General terms of the website

1. Definitions

ETHIFINANCE: EthiFinance SAS, located at 20 boulevard Eugène Deruelle, 69003 Lyon, France and registered at Lyon RCS under number 478 661 481.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS: EthiFinance Ratings SL, located in Madrid, Calle Velazquez 18, tercero derecha (Spain), registered under tax identification number B-18550897, registered since October 1, 2012 as a Rating Credit Agency by ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) in accordance with Regulation (EC) Nº 1060/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009.

ETHIFINANCE GROUP: ETHIFINANCE or ETHIFINANCE RATINGS or any legal entity owned by the group with whom THE USER has a contractual relationship.

THE USER: Hereinafter, the term refers to any individual of legal age, partnership, corporation, association or other entity accessing and/or navigating the web content of www.ethifinance.com, which is held by ETHIFINANCE.

THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES: Any current or future service or product offered by ETHIFINANCE GROUP either against payment or for free via this website, including among others Rating Reports and the Credit Rating Communication and Query Service, hereinafter referred to as "the products and services”.

2. Purpose

These conditions are intended to regulate the use of the website ethifinance.com. The USER agrees to the conditions and is subject to these provisions since the first time they access the site.

For viewing or requesting certain products or services to which the USER might want to access while browsing different pages on the website, ETHIFINANCE may request personal details for registration as well as the acceptance of additional and supplement clauses to these General Conditions which shall likewise be read and accepted by the USER for the effective delivery of the service or product.

They are also supplement clauses to these General Conditions and part of the contract for each USER the contracts ruling the development of Rating Reports, the specific conditions accepted by the USER detailing the selected type of contract depending on exceptional offers, and any other contracting model ETHIFINANCE GROUP offers, which are properly attached to these Conditions. Should there be any contradiction between these Conditions and other specific conditions that may regulate the relationship with the USER in other documents, said specific terms shall prevail to the extent that the Conditions in this text are modified.

The USER will remain constantly informed of the available PRODUCTS AND SERVICES at all times, through the respective indices of sections of ETHIFINANCE´s Website, as well as phone, postal or electronic notifications sent to him.

3. Intellectual property and confidentiality of the information

The information contained in the website ethifinance.com is the property of ETHIFINANCE. The information materialised in the PRODUCTS and SERVICES provided to the USER are the property of the entity, part of ETHIFINANCE GROUP, providing the PRODUCT or the SERVICE as they are protected by copyright, and are protected by the provisions of the French Code of Intellectual Property.

The access to authorized and regulated information by the contracts agreed between the USER and ETHIFINANCE GROUP will not involve the transfer of any other rights under this Intellectual Property.

THE USER guarantees that the use of the website information and the content of the Rating REPORTS and other PRODUCTS and SERVICES managed by ETHIFINANCE GROUP is solely to ensure the development, implementation and control of a freely accepted legal relationship.

All information provided via ethifinance.com as well as that contained in the all PRODUCTS and SERVICES is confidential and for exclusive personal, non-commercial use of the USER, so the USER, unless expressly authorised otherwise in writing by ETHIFINANCE or by the legal entity, part of ETHIFINANCE GROUP, having a contractual relationship with THE USER, shall not in any case:

Disclose in any way or provide that information to any person or persons not employed by the USER explicitly
Transfer, assign, sublet, sub-license, sell, or make any other disposition of the data, either for free or for profit
Communicate, either for free or against payment, to any person or entity, the full or partial content of the disclosed data
Modify, transform or distort, in any manner, whether in all or in part, the information provided
Copy and/or duplicate the information provided or the Databases, whether before or after any modifications and/or combinations; nor create files containing, in all or in part, the Database information

The USER agrees that all information provided via ethifinance.com and in PRODUCTS and SERVICES issued by ETHIFINANCE GROUP may be another element to consider when making business decisions but decisions will not be made based solely on it; that being the case the legal entities part of ETHIFINANCE GROUP will not be held responsible for the lack of suitability. Likewise, the use of the information before courts and/or tribunals, public administrations, or any other public body or private third party for any reason shall be solely the USER's responsibility and shall hold ETHIFINANCE GROUP responsible for any liabilities on the grounds of inappropriateness of the information contents. The USER hereby guarantees that they shall not access or interfere with ETHIFINANCE GROUP web pages by means of software robots, spiders, routines or any automatic or semi-automatic system(s) to monitor, copy or download their contents for any unauthorized purposes without prior written consent by ETHIFINANCE. The USER shall refrain from taking any action that might place unreasonable or disproportionate loads of information on the data transfer infrastructure of the services.

