Legal Notices

The following terms and conditions govern your use of the Gauci-Maistre Xynou website. By using the website, you are confirming your acceptance of these Terms & Conditions. Gauci-Maistre Xynou may amend these terms from time to time.

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, you can be assured that it will be used only in accordance with this privacy policy.

This policy will explain areas of this website that may affect your privacy and personal details, how we process, collect, manage and store those details and how your rights under the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the DPA (Data Protection Act) [pre GDPR enforcement] and the PECR (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations).are adhered to.

We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

What we Collect

We may collect the following information:

• Your name
• Contact information including email address and phone number
• Demographic information such as postcode
• Other information relevant to enquiries made through our site

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• Internal record keeping;
• We may use the information to improve our services;
• Where we have clearly stated and made you aware of the fact, and where you have given your express permission, except for where we have legitimate interests in doing so, we may use your details to send you information related to our services/products through a mailing list system. This is done in accordance with the regulations named above.

Security and Retention of Data

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. For this purpose, we will not hold your personal data for any longer than is reasonable. Further, we have taken reasonable steps to protect your information against unauthorised access and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, damage and destruction. Nevertheless, any personal data submitted by you is at your own risk.

We will not transfer your personal details to any third party for the purpose of direct marketing without your permission. We use certain third party service providers who may have access to your personal data so that they can provide services to us. When this occurs, we have a data protection compliant contract in place with these third parties. If you provided your details through our website then Moore Legal Technology who manages our online strategy will have access to your details.

Use of Cookies

This website uses cookies to better understand the users’ experience while visiting the website. Cookies are small files saved to the user’s computer’s hard drive that track, save and store information about the user’s interactions and usage of the website. This allows the website, through its server, to provide the users with a tailored experience within this website.

Users are advised that if they wish to deny the use and saving of cookies from this website onto their computer’s hard drive they should take necessary steps within their web browser’s security settings to block all cookies from this website and its external serving vendors or use the cookie control system if available upon their first visit.

Measuring Website Usage (Google Analytics)

We use Google Analytics software to collect information about how you use this website. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements.

Google Analytics stores information about:

• the pages you visit
• how long you spend on each page
• how you got to the site
• what you click on while you’re visiting the site

We don’t collect or store your personal information (for example your name or address) so this information can’t be used to identify who you are. We don’t allow Google to use or share our analytics data.

Google Analytics sets the following cookies in accordance with Google’s privacy policy:-

Universal Analytics

Name	Purpose	Expires
_ga	This helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you’ve visited before	2 years
_gid	This helps us count how many people visit the site by tracking if you’ve visited before	24 hours
_gat	Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made	10 minutes

Google Analytics

Name	Purpose	Expires
_utma	Like _ga, this lets us know if you’ve visited before, so we can count how many of our visitors are new to the site or to a certain page	2 years
_utmb	This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on the site	30 minutes
_utmc	This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser	When you close your browser
_utmz	This tells us how you reached the site (for example from another website or a search engine)	6 months

Call Tracking and Recording

We use telephone tracking numbers to link a user’s call to the marketing channel that they originated from. This is done using cookies – you can choose to decline cookies, as explained above, if you would prefer not to be tracked.

Downloads & Media Files

Any downloadable documents, files or media made available on this website are provided to users at their own risk. While all precautions have been undertaken to ensure only genuine downloads are available, users are advised to verify their authenticity using third party antivirus software or similar applications.

We accept no responsibility for third party downloads and downloads provided by external third-party websites and advise users to verify their authenticity using third party antivirus software or similar applications.

External Website Links & Third Parties

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy policy. You should exercise caution and look at the appropriate privacy policy applicable to the relevant website being used.

Social Media Usage

While we may have official profiles on social media platforms, users are advised to verify authenticity of such profiles before engaging with, or sharing information with such profiles. We will never ask for user passwords or personal details on social media platforms. Users are advised to conduct themselves appropriately when engaging with us on social media.

There may be instances where our website features social sharing buttons, which help share web content directly from web pages to the respective social media platforms. You use social sharing buttons at your own discretion and accept that doing so may publish content to your social media profile feed or page. You can find further information about some social media privacy and usage policies in the resources section below.

Contact

If you have any queries in relation to the above please do not hesitate to contact us through any of the contact methods on our site.

