONE.
La presente Procedura e’ redatta ed archiviata dalla funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance. La stessa e’ anche aggiornata alla luce di intervenute dinamiche organizzativo – gestionali e, conseguentemente sottoposta a nuova approvazione da parte del Consiglio di Amministrazione di Hex Trust Italia.
Hex Trust Italia Srl (nel prosieguo, anche la “societa’”) svolge attivita’ di fornitore di servizi per cripto attivita’ (Digital Asset Service Provider) con specifico riferimento ad attivita’ di Custodia e di Trading per clienti istituzionali, senza alcuna presenza nell’ambito del “business retail”.
Il presente documento disciplina le attività volte ad assicurare che l’esecuzione degli ordini per conto terzi da parte di Hex Trust Italia S.r.l. (la “società’”) garantisca il raggiungimento del miglior risultato possibile a vantaggio dei clienti (“Best Execution”) durevolmente, ponendo i loro interessi al di sopra di quelli del fornitore di servizi digitali (“CASP” o “Crypto Asset Service Provider”), salvo che la societa’ non esegua ordini di secondo specifiche istruzioni fornitele dal cliente stesso.
Il dovere di agire secondo il criterio del raggiungimento del miglior risultato possibile a vantaggio dei clienti (“Best Execution”) non si traduce per la societa’ in un’obbligazione di risultato da verificare ex post, ma in un’obbligazione di mezzi che esige l’approntamento di idonee procedure la cui adeguatezza e completezza e’ da valutare ex ante. La società non e’ tenuta ad ottenere il miglior risultato possibile per ogni ordine, ma deve applicare la strategia di trasmissione a ciascun ordine da inoltrare allo scopo di ottenere il miglior risultato possibile per il cliente.
Fondamentale risulta, quindi, il dovere in capo ad Hex Trust Italia di realizzare le migliori condizioni possibili per il cliente nell’interesse del quale e’ resa effettiva ed ordinata anche la competizione fra le diverse sedi di esecuzione.
Ai fini di quanto sopra, la societa’ adotta specifiche misure per ottenere, nell'esecuzione degli ordini, il miglior risultato possibile per i clienti, tenendo conto dei fattori di esecuzione alle migliori condizioni di: - prezzo;
- costi;
- rapidità di esecuzione e di regolamento;
- probabilità di esecuzione e di regolamento;
- dimensioni;
- natura dell’ordine;
- condizioni di custodia;
- qualsiasi altra considerazione pertinente ai fini della sua esecuzione.
La presente Procedura si ricollega, tematicamente, agli aspetti descritti nelle Procedure “Market Abuse” e “Trading” alle quali si rimanda per eventuali approfondimenti.
- Regolamento (UE) MiCA
- Direttiva 2004/39/CE (di seguito anche “direttiva MiFID”);
- Linee Guida Consob (“La Best Execution nella Gestione di Patrimoni – Linee Guida).
Hex Trust Italia, nell’ambito della trasmissione degli ordini di esecuzione per conto dei clienti, si assicura che: - sia dichiarato al cliente di non ricevere compensi, sconti o altri benefici per indirizzare gli ordini a determinate piattaforme;
- abbia ricevuto il consenso tracciato del cliente all’esecuzione di ordini, anche per ordini fuori piattaforma; - abbia comunicato al cliente che eventuali sue istruzioni specifiche possono impedire azioni volte a conseguire il miglior risultato possibile a stesso suo vantaggio.
La societa’, nell’ambito dell’esecuzione degli ordini per il cliente, si assicura di disporre ed implementare adeguate, complete e tempestive presidi organizzativi e di controllo volti a mitigare ogni potenziale rischio di abuso di informazioni privilegiate su ordini del cliente stesso da parte del proprio personale. Per i dettagli si rimanda alla Procedura “Market Abuse”.
Hex Trust Italia, in fase di instaurazione del rapporto continuativo ovvero dell’operazione occasionale con il cliente a fini di esecuzione di ordini di trading, inoltra allo stesso la presente Procedura allo scopo di fornirgli un’adeguata e completa informativa concernente le modalita’ e le piu’ generali caratteristiche di esecuzione degli ordini per metterlo in condizioni di non essere soggetto ad alcuna asimmetria informativa potenzialmente in grado di impattare i propri interessi. In tale contesto, la societa’ fornisce anche il dettaglio degli ordini e delle operazioni eseguite (volume e prezzi) qualora gli asset digitali risultino negoziati con moneta fiduciaria ovvero con altre tipologie di asset digitali.
Hex Trust Italia, nell’ambito del rapporto con il cliente, comunica allo stesso la lista delle eventuali piattaforme di trading da essa utilizzate ai fini dell’esecuzione degli ordini.
In conformita’ ai requisiti imposti dai Technical Standard ESMA, la societa’ ha definito presidi organizzativi interni atti a garantire la corretta selezione delle piattaforme eventualmente utilizzate, a valle di un'analisi di qualità e di monitoraggio. Per i dettagli si rimanda alla “Procedura per l’Esternalizzazione delle Funzioni Operative Importanti e di Controllo” ed agli annessi allegati.
Ai fini del perseguimento del miglior risultato possibile nella trasmissione ed esecuzione degli ordini (“Best Execution”), la società definisce una strategia di trasmissione degli stessi che identifica le entità a cui trasmettere gli ordini in ragione delle loro modalita’ di esecuzione. La società considera nella strategia di trasmissione ordini almeno i seguenti aspetti:
- categorie di strumenti trattati;
- obiettivi, stile di gestione, politica di investimento e rischi (che, ai sensi del Regolamento UE MiCA devono essere pubblicati sul sito web della societa’ ad informativa della clientela);
- caratteristiche del cliente, compresa la sua classificazione (classificazione MiFiD); - tipologia di ordine.
La strategia di trasmissione degli ordini:
- descrive le modalita’ per conseguire il miglior risultato possibile per conto di clienti; - indica i fattori da considerare e la loro importanza da includere nella strategia stessa; - identifica le entità a cui siano trasmessi gli ordini dei clienti.
La società:
- seleziona le sole entità che hanno una strategia di esecuzione compatibile con gli ordini dei clienti trasmessi nel rispetto della normativa;
- seleziona le entità a cui trasmettere gli ordini in base a:
o loro capacità di ottenere in modo duraturo il miglior risultato possibile per gli ordini trasmessi per conto dei clienti, ritenendo che tale entità consenta di conseguire risultati almeno equivalenti a quelli che potrebbero ottenere mediante altri soggetti.
o uno o più tra i seguenti criteri:
✓ organizzazione e gestione dei conflitti di interesse con entità a cui intende trasmettere gli ordini; ✓ qualità ed efficienza dei servizi forniti;
✓ qualità delle informazioni sull’esecuzione;
✓ capacità dell’entità di minimizzare i costi totali di negoziazione, conservando la stabilità finanziaria.
La società trasmette gli ordini alle sole entità selezionate; tuttavia, in casi eccezionali e al fine di ottenere il miglior risultato possibile per l’esecuzione degli ordini, puo’ fruire anche di entità non identificate nella propria strategia, alla luce di una specifico parere del Consiglio di Amministrazione.
L’entità cosi’ selezionata metterà in atto una politica di esecuzione degli ordini che descriva l’approccio della societa’ volto ad ottenere il miglior risultato possibile per i clienti.
La politica di trasmissione degli ordini si applica solo laddove sia certa la protezione degli interessi del cliente in relazione al conseguimento del miglior prezzo e delle migliori condizioni di transazione che potrebbero essere influenzati dal modo in cui l'ordine e’ trasmesso.
Nella misura in cui sono ricevute istruzioni specifiche da un cliente in relazione a una transazione, esse sostituiscono la politica di esecuzione degli ordini. L’esecuzione di tale ordine deve essere conforme alle istruzioni del cliente e, ove non previsto dalle istruzioni del cliente, alla presente politica, nell’ottica di tutela costante degli interessi del cliente stesso.
La societa’ considera anzitutto la natura della transazione e la probabilità di esecuzione o di regolamento e, quindi, la dimensione dell'ordine, seguita dal prezzo netto e dalla velocità di esecuzione. Nel determinare l'importanza relativa dei fattori di cui sopra, la societa’ tiene conto dei seguenti criteri: - caratteristiche del cliente, compresa la sua classificazione ai sensi della Direttiva (UE) MiFID; - caratteristiche dell'ordine del cliente;
- caratteristiche degli strumenti finanziari;
- caratteristiche delle sedi di esecuzione alle quali l'ordine può essere diretto.
La societa’ è consapevole dell'importanza del prezzo nell’esecuzione di un ordine.
