Privacy and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Policy

Protean Capital LLP is a limited liability partnership in England and Wales (No. OC375671) and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, with FRN: 593439. This Policy applies to Protean Capital LLP ("Protean"), the legal trading company that manages the products and services we offer to our customers.
This version of the Policy was updated on May 1, 2018.

Your rights, your information and how we may use it

Protean is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and any successor Data Protection laws and regulations as applicable in the United Kingdom and in line with the highest standards of ethical conduct.

This Policy sets forth important information about the expected behaviours of Protean Staff and Third Parties in relation to the consent, collection, use, retention, transfer, disclosure, and destruction of any Personal Data belonging to a Protean client (i.e. the Data Subject). Protean, as a Data Controller- i.e. any organisation that handles Personal Data, is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Data Protection requirements outlined in this Policy.

Information Protean may collect and use

Information that Protean may collect about you may include:

  • Information about who you are e.g. your name and contact details; AND
  • Information connected to your product or service with Protean e.g. product investment details; AND
  • Information about your contact with Protean e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails/letters; AND
  • Information that is automatically collected e.g. via cookies when you visit one of Protean's websites; AND
  • Information if you visit one of Protean's offices e.g. visual images collected via closed-circuit television (CCTV); AND
  • The information you may provide Protean about other people e.g. joint applicants or beneficiaries for products you have with Protean.

What are cookies?

Refer to the Cookies Policy for more detail

Where Protean may collect your information

Protean may collect your personal information directly (from you) or from a variety of sources including:

  • An application form for a product or service; AND
  • Phone conversations with Protean; AND
  • Emails or letters you send to Protean; AND
  • Meetings with one of Protean's advisers; AND
  • Proteans online services such as websites and/or social media.

If you have a financial adviser, accountant, lawyer, trustee and/or are a member of a pension scheme or are a beneficiary of a trust, the information Protean collect and use will most likely have been provided by them on your behalf.

Where appropriate, Protean may also need to collect personal information on you from places such as business directories and other commercially or publicly available sources such as the Electoral Register e.g. to check or improve the information we hold (like your address) or to obtain better contact information if we are unable to contact you directly.

What Protean collect and use your information for

Protean take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so. Protean will collect and use your information only where:

  • You have given Protean permission (consent) to send you information about products and services it offers; AND
  • It is necessary for Protean to meet its legal or regulatory obligations e.g. to send you Annual Statements, carry out suitability reviews, perform anti-money laundering background checks, tell you about changes to Protean's Terms and Conditions or for the detection and prevention of fraud to protect your investments; AND
  • It is in the legitimate interests of Protean e.g. to deliver appropriate information and guidance so you are aware of the options that will help you get the best outcome from your investment; where Protean need to process your information to better understand you and your needs so Protean can send you more relevant communications about the service you have with Protean; AND
  • It is in the legitimate interests of a third party you have nominated e.g. sharing information with your financial adviser, accountant, lawyer, trustee or pension scheme for the governance of your investments.

If you do not wish Protean to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that Protean will be unable to provide you with its services.

Who Protean may share your information with

Protean may share your information with third parties for the reasons outlined in What Protean collect and use your information for.
These third parties may include:

  • Third parties you have instructed us to share information with; AND
  • Companies Protean have chosen to support it in the delivery of the products and services it offers to you and other clients e.g. fund administrators; AND
  • Protean's Regulators and Supervisory Authorities e.g. the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Information Commissioner’s Office for the UK (the ICO); AND
  • Law enforcement, credit, and identity check agencies for the prevention and detection of crime; AND
  • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) e.g. for the processing of tax relief on pension payments or the prevention of tax avoidance.

Protean will never sell your personal information to someone else. Whenever Protean share your personal information, Protean will do so in line with its obligations to keep your information safe and secure.

Where your information is processed

Protean process your personal information in the UK. Where information is processed by Protean's fund administrator, it will ensure your information is protected under UK / EEA data privacy laws e.g. it will put in place legal agreements with its fund administrator and do regular checks to ensure they continue to meet these obligations.

How Protean protect your information

Protean take information and system security very seriously and Protean will aim to comply with its obligations always. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other medium, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations. Your personal information is protected by systems and controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically and are subject to ongoing training and monitoring to ensure these standards are maintained. Protean's security controls are aligned with current industry standards and guidelines and are constantly under review; providing a controlled environment that effectively manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your information.

How long will Protean keep your information

Protean keep your personal information for the duration you are a client of ours in order that Protean may provide you with our services. In the event you are no longer a client, Protean may also keep your information after this period but only where we are required to meet our legal and or regulatory obligations. As a regulated firm, Protean are obliged under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) to retain personal information. The length of time Protean keep your personal information for these purposes will vary depending on the legal obligations it needs to meet.

Your individual rights

Under the GDPR you have several rights in relation to how Protean uses your personal information. They are:

  • Right to be informed

    You have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data. This will include the purpose of processing your personal data, retention periods for that personal data, and who it will be shared with. Protean call this ‘privacy information’. Protean will provide you with this privacy information at the time it collects your personal data from you.

  • Right of access

    You have the right to access your personal data and supplementary information Protean hold on you. This right of access allows you to be aware of and verify the lawfulness of the processing of the personal data Protean hold for you, you may make a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR).

  • Right to rectification

    If the personal information Protean hold on you is incorrect or inaccurate you have the right to have your personal data rectified or completed if it is incomplete. You may make this request for rectification verbally or in writing.

  • Right to request erasure

    You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for Protean to continue to have it.

  • Right to erasure

    Subject to Protean's regulatory and legal obligations, you have a right to have personal data erased. This right is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’. You can make this request verbally or in writing.

  • Right to restrict processing

    You have the right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data. This is not an absolute right and only applies in certain circumstances. When processing is restricted, Protean are permitted to store your personal data, but not use it contrary to your instruction. You can make a request for restriction verbally or in writing.

  • Right to data portability

    You have the right to data portability. This allows you to obtain and reuse your personal data for your own purposes across different services. The right allows you to move, copy or transfer your personal data easily from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way, without affecting its usability. The right only applies to information you have provided to the data controller.

  • Right to object

    You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data on the following grounds: where it is based on legitimate interests or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority (including profiling); for direct marketing (including profiling); and processing for purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics. Protean can confirm that it will not process your personal data under any of the above grounds.

  • Rights related to automatic decision making including profiling

    You have the right to ask for information about the processing of your personal information and request our intervention or challenge a decision where processing is done solely by automated processes and carry out regular checks to make sure that where automated decision making and profiling processes are used are working as they should. Protean can confirm that it does not use automated individual decision-making (making a decision solely by automated means without any human involvement); and profiling (automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual). As part of its decision-making process.

How to make a complaint

Protean will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe Protean has handled your information as set out in its Policy, please contact the Head of Compliance at Protean (Complaints) and Protean will endeavour to resolve your concern. If you are still unhappy, you can report your concerns to the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can report your concerns at: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

How to contact us

If you have any questions about this Policy, please contact the Head of Compliance:

Arafat Shah,
Protean Capital LLP,
4th Floor Hazelwood House,
53 New Oxford Street,
London,
WC1A 1BL.