Complaint Handling Procedures
- At Genius Trading, we aim to provide prompt, courteous, helpful, open and informative advice in response to every approach made by a member of public. We are always keen to hear the views of our customers, particularly the general public, about our performance generally – what we do right and what we do wrong.
- We recognise that, as in all organisations, from time to time things can go wrong and we may not provide the standard of service that we have set ourselves. We are especially keen to hear about such instances, since they provide us with an opportunity to put things right and to learn from our mistakes.
- Accordingly, as part of our commitment to providing the best possible service to our clients, we uphold effective and transparent procedures for prompt complaint handling for existing and potential retail clients, we maintain records of complaints and measures taken for complaint resolution, in line with Applicable Laws, Rules and/or Regulations and we are pleased to operate in accordance with the complaint management procedures of the International Financial Services Commission Belize (“FSC”).
- We will attempt to deal with your complaint in a prompt and efficient manner. We will follow the procedures outlined below to ensure that your complaint is resolved within a period of thirty (30) Business Days (where possible). Some complaints can be resolved more quickly depending on the facts and the nature of the complaint. If the complaint is more complex and takes longer than thirty (30) Business Days to resolve, we will communicate the reasons for the delay.
In line with the foregoing, we will investigate a complaint, dispute or difference between us, if it is an allegation submitted to us in writing, in accordance with the Complaint Handling Procedures set forth herein, in regard to either one, or more of the following:
- A perceived injustice because of an alleged maladministration on our part, pertaining to:
- Your Account(s) with us and/or the Transactions and/or Contracts carried out and/or reflected therein.
- Your rights under the ‘Terms and Conditions’, as set forth in the ‘Legal Documents’ section at www.genetrade.com/about-us.
- Dissatisfaction with the response from us to a request by you for our services to be provided in a different format.
- A denial of a request for information regarding your Account and/or the Transactions and/or Contracts carried out and/or reflected therein.
- Dissatisfaction with the way in which we respond to an enquiry and/or the time that we took to respond.
- Dissatisfaction with the standard of the services we are providing to you, in view of the standards of service that we have set ourselves, as described in the ‘Terms and Conditions’, as set forth in the ‘Legal Documents’ Section.
- Any complaint or dispute or difference whatsoever between us, must be dealt with in Belize, in accordance with the Complaints Handling Procedures set forth herein and you agree that we shall have the right to resolve any complaint or dispute or difference whatsoever between us in accordance with the Complaints Handling Procedures set forth herein.
- If the complaint or dispute cannot be resolved internally by us in accordance with our Complaints Handling Procedures set out herein, you may refer the matter to the approved dispute resolution scheme set forth in Section 14 hereinafter, if you so wish. If you wish to refer your complaint to the ‘FSC’, please see below the relevant contact details:
Address: The Gian C. Gandhi Building, P.O. Box, 455, 6130 Iguana Avenue, Mountain View Area, City of Belmopan, Belize, C.A.
Phone: +501-822-3800
Facsimile (Fax):501-882-3810
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: https://belizefsc.org.bz
- There are two key stages in our Complaints Handling Procedures:
- An informal stage, by contacting your ‘Account Service Manager’ with any concerns or issues that you may have.
- A formal stage, by filing a formal complaint with our Complaints Officer.
- At the end of each stage we will ask you if you are satisfied with how we have handled your complaint.
- Any discrepancies on account statements must be reported to us, in writing, within twenty (24) hours of its occurrence. Failure to object within the above-mentioned twenty four (24) hour time period shall be deemed ratification by you of all actions taken by us prior to your receipt of such reports. You agree to immediately call to our attention any oral information that you have reason to believe is inconsistent with your own information. You understand, acknowledge and agree that errors, whether resulting in a profit or loss to you, shall be corrected, and your Account with us will be credited or debited in such manner and extent as to place your Account with us, in the same position in which it would have been had the error not occurred.
- All other complaints must be reported to us, in writing, within three (3) business days from the occurrence of the event that gives rise to your complaint (for the purposes hereof, unless the context requires otherwise, “business days” are Monday through Friday, excluding bank holidays in Belize). Failure to object within the above-mentioned time period of three (3) business days from the occurrence of the event that gives rise to your complaint, shall be deemed ratification by you of all actions undertaken by us prior to making your complaint.
