Article 1 - Setting up and using your Application
Functionality of the Application
The Application is designed to offer you a fast and efficient service and we will keep the design of the Application under review and change its features when we think appropriate to better meet our and your trading and social investing aims. The features of the Application and the way it works may change and so our explanations and information for your reference are provided outside these Terms and Conditions in our “How to” guides and FAQs which can be accessed through the Application and on our website.
Secure access to your User Account
When you open an account with us through the Application ("User Account"), you agree to access the Application with use of secure authentication methods. This may include personal PIN codes and passwords. We may also let you choose facial identification or touch identification, on your mobile phone (collectively the "Credentials").
You must not allow anyone to access the Application on your behalf. You must treat your Credentials as confidential and must not disclose or transfer them to any third party.
If we become aware or suspect that you are affected by fraud or an operational security incident, then, pursuant to article 7, some or all of the functionalities of your User Account may be limited or suspended in whole or in part until such time that the suspected incident is resolved.
If you believe that your User Account has been compromised or do not recognise activity on your User Account, you should immediately contact us using the in-app chat function.
You must install the most recent version of the Application, as updates may improve the security of your User Account and/or include patches for vulnerabilities and/or security holes recently discovered by our services. We will take all reasonable steps, consistent with our legal obligations and internal policies, to protect your User Account, but to the extent permitted by applicable law we are not responsible for any security breaches that may occur when we have complied with such obligations.
The minimum technical conditions necessary to use the Application include: (i) an iOS or Android capable device with access to the Internet; access to the App store (for iOS) or Play store (for Android); (ii) a mobile phone capable of receiving SMS messages. Failure to meet the requirements indicated above shall not prevent you from using the Service or the Application however, it may be the cause of their malfunction.
Restrictions on the use of the Application
Your use of the Application must at all times comply with these Terms and Conditions.
You are not permitted to use any algorithms or electronic trading programs or systems in connection with your submission of orders via the Application. You are not permitted to engage in copy trading and you must not provide investment advice, portfolio management services or any other type of service which requires you to be authorised by a regulator.
The User must not provide any unlawful content through the Application and Services.
User Account in your sole name
You may not share your User Account with another person, and the User Account must only be in your name. You are solely responsible for ensuring the safe keeping of all Credentials related to your use of your User Account and the Application, as set forth above.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, we are not responsible for any losses, loss of profits, and any other direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages that you may suffer as a result of activities and/or actions and/or transactions of any kind initiated through your User Account, as a result of unauthorised third party access to your User Account, through your conduct, inaction, or negligence, or any other action that may compromise the security of your Credentials, including unauthorised access to, or modification or use or transmission of, your data and Content from your User Account, or the entering into of any transactions or dealings conducted or entered into through or outside the Application. Unless you indicate otherwise, we are entitled to treat any action and/or transaction carried out via your User Account as an action and/or transaction authorised and initiated by you, and to treat any Content communicated via your User Account as belonging to you.
Information we provide through the Application
We may provide you with market data and other information about the Services, Content, investments and products to enhance your use of the Application. This market data, which may include, but is not limited to, historical data on investment values, industry and sector trends, analysis on various companies and investments, is subject to constant change.
Past investment performance is not a reliable indicator of your future investment performance. Under no circumstances should this information be construed as a recommendation or advice to you. Any investment carries a risk of capital loss.
These market data will be displayed on the Application as is, i.e., as we receive it from third party providers, without any processing by us. The source and type of market data, and the time at which the data was last updated, are displayed within our Application.
We do not verify the accuracy of these market data, and any other information provided via the Application, and to the extent permitted by applicable law we assume no responsibility for its accuracy, completeness, timeliness or usefulness. In this regard, third party Content is provided for informational purposes only. To the extent permitted by applicable law, we expressly exclude warranty of any kind, whether expressed or implied, with respect to the data provided and other Content.
We are not responsible to you for any actions, transactions, or decisions taken or not taken by you as a result of your exposure to such information and market data, which shall not constitute investment advice or personalised recommendations, and the Content is not intended to provide financial, legal, tax or investment advice or recommendations.
You are solely responsible for determining whether an investment strategy, transaction, trade, or other action on your part, of any kind, is appropriate for you based on your personal financial goals, circumstances and risk tolerance. If necessary, we encourage you to consult a legal, tax or wealth management professional about your specific situation.
Information we require from you
To apply for a User Account, you must provide us with certain information about you as we request, so that we can identify you, verify your identity and conduct fraud checks, sanctions checks, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing checks and any other name list checks required of us by law or regulations, or to comply with our internal procedures.