Tuttavia, per alcuni clienti, strumenti o mercati oltre al prezzo possono essere considerati altri fattori di esecuzione per ottenere la migliore esecuzione, in diverse circostanze specifiche:
- velocità di esecuzione e di regolamento;
- probabilita’ di esecuzione e di regolamento;
- dimensione e natura dell'ordine;
- impatto sul mercato;
- qualsiasi costo di transazione implicito.
La conoscenza del cliente aiuta a stabilire i criteri di trasmissione per una migliore, specifica esecuzione. Nell'esecuzione dell'ordine, sono considerati le seguenti variabili:
- caratteristiche dell'ordine del cliente;
- caratteristiche degli strumenti finanziari oggetto dell’ordine;
- caratteristiche delle sedi di esecuzione alle quali l'ordine può essere diretto.
In fase di trasmissione degli ordini per l'esecuzione, la societa’ tratta al meglio con le entità a cui vengano impartiti gli ordini o ai quali essa trasmetta ordini per l'esecuzione.
Le entità identificate devono disporre di accordi di esecuzione che consentano alla societa’ di rispettare i propri obblighi ai sensi della presente sezione e di stipulare accordi di esecuzione solo laddove tali accordi siano coerenti con la fornitura della migliore esecuzione, sia in fase di trasmissione che di esecuzione di un ordine.
La societa’ monitora il rapporto di rotazione del portafoglio ("Churning") laddove essa possa negoziare eccessivamente con controparti commerciali per conto del cliente al fine di generare commissioni commerciali a proprio vantaggio.
La societa’, qualora autorizzata a scambiare cripto con moneta fiduciaria o con altre cripto, pubblica in una sezione specifica del proprio sito web i dettagli degli ordini eseguiti e delle transazioni (volume e prezzi).
La societa’ monitora l’efficacia della presente procedura al fine di identificare e, ove opportuno, correggere eventuali carenze.
La funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance rivede la presente Procedura almeno annualmente ovvero ogni volta che si verifica un cambiamento tale da influire sull’effettiva capacità di ottenere il miglior risultato per i clienti.
Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito anche la “società”) svolge attività di fornitore di servizi per cripto-asset (Digital Asset Service Provider) con specifico riferimento alle attività di Custody e Trading per clienti istituzionali, senza alcuna presenza nel “retail business”.
Hex Trust Italia S.r.l. (la societa’) ha definito la presente procedura alla luce della portata, della natura e della gamma dei servizi prestati ed al fine di individuare, prevenire, gestire e comunicare i potenziali conflitti di interesse derivanti dal collocamento di cripto-attività e che sorgano quando il prezzo proposto per il loro collocamento si riveli critico, ovvero sia stato sovrastimato o sottostimato.
Il collocamento di cripto- attività a nome di un offerente non e’ considerato un’offerta separata. Ai sensi e per gli effetti del Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 relativo ai mercati di cripto-attività (Regolamento MiCA) , le casistiche di conflitti di interesse sono ascrivibili nei confronti di:
a) esponenti aziendali (azionisti, soci, consiglieri);
b) qualsiasi persona connessa direttamente o indirettamente ad loro azionisti o soci; c) personale aziendale;
d) rete distributiva;
e) clienti;
f) due o più clienti i cui interessi reciproci sono in conflitto.
- Codice Civile, artt. 2391 e 2373;
- Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 del 31/05/2023 relativo ai mercati di cripto-attività (Regolamento MiCA).
La funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance, in qualita’ di responsabile del processo in analisi, provvede al relativo aggiornamento, alla luce di eventuali comunicazioni relative a modifiche dei soggetti con cui possa insorgere un potenziale conflitto d’interesse, con riferimento alle quali è fatto obbligo ad azionisti o soci, dipendenti e clienti di comunicare ogni relativa variazione. Il presente documento e’ archiviato dalla medesima funzione a fini di consultazione per l’intera organizzazione.
Ogni esponente aziendale (membro del Consiglio di Amministrazione) sotto la propria responsabilità comunica all’Organo d’appartenenza l’insorgere di situazioni che possano configurare potenziali conflitti d’interesse nell’ambito di rapporti/ operazioni tra lui stesso e la società, precisandone le caratteristiche il Consiglio di Amministrazione valutera’ a fini di delibera, astenuto il soggetto interessato.
Al riguardo, ogni esponente aziendale fornisce al Consiglio di Amministrazione (tramite l’allegato “Modulo 1”) le informazioni necessarie a tracciare nel “Registro dei Conflitti dii Interesse” (Allegato 1) i potenziali conflitti.
In particolare:
1) Familiari fino al I° di parentela / Coniuge / Convivente more uxorio
2) Società da lui controllate (in via diretta o indiretta ex art. 23 del TUB1) o dai soggetti di cui al Punto 1) 3) Società su cui l’esponente o i soggetti di cui al Punto 1) possano esercitare un’influenza notevole2; 4) Società in cui l’Esponente aziendale rivesta un ruolo di amministrazione e controllo.
Ogni esponente aziendale, con cadenza annuale, comunica al Consiglio di Amministrazione ogni eventuale conferma o modifica delle sopraddette informazioni, affinche’ la funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance aggiorni la documentazione sottostante.
La funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance archivia il “Modulo 1” compilato allo scopo di segnalare l’insorgere di potenziali conflitti d’interesse sottostanti operazioni con digital asset da parte dei soggetti sopra-indicati.
Il Personale aziendale (da intendersi come dipendenti e collaboratori contrattualizzati con Hex Trust Italia) comunica alla funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance, sotto la propria responsabilità, l’insorgere di potenziali interessi nell’ambito di rapporti/ operazioni in procinto di essere definiti tra la società e lui stesso, precisandone le specifiche che detta funzione inoltrerà al Consiglio di Amministrazione per la relativa valutazione nel rispetto del sistema di poteri e deleghe stabilito.
1 Ai sensi dell'articolo 23 del TUB il controllo sussiste, anche con riferimento a soggetti diversi dalle società, nei casi previsti dall'articolo 2359, commi 1 e 2 del Codice Civile ed in presenza di contratti o di clausole statutarie che abbiano per oggetto o per effetto il potere di esercitare l'attività di direzione e coordinamento. Ciò anche con riguardo alle prescrizioni in tema di cui al DLgs. 90 /2017. Il controllo si considera esistente nella forma dell'influenza dominante, salvo prova contraria, allorché ricorra una delle seguenti situazioni:
1) esistenza di un soggetto che, sulla base di accordi, ha il diritto di nominare o revocare la maggioranza degli amministratori o dispone da solo della maggioranza dei voti ai fini delle deliberazioni relative alle materie di cui agli articoli 2364 e 2364-bis del Codice Civile; 2) possesso di partecipazioni idonee a consentire la nomina o la revoca della maggioranza dei membri del Consiglio di Amministrazione; 3) sussistenza di rapporti, anche tra soci, di carattere finanziario ed organizzativo idonei a conseguire uno dei seguenti effetti: a) trasmissione degli utili o delle perdite;
b) coordinamento della gestione dell'impresa con quella di altre imprese ai fini del perseguimento di uno scopo comune; c) attribuzione di poteri maggiori rispetto a quelli derivanti dalle partecipazioni possedute;
d) attribuzione, a soggetti diversi da quelli legittimati in base alla titolarità delle partecipazioni, di poteri nella scelta degli amministratori o dei componenti del Consiglio di Sorveglianza o dei dirigenti delle imprese;
4) assoggettamento a direzione comune, in base alla composizione degli Organi Amministrativi o per altri concordanti elementi.
2 Per influenza notevole, si intende il potere di partecipare alla determinazione delle politiche finanziarie ed operative di un’impresa, senza averne il controllo. L’influenza notevole può essere ottenuta attraverso il possesso di azioni, tramite clausole statutarie od accordi. L’influenza notevole si presume in caso di possesso di una partecipazione, diretta od indiretta, pari o superiore al 20% del capitale sociale o dei diritti di voto nell’Assemblea ordinaria od in altro organo equivalente della società partecipata, ovvero al 10% nel caso di società con azioni quotate in mercati regolamentati. In caso di possesso inferiore alle predette soglie l’influenza notevole è solitamente segnalata al verificarsi di una o più delle seguenti circostanze: (i) rappresentanza nell’organo con funzione di gestione o nell’organo con funzione di supervisione strategica dell’impresa partecipata; non costituisce di per sé indice di influenza notevole il solo fatto di esprimere il componente in rappresentanza della minoranza secondo quanto previsto dalla disciplina degli emittenti azioni quotate in mercati regolamentati; (ii) partecipazione alle decisioni di natura strategica dell’impresa partecipata, in particolare in quanto si disponga di diritti di voto determinanti nelle decisioni dell’Assemblea in materia di bilancio, destinazione degli utili, distribuzione di riserve, senza che si configuri una situazione di controllo congiunto; (iii) tra il partecipante e l’impresa partecipata intercorrono operazioni rilevanti, lo scambio di personale manageriale, la fornitura di informazioni tecniche essenziali.