Resources & Further Information

• Overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998
• Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) 2003
• The Guide to the PECR 2003
• Twitter Privacy Policy
• Facebook Privacy Policy
• Google Privacy Policy
• LinkedIn Privacy Policy

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The content and the opinions expressed on this website have been provided for information purposes only. It should not be relied on as a substitute for specific legal advice on any particular topic. Legal comment is from an Maltese law perspective, unless otherwise stated.

Gauci-Maistre Xynou cannot take any responsibility for the content of any external sites which are linked to, or any subsequent information resulting from links to and from this website.

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Unless otherwise stated, the contents of this website are the property of Gauci-Maistre Xynou and copyright © Gauci-Maistre Xynou. Reproduction of part or all of the contents of the website pages in any form is prohibited except in accordance with the following exceptions:

Licence to copy for personal use – you may download or print extracts from the website pages (”the material”) for your personal use only.

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You may forward or recopy the material to individual third parties for their personal use only provided always that:

You acknowledge the GMX website as the source of the material. You must include the acknowledgement and the GMX website address (www.gmxlaw.com) in the forwarded or the copy of the material.

You expressly inform the third parties that these Disclaimer, Copyright and Reproduction Notices apply to them and that they must comply with them.
This licence to forward or recopy does not permit incorporation of the material or any part of it in any other work or publication, whether in hard copy, electronic or any other form. In particular (but without limitation) no part of the GMX website pages may be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose.

No part of the GMX website may be reproduced on or transmitted to or stored in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.
The terms of this Copyright and Reproduction Notice are governed by the laws of Malta and any dispute arising out of or in connection with the use of any information or materials from this website shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Malta.

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During the course of any visit to the GMX website, the pages you see, along with something called a cookie, are downloaded to your computer. Most websites do this because cookies allow the website publisher to accumulate useful data, such as whether the computer (and sometimes its user) has visited the site before. This is done on a repeat visit by checking to see and finding the cookie left there on the last visit.
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The cookies we use provide a range of technical services from day-to-day vital operation of the website to anonymous user tracking social media facilities. We have provided a full suite of privacy options for you to manage your cookies. Use the Privacy Settings tab at the bottom of the page to adjust your cookie preferences.

The cookies we use
__utma
Used by Google Analytics (http://www.google.com/analytics/) to ascertain whether a web user is a returning visitor or a new visitor. This cookie expires after 2 years.
__utmb and __utmc
Both used in unison by Google Analytics to calculate the duration of your visit to a website. __utmb expires at the end of the session (normally when you close your web browser) and __utmc expires after 30 minutes.
__utmz
Used by Google Analytics to log where the user came from immediately before they arrive at this website (commonly known as the referrer or referring web page). This cookie expires after 6 months.
__atuvc
Used by AddThis (http://www.addthis.com) allowing site users to share content on third party social media websites. This cookie expires after 2 years.
SQ_SYSTEM_SESSION
This cookie is used purely for the smooth technical operation of the website.
ASP.NET_SessionId
Another cookie used for the smooth technical operation of the website. This cookie expires within 20 minutes of leaving the website.
cc_analytics and cc_social
These cookies store the choices you make when modifying your privacy settings in the tab at the bottom of the screen. It does not store personal information about a user, it simply remembers your privacy settings ready for your next visit to the website. Both cookies expire after 1 year.

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“Gauci-Maistre Xynou”, the Gauci-Maistre Xynou logo and other marks used on the Gauci-Maistre Xynou website are Gauci-Maistre Xynou trademarks and may not be used without prior written permission from Gauci-Maistre Xynou.

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Our Commitment to Privacy
Your privacy is important to Gauci-Maistre Xynou (“GMX”). This privacy statement discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for this web site and serves to ensure that you are fully informed about the information which we may collect about you, the manner in which we collect, use and store the information, and your rights at law in regard to such information.

GMX is registered with the Data Protection Commissioner as a Data Controller. This Privacy Statement is complaint with the Data Protection Act (Chapter 440 of the Laws of Malta).

Data Policy
Any personal information you provide on this website is controlled by Gauci-Maistre Xynou.

Your Personal Information
Occasionally you will be asked to submit personal information about yourself (e.g. name, e-mail address) in order to receive or use services on our website. Such services may include details of events, newsletters, publications or advice.

