Privacy Policy

The following named entity is governed by this policy. Where the policy refers to “Northcape”, “we”, “us” and “our” it is understood to mean the following: Northcape Capital Pty Ltd ABN 53 106 390 247

Policy

At Northcape, we take our clients’ privacy seriously. We recognise our clients’ right to privacy and understand that the protection and confidentiality of their personal information is important to them. We maintain all personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, Privacy Amendment Act 2012 and the Privacy Amendment (Notifiable Data Breaches) Act 2017.

This Client Privacy Policy sets out our practice in relation to the type of personal information we collect, how that information is collected, used, stored and protected, to whom we may disclose personal information and how our clients can access or correct personal information we hold and how they may complain about a breach of the privacy laws by Northcape. We may also provide our clients with additional information about how Northcape will use their personal information at the time that it is collected.

In accordance with our Client Privacy Policy, Northcape must:

  • Only collect the information necessary to provide the service requested.
  • Only use the information for the primary purpose or service requested by the client unless agreed otherwise.
  • Keep the information collected private and store it securely.
  • Only make disclosures of personal information if required by Northcape to comply with law.
  • Northcape must not:

  • Provide personal information to anyone other than our related companies and third parties with whom we have a business relationship.
  • Trade, rent or sell personal information unless we receive prior consent from the individual.
  • How do we collect personal information?

    The Privacy Act defines personal information to mean:
    “Information or opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not and whether recorded in a material form or not.”

    Any information that identifies a client is deemed to be “personal information”. We primarily collect this information through our standard forms (for example, Northcape Trust Application Form) or when clients use certain products or services, or through telephone calls, emails, letters or other means the client uses to engage us.

    Our Website

    You are able to visit our website without providing any personal information. We will only collect personal information through our websites with your prior knowledge, for example where you submit an enquiry or application online.

    Email addresses are only collected if you send us a message and will not be automatically added to a mailing list.

    Cookies

    When you access our website, we also automatically receive and record information on our server logs from clients’ browser including their Internet Protocol (IP) address, Northcape cookie information and the page they requested. Cookies enable us to analyse and improve our website functionalities. Clients, who prefer to not receive cookies, can configure their browser to reject them or to notify them when they are being used.

    The cookies we use may identify individual users.

  • Cookies can either be ‘persistent’ or ‘session’ based. Persistent cookies are stored on your computer, contain an expiration date, and are mainly for the user’s convenience.
  • Session cookies are short-lived and are held on your browser’s memory only for the duration of the session; they are only used during a browsing session and expire when you quit your browser.
  • We may use both session and persistent cookies. This information may be used to personalise your current visit to our website or assist with analytical information on site visits.
  • Most internet browsers can be set to accept or reject cookies. If you do not want to accept cookies, you can adjust your internet browser to reject cookies or to notify you when they are being used. You may also customise your specific cookie preferences by using the Consent Preferences option on our website. However, rejecting cookies may limit the functionality of our website.

    Clients can refer general enquiries to Northcape on an anonymous basis or use a pseudonym. However, in general, clients will not be able to invest in our products or use our services if they deal with us anonymously or by pseudonym.

    What personal information do we collect and hold?

    We only collect personal information by lawful and fair means and where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of our functions or activities.

    Unless it is unreasonable or impracticable for us to do so, or as provided otherwise under this Client Privacy Policy, we will collect your information directly from you or your agents.

    The type of personal information Northcape collects from clients vary depending on the services and products we are providing but generally can include – your name, contact details (such as address and telephone number), date of birth, identification documentation, individual investment details, bank account information, details of your employment (if applicable) or your previous employment and other information that is relevant to our services and products we provide. We may be required to collect government-related identifiers, such as a tax file number. Tax and anti-money laundering laws may also mandate us to collect additional personal information. Inter-governmental agreements regarding international tax information sharing also requires us to collect information about place of birth, residency and citizenship details.

    If a client does not provide personal information to us, we or any involved third parties may not be able to provide appropriate services or products. If you do not provide the required personal information we will explain what the impact will be.

    If we hold personal information about a client and that information is no longer needed by us, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify the relevant information. This is subject to any legal or regulatory obligation that we have to keep personal information for a specific period of time.

    The purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information

    We collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information where it is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, one or more of our services and products. Northcape will ensure it meets any obligations we have at law e.g., identity checks required by the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and other legislation listed below.

    Northcape will only use personal information for the purpose it was collected. These purposes include to:

    • verify a client’s identity;
    • establish and administer a client’s investment;
    • comply with relevant laws including, but not limited to, record-keeping, reporting, tax withholding, and client identification requirements under applicable laws which may include the following legislation: Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), Income Tax Assessment Act 2006 (Cth), Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth), the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Family Law Act; and
    • communicate with clients on an ongoing basis about their investment and the market as well as handling any relevant enquiries or complaints.

    We may be required by law to disclose personal information. For instance, we may be required to provide details to:

    • Australian Government regulators such as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA), Australian Tax Office (ATO), Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) and to other regulatory or government entities;
    • as required by a court order; and
    • authorities in relation to suspicions transactions matter reporting.

    Note that agreements between the Government of Australia and a foreign country may require relevant information we have provided to the ATO to be shared with the tax authorities of foreign countries.

    In order to perform our services, such as administration of accounts and mailing of investor distribution statements, we may need to disclose personal information to Northcape’s external service providers. Disclosure may be made to the following persons for the purpose of account administration:

    • organisations involved in providing, managing or administering our products, systems or services such as administrators, mail houses and software & information technology providers; and
    • auditors, consultants and other professional advisers.