Parimenti, tutto il Personale fornisce annualmente alla citata funzione di controllo - mediante compilazione dell’allegato “Modulo 2” – le informazioni atte ad aggiornare l’anagrafica dei “Conflitti d’interesse”: 1) Familiari fino al I° di parentela / Coniuge / Convivente more uxorio.
La funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance archivia il “Modulo 2” compilato allo scopo di segnalare l’insorgere di potenziali conflitti d’interesse sottostanti operazioni con digital asset da parte dei soggetti sopra-indicati.
Ogni soggetto con cui sia stato sottoscritto un contratto di mandato agenziale (se persona giuridica, chi ne abbia funzioni di amministrazione/ controllo) comunica annualmente alla società (in conoscenza la funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance), sotto la propria responsabilità, ogni modifica di precedenti situazioni che possano giungere a delineare situazioni di potenziali conflitti d’interesse nel rapporto con Hex Trust Italia Srl.
Ciò mediante compilazione, da parte dell’Agente stesso, del “Modulo 3” (allegato alla presente Procedura) relativo alle informazioni su
1) familiari fino al I° di parentela / Coniuge / Convivente more uxorio
che la funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance utilizza allo scopo di segnalare l’insorgere di potenziali conflitti d’interesse sottostanti operazioni con digital asset da parte dei soggetti sopra-indicati.
Alla data della presente, Hex Trust Italia Srl non contempla una Rete Distributiva.
La Società si impegna a individuare, valutare e gestire in modo appropriato ogni conflitto di interesse che possa sorgere tra i propri interessi, quelli del personale e quelli dei singoli Clienti, in conformità al Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 (MiCA) e alle Linee Guida ESMA applicabili, adottendo un approccio proattivo per identificare i conflitti di interesse, utilizzando strumenti di monitoraggio avanzati e analisi periodiche per garantire che tutti i potenziali conflitti siano rilevati tempestivamente.
In particolare, la Società proroga l’analisi delle possibili situazioni di conflitto a tutte le fasi di prestazione dei servizi, ed in particolar modo all’esecuzione delle istruzioni dei Clienti, implementando procedure di valutazione dettagliate per ogni fase del servizio, assicurando che ogni potenziale conflitto sia esaminato con attenzione e che siano adottate misure preventive adeguate. Laddove venga rilevata una situazione di potenziale conflitto, la Società adotterà misure atte a gestire e mitigare il conflitto in modo equo e trasparente, ivi compresa la comunicazione chiara al Cliente interessato in merito ai possibili rischi connessi. La Società garantirà che tutte le comunicazioni siano comprensibili e che i Clienti siano pienamente informati delle implicazioni dei conflitti di interesse rilevati. Nel caso in cui la Società valuti che le misure di attenuazione non siano sufficienti, ne darà adeguata informativa ai Clienti, riservandosi, se del caso, di astenersi dal prestare il servizio o dall’eseguire l’operazione che generi uno specifico conflitto. La Società si impegna a fornire alternative ai Clienti, ove possibile, per garantire che i loro interessi siano tutelati anche in
situazioni di conflitto. Tutte le attività di identificazione, gestione e monitoraggio dei conflitti saranno documentate e riviste regolarmente per garantire la piena conformità alle disposizioni normative vigenti. La Società manterrà registri dettagliati di tutte le situazioni di conflitto e delle misure adottate, assicurando che tali registri siano accessibili per audit e revisioni periodiche.
La Società riconosce che possano sorgere conflitti di interesse anche tra Clienti, specialmente in relazione all’allocazione di risorse, alla selezione di opportunità e alle modalità di trattamento di operazioni simili. La Società adotterà un approccio sistematico per identificare e gestire tali conflitti, utilizzando criteri di valutazione oggettivi e trasparenti. In conformità al Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 (MiCA) e nel rispetto delle Linee Guida ESMA, la Società si impegna a vigilare su ogni situazione in cui taluni Clienti possano godere di un vantaggio o di un accesso privilegiato a informazioni, opportunità o servizi a discapito di altri. La Società implementerà meccanismi di controllo rigorosi per garantire che tutti i Clienti abbiano pari opportunità e che nessuno sia avvantaggiato ingiustamente. Per prevenire e gestire tali conflitti, la Società applicherà procedure di ripartizione delle operazioni fondate su criteri chiari, trasparenti e non discriminatori, garantirà la parità di accesso alle informazioni rilevanti in materia di crypto-asset e rispetterà rigorosi protocolli di riservatezza a tutela degli interessi di ciascun Cliente. La Società si impegna a monitorare continuamente l'efficacia di queste procedure e a migliorare i protocolli di riservatezza per adattarsi alle nuove sfide e ai cambiamenti del mercato. Nel caso in cui dovesse emergere un conflitto di interesse sostanziale fra Clienti, la Società informerà tempestivamente tutte le parti coinvolte, proponendo soluzioni di composizione congrue e rispettose delle prerogative di ciascun Cliente. La Società si impegna a facilitare il dialogo tra le parti coinvolte e a trovare soluzioni che minimizzino l'impatto del conflitto sugli interessi dei Clienti.
Qualora, nonostante gli sforzi di mediazione, il conflitto non risulti risolvibile in modo imparziale, la Società valuterà soluzioni alternative nel rispetto delle disposizioni normative e degli obblighi di diligenza professionale, fino a riservarsi la possibilità, se del caso, di astenersi dal prestare il servizio o dall’eseguire l’operazione che generi uno specifico conflitto. La Società si riserva il diritto di consultare esperti esterni per ottenere una valutazione imparziale e per garantire che le soluzioni proposte siano in linea con le migliori pratiche del settore.
10.MONITORAGGIO, SEGNALAZIONE E COMUNICAZIONE DEI CONFLITTI D’INTERESSE. Il monitoraggio e la segnalazione di potenziali conflitti d’interesse sottostanti operazioni con digital asset da parte dei soggetti sopra-indicati sono effettuati dal Responsabile del Processo Reclami che confronta tempestivamente i nominativi sopra indicati con le informazioni sulle controparti che stiano instaurando un rapporto o effettuando una transazione con la societa’. L’eventuale loro insorgenza: - sospende la sottostante operativita’ per consentire le valutazioni del Responsabile del Processo Reclami
e la conseguente delibera del Consiglio di Amministrazione nel rispetto di quanto previsto dal sistema interno di Poteri e Deleghe;
- comporta la relativa comunicazione a cliente con le specifiche modalita’ di contatto ad esso riconducibili.
Posto quanto sopra, il monitoraggio, la valutazione e la revisione dell’efficacia della politica in materia di Conflitti di Interesse, nonche’ le azioni finalizzate a mitigare eventuali carenze sono posti in capo al Consiglio di Amministrazione che, con cadenza almeno annuale, vi provvede conferendone il presidio operativo al Responsabile del Processo Reclami all’uopo nominato.
La funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance redige, aggiorna all’occorrenza ed archivia il “Registro dei Conflitti di Interesse” (Allegato 1) - definito ai sensi del Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 relativo ai mercati delle cripto attività (“MiCA”) – che specifica, tra l’altro, la natura, la fonte, la mitigazione di ogni conflitto di interesse rilevato.
Il Registro dei Conflitti di Interesse e’ pubblicato in una specifica sezione del sito web della societa’ allo scopo di consentire ai Clienti di decidere in modo informato sul servizio nel cui contesto sorga il conflitto.
MODULO 1: RICHIESTA DI DICHIARAZIONE E RISPOSTE PER GLI ESPONENTI AZIENDALI
MODULO 2: RICHIESTA DI DICHIARAZIONE E RISPOSTE PER IL PERSONALE DELLA SOCIETA’ MODULO 3: DICHIARAZIONE ASSENZA DI CONFLITTO D’INTERESSE PER RETE DISTRIBUTIVA.
Hex Trust Italia Srl, pursuant to the Article 45, paragraph 5 of Legislative Decree no. 129 of 05/09/2024, informs its customers that it will provide them with detailed information regarding the plans and measures it intends to adopt in relation to the decision to submit, by 31 December 2025, the possible Application for Authorization to carry out Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) activities, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 ("MiCAR"), or in relation to the orderly termination of existing relationships, as soon as such measures have been defined.
