TERMS OF BUSINESS

  1. MLMG Financial Brokers Limited t/a MLMG Financial Brokers

These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries, we will be happy to clarify them. We will notify you if any material changes are made to these terms.

            1.1 Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland

  • MLMG Financial Brokers (C132433) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018.

 

 1.2 As an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995;

  • Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request.
  • The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

 

  1. Codes of Conduct
  • MLMG Financial Brokers is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers.

 

  1. Our Services
  • MLMG Financial Brokers is a member of Brokers Ireland.
  • Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to Protection (Life Assurance, Specified Illness Cover and Income Protection), Savings and Investments and Pension products. A full list of insurers, product producers with which we deal is available on request.

 

     3.1 Intermediary Services

  • MLMG Financial Brokers acts as a Financial Broker in the following way:
  1. the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market, and
  2. you have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.

 

      3.2     Fair and Personal Analysis Insurance

  • The concept of fair and personal analysis describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, or specialist area.  The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.
  • The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market.  The extent of fair analysis must be such that could be reasonably expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the search.
  • In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair and personal analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:
  • the needs of the customer;
  • the size of the customer order;
  • the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers;
  • the market share of each of those providers;
  • the number of relevant products available from each provider;
  • the availability of information about the products;
  • the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,
  • cost, and
  • any other relevant consideration.

 

     3.3   Life, Savings, Investments & Pensions

  • MLMG Financial Brokers provides life cover, savings, investments, and pension products on a fair and personal analysis basis. This means we research a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, as to which contract would be adequate to meet your needs.
  • We will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy. We will also provide you with assistance on any queries you may have in relation to your policies. However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature, and brochures to ensure that you fully understand the nature of the policy cover, particularly in relation to permanent health insurance and serious illness policies.
  • Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you:
  • the meaning of disability as defined in the policy;
  • the benefits available under the policy;
  • the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and
  • the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.

 

For a specified illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.

 

  1. Research

We wish to draw your attention to the fact that it is not possible for us to research all the products available within Ireland, Europe, and OECD countries. Some product producers refuse to provide this research when requested.

Our advice is based on information supplied to us and our understanding of current law and practice. Any advice given is not intended to be a comprehensive guide to all legal and statutory matters.

There is no obligation for you to accept any recommendations given.

 

  1. Insurer/Provider Security

We cannot and do not guarantee the solvency or continuing solvency of any product provider recommended, nor do we guarantee the solvency of any third party used by a recommended product provider.

Please note that the financial position of a product provider can change after a transaction has been effected.

 

  1. Disclosure of Information

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information for insurers when arranging an insurance policy. Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers could invalidate your cover and could mean that all or part of a claim will not be paid.

 

  1. Sustainable Financial Disclosure Regulations (SFDR)

In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on insurance-based investment products/investments, we do not assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation to products proposed/advised on.  This means that we do not assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.

 

  1. Fees & Commission

We are remunerated for the services we offer in a number of ways:

  • You may elect to pay for our advice on a fee basis. In these circumstances if we receive commission from a product provider it may be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the firm unless we make an arrangement to the contrary. We will discuss, agree, and disclose this fee in writing to you in advance of providing our advice.
  • The product providers or lenders with whom we place business remunerate us in the form of a commission and/or other payments. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of our remuneration for the costs involved in reviewing your portfolio on an ongoing basis. These payments will be disclosed in accordance with statutory and regulatory requirements. Full details of the maximum charges by provider are published on the charges section of our website.
  • We may recommend a product from a producer in the market where we do not hold an appointment in writing. In this case we will charge you a fee, reflective of the commission payable by other product producers for a similar type of product. We will discuss, agree and disclose this fee in writing to you in advance of any such transactions.
  • We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the value of advisor hours spent significantly exceeds the amount of commission receivable by us. Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. Where applicable we will provide you with an estimate of these fees in advance of providing the relevant services, or the nature of the advice required changes materially during the process.
  • Our standard hourly advisor charge rate is €150 per hour.