By entering your details in the fields requested and pressing “Register” you are consenting to the processing of your information by Gauci-Maistre Xynou and its agents, in accordance with this data policy. You may also provide personal information to use when you contact us by e-mail, telephone or letter. Whenever you provide this personal information, we shall treat that information in accordance with this policy. Our services are designed to give you the information you have requested. Gauci-Maistre Xynou will, at all times, act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current internet best practice.

Use and Storage of your Personal Information
When you supply any personal information to us, we have legal obligations in the way we deal with that information. We must collect the information fairly. That is, we must explain how we will use it. This Data Policy explains how we will use your personal information.
• We will use personal information provided by you or gathered by GMX for the following purposes:
• To process and respond to requests, enquiries and complaints received by you.
• To provide services requested by you.
• To communicate with you about services provided to you.
• To update our records.
• To analyse trends and profiles.
• For audit purposes.
• To carry out customer satisfaction research.
• To prevent or detect fraud.
• To recommend products and services we believe will be of interest to you.
• To enable third parties to carry out any of the purposes set out above on our behalf.
If you are notified that your personal information may be used to allow GMX to contact you for “service administration purposes”, this means that GMX may contact you for a number of purposes related to the service for which you have signed up. For example, we may wish to provide you with password reminders, or notify you that the particular service has been suspended or changed.

We will not contact you for promotional purposes unless you specifically agree at the time you register your information on the site, or at a later time, if you sign up specifically to receive such promotional information.

GMX strives to protect the security of any data provided by you or gathered by GMX about you, and will update it from time to time in order to ensure that it is always up-to-date in accordance with its legal obligations.

We will hold your personal information on your systems for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out and we will remove it when the purposes have been met, unless you agree to future communications with us.

The Information we collect
On some pages, you can register to receive materials. The types of personal information collected at these pages are:

Your Name
Your Company’s Name
Your Email address
How to contact us

If you have other questions, would like to see the information we hold about you, or would like to be removed from any of our mailing lists, please contact our Marketing department.

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The Additional Terms & Conditions of Appointment of Gauci-Maistre Xynou are available to review below.

These terms and conditions of engagement (the “Terms of Engagement”), together with the provisions of the Letter of Engagement (the “Letter”) to which these said terms may be attached, set out the terms on which we accept instructions and charge for our services and apply when Gauci-Maistre Xynou (GMX) is acting for or on behalf of a client. If there is any conflict between any provision of these terms and any provision of the Letter, then the Letter will take precedence.

In addition to these Terms of Engagement the general rules on the Code of Ethics and Conduct for Advocates issued by the Commission for the Administration of Justice apply. If we have agreed on a deviation from these Terms of Engagement with you such deviation shall prevail.

All capitalised terms not defined herein shall have the same meaning ascribed thereto in the Letter.

Engagement Terms
The legal advisory and consultancy services provided by GMX throughout the Engagement term shall related exclusively to the Laws of Malta as are applicable on the date when such services are provided.

Expenses, including travel and subsistence, and goods and services purchased on the Client’s behalf, are recharged at cost. For overseas travel it is GMX’s policy that its officers and staff use business class or equivalent.

GMX shall be authorised to seek, at your exclusive cost and expense, additional professional advice, including accounting and tax advice, whether in Malta or abroad as GMX may deem necessary provided that GMX shall inform you of its intention to seek such additional professional advice and provide you with an indication of the relative costs prior to its engagement of any professional advisors. Provided further that GMX is hereby authorised to communicate any relevant information, whether confidential or otherwise, to any such professional advisors.

GMX shall not be responsible (i) for any fees and/or disbursements due to such professional advisors and/or (ii) for any act or omission of such professional advisors unless GMX has otherwise accepted such responsibility in writing.

The Client and GMX shall respectively be entitled to terminate the Engagement for any reason whatsoever, provided that GMX shall, in either case, be entitled to fees chargeable in terms of the Letter for services rendered until the date the Engagement is terminated or, if a fixed fee is chargeable in terms of the Letter, GMX shall be entitled to pro rata consideration for services rendered until the date the Engagement is terminated.

Identification and Personal Data
We are under a legal obligation to check the identity of our clients and their ownership structure as well as to seek information about the matter and in certain instances the origin of funds and other assets, and such obligations apply as a rule before our work commences. We may consequently ask for identification papers in respect of you and any other person who is acting on your behalf and, if you are a legal entity, the individuals who are in ultimate control of you (so called beneficial owners) as well as documentation indicating the origin of funds and other assets. In addition, we are under a duty to verify the information and for these purposes we may obtain information from external sources, for instance data bases. We must also continuously follow up on the information received. All information and documentation obtained will be retained by us.