Hex Trust Italia Srl, ai sensi dell'articolo 45, comma 5 del Decreto Legislativo n. 129 del 05/09/2024, ha informato i propri clienti in relazione alla decisione di presentare, entro il 30 dicembre 2025, la Domanda di Autorizzazione per svolgere attività di Fornitore di Servizi su Crypto Asset (CASP), ai sensi del Regolamento (UE) 2023/1114 (“MiCAR”)
Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito anche la “società”) svolge attività di fornitore di servizi di cripto-asset (Digital Asset Service Provider) con specifico riferimento alle attività di Custody e Trading per clienti istituzionali, senza alcuna presenza nel “retail business”.
La societa’ specifica che a decorrere dal 28 febbraio 2026, nessun servizio connesso a stablecoin o a e money tokens (EMT) sarà offerto o reso disponibile a clienti situati nello Spazio Economico Europeo (EEA), salvo che Hex Trust Italia S.r.l. abbia, entro tale data, ottemperato alle previsioni normative e di Vigilanza in tema ai fini dell’erogazione autorizzata dei servizi di pagamento. Eventuali riferimenti, menzioni, descrizioni funzionali o rappresentazioni grafiche contenuti nella presente documentazione che richiamino, direttamente o indirettamente, stablecoin o EMT hanno esclusiva finalità illustrativa e sono intesi unicamente a rappresentare, in termini astratti e non vincolanti, i processi, le architetture operative e i presidi organizzativi di Hex Trust. Tali riferimenti non devono in alcun modo essere interpretati come indicativi della disponibilità, offerta o commercializzazione, attuale o futura, di servizi relativi a stablecoin o EMT nel mercato EEA, né come impegno, promessa o garanzia in tal senso. Resta fermo che qualsiasi eventuale implementazione di servizi nell’EEA potrà avvenire, ove del caso, esclusivamente a seguito del pieno adempimento di tutti gli obblighi normativi, autorizzativi e di vigilanza previsti dalla normativa dell’Unione europea e dalle competenti autorità nazionali. Nulla di quanto contenuto nella presente documentazione può essere inteso come deroga, limitazione o esonero rispetto agli obblighi derivanti dal diritto dell’Unione europea o dalle disposizioni delle autorità di vigilanza competenti.
La gestione di Reclami e’ considerata, oltreche’ un adempimento dei requisiti di Vigilanza, un’attivita’ importante e strategica che contribuisce alla corretta gestione aziendale. La corretta definizione di un flusso operativo per la gestione dei Reclami mitiga il potenziale rischio sia della raccolta e trasmissione disomogenea delle informazioni sui Reclami, sia della mancata tracciabilità del processo di gestione, causa di inefficienti tempi, modalità di trattamento e risposta al Cliente, nonche’ di analisi difficoltosa dei relativi trend.
L’importanza della gestione dei Reclami per Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito anche la Società) è anche riconducibile alla possibilità di migliorare sia il servizio erogato alla luce delle considerazioni provenienti dalla Clientela predisponendo rimedi ed azioni correttive o preventive, sia il consenso attorno alla stessa organizzazione, consentendo di efficientare e monitorare la qualità dei servizi, contribuendo a diffondere l’immagine di un’organizzazione attenta alle esigenze ed ai feedback dei propri Clientela.
L’obiettivo della presente procedura è stabilire un efficace processo di intervento nei confronti dei Clientela che, a vario titolo, possano inoltrare un Reclamo in relazione ai servizi offerti dalla Società, oltrechè tempi e modi di risposta e di mitigazione al fine di porre rimedio alle situazioni denunciate ed evitare il ripetersi di condizioni che possano generare insoddisfazione nella Clientela.
Il documento consente di definire modalità e responsabilità atte a rilevare, registrare, classificare e gestire, sino alla possibile soluzione, i Reclami della Clientela per attività e servizi posti in essere dalla Società.
Un sistema di gestione di Reclami prevede specifiche fasi:
- elaborazione delle procedure di Reclamo formalizzate e condivise, volte ad incoraggiare la soluzione rapida dei problemi e la responsabilizzazione del personale nella gestione del Reclamo stesso;
- creazione di una struttura organizzativa preposta alla gestione dei Reclami;
- redazione di report ed analisi sui Reclami, sulla base delle segnalazioni pervenute e delle eventuali indicazioni di "aree di disservizio", con conseguente definizione di un processo di miglioramento;
- monitoraggio delle attività di front office inerenti l’interfacciamento del personale interno preposto con la gestione del Reclamo e gli interlocutori esterni a vario titolo coinvolti nella gestione del Reclamo.
Tale procedura è coerente con il Regolamento del processo di gestione dei Reclami approvato dal Consiglio di Amministrazione della Società.
L’archiviazione della presente procedura è posta in capo alla funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance ed è consultabile all’interno della rete intranet aziendale.
Si considera “Reclamo” ogni espressione di rimostranza, biasimo, protesta manifestata dal Cliente.
Il personale preposto alla gestione delle lamentele si adopera per ricomporre le divergenze mediante colloquio con il Cliente. La lamentela può chiudersi con i seguenti esiti:
- le ragioni del Cliente sono fondate e gli viene data soddisfazione;
- le ragioni del Cliente sono infondate e la divergenza viene chiusa attraverso il dialogo; - le ragioni del Cliente sono infondate ed il contrasto viene composto mediante concessioni; - il contrasto è insanabile ed il Cliente riformula la rimostranza presentando uno specifico Reclamo scritto. Per Reclamo si intende una comunicazione presentata per iscritto alla Società con cui il Cliente contesta: - violazioni di norme di legge;
- errori o disfunzioni nello svolgimento delle attività;
- comportamenti o eventi lesivi del proprio interesse.
Non rientrano nella definizione di Reclamo la richiesta di informazioni (intesa quale domanda di chiarimenti riguardo i servizi offerti dalla società) e la lamentela (intesa quale manifestazione generica della propria insoddisfazione nei confronti della società). La semplice richiesta del Cliente di deroghe, concessioni, abbuoni o sconti sulle condizioni economiche (spese, commissioni e simili), ancorché perentoria, non è classificabile come lamentela, in quanto si ritiene che rientri nella normale dinamica contrattuale. In questi casi le comunicazioni dei Clienti saranno comunque raccolte e segnalate all’Ufficio Reclami presso la funzione Antiriciclaggio & Compliance che le registrerà senza necessariamente rispondere per iscritto.
La corretta compilazione della comunicazione consente al Cliente di presentare un Reclamo adeguato e completo. Pertanto, se richiesta, la società presta assistenza al Cliente nella predisposizione del Reclamo stesso, anche su carta libera, in cui dovranno essere inseriti almeno i seguenti elementi:
- estremi del ricorrente;
- motivi del Reclamo;
- sottoscrizione che consenta l’identificazione del Reclamante;
- descrizione dettagliata del negozio giuridico, del rapporto o dell’operazione sottostanti al Reclamo.
La gestione dei Reclami e’ in capo all’Ufficio Reclami. La societa’ nomina il Responsabile dell’Ufficio Reclami. Il personale adibito si mantiene aggiornato sugli orientamenti normativi delle preposte Autorita’ italiane (ABF, Arbitro Bancario Finanziario, consultando l’archivio web delle decisioni dei collegi) e francesi (ACP, Autorité de contrôle prudentiel).
Allo scopo di garantire la completa individuazione dei Reclami la società esamina tutte le comunicazioni scritte che pervengono dalla Clientela attraverso i canali di seguito indicati che rappresentino richieste di chiarimenti e/o lamentele, al fine di stabilirne la rilevanza secondo la definizione sopra espressa di Reclamo:
- via lettera
- via fax
- via email all’indirizzo claim.eu@hextrust.com
Tutte le comunicazioni scritte ricevute dalla società devono essere protocollate a cura del personale dell’Ufficio Reclami che provvedera’ alla successiva presa in carico e gestione.
Qualsiasi comunicazione scritta dei Clienti a vario titolo ricevuta da una struttura della società sara’ dalla stessa inoltrata tempestivamente all’Ufficio Reclami affinche’ proceda secondo quanto sopra indicato.
L’Ufficio Reclami effettua tempestivamente l’esame delle comunicazioni scritte ricevute dai Clienti a scopo di identificare i presupposti per ricondurle a Reclami e, quindi, gestirle come tali. In tal caso, lo stesso Ufficio Reclami ne dà informativa scritta al Consiglio di Amministrazione ed al Group Head Legal & Compliance.
L’Ufficio Reclami registra le informazioni sui Reclami pervenuti che, poi, aggiorna con le misure adottate per risolverlo. Le informazioni sui Reclami sono archiviate nel “Registro dei Reclami” contenente i seguenti dati:
- numero progressivo
- data del Reclamo
- data di ricezione del Reclamo
- nominativo del Cliente
- servizio erogato per cui e’ stato presentato il Reclamo
- importo
- causa del Reclamo
- pregiudizio lamentato
- corrispondenza con il Cliente
- esito del Reclamo.