ETHIFINANCE reserves the right to block free web browsing and to cancel passwords, web use and information supply in the event of a violation or breach of any obligations to use the information by the USER.

4. User registration

Any visitor of ethifinance.com can freely browse the website without prior registration. However, to access to certain pages on the website, they might be required to complete the mandatory registration after successfully completing the form given by ETHIFINANCE GROUP by any electronic or traditional mean from the headquarters offices or from the delegations of the Company. After registration, the USER will receive notification from ETHIFINANCE GROUP, which will provide them with access codes to be submitted personally and confidentially.

The user name and password ETHIFINANCE GROUP provides the USER with to use the website are considered personal and not transferable. Use, storage, assignment and confidentiality of these keys are the responsibility of the USER at all times. For security reasons, it is recommended not disclosing them to any third parties, or publishing, emailing or transferring them by any other means of rapid dissemination. The USER will be responsible for the diffusion they make of them among his employees or third parties of any kind. Remember that ETHIFINANCE GROUP will never request your security key by email or any other means, except for the key changes made upon the request by the USER who has executed the contract. THE ETHIFINANCE may block the access keys when access is attempted using wrong keys. If the keys have been blocked, the USER shall request their activation by contacting ETHIFINANCE GROUP Customer Service enquiries@ethifinance.com.

ETHIFINANCE warns of the possible use of data authentication processes to enable secure verification of the USER's identity in order to prevent fraud and unauthorised access. Any false or fraudulent personal data provided by USERS may be considered misrepresentation in commercial documents.

ETHIFINANCE GROUP reserves the right to inform the authorities and State security institutions regarding fraudulent attempts of identity theft when hiring their services.

In cases where the USER of the services and products of ETHIFINANCE GROUP is considered a Legal Person, he will be liable at all times on the valid and effective authorization or empowerment of individuals receiving the keys and may not complain about the lack of authorization or failure or revocation of powers and service orders that may be made through them by ETHIFINANCE GROUP.

5. Hiring products and services

When possible and available, any USER may request the provision of products and services offered by ETHIFINANCE RATINGS as Credit Rating Agency via ethifinance.com, after registering as stated in the previous clause.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS's website will provide the USER with the necessary means to hire the provision of services or supply of products and they must sign the corresponding contract or agree to the applicable terms and conditions, depending on the type of order stating the conditions, the rights and the obligations of the parties regulating the provision of a particular service.

6. Transparency and integrity in the issuance of ratings

The ratings issued by ETHIFINANCE RATINGS follow the principles and standards contained in the Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009, as well as the codes, methodologies and other internal regulations whose creation occurs from the compliance with the rules regulating the Societies registered as Credit Rating Agency by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS’s mission is to provide objective, independent, comprehensive and high quality information to its clients. To that purpose and to protect the integrity of the rating process and assure our rated companies and customers to be treated equally, ETHIFINANCE RATINGS has adopted a CRA Code of Conduct (hereinafter the "Code") which has been published and is visible to all USERS in www.ethifinance.com. The Code includes the Fundamentals of the Code of Conduct for Credit Rating Agencies of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO Code”) which regulate the activity of credit rating agencies and personnel related to such activities. It specifically adopts the guidelines set out in the report revised in March 2015 by the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions” (IOSCO).

The code is based on the following principles:

Quality and integrity of the credit rating process
Independence and conflicts of interest
Transparency and timeliness of ratings disclosure
Confidential information

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS guarantees both the legitimacy of the sources used for the elaboration of its information products and the procedures used for their creation, as well as the legality of the means used for the acquisition of data, whose compilation is, where applicable, compliant with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. However, in such a case, the USER will be bound to the observance of the legal regulations imposed by said legislation and any other that may apply due to the access to the information.

7. Responsability

Although ETHIFINANCE RATINGS devotes great effort and care so the issued information and rating scores are correct and reliable, due to the fact that the information is drawn from a wide range of sources and the data are supplied or obtained from sources over which ETHIFINANCE RATINGS does not always have control and verification is not always possible, ETHIFINANCE RATINGS does not provide guarantees about the accuracy, reliability, timeliness or suitability of the information provided and is not liable for any errors, mistakes, omissions, or lack of suitability in it. Consequently, the USER may not point out ETHIFINANCE RATINGS, its officers, employees or agents as liable for damages arising from errors and/or incorrect or inaccurate information supplied.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS does not guarantee the marketing capacity or suitability of the information content of the ethifinance.com website nor of that contained in REPORTS and other Rating PRODUCTS and SERVICES issued for a specific purpose. The ratings and scores of reports issued are not recommendations to buy, keep or sell and they should be considered as an element to ponder decisions only.