If we do not receive the requested information we may be unable to commence acting for you, or may have to decline to act further, and cannot in any event accept the receipt of funds into our client account.

We do not accept any liability for any loss or damage flowing directly or indirectly from our compliance with our duties (as we understand them) outlined in the clause above.

Fees and Estimates
Our charges may be determined by reference to factors such as inter alia time spent, the complexity of the matter, the qualifications, experience and resources required, the amounts involved, the risks assumed (if any) by GMX and time constraints. Our charges are primarily time based. Normally, our costs will depend on the actual amount of work carried out. Our hourly rates vary according to the seniority and experience of the lawyers and, if applicable, paralegals and assistants involved. Our fees shall be charged at the rate/s set out in Schedule 2 to this Letter of Engagement
Responsibility for the payment of our fees will lie with the Client. If it is necessary to carry out work outside the responsibilities outlined in this letter, such work may involve additional fees.

It must be emphasised that any estimate we may give is not a fee cap unless otherwise expressly stated in writing. We will endeavour to notify you of any material revisions to any estimate during the course of the engagement. Upon request, we can, wherever possible, provide you with an estimate of our likely fees at the outset of an engagement, and update you on the fees incurred as work progresses. Estimates are based on information available to us at the time and cannot be regarded as fixed quotes.

Our fees are quoted exclusive of VAT (as applicable) and shall be exclusive of any expenses to be incurred for the carrying into effect and implementation of the Engagement. All out-of-pocket expenses will be recharged separately as incurred.

Indemnification & limitation of Liability
GMX and its officers and staff shall have no liability whatsoever for any claims, demands, pretensions, costs, expenses, disbursements, fines, penalties, damages, losses or liabilities incurred by you or any other person directly or indirectly as a result of any services rendered pursuant to this Engagement except to the extent that, and subject to the provisions of clause 3.3 hereunder, they are determined by a competent court or arbitrator to have resulted from the fault and/or negligence of GMX and/or its officers or staff.

You shall hold harmless, release and indemnify GMX and its officers and staff from any and all actions, suits proceedings, claims, demands, pretensions, costs, expenses, disbursements, fines, penalties, damages, losses and/or liabilities which may arise or occur, be taken, commenced, made, incurred by or sought from or against you or any other person as a result of any act or omission of GMX and/or any of its officers and staff in connection with this Engagement or otherwise as a direct or indirect result of the services rendered pursuant to the Engagement or in consequence hereof, except to the extent that, and subject to the provisions of clause 3.3 hereunder, they are determined by a competent court or arbitrator to have resulted from the fault and/or negligence of GMX and/or its officers or staff.

The liabilities set out in clauses 3.1 and 3.2 above shall be subject to the proviso that any liability that may be attributed to GMX pursuant to the terms thereof shall in no case exceed five (5) times the value of the fees charged for services rendered by GMX and in respect of which the said liability was attributed to GMX.

All necessary documents or other materials, and all necessary data or other information relating to the Engagement must be supplied by you within sufficient time to enable us to provide and complete the Engagement within any agreed time-frames. You understand that we will need your full cooperation and prompt response to requests we may make from time to time, regarding matters we undertake towards you in terms of the Engagement. GMX shall not be held responsible and/or liable or deemed to be in breach of this Letter of Engagement by reason of any delay in performing, or any failure to perform, any of the services undertaken herein, if they delay or failure was due to the late arrival or non-delivery of any document or other materials, information or other data, whether they were to be supplied by yourselves or by third party/ies.

Where the service to be provided in accordance with this letter of Engagement related to an application of licensing process with any government or regulatory authority (i) The time frames indicated by GMX are merely indicative, and shall not bind GMX in any manner in relation to such timeframes. You understand that such timeframes are dependent upon the quality of the information provided by you, the complexity of any proposed structure to be licensed, and the time for review undertaken by the relevant regulatory authority/ies; (ii) GMX shall not be held liable for any rejection by the relevant licensing body, f the application or licence or of any documentation provided through GMX’s assistance, unless such rejection is a direct result of gross negligence on GMX’s part

Our liability to you will be reduced by any amount which may be obtained under any insurance maintained by or for you or under any contract or indemnity to which you are a party or a beneficiary, unless it is contrary to the agreement with such insurance provider or other third party or your rights against such insurance provider or other third party will be prejudiced thereby.

