Legal Policies and Terms of Use

1. Terms of website use

This page (together with the documents referred to on it) informs you of the terms subject to which you may make use of our website at www.simpsonmarwick.com (“our site”).

Please read these terms of use carefully before you start to use our site.

By using our site, you indicate that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to abide by them.

If you do not agree to these terms of use, please refrain from using our site.

We may revise these terms of use at any time. Any change will be effective once reflected in the text of these terms and published on our site.

You should check our site from time to time to review the current posting.

Certain provisions of this legal notice may be superseded by expressly designated legal notices or terms located on particular pages on our site.

We may prevent or suspend your access to our site if you do not comply with any part of these terms, any terms or policies to which they refer or any applicable law.

ACCESSING OUR SITE

Access to our site is permitted on a temporary basis, and we reserve the right to withdraw any information and/or service we provide on our site without notice (see below). If the need arises, we may suspend access to our site or close it indefinitely.

We will not be liable for any damages, loss, costs or expenses incurred by you if for any reason our site is unavailable or inaccessible at any time or for any period. We do not promise that our site will be available at all times nor do we promise the uninterrupted use by you of our site.

You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to our site and for keeping your password and account details confidential.

You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our site through your internet connection are aware of these terms, and that they comply with them.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our site, and in the material (including all text, photographs, illustrations, designs, graphical images, animations, video materials, audio materials and trademarks) published on it. All such rights are reserved.

You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for your personal reference and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to material posted on our site.

You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any photographs, illustrations, designs, graphical images, animations, video materials, audio materials or trademarks separately from any accompanying text.

Our stats (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors and owners or licensees of material on our site must always be acknowledged.

You must not use any part of the materials on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.

Other than as explicitly permitted hereunder, no part of our site may be reproduced or stored in any other website or included in any public or private electronic retrieval system or service without our prior written permission.

RELIANCE ON INFORMATION POSTED

Commentary and other materials posted on our site are general in nature and are not included to amount to advice provided by an independent professional experienced and practicing in that area on which reliance should be placed.

We therefore disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by any visitor to our site, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents. Any reliance that you place on information on our site is at your own risk.

OUR SITE CHANGES REGULARLY

We aim to update our site regularly and may change the content at any time.

We reserve the right to amend any information and/or service we provide on our site without notice.

If the need arises, we may suspend access to our site, or close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our site may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.

OUR LIABILITY

The material displayed on our site is provided “as is” without any guarantees, representations, conditions, or warranties as to its accuracy.

If your use of material on our site results in the need for servicing, repair or correction of equipment, software, or data, you assume all costs thereof.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we and any third parties connected to us hereby expressly exclude:

All express and implied guarantees, representations, conditions, warranties and other similar terms of whatsoever nature.

Any implied terms for relevant jurisdiction which, but for this legal notice, might have effect in relation to our site.

Any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage incurred by any user (including without limitation, any direct, indirect, punitive or consequential loss or damage, or any loss of income, business, revenue, profits, anticipated savings, goodwill, data, contracts, use of money, or loss or damage arising from or connected in any way to business interruption, wasted management or office time, or any distributed denial-of-service attack, and whether arising in tort or delict, including without limitation negligence, contract or otherwise) and another loss or damage howsoever occurring even if foreseeable, in connection with our site or in connection with the use, inability to use, or results of the use of our site, any websites linked to it and any materials posted on it or any viruses or technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, software, data or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing our site or your downloading of any material from our site or any websites linked to our site.

Nothing in these terms operates to exclude, limit or restrict our liability for death, personal injury caused by our negligence or fraudulent misrepresentation.

VIRUSES, HACKING AND OTHER OFFENCES

You must not misuse our site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or impairs the performance or functionality of our site or our information technology systems.

You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our site, the server on which our site is stored or any server, computer, database, or other system connected to our site.

You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities, and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity and any other related data we hold to them.

In the event of such a breach of these terms of use, your right to use our site will cease immediately.

LINKING TO OUR SITE

You do not remove, distort, or otherwise after the size or appearance or any logos on our site.
You do not create a frame or any other browser or border environment around our site.
You do not engage in any form of inline or deep linking with regard to any material within our site.
You do not in any way imply that we endorse any products or services other than our own.
You do not misrepresent your relationship with us nor present any other false information about us.
You do not otherwise use any logos or trademarks displayed on our site without our express written permission or where the logo or trademark belongs to a third party the permission of the owner.
You do not link from a website that is not owned by you.
Your website does not contain content that is distasteful, offensive, or controversial, infringes any intellectual property rights or other rights of any other person or otherwise does not comply with all applicable laws and regulations.