La data della ricezione del Reclamo varia in ragione del canale di trasmissione:
- se perviene tramite fax o email, è pari alla data di ricezione della comunicazione; - se perviene tramite posta ordinaria, è pari alla data della posta in arrivo;
- se viene consegnato manualmente, è pari alla data di consegna, riportata sulla ricevuta.
L’Ufficio Reclami, dopo aver ricevuto e catalogato il Reclamo:
- verifica gli aspetti segnalati nel Reclamo;
- scrive, se necessario, al Cliente per chiedere informazioni utili per la trattazione del Reclamo;
- chiede l’intervento di ulteriori interlocutori interni che possano supportare le relazioni scritte richieste sui fatti che hanno causato il Reclamo. Particolare attenzione e’ posta all'analisi delle cause del Reclamo poiche’ dall’accurata analisi dell’accaduto si può ottenere un miglioramento del servizio, predisponendo rimedi ed azioni correttive o preventive. L’Ufficio Reclami monitora i tempi di risposta di tali interlocutori interni di cui raccoglie i feedback;
- chiede, in caso di necessità e con l’autorizzazione del Presidente o del Consigliere Delegato, l’intervento di un consulente legale esterno.
L’Ufficio Reclami, sulla base della documentazione contrattuale, delle informazioni disponibili e delle relazioni interne prodotte:
- valuta la fondatezza del Reclamo, tenendo anche conto degli orientamenti adottati in casi simili dalle preposte Autorita’ di Controllo (Arbitro Bancario Finanziario – ABF; ACP, Autorité de contrôle prudentiel);
- predispone la risposta da inviare al Cliente non oltre i 30 giorni dalla data di ricezione del Reclamo. Di norma la risposta è inviata al Cliente con le medesime modalità con cui la Società ha ricevuto il Reclamo. Tale risposta deve contenere indicazioni chiare ed esaustive, nel caso in cui il Reclamo:
o venga considerato privo di fondamento. La risposta indica le motivazioni del rigetto e fornisce indicazioni sulla possibilità di presentare ricorso alle succitate Autorita’ preposte;
o venga accolto. La risposta illustra le iniziative correttive che saranno assunte dalla Società, specificandone, laddove possibile, anche i tempi di esecuzione.
Qualora emergano oggettive responsabilità della Società, la lettera di risposta potrà contenere anche gli estremi di un eventuale:
✓ indennizzo al Cliente
✓ abbuono o sconto o deroga sulle commissioni e/o spese del rapporto
che dovranno essere autorizzati dal Presidente o dal Consigliere Delegato nel rispetto del sistema di poteri e deleghe assegnati e da eseguire nei tempi e nei modi indicati nella risposta al Reclamo. In tal caso, l’Ufficio Reclami fornirà le inerenti istruzioni alla preposte funzioni di Capogruppo (Hong Kong) per l’implementazione di quanto conseguente.
- trasmette al Group Head Legal & Compliance copia della risposta al Reclamo inviata al Cliente; - archivia detta copia;
- aggiorna il Registro Reclami.
Il Reclamo si intende chiuso quando il Cliente non dia alcun seguito nei 90 giorni successivi alla risposta pervenutagli dalla Società. Trascorso tale termine, la successiva ricezione di ulteriori comunicazioni scritte da parte del Cliente è considerata, se ne ricorrono i presupposti, un nuovo Reclamo.
E’ compito dell’Ufficio Reclami mantenere, oltreche’ il Registro Reclami, l’Archivio dei Reclami, contenente tutta la documentazione utilizzata per la gestione dello stesso.
Il monitoraggio dei Reclami consente di analizzare i casi che rivelino esigenze dei Clienti, in ragione di cui il Responsabile dell’Ufficio Reclami può trasmettere ai presidi aziendali interni suggerimenti ed indicazioni nel caso in cui, dall’esame dei singoli Reclami, risulti che la Società sia obbligata a tenere un comportamento specifico o ad attivare iniziative od interventi particolari. Tali considerazioni sono verbalizzate nel Registro Reclami ed utilizzate per stabilire eventuali azioni correttive.
Il responsabile della funzione Compliance e Antiriciclaggio illustra al Consiglio di Amministrazione, con periodicità almeno annuale (non ultimo, anche nella Relazione Annuale della funzione), la situazione complessiva dei Reclami ricevuti sulla base dei dati trasmessi dall’Ufficio Reclami, nonche’ l’adeguatezza delle procedure e delle soluzioni organizzative adottate. Successivamente, tale funzione inoltra alla funzione ICT (funzione importante esternalizzata, piu’ precisamente all’interno del Gruppo Hex Trust) la richiesta di pubblicazione sul sito internet della Società del Rendiconto Annuale sui Reclami, in ottemperanza alle disposizioni di Vigilanza in tema di "Trasparenza delle operazioni e dei servizi bancari e finanziari - Correttezza delle relazioni tra intermediari e Clientela".
Il presente documento e’ redatto ed archiviato dalla funzione Antiriciclaggio e Compliance. Lo stesso e’ anche aggiornato alla luce di intervenute dinamiche organizzativo – gestionali e, conseguentemente, sottoposta a nuova approvazione da parte del Consiglio di Amministrazione di Hex Trust Italia.
I dati forniti dall’Interessato per lo svolgimento del rapporto contrattuale (di seguito congiuntamente “dati personali”) vengono trattati da Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito, “la Società”), con sede legale in via Corso Magenta 74, 20123 a Milano, in qualità di Titolare del trattamento. L’Interessato è informato da Hex Trust Italia Srl sul trattamento dei suoi dati che verrà posto in essere, nel rispetto del principio di prudenza e responsabilità (“accountability”). Hex Trust Italia Srl fornisce, a tal fine, l’informativa prevista dall’art. 13 paragrafo 1 e dall’art. 14 paragrafo 1 del Regolamento UE n. 2016/679 (in seguito, “GDPR”), informando l’Interessato che i suoi dati saranno oggetto di trattamento secondo le specifiche nel prosieguo indicate. Parimenti, si precisa che, ai sensi della citata normativa, l’Interessato sarà destinatario di opportuno aggiornamento in merito all’eventuale modifica delle finalità di un nuovo trattamento prima di procedere con lo stesso.
Il Titolare del trattamento tratta i dati personali (nel prosieguo, anche “dati”) dell’Interessato (a titolo esemplificativo e non esaustivo: nome, cognome, indirizzo, telefono, e-mail, riferimenti bancari e di pagamento) per un interesse legittimo che costituisce la base giuridica del trattamento stesso in quanto riconducibile ad un rapporto contrattuale.
L’Informativa non è obbligatoria se:
I dati personali forniti dall’Interessato sono trattati da Hex Trust Italia Srl per le seguenti finalità:
A. Senza consenso espresso – ex art. 6 lett. b), e) del GDPR) - per le seguenti finalità di servizio:
B. Con consenso preventivo specifico (art. 7 del GDPR) per le seguenti finalità commerciali:
Qualora presso l’Interessato i dati personali siano raccolti:
Il trattamento dei dati è realizzato mediante le operazioni indicate all’art. 4 n. 2) del GDPR, in particolare: raccolta, registrazione, organizzazione, conservazione, consultazione, elaborazione, modificazione, selezione, estrazione, raffronto, utilizzo, interconnessione, blocco, comunicazione, cancellazione e distruzione dei dati. Ciò con esclusione della
diffusione. Il trattamento dei dati personali non comporta, allo stato, processi decisionali automatizzati: all’occorrenza, il Titolare provvederà a specificarlo e ad indicare la logica di tali processi decisionali e le conseguenze previste per l'Interessato. I dati personali sono sottoposti a trattamento cartaceo ed elettronico.
Non risulta necessario specificare le categorie dei dati personali oggetto di trattamento allorquando la loro raccolta sia effettuata senza il tramite di soggetti terzi all’uopo delegati dal Titolare.
Il Titolare tratterà i dati personali per il tempo necessario all’adempimento delle finalità di cui sopra e comunque per un periodo non superiore ai 10 anni dalla cessazione del rapporto e non oltre 2 anni dalla raccolta dei dati per le finalità di cui al punto 2.B.
Il Titolare del trattamento può comunicare i dati personali - anche all’estero - a dipendenti e collaboratori di Hex Trust Italia Srl (in qualità di incaricati e/o responsabili interni del trattamento e/o amministratori di sistema) ovvero a soggetti terzi (in qualità di autonomi titolari o responsabili esterni del trattamento) per:
I nominativi dei soggetti Terzi a cui i dati possano essere comunicati sono riportati in uno specifico elenco aggiornato dal Titolare del trattamento e disponibile presso la sede di Hex Trust Italia Srl.
