Website Terms and Conditions
This Website (the "Website") and its contents are owned (unless indicated otherwise) by BDO Limited, a private limited company registered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ("Hong Kong"). The registered address of BDO Limited is 25/F, Wing On Centre, 111 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong. Reference to "BDO Hong Kong", "we", "our", "us" in these terms and conditions and elsewhere in this Website is to the "BDO Hong Kong" group of companies, being BDO Limited, BDO Business Services Limited, BDO Tax Limited, BDO Financial Services Limited, BDO Financial Reporting Advisory Limited, McCabe Secretarial Services Limited, McCabe International Trustee Limited and McCabe International Limited. BDO Limited is a member of BDO International, a separate legal entity. No member of BDO International is in partnership with any other member.
1. Using the Website
By using our Website, you are deemed to have accepted the following terms and conditions. If you do not want to be legally bound by these terms and conditions, please do not access or use the Website. We reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time and you are advised to review these terms regularly to ensure you are aware of any changes. Your continued use of the Website after such changes are posted will be deemed agreement on your part to these terms and conditions as amended.
2. Intellectual property
2.1 Copyright and all intellectual property rights in the content of the Website are vested in BDO Limited and reserved, unless indicated otherwise. The content of the Website belongs to BDO Limited, unless indicated otherwise. You may use the content of the Website subject to the following conditions: (a) it is used for information purposes only; (b) it is used only for your own personal, non-commercial use; and (c) any copies or downloads of any content from the Website must include a notice that copyright in the relevant material is owned by BDO Limited.
2.2 Except as expressly provided above, nothing contained on this Website should be construed as conferring any licence or right to use any trademark or copyright of BDO Hong Kong or any third party.
3. Submission of comments/contributions to the Website and BDO Hong Kong's blogs
3.1 You may submit comments to BDO Hong Kong, including without limitation for publication on our Blogs.
3.2 Any comments submitted in connection with our Blogs are submitted on the basis that we will review and may edit such comments prior to publication on the Website, and that not all submissions will be published. Publication is entirely at the discretion of BDO Hong Kong. We accept no responsibility or liability in relation to the content of any material posted or published on this Website by third parties or in relation to contributions by third parties which we publish on the Website. You are entirely liable for all activities conducted by you or by others authorised by you or otherwise on your behalf.
3.3 If and to the extent that you submit any personal data (such as your name and email address) to BDO Hong Kong through the Blogs, BDO Hong Kong confirms that it will only use any such personal data for the purposes for which you have provided it and in accordance with our "Website Privacy Statement" (which can be found here: https://www.bdo.com.hk/privacy-statement).
3.4 Any communications which we receive from you in connection with the Blogs and any material that you transmit or post or submit via this Website will be deemed non-confidential and non-proprietary and we reserve the right to use the content of such communications for any purpose whatsoever. In relation to such contributions you grant us a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, sub-licensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, edit, publish and exercise all copyright and publicity rights with respect to such work world-wide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any media now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content, consistent with the privacy restrictions set forth in the Website Privacy Statement. If you do not wish to grant such rights to BDO Hong Kong please do not submit your contribution to this Web site. By submitting your contribution to this Website, you also:
3.4.1 warrant that such contribution is your own original work and that you have the right to make it available to us for all the purposes specified above;
3.4.2 warrant that such contribution is not defamatory, does not infringe the rights of any third party and does not infringe any law;
3.4.3 agree to use this Website only for lawful purposes and in a manner that does not restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of this Website by any third party. Prohibited behaviour includes, without limitation, conduct which is unlawful or which may harass or cause distress to any person and the submission or transmission of content which is defamatory, abusive, obscene, offensive, pornographic, indecent, discriminatory, inflammatory, in breach of confidence or privacy or which in the opinion of BDO Hong Kong may cause offence to any person or damage our reputation. You must not use any abusive or aggressive language, swear, threaten, harass or abuse any other person, including other users;
3.4.4 agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless BDO Hong Kong against any claim, liability, cost, damage, or loss we may incur (including without limitation legal fees) as a result of any violation by you of the provisions set out in this clause 3; and
3.4.5 agree to waive any moral rights in your contribution for the purposes of its submission to and publication on the Website and other purposes specified above.
3.5 You must not intentionally violate any laws, rules or regulations.
3.6 No user must post nor recommend any other Website nor refer to specific URLs (website addresses) where those linked websites would infringe any of the above provisions. No user must post any advertisement on the Website.
3.7 In using this Website, you agree not to impersonate another person or use a false name or a name you are unauthorised to use or create a false email address or try to mislead others as to the identity or origin of any communication.