We are expressly reserve the right to revoke the right granted in this clause for breach of these terms and to take any action we deem appropriate.

You shall fully indemnify us for any loss or damage suffered by us as a result of your breach of this clause.

LINKS FROM OUR SITE

Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information and convenience only.

We are not associated with and do not have any control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them.

If you use these links, you leave our site. We may not have reviewed these third-party websites and do not control and are not responsible for these websites or their content or availability.

We therefore do not endorse or make any guarantees, representations or warranties about them, or any material found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them.

If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to our site, you do so entirely at your own risk.

CONTACT

Any queries or requests regarding these terms of use of our site should be addressed to either Moray Legal Limited or Moray Financial Limited, both at The Forsyth Building, 5 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 5EZ.

JURISDICTION AND APPLICABLE LAW

The Scottish courts will have exclusive jurisdiction over any claim arising from, or related to, a visit to our site although we retain the right to bring proceedings against you for breach of these conditions in your country of residence or any other relevant country. These terms of use are governed by Scots law.

2. Authorisation and regulation

MORAY LEGAL LIMITED

Moray Legal Limited is a law firm incorporated in Scotland (Company number: SC459802), having its registered office at The Forsyth Building, 5 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 5EZ.

Moray Legal Limited has a trading style of ‘Simpson & Marwick’ throughout Scotland, with a principal place of business at 23 Alva Street, Edinburgh EH2 4PS.

Moray Legal Limited is regulated by the Law Society of Scotland.

Our lawyers are subject to the rules of the Law Society of Scotland.

MORAY FINANCIAL LIMITED

Moray Financial Limited is incorporated in Scotland (Company Number: SC694883), having its registered office at The Forsyth Building, 5 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 5EZ.

Simpson & Marwick Financial is a trading style of Moray Financial Limited (FCA Number: 954875) and is an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network. PRIMIS Mortgage Network is a trading name of First Complete Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority for mortgages, protection insurance and general insurance protection.

3. VAT

Moray Legal Limited’s VAT registration number is: 186 3619 76.

4. Complaints

Complaints relating to Moray Legal Limited

If you are unhappy or concerned about any aspect of our service or conduct and you would like to make a complaint you should contact the person responsible for the work or your relationship manager. You can also refer the complaint to our Governance, Risk and Compliance Team at grc@moraygroup.services.

We will aim to acknowledge your complaint within two days. A response to your complaint will be reported in writing to you as soon as we can.

If you remain dissatisfied, if it relates to a legal services matter, you may be entitled to refer the complaint to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (‘SLCC’). The SLCC can be contacted at enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org. See www.scottishlegalcompliants.org.uk for more information. Please note time limits apply for any complaints to be made to the SLCC and you should check what those are.

Complaints relating to Moray Financial Limited

We will aim to acknowledge your complaint within two days. A response to your complaint will be reported in writing to you as soon as we can.

Alternatively you can contact PRIMS Mortgage Network (our Appointed Representative) directly by post, email or phone at:

The Customer Resolution Team,
PRIMIS Mortgage Network, Ground Floor,
3700 Parkside,
Birmingham Business Park,
Solihull,
B37 7YT; or

complaints.solihull@primis.co.uk; or

0121 767 1139.

You can view the PRIMIS complaints handling procedures at www.primis.co.uk

5. Cyber security statement

If you receive any communication purporting to be from Moray Legal Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick or Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial or any of the our partners or employees about which you are uncertain or suspicious, please forward it to grc@moraygroup.services and we will investigate. Never reply to such e-mails and particularly do not part with money, provide personal or confidential information and do not click on any links in the e-mail.

Please be aware cyber-criminals deliberately target lawyers and their clients, often by attempting to impersonate your lawyer. Be particularly sensitive to the fact that email is not secure and can be intercepted and amended. If you are due to transfer money to Moray Legal Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick or Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial and have received an e-mail with sort code and account details, then we recommend you call your Simpson & Marwick solicitor or Simpson & Marwick Financial advisor or contact them to corroborate these details. Please use a phone number from our website or terms of engagement letter and not one from the same e-mail as contains the bank account details. We will not change bank account details during the course of a transaction, and we will not pressurise you into transferring large sums of money.

Avoid posting statuses on social media about buying/selling houses, or getting a mortgage, or any other matter that may involve a large financial transaction. Fraudsters monitor social media for this information.