Other advisers and professional shall be deemed independent of us (and irrespective of whether we have engaged them or if you have engaged them directly). Hence, we assume no liability for other advisers or professionals including, without limitation, for choosing or recommending them or for their advice or other services provided. The aforesaid applies regardless of whether they report to us or to you.

We shall not have any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result of the use by you of your work products or advice in any other context or for any other purpose than for which it was given. Except as provided in the clause hereunder (number of clause), we shall not have any liability to any third party through the use by you of our work products or advice.

If, at your request, we agree that an outside party may rely on our work products or advice, this will not increase or otherwise affect our liability to our disadvantage, and we can only be held liable to such outside party to the extent we can be liable to you. Any amount payable to an outside party as a result of such liability will reduce our liability to you correspondingly and vice versa. No client relationship with such outside party is assumed. The aforesaid applies also if, at your request, we issue certificates, opinions or the like to an outside party.

Reliance on information and other records
In advising you we may rely on, or provide you with, information obtained from third parties or public records (e.g. experts or witnesses or government agencies or registers). This information may not always be accurate and complete.

You acknowledge that the correctness of all filings, forms, documents and other actions prepared by us, and by any foreign counsel and other adviser appointed on your behalf, may depend on the correctness and completeness of all information provided by you or on your behalf you therefore confirm that, you will review any drafts of such filings, forms and documents and ensure that the information contained therein is true and accurate and that there is no material information omitted from such forms and documents.

Prevention of Money Laundering
The Prevention of Money Laundering Act (Chapter 373 of the Laws of Malta) and the Regulations made pursuant to such Act, require that we obtain proof of the identity of clients for whom we act in connection with relevant financial business. Accordingly you may be asked to supply us with the necessary details. In certain circumstances, we are required by law to report to the Maltese Financial Intelligence Unit any evidence or suspicion of money laundering related transactions. We are also prohibited from notifying out Client of the fact that a report has been made.

Confidentiality
It is agreed that the terms of this Engagement and all services rendered pursuant thereto are subject to the duty of confidentiality including but not limited to the provisions of the Professional Secrecy Act (Chapter 377 of the Laws of Malta). GMX shall not disclose any confidential information procured pursuant to the Engagement unless otherwise authorised to do so in terms hereof or by you in a specific case or cases and/or if required in terms of any applicable law or by any competent court.

If we engage or liaise with other advisers or professional in the course of an engagement, we may communicate to them all materials and other information which we believe may be relevant to assist them in advising or carrying out other work for you. The same applies to materials and other information that we have obtained as a consequence of the checks and verifications carried out by us according to clause (collection of data for Money laundering).

When a particular matter has become publicly known, we may disclose our involvement on your behalf in our publicity material and on our website. Such disclosure may only contain information about the matter that is already in the public domain.

GMX shall not be liable for any consequences of any disclosure if we act in good faith and/or pursuant to the terms hereof and/or in accordance with any applicable law.

Communication
In the course of acting for you, we may communicate with you by e-mail and/or electronically via the Internet. However, the electronic transmission of information via e-mail or other means cannot be guaranteed to be secure and such information could be intercepted, corrupted, lost, destroyed, arrive late or incomplete or otherwise be adversely affected or unsafe to use. Accordingly, while we will use reasonable procedures to make sure that our message, correspondence and/or advice reaches you safely, we shall not have or incur any liability to you arising out of or in connection with the electronic communication of any information to you.

Invoicing
We may present regular requests for payment on account as our work progresses. Our terms relating to settlement of such requests for payment are strictly [thirty (30) days from the receipt of the relative request]. A fiscal invoice shall be issued by GMX against funds received by GMX in settlement of a formal request for payment.

GMX reserves the right to charge interest on any overdue and unpaid amounts at the highest rate permitted by Maltese law.

Governing Law
The Engagement and any other agreement we have with you, and the provision of our services to you, shall be governed by and construed in accordance with Maltese law and will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Maltese courts.

Acceptance of the Terms of Engagement
By instructing us to provide you with legal services you are deemed to have accepted these terms of Engagement.

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