 

  1. Changes in Personal Circumstances

It is in your best interest to regularly review the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change your needs will also change. In order to ensure your products, continue to be best suited to your needs, you must advise us of any changes in your circumstances. This will allow us to review the relevant policy and advise you accordingly. Failure to contact us in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to request a review, may result in you having insufficient cover and/or inappropriate investments.

  1. Conflicts of Interest

It is the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you. However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises, we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service.  The firm will take all steps within its control to appropriately manage the conflict and minimise the impact of the conflict on the consumer.  The Compliance Officer is responsible for managing potential conflicts of interest.  A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.

  1. Client Identification

We shall not be held responsible if we are unable to effect transactions on your behalf due to any delay in presenting the necessary Anti Money Laundering identity verification checks, as required under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010, as amended by The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021.

Where the identity checks are delayed either by a failure on your part or any other reason, we shall not be responsible for any loss incurred due to the delay in investing client monies.

  1. Premium Handling / Client Monies

We do not accept premiums or clients monies in cash. We will accept payments by cheque or bank draft made out to the provider, in the circumstances permitted under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995. We are not authorised to accept cash or negotiable instruments in any other circumstances.  We do not operate a client account.

  1. Default on Payments

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

Our firm will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients for services provided.

  1. Quality Control
    As part of our ongoing commitment to providing a quality service, some of our files may be periodically subject to an independent quality review. Our reviewers are highly experienced and professional people and, of course, are bound by the same requirements for confidentiality as our staff.

 

  1. Electronic Communication
    • As Internet communications are capable of data corruption, we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their dispatch. For this reason, it may be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. All risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you and are not our responsibility. If you do not accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication.
  • E-mail may be used to enable us to communicate with you. As with other means of delivery, this carries with it the risk of inadvertent misdirection or non-delivery. It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received.

 

  1. Complaints

In the event that you wish to make a complaint, either verbally or in writing, you should contact our Compliance Officer. Any complaints will be investigated fully, and we will respond to you as follows:

  • We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days and we will fully investigate.
  • We will investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 working days starting from the date on which the complaint was made.
  • On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome.
  • In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO).

A full copy of our  Complaints Procedure is available on request.

  1. Data Protection

MLMG Financial Brokers are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

We collect your personal details in order to provide the highest standard of service to you.  We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client.  We take great care with the information provided, taking steps to keep it secure and to ensure it is used only for legitimate purposes. The data which you provide to us will remain strictly confidential and will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and outlined in our Data Privacy Notice https://www.mlmgfinancial.ie/privacy-policy/. Let us know if this method is not suitable and we will ensure you receive a hard copy.

If you have been referred to us by an associated firm, we may advise them of any transactions arranged for you. Your information may be disclosed to regulatory authorities or as required by law, and to related MLMG sister firms (see below). Other than described above we will never share your information with third parties.

We would like to keep you informed of  insurance, investment and any other services provided by us, our sister firms, MLMG Limited and MLMG Payroll Services Limited, or any other associated firm with which we have a formal business arrangement, which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to be able to contact you by way of letter, email, SMS text or telephone call. Please tick the relevant boxes as on the Terms of Business Acknowledgement letter.  If you do not wish to receive such marketing information, then please tick the ‘please do not contact me’ box on the Terms of Business Acknowledgement letter.

Please contact us at info@mlmgfinancial.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.

  1. Reporting Requirements

You understand and accept that we may be required in certain circumstances to make reports to regulatory and law enforcement authorities, or to disclose documents or information or take other action, as a result of information received by us or matters which come to our attention during the provision of our services.

  1. Compensation Scheme

We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd.

The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.

The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme, and our firm is a member of this scheme.

Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered, or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

  • if the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
  • if it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and
  • to the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

  • 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or
  • Compensation of up to €20,000.

For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955 or email info@investorcompensation.ie, website: https://www.investorcompensation.ie/.

  1. Applicable Law
    • These terms of business are governed by and construed in accordance with Irish law. The Courts of the Republic of Ireland will have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or any matter arising from it. Each party irrevocably waives any right it may have to object to any action being brought in those courts, to claim that the action has been brought in an inappropriate forum, or to claim that those courts do not have jurisdiction.
  • All work performed is conducted using the current legislation. We cannot be held responsible for future development and changes in the legislation.