Avoid using public Wi-Fi systems to check e-mails and correspond with Moray Legal Limited or Moray Financial Limited. Fraudsters can easily hack into vulnerable Wi-Fi systems.

If you use webmail (e.g. Hotmail, Gmail, etc) then ensure you have a strong password; do not share the same password on different accounts, and definitely switch on two factor authentication (which would alert you, e.g. by SMS text if anyone else attempted to log on to your webmail account).

Moray Legal Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick or Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial will never attempt to induce anyone to click on links to potentially fraudulent websites, or submit personal information, or to part with money as an upfront payment in order, for example, to release a prize.

For further information on how you can improve online safety behaviour please visit the UK Government’s site https://www.cyberstreetwise.com/.

6. Modern slavery statement

Moray Legal Limited /a Simpson & Marwick is a law firm regulated by the Law Society of Scotland. Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial is a Financial Services business regulated by the FCA. Both businesses are committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within them and along their supply chains.

Within both businesses, we have in place an Anti-Slavery policy setting out our commitment to combat modern slavery, together with an Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy.

In order to provide legal services, we work with a range of suppliers, primarily within the United Kingdom. We endeavour to make sure our suppliers are aware of our policies, and request that they adhere to the same high standards and practices where appropriate.

While we do not primarily operate in high-risk sectors or locations, we regularly evaluate the nature and extent of its exposure to the risk of modern slavery occurring in our supply chain and will investigate any potential risks as appropriate.

7. Anti-money laundering

Moray Legal Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick and Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial are fully committed to fulfilling their obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and 2019, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 and other relevant legislation, for the purposes of combatting money laundering and terrorist financing.

Both companies carry out client verification checks at the stage of client take on and on an ongoing basis, as well as seeking to establish, where appropriate, the source of wealth and source of funds used in transactions in which they are involved.

Procedures and policies are in place to ensure compliance with the relevant legislation. Moray Legal Limited and Moray Financial Limited’s staff and directors are trained in how to comply with the legislation, and we may refuse to act if we have concerns.

8. Anti-Bribery Statement

Moray Legal Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick and Moray Financial Limited t/a Simpson & Marwick Financial are committed to the prevention of bribery and corruption as we recognise the importance of maintaining our reputations and the confidence of our clients and business partners.

We do not accept bribery and corruption in our business, and we will not work with others who do not share our commitment to preventing bribery and corruption.

If you wish to see our Bribery Policy, please ask us. If you have any concerns or suspicions, we should know about then please contact our Governance, Risk and Compliance Team on grc@moraygroup.services.

9. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy

INTRODUCTION

We believe in taking an ‘actions, not words’ approach when it comes to being socially, economically and environmentally responsible business. For us, this means providing a range of legal services that not only comply with relevant laws, regulations and principles but also taking measurable steps to ensure that we improve the positive impact our business has in the areas of workplace, community, environment and marketplace.

At Simpson & Marwick, being socially, economically and environmentally responsible is a journey which feeds into everything we do, from our company values and how we treat our employees, to being a good neighbour, our daily interactions with our clients and customers and the environmental impact our business has when delivering the services we provide.

MANAGING, PLANNING & REPORTING

To ensure a continuous and realistic focus on the responsibilities of our business we have in place a firm wide social, economic and environmental objectives and KPI’s. We aim to ensure that these objectives are realistic and therefore achievable. Our objectives are split into four categories, reflecting the impact areas of workplace, community, environment and marketplace.
We report against our objectives annually (April), reviewing our overall progress at this time. New objectives for the business are set on an annual basis and are determined through consultation with our stakeholders. Our Annual Report is published on our website and details of each year’s current objectives and KPIs are published in our social, economic and environmental objectives and KPI’s document.

We utilise our internal communications channels to raise employee awareness as to our annual objectives and the various activities and initiatives that take place throughout the year in support of the achievement of our objectives.

PERFORMANCE

We are committed to measuring our performance against our Social, Economic and Environmental Responsibility Policy through the achievement of the annually set aims and objectives and KPIs. We aim to ensure that all our objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Whilst we encourage all our employees to participate in our social, economic and environmental responsibility programme, ultimate responsibility for achieving our objectives lies with Simpson & Marwick’s Management Team.
Our social, economic and environmental objectives and progress against them are updated regularly and reviewed by the Management Team at the monthly Management Team meeting. This policy is reviewed regularly and updated as necessary.