3.8 You must not corrupt the site, flood the site with information so as to cause the site not to function or use anything which may affect the function of the site for example viruses, worms, logic bombs or similar. You must not interfere or tamper with, remove, delete or otherwise alter in any way, any information which is included on the Website.
3.9 BDO Hong Kong reserves the right to fail any messages and/or remove any material whatsoever submitted to our Blogs or otherwise to the Website for any reason. BDO Hong Kong will not notify the contributor of the material of such failure or removal.
3.10 BDO Hong Kong reserves the right to take any action against any account or user, at any time, for any reason. We may at our discretion terminate your access to the Website or to the registration areas of the Website, or prevent you from submitting comments via the Website immediately and without giving you advance notice. If you engage in behaviour which breaches these terms and conditions, and we consider such behaviour to be serious and/or repeated, we may use whatever information is available to us to prevent further breaches. If your access to the Website or to registration areas of the Web site is terminated, you may not open another account with us or register again and we reserve the right to terminate any such account or cancel any such registration.
3.11 Should you have any complaint regarding any material published on the Website, you can notify us of the nature and details of your complaint by emailing privacy@bdo.com.hk.
4. Registration to the Website
When you register, you are registering as a personal user of the Website and you must use your own identity. You are obliged to provide accurate and complete registration information. Registration is for a single user only. Your username and password are personal to you and may not be used by anyone else to gain access to areas restricted to registered users.
5. Disclaimer and limitation of liability
5.1 This information on the Website has been carefully prepared, but it has been written in general terms and should be seen as broad guidance only. The information cannot be relied upon to cover specific situations and you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon the information contained therein without obtaining specific professional advice. Please contact BDO Limited at privacy@bdo.com.hk to discuss these matters in the context of your particular circumstances. BDO Hong Kong, its directors, employees and agents do not accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone in reliance on the information on the Website or for any decision based on it.
5.2 The content of this Website is intended to provide general guidance on matters of interest and about the services provided by BDO Hong Kong. The content of this Website does not constitute, nor should it be relied upon as, professional advice. Please contact BDO Limited for advice on any particular area of interest.
5.3 In preparing and maintaining this Website every effort has been made to ensure the content is up to date and accurate. However, law and regulations change continually and unintentional errors can occur and the information may be neither up to date nor accurate. BDO Hong Kong makes no representation or warranty (including liability towards third parties), express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability or completeness of the information published on this Website.
5.4 We cannot guarantee that the Website is free from viruses or malicious codes. You agree that it is your responsibility to satisfy yourself that your own information technology/equipment used to access the Website is protected against such viruses and/or codes.
5.5 Except for death or personal injury caused by negligent acts or omissions, BDO Hong Kong accepts no liability for any loss or damage whatsoever (including but not limited to any indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or similar damages) arising as a result of any decision or action taken or refrained from as a result of information contained on the Website or other websites to which it may be linked, or as a result of your use or misuse of the Website.
5.6 Without prejudice to the generality of clause 3.4.4, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless BDO Hong Kong against any claim, liability, cost, damage, or loss we may incur (including without limitation legal fees) as a result of any violation by you of your obligations under these terms and conditions.
6. Third party websites
This Website contains links to websites maintained by parties other than BDO Hong Kong. These links are provided simply to increase the information available to you and we accept no responsibility or liability in respect of the accuracy, timeliness, suitability or lawfulness of the information contained on third party Websites. The inclusion of a link to a third party website does not constitute an endorsement or an indication of a joint venture, partnership or other legal arrangement not expressly stated between us and that third party.
7. Privacy policy
Please refer to the Website Privacy Statement (which can be found here: https://www.bdo.com.hk/privacy-statement) if you require information in regards to BDO Hong Kong's policies governing the collection and use of your personal information.
8. Severability
If any of these terms are determined to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by reason of the laws of any state or country in which these terms are intended to be effective, then to the extent and within the jurisdiction in which that term is illegal, it shall be severed and deleted from these terms and the remaining terms shall survive, remain in full force and effect and continue to be binding and enforceable.
9. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms and conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong. As this Website can be visited from locations around the world with different laws from those of Hong Kong, when you access the Website you agree that the laws of Hong Kong will apply to all matters relating to your use of the Website. You and we also agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Hong Kong courts with respect to such matters. Notwithstanding this, we reserve the right to bring enforcement proceedings in any court or courts including, if appropriate, in the courts of your country of residence.
Last Modified: 31 May 2018