Article 1
(Introduction)
These Terms & Conditions set out rules for accessing and using the FOA’s legal opinion library called “NETTING ANALYSER” (hereinafter: the “Library” or “NETTING ANALYSER”). They define rights and obligations of a firm subscribing to NETTING ANALYSER (hereinafter: the “Subscriber”, the “Client”, the “Member” or "you" (and "Membership" shall be construed accordingly)) and the Future and Options Association, which owns, maintains and manages NETTING ANALYSER (hereinafter: the “FOA”, the “Service Provider”, "we" or "us").
Article 2
(Service)
(1) The FOA (i) offers Subscribers netting legal opinions, collateral legal opinions and CCP legal opinions, (ii) maintains NETTING ANALYSER and (iii) updates NETTING ANALYSER. In addition it provides Subscribers access to the summary tables, which summarize certain key characteristics in respect of all legal opinions. The FOA grants access to NETTING ANALYSER to the Members on a non-exclusive and non-transferable basis in accordance with these Terms & Conditions.
(2) All three groups of legal opinions are sub-divided into two sets – Group A and Group B. Participating firms may subscribe to netting opinions and/or collateral opinions and/or CCP opinions, choosing either Group A jurisdictions and/or Group B jurisdictions. The list of Group A and Group B jurisdictions is included in Appendix 3 to these Terms & Conditions.
(3) Concerning CCP opinions, Subscribers have an additional option of selecting an individual CCP opinion (please see Article 7 below).
(4) Legal opinions have been drafted primarily with the intention of assisting Members in satisfying certain regulatory requirements under Basel III, CRD IV and other similar rules. They have not been prepared for accounting or tax purposes.
(5) The new netting and collateral opinions are written on the basis of a wide range of current and historical FOA model form terms of business documentation (including 2007, 2009 and 2011 editions, two-way netting and title transfer collateral variants and the FOA Master Netting Agreement).
(6) In addition, the netting and collateral opinions apply in respect of transactions traded, and collateral posted, under the so-called "Equivalent Agreements". Broadly, such Equivalent Agreements include bespoke English law contracts, containing certain core FOA-style provisions (subject to a wide range of approved amendments), but otherwise containing whatever provisions you may wish to include or negotiate with your clients (provided such provisions do not conflict with the core provisions).
(7) The FOA intends to update legal opinions on a regular basis and shall notify Subscribers of any such updates. If a business need arises, FOA may commission legal opinions for new jurisdictions.
Article 3
(Summary of legal opinions)
(1) In conjunction with the law firm Clifford Chance LLP, the FOA shall provide Members with short and comparable summaries of all legal opinions, which are intended to assist Members with prima facie, non-elaborate answers to the most fundamental questions covered by the opinions.
(2) The summary tables are of informative nature and cannot be relied upon by any person. The flags identified therein are subject to the assumptions, qualifications and other terms of the relevant legal opinion.
Article 4
(Subscription)
(1) Firms may join NETTING ANALYSER irrespective of their prior membership of the FOA. Firms that have not been previously members of the FOA (i.e. firms that have not paid the annual membership fee) shall nevertheless need to become “Documentation-only FOA Members” in order to be able to rely on legal opinions and they must remain as Documentation-only FOA Members or as full members of the FOA. Documentation-only FOA Membership is free of charge and such FOA members shall not enjoy membership benefits that are offered to other (i.e. “full”) FOA members.
(2) Firms which have been members of the Netting Library will become members of NETTING ANALYSER, after they have signed and delivered the Commitment letter (please see Appendix 5). They will be granted access after the applicable fees are fully paid.
(3) Firms willing to join NETTING ANALYSER need to fill in the Application form (please see Appendix 4) and send it to Hugo Jenkins or Mitja Siraj. A firm shall become a Member of NETTING ANALYSER as soon as the applicable fees are fully paid and the information required by paragraph (4) below has been provided.
(5) Affiliates of NETTING ANALYSER Members may obtain access to NETTING ANALYSER free of charge, but they must become “Documentation-only FOA Members” in accordance with Article 4(1) above.