Issued REPORTS and other PRODUCTS and SERVICES are not brochures and cannot replace the information that companies prepare for investors or issuers of securities for sale, ETHIFINANCE RATINGS does not provide investment advice. Ratings are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold any security. The risk ratings issued do not comment on the adequacy of market price, the suitability of the securities of a particular investor, or the tax exemption or inability of payments of any value.

The USER agrees that all information provided by ETHIFINANCE RATINGS may be another element to consider when making business decisions but decisions will not be made based solely on it; that being the case ETHIFINANCE RATINGS will not be held responsible for the lack of suitability. Likewise, the use of the information before courts and/or tribunals, public administrations, or any other public body or private third party for any reason shall be solely the USER's responsibility and shall hold not hold ETHIFINANCE RATINGS responsible for any liabilities on the grounds of inappropriateness of the information contents. In any case, neither.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS nor its employees are responsible for the decisions or actions taken by the USER or other persons based on the information provided. ETHIFINANCE RATINGS is not liable for any damage that may result from incorrect operation of the website caused by external technical means, such as any necessary hardware to run the provided information or for the connection, expressly decline any responsibility in case of phone network malfunction. In particular, is not responsible in any way for breakdowns, interruptions, faults or defects in telecommunications that might occur in transactions of a financial nature. The USER releases ETHIFINANCE RATINGS of all liability for any delays, lack of diligence, errors, negligence or any act or omission resulting from the dependent entities of public administration or any third party through which the service ordered ETHIFINANCE RATINGS must be provided.

In any case, the responsibility of ETHIFINANCE RATINGS for any damage caused by any reason and mediating negligence as well as the compensation for damages and payment of interest shall not exceed under any circumstances, by mutual consent of the parties, the totality of the amounts paid by the USER to ETHIFINANCE RATINGS for the Report or service that is cause of the claim on each occasion.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS maintains at all times the editorial control of its publications in the assigned rating scores, and it has the right to change or discontinue these ratings or trends at any time.

ETHIFINANCE RATINGS reserves the right to refuse the provision of services or delivery of products to the USER due to commercial use and business interest policies, or due to limitations or prohibitions imposed by regulations affecting ETHIFINANCE RATINGS 's activity as a Credit Rating Agency, and, therefore, also to the recovery of the prices established as consideration to them.

The cessation or cancellation as USER of the website involves the maintenance of obligations to the USER of the provisions of the conditions regarding Intellectual Property, Confidentiality and Liability.

This liability disclaimer (“7.Responsability”) is applicable to all entities belonging to ETHIFINANCE GROUP.

8. Rates

When applicable, the cost of the products and services provided by ETHIFINANCE GROUP will be set in the applicable Rate chart to be displayed at all times from the website access section with previous identification using the USER's access keys. The Company reserves the right to change the prices of any of its products at any time, informing the user about it properly. All prices and rates referenced in the website do not include any taxes, fees or obligations and they should be increased according to those set at each time and according to the legal provisions applicable at the invoice date. If the parties agree to make partial payments for the services in regular fees, ETHIFINANCE GROUP may demand the USER the total amount payable upon failure to pay any of the fees. In any case the cost of the products and services provided by the ETHIFINANCE GROUP will always be available on demand at the following contact address: enquiries@ethifinance.com.

9. Assignment

The USER may not transfer their status, or delegate any of their obligations under these conditions without the prior consent of ETHIFINANCE and, in any case, the transferee third party must subrogate all obligations in these conditions. As far as ETHIFINANCE GROUP is concerned, the status or obligations under these conditions can be assigned without the USER prior consent or information if the contract is handed off to other company belonging to ETHIFINANCE GROUP, in accordance with the concept of group provided in Article L.233-16 of the French Code of Commerce.

ETHIFINANCE may, however, assign the rights and obligations under these conditions, informing about it and without requiring the USER's consent.