I dati personali sono conservati su server ubicati esternamente all’Unione Europea. Il Titolare, qualora necessario, si riserva la facoltà di spostare i server anche all’interno dell’Unione Europea. Cio’ posto, il Titolare assicura sin d’ora che il trasferimento dei dati extra-UE risulta conforme alle disposizioni di legge applicabili alla luce delle clausole contrattuali standard previste dalla Commissione Europea. In particolare, alla luce dell’art. 49 del GDPR, il Titolare del Trattamento informa il Soggetto Interessato al Trattamento che un trasferimento di dati personali verso un paese terzo o un'organizzazione internazionale può essere effettuato in assenza di una decisione di adeguatezza ai sensi dell'articolo 45, paragrafo 3, o di garanzie adeguate ai sensi dell'articolo 46, comprese norme vincolanti d'impresa, a condizione che l'Interessato abbia esplicitamente acconsentito al trasferimento proposto, dopo essere stato informato dei possibili rischi di tali trasferimenti per l'interessato a causa dell'assenza di una decisione di adeguatezza, conformemente agli Orientamenti n. 2/2018 sulle deroghe all'articolo 49 a norma del regolamento (UE) 2016/679 definiti dal Comitato Europeo sulla Protezione dei Dati.
Il Titolare del trattamento può comunicare i dati, senza necessità di espresso consenso (art. 6 lett. b) e c) del GDPR), per gli scopi di cui all’art. 2.A), in quanto obbligatori. In assenza di ciò, il Titolare non potrà garantire i servizi di cui al citato art. 2.A). Il conferimento dei dati per le finalità di cui all’art. 2.B) è, invece, facoltativo. L’Interessato può, quindi, decidere di non conferire alcun dato o di negare successivamente la possibilità di trattare dati già forniti: in tal caso, non potrà ricevere newsletter, comunicazioni commerciali e materiale pubblicitario inerenti i Servizi offerti dal Titolare, pur continuando ad avere diritto ai Servizi di cui all’art. 2.A).
Non è presente alcun processo decisionale automatizzato.
L’Interessato, ai sensi e per gli effetti dell’art. 15 del GDPR, ha il diritto di:
Il Titolare del trattamento si impegna a comunicare, tempestivamente, all’Interessato ogni caso di violazione dei propri dati personali che possa presentare rischi elevati connessi ai suoi diritti e libertà.
L’Interessato potrà, in qualsiasi momento, esercitare i diritti inviando anche in modalità alternativa:
Il Titolare del trattamento dei dati personali è Hex Trust Italia Srl (di seguito, “la Società”), Hex Trust Italia Srl, Corso Magenta 74 – 20123 Milano.
In the event that a dispute arises between the Client and the Company regarding the services offered, the Client may submit a communication to the Company through the below account:
claims.eu@hextrust.com
The Customer can use the above indicated email to send the Claim Form.
The data provided by the interested party for the performance of the employment relationship (hereinafter jointly "personal data") are processed by Hex Trust Italia Srl (hereinafter, "the Company"), with registered office in Corso Magenta 74, 20123 in Milan, as Data Controller. The interested party is informed by Hex Trust Italia Srl on the processing of his data that will be carried out, in compliance with the principle of prudence and responsibility ("accountability"). To this end, Hex Trust Italia Srl provides the information required by art. 13 paragraph 1 and art. 14 paragraph 1 of EU Regulation no. 2016/679 (hereinafter, “GDPR”), informing the interested party that his/her data will be processed according to the specifications indicated below. Likewise, it is specified that, pursuant to the aforementioned legislation, the interested party will be the recipient of an update regarding any change in the purposes of a new processing before proceeding with the same.
The Data Controller processes the personal data (hereinafter also "data") of the interested party (by way of example and not limited to: name, surname, address, telephone, e-mail, bank and payment details) for a legitimate interest. which constitutes the legal basis of the processing itself as it is attributable to a contractual relationship.
The information is not mandatory if:
Your personal data is processed by Hex Trust for the following purposes:
A. Without your express consent – pursuant to art. 6 lett. b), e) GDPR) - for the following Service Purposes:
fulfilment of obligations established by law; by regulations; by community legislation (e.g. anti-money laundering law, which provides for customer profiling and various other obligations); by the Decree of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of 02/17/2022 (also "VASP Decree") which introduced the "Italian Register of Virtual Asset Suppliers" ("VASP Register") in relation to which it specified content, methods and frequency of transmission of information relating to the operations carried out as regulated by the Body of Agents and Mediators ("O.A.M."); execution of the activities necessary and strictly connected and instrumental to the management of contractual relationships (e.g., prevention of fraud also through tools identity verification).
B. Only subject to your specific and distinct consent (art. 7 GDPR) for the following Marketing Purposes:
If personal data is collected from the interested party:
The data processing is carried out through the operations indicated in the art. 4 no. 2) of the GDPR, in particular: collection, recording, organisation, storage, consultation, processing, modification, selection, extraction, comparison, use, interconnection, blocking, communication, cancellation and destruction of data. This excludes diffusion. The processing of personal data does not currently involve automated decision-making processes: if necessary, the Data Controller will specify this and indicate the logic of such decision-making processes and the expected consequences for the interested party. Personal data is subjected to paper and electronic processing.
It is not necessary to specify the categories of personal data being processed when their collection is carried out without the intermediary of third parties delegated for this purpose by the Data Controller.
The Data Controller will process personal data for the time necessary to fulfil the aforementioned purposes and in any case for a period not exceeding 10 years from the termination of the relationship and no later than 2 years from the collection of data for the purposes referred to in point 2.B.
The Data Controller may communicate personal data - even abroad - to employees and collaborators of Hex Trust Italia Srl (as persons in charge and/or internal data processors and/or system administrators) or to third parties (as of independent data controllers or external data processors) for:
The names of third parties to whom the data may be communicated are reported in a specific list updated by the Data Controller and available at the headquarters of Hex Trust Italia Srl.
Personal data is stored on servers located outside the European Union. The Owner, if necessary, reserves the right to move the servers within the European Union. Having said this, the Data Controller hereby ensures that the transfer of non-EU data complies with the applicable legal provisions in light of the standard contractual clauses envisaged by the European Commission. In particular, in light of art. 49 of the GDPR, the Data Controller informs the Subject Interested in the Processing that a transfer of personal data to a third country or an international organization may be carried out in the absence of an adequacy decision pursuant to Article 45, paragraph 3, or of adequate guarantees pursuant to Article 46, including binding corporate rules, provided that the interested party has explicitly consented to the proposed transfer, after having been informed of the possible risks of such transfers for the interested party due to the absence of an adequacy decision, in accordance with Guidelines no. 2/2018 on derogations from Article 49 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2016/679 defined by the European Data Protection Board.
The Data Controller may communicate the data, without the need for express consent (art. 6 letter b) and c) of the GDPR), for the purposes referred to in the art. 2.A), as they are mandatory. In the absence of this, the Owner will not be able to guarantee the services referred to in the aforementioned art. 2.A). The provision of data for the purposes referred to in art. 2.B) is, however, optional. The interested party may, therefore, decide not to provide any data or to subsequently deny the possibility of processing data already provided: in this case, he/she will not be able to receive newsletters, commercial communications and advertising material relating to the Services offered by the Data Controller, while continuing to have right to the Services referred to in the art. 2.A).
There is no automated decision making.
The interested party, pursuant to and for the purposes of art. 15 of the GDPR, you have the right to:
The Data Controller undertakes to promptly communicate to the interested party any case of violation of their personal data which may present high risks connected to their rights and freedoms.
The interested party may, at any time, exercise the rights by also sending in an alternative way:
The Data Controller of personal data is Hex Trust Italia Srl, Corso Magenta 74 – 20123 Milan.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore requires Hex Technologies Pte. Ltd. (“Hex Trust Singapore”) to provide specific disclosures to customers engaging with Digital Payment Token (“DPT”) services. Please review the following information carefully before using Hex Trust Singapore’s DPT services.
These disclosures apply exclusively to the DPT services provided by Hex Trust Singapore under the terms set out in your Master Trading Agreement or Custodian Agreement (an “Agreement”). Any capitalised terms used but not defined herein shall carry the meanings assigned to them in the relevant Agreement.
Please note that these disclosures do not apply to services provided by other entities within the Hex Trust Group under separate terms and conditions.
In accordance with the MAS Notice PSN08, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requires us to provide this risk warning to you as a customer of a digital payment token (DPT) service provider.