- The quickest and most effective way of dealing with any concerns or issues that you may have is to contact your ‘Account Service Manager’ on an informal basis, who will do his/her utmost to resolve any concerns or issues that you may be experiencing. Our ‘Account Service Managers’ will be pleased to help, so please ask to speak to any of our representatives if you feel you have reasons for complaining. Any concerns or issues that you may have will usually be resolved at this early stage.
- You can raise any concerns or issues that you may have by contacting your ‘Account Service Manager’, either in writing, by letter, via fax or by e-mail, or by telephone or via ‘chat’ through our Website; Our preference is always to deal with your concerns or issues on an informal, person to person basis by telephone or via ‘chat’ through our Website, but, if you prefer, we will deal with any concerns or issues that you may have at any stage in writing by letter, via fax or by e-mail.
- If you contact us in writing by letter, via fax or by e-mail, please provide us with full details of any concerns or issues that you may have. If we require further information we will notify you using your preferred method of contact.
- If you choose to contact us by telephone or via ‘chat’, please have the details of the concerns or issues that you may have readily available.
- Your ‘Account Service Manager’ will let you know the appropriate process to follow. If you are contacting us on behalf of another person, we may ask you to provide proof of that person’s consent to your handling of their complaint.
- Once you have contacted your ‘Account Service Manager’, your ‘Account Service Manager’ will record your details and provide you with a unique reference number that identifies you and the concerns or issues that you may have.
- Our ‘Account Service Managers’ are trained to deal with any concerns or issues that you may have and will make every effort to work with you to investigate, try to sort out and resolve any concerns or issues that you may have and to provide you with an appropriate response.
- We aim to resolve the matter quickly – by the end of the next business day if possible. If the matter is more complex and, at our sole discretion, is expected to take longer than five (5) business days to, we will provide you, within three (3) business days after you first contacted your ‘Account Service Manager’, with a written acknowledgement that we have been informed of your concerns or issues and we will communicate the reasons for the delay and provide you with details of who is handling the matter and how to contact. We will keep you informed of the progress made in addressing your concerns or issues. Your ‘Account Service Manager’ will check on a regular basis to see if you are happy or unhappy with the progress made in addressing your concerns or issues. If you are unhappy please tell him or her explaining your reasons why.
- If, after allowing your ‘Account Service Manager’ the opportunity to try and deal with the concerns or issues that you may have in the manner described above, you remain dissatisfied with the response or if you are unable to reach a satisfactory outcome within fifteen (15) business days after you first contacted your ‘Account Service Manager’, you can, at this stage, ask for your concerns or issues to be escalated to our ‘Complaints Officer’ for action in accordance with the formal complaint procedures described below.
- Clients who wish to file a formal complaint with our ‘Complaints Officer’ can do so, at any time, via e-mail to: [email protected], along with attachments of the documentation as outlined below.
- All formal complaints must be forwarded to our ‘Complaints Officer’ in writing, in the manner set forth above, for action in accordance with the procedures described below.
- The following information and documentation should, wherever possible, be obtained and recorded and provided to the ‘Complaints Officer’ as part of your formal complaint, in order to ensure that the complaint is expedited in the most efficient and fair manner: (a) Account Number/User ID, (b) Name of client, (c) Contact details for client, (d) Phone, (e) Mobile, (f) Email, (g) Address details for client, (h) Details of the complaint (including time and date the matter leading to the complaint occurred, the representative(s) involved in the complaint, (i) Nature of the complaint, (j) Remedies sought, (k) Attach any documentation or other material that may assist in the resolution of the complaint (including an initial written response to the allegations by the representative(s) involved).
- Upon receipt of an official legitimate client complaint, written acknowledgment will be sent to you within five (5) business days from the date the complaint was received. This will confirm that we are taking the necessary action needed to resolve the complaint, and will also provide an approximate timescale required in order to do so.
- Upon receipt of a formal complaint, we will provide written acknowledgement within five (5) business days of receiving your formal complaint.