The evidence we use as part of our Application onboarding process will usually be collected electronically, but as we are required to keep your account under review we may later ask you for additional information and evidence in such form as we reasonably require to manage our risk in connection with your User Account. We may, in particular, be required to carry out enhanced due diligence in certain scenarios and this may require you to give us more information and records, e.g., about the source of your wealth or bank funds or your links with politicians. You authorise us to make the enquiries we reasonably think we need to verify your identity and manage financial crime and fraud risk. Information collected from you will be shared with the Payment Service Provider as required to enable you to open an Electronic Money Account and by signing these Terms and Conditions you authorise us to share such information with the Payment Service Provider.
You authorise us to make enquiries, whether directly or through third parties, that we reasonably consider necessary to verify your identity or protect you and/or us against fraud or other financial crime, and to take action we reasonably deem necessary based on the results of such enquiries. When we carry out these enquiries, you acknowledge that your personal information may be disclosed to credit reference and fraud prevention or financial crime agencies and that these agencies may respond to our enquiries in full.
You acknowledge that you will provide us with all information which we may reasonably request of you from time to time for the purposes disclosed above and that we may make and hold a record of this information as required by applicable law.
Since we need personal information about you to ensure that we are acting in accordance with the law and regulations that extend to us, the information you have given us must be kept up to date. So please tell us as soon as there is a change in information that identifies you (such as your name, address, bank, mobile phone number or address in particular) or if any document you have provided is or becomes false, inaccurate, invalid or incomplete. If you don’t, you may not be able to access the Application or use your User Account. Data provided to us will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
In order to satisfy our own obligations in relation to the Orders you may submit and your Positions, you agree to provide us with all such information as we may reasonably request. This information will, typically include, among other things, your passport number or your taxation reference number, or equivalent.
You acknowledge that we are entitled to disclose information about you and your Orders and Positions as may be required under applicable law. Any information we obtain about your Orders and Positions as a result of your use of the Application shall be our sole and exclusive property.
Availability of the Application
Whilst Shares aims to make the Application available to you on a continuous basis, we cannot guarantee that the Application will be available to you continuously, meaning there may be instances where you cannot submit Orders and monitor your Positions.
We may modify, suspend or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Application with or without notice for legitimate reasons, including the need to adapt the Application to a new technical environment, an increase in the number of Users, for other important operational reasons, as well as in the event of changes to the scope of Services or changes in the applicable legislation. We reserve the right, at any time and for reasons indicated above, to discontinue, redesign, modify, enhance or change the way we offer the Application including without limitation the structure, specifications, look and feel, navigation, features and other elements of the Application or any part of it. We will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Application.
To the extent permitted by applicable law, we will not be liable to you for any loss or damage which arises from the Application being unavailable, save where it is our fault. Where the Application is unavailable as a result of scheduled or urgent maintenance work, we will try, where practical, to give you advance notice of that unavailability so you can plan around it.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are able to access the Application from an appropriate device. You should be aware that connectivity to the Application may vary depending on your internet or network connection, and if you have a poor or weak connection, you may not be able to submit Orders and monitor your Positions with the same speed as you would otherwise be able to with a stronger connection.
How we deal with personal information about you
Shares is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
By using the Application and our Services, you acknowledge that Shares will collect, use, process and disclose your personal information (including your name, contact details and account details) in accordance with Shares’ Privacy Policy separately provided to you within the App. This may include transferring your personal information outside of the European Union. Where this occurs, we will take all reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is handled securely and in line with our privacy policy and data protection laws.
If you wish to make a request or would like more information about how Shares collects, uses, processes, and discloses your personal information, please contact us through the Application or by sending an email to privacyrequests@shares.io or dpo@shares.io.
Intellectual property
These Terms and Conditions do not grant you any ownership rights to the Website, the Application, the Shares brand and the materials reproduced on the Website or the Application including, but not limited to, photographs, visuals, text, illustrations, designs, logos and images, which remain the sole and exclusive property of Shares or of third-parties. Access to the User Account under the conditions provided for in these Terms and Conditions shall not be construed as the transfer of any intellectual property rights to you. You may not make any of the foregoing available to any third party without the prior written consent of Shares. You are strictly prohibited from any use of the above-mentioned elements not permitted by these Terms and Conditions, in particular any commercial exploitation (unless and to the extent that it does not otherwise result from mandatory provisions of law).
Conversely, these Terms and Conditions do not give us any ownership of the Content and/or data that you have created on the Application, and these Terms and Conditions do not give Shares any rights of any kind in such data. You further warrant that you own the intellectual property rights and/or permissions to use the data and Content entered on the Application.
You undertake to compensate us for any direct damage suffered by us, which would result from our being called into question by a third party resulting from the non-compliance of the data and/or Content that you have introduced into the Application, with the laws and regulations or public order, and/or from a lack of intellectual property rights and/or authorisations allowing you to use the data and Content.
Notwithstanding the above provisions, when you make Content available to other Users, in particular in the context of the social trading functionality described below, you agree that such Users may, free of charge and for personal use only, view and share such Content on or from the Application. Furthermore, you expressly authorise Shares, free of charge, to use, reproduce / represent such Content and, if necessary, to adapt its format for this purpose.