WORKPLACE

“People make a company. Our success comes directly from the energy, commitment and shared vision of all our people.”
People come first for us. We are keen to support the enthusiasm and creativity our people bring to the business and recognise that they are our most valuable asset. We want to give our people a working environment that encourages them to use the skills they have to the best of their ability, to create opportunities to learn new skills and in turn to develop as a person and as an employee.

At the centre of everything we do is a shared commitment to deliver a service of the highest quality and to continually improve the way in which we do this. The vision is directed at the marketplace we operate in and the clients we serve – and it embraces everyone who works for Simpson & Marwick.

Our commitment to our people is demonstrated through our people strategy which aims to ensure that we attract, develop and retain a talented and diverse workforce and that we deliver a first class service for our clients.
The key objective of our people strategy is to nurture a positive and open working culture. In support of this objective we:

have in place a comprehensive induction programme, accessible via our company intranet, which also includes a number of online training modules and information resources including a firm-wide phone directory capturing photos, experience and expertise information for each colleague;
support our managers across the business so that they themselves have the skills and resources to develop their team through training, coaching and empowering individuals;
employ effective, transparent and ethical people processes – all our people policies are published on our intranet for our employees to access;
engage with staff through a variety of formal and informal communication channels including staff forums, intranet, email broadcasts, team meetings and one-to-ones
a comprehensive performance management programme including 360o feedback for our senior management team with formal annual appraisals for each employee linking back to our company values and objectives.

HEALTH, SAFETY AND WELLBEING

We have in place a number of policies designed to ensure the health, safety and well being of our employees. All of these policies are widely available to our employees and located within our intranet site for ease of access. These policies include, but are not limited to:

Anti harassment and bullying
Equality and diversity
Open door
Annual, family, maternity and other leave
Disciplinary and grievance

We recognise that we have a duty to our employees to ensure that we comply with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974, the Management of Health, Safety and Welfare Regulations 1999, and all other appropriate regulations and approved codes of practice. As such all our employees, contractors, suppliers and other visitors to our offices must adhere to our Health and Safety Policy.

All of our health and safety policies and procedures are located in a central portal on our intranet site which is specifically devoted to health and safety.

COMMUNITY AND CHARITABLE SUPPORT

We are committed to working within our local communities, seeking to build strong relationships with the local community and acting as a good neighbour.

Within our particular communities, our biggest social and economic challenges are in the areas of education and employability. As an employer within the legal services sector we could not provide the services we do without the right people. We recognise that the success of our business is dependent on our employees and that our ability to recruit and retain talented people from within our own communities is crucial to this success.

Our community work is focused on supporting education and employability within our local communities by sharing skills, community assignments and collections. We have in place a programme of community activity focused on these objectives which includes:

Work placements and experience – Working with Schools, we offer short-term work placements to students who are looking to gain experience working in an office environment. These placements typically last for a two-week period and we make a conscious effort to give each student a varied and thorough experience. We don’t expect students to make teas and coffees for a fortnight;
Modern Apprenticeships – In conjunction with Learning Innovations, we offer young people aged 16-19 who want to learn and work the opportunity to gain an SVQ in Business Administration over a 12-18 month period. During this time students attend SVQ sessions allowing them to gain a formal qualification whilst in employment.
Community volunteering – We are committed to engaging with our local communities through a structured framework which provides access to a wide range of volunteering opportunities;

CHARITABLE SUPPORT

We are proud of our long-standing tradition of supporting a wide variety of charitable organisations both through participation of employees and the firm.

We recognise that our employees have their own charitable preferences and acknowledge, support and facilitate this through a combination of different activities throughout the year. These activities include:

Monthly dress down days – employees are encouraged to suggest charities of their choice and everyone who chooses to dress down makes a £1 donation, the proceeds of which are sent to the chosen charity.
Special fund raising days – dedicated to specific events throughout the year typically including Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day and Children in Need. Employees are encouraged to organise, promote and participate in a number of activities on these days according to their preference.
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Appeals – We recognise that charitable support should not be restricted to our local communities and UK-based charitable organisations but that we also have a responsibility to help and support the wider global community. We demonstrate this commitment by supporting Disaster Emergency Committee appeals as and when support is called for.

FEEDBACK AND COMMUNCATION

We believe in celebrating our achievements and promoting the success of our charitable activity as this encourages employee participation and commitment. To ensure effective communication of our charitable activity we make a point of ensuring that all charitable activity is published through our various communication channels, as a minimum our intranet and internal email broadcast. Details of our charitable support are also externally published.