- The letter will confirm that we are taking the necessary action needed to resolve the complaint and will contain details of our Complaints Handling Procedure and of your right to refer the complaint to the ‘FSC’ if you are dissatisfied with our assessment and ruling.
- We will send you a second letter no later than fifteen (15) business days after the formal complaint was received, containing a full account of the investigation activities planned, any findings thus far and, if appropriate, any offer of redress (the “InitialResponse”).
- This letter will again advise you of your rights, who is dealing with your formal complaint (this will normally be the ‘Complaints Officer’) and how to make contact with that person.
In the situation whereby the complainant responds to the Initial Response then again we will acknowledge receipt of that response from the complainant within five (5) business days after the receipt of such (the “Acknowledgement of client’s Response to the Initial Response”).
- Once we have completed its investigation, we will write to you again and offer you a summary outcome of our investigation. Where appropriate, it may also include a final offer of redress. Such letters will be marked clearly as the final response and will include details on how to contact the FSC if the complaint has not been resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction or, if the offer of redress is considered insufficient or inappropriate.
- We will attempt to send the Final Response within thirty (30) business days of receiving your formal complaint, or ten (10) business days after your acceptance or rejection of any offer of redress (where applicable), whichever comes first.
- This may not always be possible as sometimes the complexity of the complaint may require more time to investigate fully. We will always abide by regulatory guidelines in relation to a complaint and as such, we will always ensure that complainants are kept informed about their complaint and our activities in response to their complaint.
- If, for whatever reason, we are unable to conclude the investigation and provide a Final Response (see below) to your complaint within the time limits set forth above, then we will issue what is called a Holding Response.
- The purpose of this Holding Response is to inform the complainant of the reasons why we cannot provide a Final Response to your complaint within the time limits set forth above and to provide a further indication of what is happening with your complaint and also to provide an indication of when you can expect to hear from us again.
- In the event that you receive a Holding Response, we would invite you to discuss the matter personally with our Managing Director. The purpose of this step is to ensure that you (and your complaint) receive the highest priority in those situations where the complaint cannot be fully resolved through normal investigatory processes.
You can refer your complaint to the ‘FSC’ if you are dissatisfied with our assessment and ruling, provided that:
- You first file a formal complaint to the Company within 15 months from the date that you are aware or ought to be aware that the reason of your complaint has occurred.
- You receive our Final Response within 3 months from the date we acknowledge receipt of your complaint and it is not to your satisfaction, or from the closing date by which you shall receive our Final Response in the case you do not receive it.
- You submit your complaint to the FSC within 4 months from the date you receive our Final Response or from the closing date we ought to provide it to you in the case you do not receive our Final Response.
- No judgment has been issued from a court for the same complaint and no judicial procedure is pending for the examination of the same complaint.
- We are required by the International Financial Service Commission (“FSC”) to keep detailed documentation on individual complaints. We are required to report relevant complaints to the FSC and also to our Insurers on a regular basis.
- Private information will not be shared with any 3rd parties and we comply with Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of Personal Data and on the free movement of such data.
- These details will usually include as a minimum: (a) the nature, date and method of communication of the complaint, (b) the complainant’s details, (c) how the complaint was dealt with (outcomes), (d) whether the complaint was upheld or refuted, (e) whether the complaint was closed (addressed to complainant’s satisfaction) or whether it remains open and outstanding and (f) what financial redress or other significant outcome resulted from the complaint.
If, after contacting all parties you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of your complaint, then you have the right to refer the complaint to the ISSC if you are dissatisfied with our assessment and ruling. In each instance, we would record upon the complaint file what advice was provided and we would reclassify the complaint to note that it has been ‘Investigated but not resolved’. Such claims have been deemed to be investigated by us and reported to FSC on this basis.
The above Complaints Handling Procedure does not apply to money that you may owe to us. We may take immediate action to recover any debts payable to us in court.
Nothing set forth herein shall prevent either Party from applying to court for interim or injunctive relief. Each party acknowledges that a breach of the provisions of this Agreement may cause the other Party irreparable injury and damage and, therefore, any such breach may be enjoined through injunctive proceedings, in addition to any other rights and remedies that may be available to either Party as per applicable law or in equity.