    Northcape takes steps to ensure that these third parties (including contractors) are provided only the information necessary to perform their services and that they keep personal information confidential and use it only for the purposes for which they, and Northcape, are authorised.

    Clients may also authorise us to disclose information that we hold about them to their financial adviser, administrator, custodian or other person nominated by them. The client’s express consent is required.

    We take appropriate steps to protect the personal information we hold about our clients from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

    We cannot be held responsible for lapses in security caused by third-party access to information as a result of our clients’ failure to keep their personal information private.

    We reserve the right to gather more extensive information about any attempted access to our website that raises security issues and, if appropriate, make disclosures to the relevant authorities.

    Access to and correction of your personal information

    You are entitled to have access to any personal information relating to you which we possess, except in some exceptional circumstances provided by in law. For example, we may refuse access where the:

  • information may have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
  • request is frivolous and vexatious;
  • information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings and would not be accessible by the process of discovery in those proceedings;
  • information would reveal our intentions in relation to negotiations in such a way as to prejudice those negotiations.
  • Where providing access would reveal evaluative information generated by us in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process, we will provide an explanation for the decision rather than direct access to the information.

    If we refuse access or to give access in the manner requested by you, we will let you know why in writing and provide you with details about how to make a complaint about the refusal.

    Transferring information overseas

    In the event that our service providers have operations in a foreign jurisdiction and/or need to disclose personal information to overseas recipients, Northcape ensures that its service providers take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipient complies with the Privacy Act, or the recipient is subject to laws that protects the information in a way that is substantially similar to the way in which the Privacy Act protect the information. Countries where we may send personal information include France, Singapore, India and the United States. Details of countries we disclose to may change from time to time. Personal information may also be processed by third parties operating outside of Australia who work for us or one of our suppliers, agents, partners or related companies.

    When we send information overseas, in some cases we may not be able to take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas providers do not breach the Privacy Act, and they may not be subject to the same level of protection or obligations that are offered by the Act. By proceeding to acquire our service and products you agree that you cannot seek redress under the Act or against us (to the extent permitted by law) and may not be able to seek redress overseas. If you do not agree to the transfer of your personal information outside of Australia, please contact us.

    Data Quality

    We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is current, up-to-date and complete whenever we collect or use or disclose it.

    Throughout our dealings with you we will take reasonable steps to confirm the details of your personal information we hold and ask you if there are any changes required.

    The accuracy of personal information depends largely on the information you provide to us, so we rely on you to:

  • let us know if there are any errors in your personal information you become aware of; and
  • keep us up-to-date with changes to your personal information (such as your name or address).
  • How we manage the security of your personal information

    We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is safe. We retain personal information in hard copy records and electronically with us or our appointed data storage provider(s). You will appreciate, however, that we cannot guarantee the security of all transmission of personal information, especially where the internet is involved.

    Notwithstanding the above, we endeavour to take all reasonable steps to:

  • protect any personal information that we hold from misuse, interference and loss, and to protect it from unauthorised access, modifications or disclosure both physically and through computer security measures; and
  • destroy or permanently de-identify personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act.
  • How we manage a data breach

    A data breach occurs when personal information held by Northcape is lost or subjected to unauthorised access, modification, use or disclosure or other misuse. Data breaches can affect different types of personal information and give rise to a range of actual or potential harms to individuals, agencies and organisations. Data breaches can be caused or exacerbated by a variety of factors, including human error or cyber-attack and Northcape has measures in place to prevent data breaches and a Data Breach Response Plan.

    In circumstances of a data breach which is likely to result in serious harm to one or more individuals and Northcape has not been able to prevent the likely risk of serious harm with remedial action, we will follow the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) mandatory breach reporting guidelines and inform all relevant parties.

    How to access personal information?

    Clients can contact us to request access to personal information we hold about them. Sometimes it is not possible for us to give access in which case we will explain why.

    We take all reasonable measures to ensure that the personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date. However, the accuracy of our clients’ information is largely dependent on what they provide us. If a client thinks their personal information may be inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, they can contact us to request it be updated.

    How to make a complaint?

    If a client has a question, concern or a complaint regarding the way in which Northcape handle their personal information, or if they would like further information about our privacy information handling practices, we ask that you contact our Client Director using the contact details below first to help us assist you promptly.

    In order to resolve a complaint, we:

  • will liaise with you to identify and define the nature and cause of the complaint;
  • may request that you detail the nature of the complaint in writing;
  • will keep you informed of the likely time within which we will respond to your complaint;
  • will inform you of the reasons for our decision in resolving such complaint; and
  • keep a record of the complaint and any action taken in the Register of Complaints.
  • When we make a decision, we will also inform you of the right to take the matter to the OAIC if you are not satisfied. In addition, if you have not received a response from us of any kind to your complaint within 30 days, then you have the right to take the matter to the OAIC.

    A complaint should be made to our Client Director in writing. We will endeavour to respond to a complaint within 30 days.

    How to contact us.

    To contact Northcape’s Client Director, Katie Orsini

    Telephone: +61 2 8234 3629
    Email: katie.orsini@northcape.com.au
    Office Address: Level 24, 45 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000

    Opt Out Rights.

    If you wish to withhold your consent (opt out) of providing consent to any of the uses of your information including receiving offers of services and products from us, please contact Northcape’s Client Director during business hours.

    Changes to this Privacy Policy.

    This Privacy Policy may change from time to time. The current version will be posted on our website, www.northcape.com.au, and a copy may be obtained free of charge from our Client Director. Clients should review this Privacy Policy regularly so that they are updated on any changes.

    You may also obtain information on privacy issues in Australia from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) website at www.oaic.gov.au or by contacting the OAIC by email at enquiries@oaic.gov.au or by phone on 1300 363 992.