Before you:
(a) pay Hex Trust Singapore any money or DPT; or
(b) pay a third party any money or DPT under an arrangement by Hex Trust Singapore,
You should be aware of the following.
1. Hex Trust Singapore is licensed by MAS to provide DPT services. Please note that this does not mean you will be able to recover all the money or DPTs you paid to Hex Trust Singapore or any other third party referred to above, if Hex Trust Singapore’s or the third party’s business fails.
1A. You should be aware that MAS does not supervise or regulate Hex Trust Singapore for the provision of unregulated services. This includes any service of trading digital payment token derivatives such as futures.
2. You should not transact in the DPT if you are not familiar with this DPT. This includes how the DPT is created, and how the DPT you intend to transact is transferred or held by Hex Trust Singapore.
3. You should be aware that the value of DPTs may fluctuate greatly. You should buy DPTs only if you are prepared to accept the risk of losing all of the money you put into such tokens.
4. You should be aware that Hex Trust Singapore, as part of its licence to provide DPT services, may offer services related to DPTs which are promoted as having a stable value, commonly known as “stablecoin”.
Hex Trust’s asset storage arrangement utilizes advanced hardware and software infrastructure with strong security controls. The central component is the Hardware Security Module (HSM), which securely stores and manages cryptographic keys, ensuring they are always wrapped (encrypted) and never exposed in clear text. Both Safe Plus and Safe Vaults operate in an air-gapped environment, isolated from the internet, with data diodes ensuring one-way communication to prevent unauthorized access.
Key generation occurs within the HSM using a True Random Generator, and physical security is enhanced by storing encrypted keys in multiple vaults across different locations, requiring multiple approvals for access. Transaction signing involves client-initiated transactions that go through several approval stages before being securely signed within the HSM through the Key Management System (KMS).
Singaporean clients are onboarded under the Singapore custodian entity, with the Hardware Security Module (HSM) in Singapore serving as their primary operational HSM. To ensure resilience, a secondary HSM located in Hong Kong acts as a geographically redundant backup, ready to take over in the event of hardware failure or disruption to the primary instance. This architecture provides operational continuity and robust disaster recovery for cryptographic asset management.
Clients of Hex Trust Singapore retain beneficial ownership of digital assets safeguarded on their behalf. However, clients may hold rights only to the financial value of the DPTs and do not automatically receive rights to protocol derived features such as governance participation, airdrops or new tokens created from hard forks.
Clients may be entitled to new tokens resulting from hard forks or airdrops subject to certain conditions as set out in the Custodian Agreement. Hex Trust Singapore may, at its sole discretion, decide whether to support any fork or airdrop, and clients have no such entitlement to such benefits unless explicitly provided. Additional fees may apply for the processing or distribution of such assets.
If you suspect any loss of assets due to fraud or negligence by Hex Trust Singapore, please contact our client service team immediately. You may escalate unresolved matters through our Complaints Handling and Resolution process, in accordance with the timelines and procedures as described in this disclosure and your agreement.
Any compensation offered will be capped at your direct losses and may be adjusted based on contributory negligence, if applicable.
Hex Trust Singapore will not be liable for losses resulting from client fraud, gross negligence or wilful misconduct (among other things).
Clients may provide instructions through Hex Trust Singapore’s official channels as outlined in your Agreement.
The client shall provide a list of all persons authorised to act on its behalf in giving such instructions, clearly specifying the scope, limitations, or role of each individual’s authority. Hex Trust Singapore will only act on clients assets in accordance with the instructions received from the client’s duly authorized representatives.
All authorisations are subject to our verification and risk assessment procedures. It is the client’s responsibility to ensure the list of authorised persons remains accurate and up to date, and to ensure security and confidentiality of all access credentials. Hex Trust Singapore may refuse any instruction from a person who is not duly authorised or has not satisfied our verification process.
Hex Trust Singapore does not use client assets as collateral and will not sell, loan, or otherwise encumber assets without explicit client instruction or legal requirement. Where required, we may debit your account to complete transactions in accordance with agreed payment terms.
For further details, please contact our Client Services team or refer to the applicable service agreement.
All fees associated with the safeguarding of clients’ assets are fully disclosed in the Fee Schedule attached to the Custodian Agreement and are communicated during relevant service interactions.
By using Hex Trust Singapore’s services, clients acknowledge and consent to these fees, which are necessary to maintain secure and compliant asset safeguarding procedures.
Clients will have ongoing access to account-related information, including digital asset balances and transaction history through a secure and dedicated client portal provided by Hex Trust Singapore. Additionally, periodic reports and/or monthly statements of accounts relating to the assets of the clients shall be delivered via email or other agreed communication channels. The frequency, timing, and level of details of these reports will be expressly agreed between Hex Trust Singapore and the client from time to time.
Hex Trust Singapore conducts a comprehensive evaluation of digital assets through a multi-layered review framework that includes both global due diligence and localised legal and compliance assessment to ensure alignment with applicable regulatory standards and internal risk policies.
The evaluation process for supporting new DPT involves a comprehensive assessment based on several key criteria including but not limited to:
Technology and Security Assessment:
Assessment of the asset’s underlying infrastructure, including whether it operates on a proprietary blockchain or leverages an existing blockchain. This also includes review of the asset’s security measures and evaluation of the infrastructure required to support the asset.
Risk Assessment:
Assessment of the issuer and its development team’s technological experience, track record, and reputation to identify potential operational and reputational risks. This also includes a review of the asset’s tokenomics (supply and release schedule), funding status and key investors, and market presence through its exchange listings, trading pairs, and liquidity profile.
Compliance Assessment:
Assessment focusing on AML/CFT name screening to ensure the asset and associated parties are not on sanctions watchlists, alongside negative news searches to identify any adverse media or controversies related to the project.
Upon successful completion of the fundamentals assessment, the DPT will be integrated and supported on Hex Trust Singapore’s platform for deposit and transfer. Only DPTs that comply with internal standards and relevant regulatory requirements will be supported.
To ensure asset integrity, the platform will maintain ongoing oversight of the performance, security, and regulatory compliance of every supported asset. The platform may suspend or discontinue support for a DPT if it determines that the asset no longer meets requirements, poses substantial risk, or if any concerns arise from ongoing monitoring.
In most cases, clients will receive advance notice of approximately two weeks prior to a suspension or discontinuation of asset support. During this period, clients will be able to trade or withdraw the affected asset. On the date support is discontinued, trading will be suspended, but withdrawals will remain available unless otherwise specified.
In exceptional circumstances (e.g., immediate legal or regulatory concerns, smart contract vulnerabilities), Hex Trust Singapore may suspend all support without advance notice. In such cases, the Hex Trust team will notify affected clients and outline the next steps, which may include enforced liquidation or a pre-defined conversion to a supported asset such as USDC.
Hex Trust Singapore does not accept fees or incentives in exchange for supporting digital assets.
However, other entities within the Hex Trust Group may, from time to time, engage in commercial arrangements with asset issuers, node providers, other parties or affiliates. Where such relationships exist, potential conflicts of interest are managed under Hex Trust’s Group-wide Conflicts of Interest Policy. More information can be made available upon request.
Hex Trust Singapore is committed to providing fair, timely, and transparent resolution of customer complaints. Hex Trust Singapore recognises that client feedback is essential for improving its services and enhancing the overall customer experience.
All complaints are properly assessed and documented, including relevant details and correspondence, by a dedicated team. Staff handling complaints operate independently and are not involved in the subject of the complaint.
Complaints may be raised by clients or members of the public through various channels such as in person, writing, phone, or via Hex Trust Singapore’s Helpdesk:
Email: clients@hextrust.com | WhatsApp: +852 6460 8565
Hex Trust Singapore aims to resolve complaints promptly upon receipt. Where immediate resolution is not possible, complainants are advised to submit their complaint in writing (e.g., via email or WhatsApp) for proper review and documentation. Complaints are assessed fairly to determine whether they should be upheld. Should the complaint be dismissed, written reasons will be provided. If the matter cannot be resolved promptly or it involves significant issues, it will be escalated to senior management within 24 hours, followed by an official acknowledgement to the complainant.
The outcome of the assessment will be clearly communicated. All complaints will be resolved within 10 calendar days from the date of receipt. If additional time is required due to complexity, an interim update will be issued with the status and, where possible, the expected resolution date.
A conflict of interest arises when competing obligations or interests may impair the ability of Hex Trust Singapore to act solely in the best interests of its clients. This can occur when Hex Trust Singapore or its affiliates have commercial, financial, or strategic incentives that may diverge from those of the client, potentially resulting in an advantage to Hex Trust Singapore or the Hex Trust Group, while disadvantageing the client.
Hex Trust Singapore is committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and transparency. We believe it is important for clients to understand where actual or potential conflicts of interest may exist, so they can make informed decisions when engaging our services.