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY – ENDORSEMENT AND SCOPE

As a specialist law firm, we are focused on the provision of property, litigation and professional negligence services for the UK lending market. Our commitment to the UK lending market means that we tailor our business and culture to mirror both the principles of customer service and the strict regulatory framework within which our clients operate. This includes our approach to managing the environmental impact of our business.

Our Environmental Policy applies to our whole operation and is available to our staff via our company intranet and to our clients on request.

Simpson & Marwick’s Environment Policy and approach is fully endorsed by the Management Team.

COMMITTED TO CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

We are committed to continuously improving the environmental performance of our business. We recognise that our day-to-day activities impact on the environment in ways which are positive and negative. We wish to minimise any harmful effects our business has on the environment wherever and whenever practicable. To facilitate this we are committed to reviewing, discussing and setting environmental objectives that enable us to responsibly manage the environmental effects arising from our business activities. We take our responsibilities to the environment seriously and have implemented an Environmental Policy which includes:

complying with all relevant and existing environmental legislation and other requirements;
ensuring efficient use of materials and where practicable seeking to reduce consumption of materials;
encouraging re-use, recycling and the use of recycled materials or those from sustainable sources including:
- confidential paper waste recycling
- toner cartridge recycling
- plastic cup recycling facilities
- use of recycled paper in envelopes
- inclusion of green statement on all emails
- group wide scanning facilities
- the promotion of a paperless office
- direct links to third party resources i.e. Registers of Scotland
- online resources – eLearning, induction and directories which minimise paper use within our offices;
managing energy and waste usage by setting annual energy reduction targets;
incorporating environmental considerations into the procurement of goods and services (see also Supplier Guidance);
a Travel Policy which promotes the use of public transport for all business travel.

To achieve these activities we:

allocate sufficient management resources to ensure the effective implementation of our environmental programme;
monitor and report against our environmental objectives each month to the Senior Management Team;
measure, monitor and report on key indicators of our environmental performance annually;
motivate, educate and communicate with our employees to promote the undertaking of activities in an environmentally friendly manner;
encourage and consult with our employees regarding environmental issues affecting our business through staff forums and other feedback channels;
review our policy on a regular basis to take account of new developments in environmental management and legislation and also our stakeholder expectations;
perform periodic audits of our activities to ensure compliance with company requirements, legislation and policy requirements.

We recognise that the effective implementation of our Environmental Policy not only impacts on the environment but also represents an opportunity to improve the performance of our business by reducing environmental risks and impacts whilst increasing the efficiency of our business.

MARKETPLACE (ECONOMIC)

We understand that our social responsibilities extend far beyond those activities which are within our immediate control and that we have a duty to acknowledge external influences and also to undertake a certain amount of influencing ourselves, specifically in relation to our supply chain.

TREATING CUSTOMERS FAIRLY

We have in place a Treating Customers Fairly Policy which is based on the Financial Services Authority’s Treating Customers Fairly principles. This policy ensures that the TCF principles are embedded within all aspects of our business from the services we provide to the various interactions we have with our clients and customers throughout our professional relationships.

Our TCF Policy is available to all our stakeholders and includes:

Code of Conduct;
Alston Law’s Treating Customers Fairly Principles;
Plain English and effective, clear and concise communication;
Performance Management;
Approach to dealing with vulnerable clients and customers;
Complaint handling;
Supporting Policies and Procedures.
Supplier Guidance

We recognise that the process of continual improvement depends on the involvement and commitment of all our business partners.

We expect our key suppliers to take an active role in supporting our policy by adhering to the following principles:

to have in place an Environmental Policy Statement or similar and a nominated company representative supported by an appropriate level of management to ensure effective implementation;
be aware of the environmental impact of their own business and supply chain including the products, raw materials and services they provide. Objectives and targets should be set to reduce significant environmental impacts and reports on progress should be readily available;
comply with all relevant legislation, ensuring that all products or services supplied at least meet or exceed these requirements;
take account of the principles of sustainable development in design, production use and end-of-life disposal of their supplied products and services. In particular, they should:
use the minimum amount of raw materials consistent with being fit for purpose;
use energy efficiently; and
minimise the impacts during use and disposal;
provide on request data on the environmental performance of the processes and materials used in the products or services supplied;
be willing to work in partnership to progress environmental initiatives that continually improve the performance of the products and services supplied.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Any enquiries or requests for additional information regarding any aspect of our social responsibility programme, including other related policy documents, should be addressed to:

Rob Aberdein
CEO
Simpson & Marwick

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