10. Modifications

ETHIFINANCE reserves the right to change its website, the technical characteristics of access and its transmission. When these changes do not allow a compatible use, ETHIFINANCE shall inform its users in good time. It reserves the right to suspend part or all access to the Web for due to technical changes or failures. It also reserves the right to create or add new data, modify, replace, revise and/or improve or reverse any report, PRODUCT and/or SERVICE and to introduce all necessary components to facilitate the control of their use.

11. Submission

For the resolution of any legal dispute arising from the relationship with the USER of ethifinance.com, the parties waiving any other general or special jurisdiction that may apply, are subject to competent authorities in Paris, France. In Compliance with the legislation on defence and protection of Consumers and Users, we inform you that ETHIFINANCE GROUP offers complaint and claim forms. To obtain one, please contact enquiries@ethifinance.com.

12. Personal data protection

In relation to the personal data provided by the USER and necessary as a consequence of the application for a contract, transactions, and/or the contracting of products and services that take place by any means, ETHIFINANCE declares that it is Responsible for the processing of such data, in relation to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016 regarding the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and the free circulation of such data (hereinafter, RGPD). By providing the information requested, you declare that it is true, accurate and complete. The USER must notify ETHIFINANCE of any changes in personal data for the correct management and quality of the service and the data processed, especially those relating to contact data such as addresses, direct debits, email addresses, telephone numbers, etc.

In the event that this contract is signed by a legal entity, the consent granted by the authorised representatives shall be understood to have been given both in their own name and in the name of the legal entity they represent, and they may at any time oppose the sending of such communications through the usual channels of communication with ETHIFINANCE. As regards the use of cookies, these are used by ETHIFINANCE in accordance with the provisions of its cookie policy on its website.

Below, and for the purposes of the provisions of the RGPD, ETHIFINANCE informs the USER of the processing that it carries out of its data as data controller:

Basic Information on data protection

Controller

ETHIFINANCE SAS

Purpose

Maintenance of the contractual relationship established between the parties, the management, administration, provision of the contracted service in each case or the management of the purchased product, the expansion and improvement of the services provided and their adaptation to the preferences and tastes of the USER. The recording in its entirety is also a necessary part of the maintenance of the contractual relationship, by means of any technically valid support for this purpose, of the telephone and/or telematic communications produced or derived from the use of any ETHIFINANCE GROUP service, in order to be able to accredit the performance of any procedure relating to the request and contracting of products and/or services, as well as to be able to deal with any claims and/or incidents that may take place, and the aforementioned recordings may be used as a means of proof for any legal or arbitration procedure that may be directly or indirectly raised between the two parties. In any case, you will be able to obtain a copy of the indicated recordings, if you so request, as well as a duplicate or transcription of the same. Likewise, your data may also be used to send you, with your consent, technical, operational or commercial information about our products and services.

Legitimation

Based on the management, development and fulfilment of the contractual or pre-contractual relationship. Basic Information on Data Protection
Legitimate interest in certain transfers of data and services as necessary to carry out the service/product contracted
Consent of the interested party with regard to the sending of commercial communications from third parties and/or transfer of data to third parties when third parties are part of ETHIFINANCE GROUP companies

You may revoke, or modify these consents at any time through enquiries@ethifinance.com.

Recipients

Official bodies where there is a legal obligation.
There will not be international transfer. We can only proceed to transfer within our group either inside the European Union or in a third country when it offers an adequate level of data protection according to the European Commission.

Rights

Access, rectify and delete the data, as well as other rights, as explained in the additional information at any time through enquiries@ethifinance.com or by contacting our Data Protection Officer by e-mail at dpo@ethifinance.com

Additional information

You can find additional and detailed information on Data Protection in our Privacy Policy and Cookies Policy page on this link

ETHIFINANCE © 2022.

This document has been prepared and is the property of ETHIFINANCE SAS. (hereinafter, ETHIFINANCE).

This document is intended for the exclusive internal and personal use of the recipient to whom it has been delivered by ETHIFINANCE and can not be reproduced, published or redistributed, partially or totally, without the express authorization of ETHIFINANCE. The recipient is solely responsible for the consequences arising from the breach of this prohibition, as well as the safeguarding of the information provided. In no case shall ETHIFINANCE be responsible for the use, evaluation, opinions or decisions that they may adopt for third parties based on the information in this document. The information contained has an exclusively informative nature, in its case, as a nonbinding offer, and the specific content of the information, or the content under the service of the characteristics, prices and now existing at the date of delivery.