Outlined below are key areas of actual or potential conflicts of interest and how we mitigate them.
Hex Trust Singapore is part of the wider Hex Trust Group, which provides a range of digital asset services and products (e.g. custody, staking, tokenisation, and trading solutions). Certain related party services may be accessible through the same platform or interface that hosts services offered by Hex Trust Singapore. In such cases, there may be a perception that Hex Trust Singapore could be motivated to prioritise the broader commercial interests of the Hex Trust Group over those of its clients, particularly if clients are not clearly informed that the service is being provided by an affiliate or related entity.
To mitigate such perceived conflicts of interest, Hex Trust Singapore maintains an independent governance and management structure.
While we believe potential conflicts of interest arising from affiliate or related party services are adequately managed, we acknowledge that residual risks, such as user perceptions of bias or unconscious internal bias may remain. To maintain transparency and safeguard client trust, Hex Trust Singapore will inform clients of the identity of the Hex Trust Group entity providing such related party services, thereby enabling clients to make an informed decision on whether to engage with those services.
Hex Trust Singapore is committed to proactively identifying, managing, and disclosing conflicts of interest, ensuring these are appropriately governed and resolved in a fair and transparent manner.
Clients are encouraged to contact us should they have any questions or concerns regarding potential conflicts of interest or wish to receive further information about how these matters are addressed.
Hex Trust Singapore’s standard business days are Monday to Friday, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (local time). Our customer support team is available 24/7/365 to help with any service support or inquiries. Please note that our business hours may be subject to change due to operational adjustments. Any changes will be communicated promptly through our website and other official channels.
For any inquiries or assistance, please contact our Hex Trust Singapore’s support team 24/7/365:
Email: clients@hextrust.com
WhatsApp: +852 6460 8565
Our support team is available to assist you with general questions, service support, and guidance. For complaints or disputes, please refer to our dedicated Complaints Handling and Resolution section.
This Data Protection Notice (“Notice”) sets out the basis which Hex Technologies Pte. Ltd., Hex Trust Pte. Ltd. (including their related entities) (“we”, “us”, or “our”) may collect, use, disclose or otherwise process personal data of our customers in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPA”). This Notice applies to personal data in our possession or under our control, including personal data in the possession of organisations which we have engaged to collect, use, disclose or process personal data for our purposes.
1. As used in this Notice:“customer” means an individual who (a) has contacted us through any means to find out more about any goods or services we provide, or (b) may, or has, entered into a contract with us for the supply of any goods or services by us; and“personal data” means data, whether true or not, about a customer who can be identified:(a) from that data; or (b) from that data and other information to which we have or are likely to have access.
2. Depending on the nature of your interaction with us, some examples of personal data which we may collect from you include your name and identification information such as your NRIC number, contact information such as your address, email address or telephone number, nationality, gender, date of birth, marital status, photographs and other audio-visual information, employment information and financial information such as credit card numbers, debit card numbers or bank account information.
3. Other terms used in this Notice shall have the meanings given to them in the PDPA (where the context so permits).
4. We generally do not collect your personal data unless (a) it is provided to us voluntarily by you directly or via a third party who has been duly authorised by you to disclose your personal data to us (your “authorised representative”) after (i) you (or your authorised representative) have been notified of the purposes for which the data is collected, and (ii) you (or your authorised representative) have provided written consent to the collection and usage of your personal data for those purposes, or (b) collection and use of personal data without consent is permitted or required by the PDPA or other laws. We shall seek your consent before collecting any additional personal data and before using your personal data for a purpose which has not been notified to you (except where permitted or authorised by law).
5. We may collect and use your personal data for any or all of the following purposes:(a) performing obligations in the course of or in connection with our provision of the goods and/or services requested by you;(b) verifying your identity;(c) responding to, handling, and processing queries, requests, applications, complaints, and feedback from you; (d) managing your relationship with us;(e) processing payment or credit transactions;(f) sending your marketing information about our goods or services including notifying you of our marketing events, initiatives and promotions, lucky draws, membership and rewards schemes and other promotions;(g) complying with any applicable laws, regulations, codes of practice, guidelines, or rules, or to assist in law enforcement and investigations conducted by any governmental and/or regulatory authority;(h) any other purposes for which you have provided the information;(i) transmitting to any unaffiliated third parties including our third party service providers and agents, and relevant governmental and/or regulatory authorities, whether in Singapore or abroad, for the aforementioned purposes; and(j) any other incidental business purposes related to or in connection with the above.
6. We may disclose your personal data:(a) where such disclosure is required for performing obligations in the course of or in connection with our provision of the goods or services requested by you; or(b) to third party service providers, agents and other organisations we have engaged to perform any of the functions listed in clause 5 above for us.
7. The purposes listed in the above clauses may continue to apply even in situations where your relationship with us (for example, pursuant to a contract) has been terminated or altered in any way, for a reasonable period thereafter (including, where applicable, a period to enable us to enforce our rights under any contract with you).
8. The consent that you provide for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data will remain valid until such time it is being withdrawn by you in writing. You may withdraw consent and request us to stop using and/or disclosing your personal data for any or all of the purposes listed above by submitting your request in writing or via email to our Data Protection Officer at the contact details provided below.
9. Upon receipt of your written request to withdraw your consent, we may require reasonable time (depending on the complexity of the request and its impact on our relationship with you) for your request to be processed and for us to notify you of the consequences of us acceding to the same, including any legal consequences which may affect your rights and liabilities to us. In general, we shall seek to process your request within ten (10) business days of receiving It.
10. Whilst we respect your decision to withdraw your consent, please note that depending on the nature and scope of your request, we may not be in a position to continue providing our goods or services to you and we shall, in such circumstances, notify you before completing the processing of your request. Should you decide to cancel your withdrawal of consent, please inform us in writing in the manner described in clause 8 above.
11. Please note that withdrawing consent does not affect our right to continue to collect, use and disclose personal data where such collection, use and disclose without consent is permitted or required under applicable laws.
12. If you wish to make (a) an access request for access to a copy of the personal data which we hold about you or information about the ways in which we use or disclose your personal data, or (b) a correction request to correct or update any of your personal data which we hold about you, you may submit your request in writing or via email to our Data Protection Officer at the contact details provided below.
13. Please note that a reasonable fee may be charged for an access request. If so, we will inform you of the fee before processing your request.
14. We will respond to your request as soon as reasonably possible. Should we not be able to respond to your request within thirty (30) days after receiving your request, we will inform you in writing within thirty (30) days of the time by which we will be able to respond to your request. If we are unable to provide you with any personal data or to make a correction requested by you, we shall generally inform you of the reasons why we are unable to do so (except where we are not required to do so under the PDPA).
15. To safeguard your personal data from unauthorised access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or similar risks, we have introduced appropriate administrative, physical and technical measures such as up-to-date antivirus protection, encryption and the use of privacy filters to secure all storage and transmission of personal data by us, and disclosing personal data both internally and to our authorised third party service providers and agents only on a need-to-know basis.
16. You should be aware, however, that no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure. While security cannot be guaranteed, we strive to protect the security of your information and are constantly reviewing and enhancing our information security measures.
17. We generally rely on personal data provided by you (or your authorised representative). In order to ensure that your personal data is current, complete and accurate, please update us if there are changes to your personal data by informing our Data Protection Officer in writing or via email at the contact details provided below.
18. We may retain your personal data for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, or as required or permitted by applicable laws.
19. We will cease to retain your personal data, or remove the means by which the data can be associated with you, as soon as it is reasonable to assume that such retention no longer serves the purpose for which the personal data was collected, and is no longer necessary for legal or business purposes.
20. We generally do not transfer your personal data to countries outside of Singapore (but please see clause 21 below). If we do so, we will obtain your consent for the transfer to be made and we will take steps to ensure that your personal data continues to receive a standard of protection that is at least comparable to that provided under the PDPA.
21. We use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. ("Google"). Google Analytics uses cookies, which are small amounts of data created in a computer when a person visits a website, to help the website analyse how you use the site. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity for website operators and providing other services relating to website activity and Internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser, however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
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22. You may contact our Data Protection Officer if you have any enquiries or feedback on our personal data protection policies and procedures, or if you wish to make any request, you may contact us at dpo.sg@hextrust.com.
EFFECT OF NOTICE AND CHANGES TO NOTICE
23. This Notice applies in conjunction with any other notices, contractual clauses and consent clauses that apply in relation to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal data by us.
24. We may revise this Notice from time to time without any prior notice. You may determine if any such revision has taken place by referring to the date on which this Notice was last updated. Your continued use of our services constitutes your acknowledgement and acceptance of such changes.