(6) For the purpose of obtaining access to the NETTING ANALYSER a term “Affiliate” means, in relation to the Member, any entity controlled, directly or indirectly by the Member or any entity that controls, directly or indirectly, the Member or any entity directly or indirectly under common control with the Member. For this purpose, “control” of any entity or Member means ownership of a majority of voting rights of that entity or Member.
(7) Individuals cannot become Members of NETTING ANALYSER.
(8) NETTING ANALYSER Membership may terminate in accordance with Article 12 below.
Article 5
(Fees)
(1) The subscription fees consist of the upfront one-off fee for purchasing the opinions and the annual maintenance fee which will cover a yearly review and update of applicable opinions. A full breakdown of fees for the FOA Members can be found in Appendix 2.
(2) The “Documentation-only FOA Members” (excluding firms from Article 4(5) above) that want to subscribe to the Library shall pay different fees than the “full FOA Members”. For details about fees for Documentation-only FOA Members (excluding firms from Article 4(5) above) please contact the FOA (Hugo Jenkins or Mitja Siraj).
Article 6
(Payment of Fees)
(1) After the signed Application form is received by the FOA, the latter will promptly issue an invoice to the future Subscriber.
(2) Payment of the invoice is a condition precedent for becoming a Member and getting access to NETTING ANALYSER.
(3) The annual maintenance fee will be levied every 1 October for the period of 12 months.
(4) All fees related to NETTING ANALYSER shall be paid into a separate FOA account and they will be spent primarily (but not exclusively) for the purpose of maintaining, managing and updating the Library.
(5) All paid fees are non-refundable, even in cases of termination of Membership.
Article 7
(Access to the NETTING ANALYSER)
(1) Access to NETTING ANALYSER is Internet based and password protected. Subscribers to NETTING ANALYSER may access it in accordance with their subscription rights.
(2) Members of the FOA who are not members of NETTING ANALYSER cannot access legal opinions. Members of NETTING ANALYSER cannot access restricted parts of the FOA website, which is dedicated to the FOA members only.
(3) A Subscriber may only obtain the entire Group A and/or Group B of netting and/or collateral and/or CCP opinions. Individual netting and collateral legal opinions cannot be obtained. Certain CCP opinions can also be obtained individually. FOA reserves the right to agree with a particular Subscriber to grant it access to only some but not all legal opinions within a specified Group, if this is technically possible.
(4) All legal opinions are only accessible in a protected PDF format and they must not be converted into other formats.
Article 8
(Personal Data Protection and Use of cookies)
(1) The FOA recognises the importance of protecting personal data, respects the privacy of its Members and Users and treats their personal data with the required diligence and in accordance with the applicable law.
(2) By subscribing to the NETTING ANALYSER Library its Members and Users voluntarily consent to the FOA collecting and processing the required personal data of Users in accordance with these Terms & Conditions and applicable law, for the duration of their Membership, in order to administer Membership and control and monitor access to the NETTING ANALYSER Library. Members agree that their Users' access to the NETTING ANALYSER Library is conditional on the Users' acceptance of these Terms & Conditions.
(3) The FOA (as a data controller for the purposes of data protection law) may by contract entrust tasks related to processing of Users' personal data to data processors which ensure the appropriate procedures and measures on security of personal data. These include organisational, technical and logical-technical procedures and measures to protect personal data, and to prevent accidental or deliberate unauthorised destruction, modification or loss of data, and unauthorised processing of such data.
(4) Users may have rights of access to and correction of their personal data as held by FOA. Users wishing to seek to exercise these rights should send an email to Hugo Jenkins or Mitja Siraj.
(5) The FOA collects personal information from visitors to this website through the use of enquiry and order forms, and every time you e-mail the FOA your details. We may monitor and collect the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of visitors to our site. The information is used to help us manage the website (e.g. detecting bugs) and where necessary to investigate potential computer misuse or breaches of these Terms & Conditions. Under normal circumstances these log files will only be accessed by authorised members of staff, however we do have a legal obligation to make our log files available to external authorities, when requested.
(6) Cookies are small text files which are placed on your computer’s hard drive to help us monitor the use of our website and provide access to certain features. A cookie does not directly identify the individual concerned, only the computer used, but it does not gives us access to information stored on your computer. Cookies enable us to provide you with a better experience of our website. You agree that the FOA may use cookies to track user behaviour, improve and personalise the service of the NETTING ANALYSER Library and remember previous actions (e.g. which items have been placed in an online shopping basket). We do not use cookies which have a high impact on your privacy and will regularly review the use of cookies on our site to protect your privacy. A User can change the settings in his or her browser to refuse cookies. However if a User does so he or she may be unable to access certain feature of our website. A User can also delete cookies using the tools in his or her browser.
Article 9
(Fair usage policy)
(1) Subscribers are obliged to use legal opinions only for their own purpose and they are not allowed to disclose them to any person without prior approval of the FOA. They are strictly forbidden to share their log-in details with persons outside the Member.
(2) Copying, publishing, uploading or otherwise distributing legal opinions or their substantial parts or excerpts from the legal opinions for commercial or for-profit purposes is also forbidden.
(3) All rights in NETTING ANALYSER and in the content published in NETTING ANALYSER, unless otherwise indicated, are owned either by the FOA or made available under licence by third parties. NETTING ANALYSER and all content published in NETTING ANALYSER, unless otherwise indicated, is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws.
(4) Use of NETTING ANALYSER will in no way confer on a Member or User any copyright, trade mark, design right, database right or any other intellectual property rights or proprietary rights in the NETTING ANALYSER materials or any part of the design or layout of NETTING ANALYSER. The NETTING ANALYSER materials, and the design, format and layout of NETTING ANALYSER must not be used, copied, downloaded, stored or otherwise exploited in any way, except as expressly authorised in these Terms & Conditions.
Article 10
(Liability of Members)
(1) Members will be liable for any breach of these Terms & Conditions, including (without limitation) for unlawful distribution of legal opinions, which may result in Membership and access to NETTING ANALYSER being withdrawn.
(2) In addition to consequences herein, Members violating these rules may face criminal and civil procedures also from legal counsel for breaching their terms of reliance and intellectual property rights.
(3) It is Members’ responsibility to inform the FOA of any changes that would influence their Membership in NETTING ANALYSER (e.g. change of a contact person, merger/acquisition, etc., and including in particular any of the events set out in Article 12(2)).
Article 11
(Steering Group)
(1) The FOA will organise a Steering Group, consisting of Members and Clifford Chance LLP, which will deal with issues concerning legal opinions and NETTING ANALYSER.
(2) Detailed rules on composition, rules of procedure and competencies of the Governance Committee shall be set out in a separate document.
(3) Members shall address all issues and proposals that they may have in relation to the NETTING ANALYSER to the Governance Committee.
Article 12
(Termination of membership)
(1) Membership in NETTING ANALYSER will last for one year but will be automatically renewed for consecutive periods of one year upon payment of the annual maintenance fee.
- at the end of the current Membership year, if a Member has not paid the annual maintenance fee for the following year;
- if a Member breaches any provision of these Terms & Conditions (including, without limitation, if it does not comply with Article 9 of these Terms & Conditions) and, in the case of a remediable breach, the Member does not remedy the breach within [30] days of notice from the FOA requiring the breach to be remedied;
- if a Member terminates it by written notice to the FOA: or
- if a Member becomes insolvent or ceases to exist either because it was liquidated, wound up or because it was merged, acquired, amalgamated has or in any other way ceased to exist.
(3) In the first two cases and the fourth case Membership terminates with immediate effect on notice from the FOA to the Member. In the third case Membership terminates when the FOA receives a notice of termination from the Member.
(4) In case of termination of Membership before the annual maintenance fee is levied every year, the Member is obliged to pay the annual maintenance fee for the time of being a Member (pro rata).
Article 13
(Reliance and limitation of liability)
(1) NETTING ANALYSER is provided "as is" and the FOA accepts no conditions and gives no warranties or representations in respect thereof. The FOA does not provide legal or commercial advice to Members. NETTING ANALYSER is not intended to offer guidance as to the enforceability and/or feasibility of any specific commercial transactions. The NETTING ANALYSER Library primarily serves the regulatory purposes. NETTING ANALYSER is not a substitute for independent legal advice. In case of a specific legal issue, the Member should consult Local Counsel or another legal advisor.
(2) Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained on the FOA's website is accurate at the time of creation and/or modification of the website. However, the FOA cannot guarantee the completeness or accuracy of information contained on the website and shall not be responsible for errors or inaccuracies. The FOA reserves the right to make changes to or take down the website or remove or alter any content at any time and without notice. Under no circumstances shall the FOA be liable for any reliance by you on any information which is made available on the website. Further, the FOA does not in any way guarantee that the website will be available, uninterrupted or error free.
(3) Subscribers may rely on each opinion in the Library only on the terms, in the circumstances and to the extent specified in each such opinion. No person may rely on any opinion in the Library in any other circumstances.
(4) Neither the FOA nor, subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the relevant opinion, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or other Local Counsel is liable for the content and/or applicability of legal opinions provided. It is the Members’ sole responsibility if they rely on legal opinions. Neither the FOA nor, subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the relevant opinion, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or other Local Counsel guarantees correctness, completeness or appropriateness of what is written in legal opinions or is liable for the non-recognition or non-acceptance of published legal opinions by regulators (including, without limitation, for the purposes of relevant prudential or other regulations).
(5) Neither the FOA nor, subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the relevant opinion, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or other Local Counsel guarantees access to or accuracy of the NETTING ANALYSER Library and legal opinions therein. Subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the opinions, the Member shall assume the risk of the quality, performance, accuracy and completeness of legal opinions included in the NETTING ANALYSER Library.
(6) Neither the FOA nor, subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the relevant opinion, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or other Local Counsel accepts any condition or makes any warranty that the published legal opinions are free of errors and omissions. Neither the FOA nor, subject to Article 13(3) and the terms of the relevant opinion, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or other Local Counsel accepts any condition or makes any warranty or representation that the legal opinions available in NETTING ANALYSER are appropriate or authorised in all countries or jurisdictions. Members are responsible for making their own due diligence in order to be compliant with local laws.
(7) Neither the FOA, nor any Clifford Chance Affiliate or Local Counsel shall be liable for the contents of the summary tables and flags identified therein.
(8) Under no circumstances shall the FOA, any Clifford Chance Affiliate or Local Counsel be liable to Members and/or third parties, whether for negligence, breach of contract, misrepresentation, or otherwise, for any costs, claims, damages, losses, liabilities or expenses of whatsoever nature (including, without limitation, direct loss or damage, loss of profit, special, indirect or consequential loss or damage, loss of goodwill, loss of business revenue or opportunity or loss of data) arising directly or indirectly from accessing and using the NETTING ANALYSER or an inability to access and use the Library. In all cases the FOA’s potential liability arising under accessing and using the Library is limited to and it shall not exceed the amount of the subscription fee paid.
(9) The FOA does not accept any condition, or represent or warrant, that NETTING ANALYSER, software or documents of whatsoever nature available on or through or downloaded from NETTING ANALYSER will be free from viruses or other bugs or defects, compatible with your equipment or fit for any purpose. It is your responsibility to perform any scanning and use suitable anti-virus software and precautions on any software or documents that you may download from NETTING ANALYSER and to ensure the compatibility of such software or documents with your equipment and software.
(10) Nothing in these Terms & Conditions shall operate to exclude or restrict any person’s liability for fraud/deceit, or for death or personal injury resulting from such person’s, or its employees’ negligence.
(11) For the purposes of this Article 13:
- a “Clifford Chance Affiliate” means Clifford Chance LLP or any affiliated firm thereof; and
- “Local Counsel” means, in respect of an opinion in the Library, the relevant law firm (which may or may not be a Clifford Chance Affiliate) that has issued such opinion.
Article 14
(Final provisions)
(1) The following documents constitute an integral part of these Terms & Conditions:
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Fees Schedule
- List of relevant jurisdictions and CCPs covered by legal opinions
- Application form
- Commitment letter
- List of persons to be granted access to NETTING ANALYSER.
(2) The current FOA Netting Library shall cease to be available to its members when NETTING ANALYSER is introduced and new legal opinions will supersede the existing ones.
(3) These Terms & Conditions may be amended by the FOA at any time. The FOA shall inform Members of the changes.
(4) By signing the Application form (please see Appendix 4) or the Commitment letter (please see Appendix 5) the Subscriber accepts and agrees with these Terms & Conditions.
London, 4 March 2013