Policies

Privacy statement

When we engage you as a client we will collect[1] personal information[2] from you.

It may not be possible for us to carry out your engagement with us if you do not provide us with the personal information that we request from you, and any delay in providing this personal information may prevent us from starting your work.

We will treat all information we hold about you as private and confidential. We will not share any information we hold about you, unless:
(a) we are required to do so by law, in order to comply with our obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009, or under the Rules of Conduct and Client Care for Lawyers; or
(b) we need to, so that we can carry out our work for you; or
(c) you agree, or ask us to.

Despite this, we may give information to our bank, or the Inland Revenue or any overseas tax authority, if we believe we are obliged to do so.
By instructing us to act for you in accordance with these terms and conditions, you consent to our collecting, using, and disclosing your personal information for the following purposes:
(a) Comply with our legal obligations;
(b) Represent and advise you as our client or to represent and advise our client if you are a representative of the client;
(c) Manage any conflicts of interest;
(d) Facilitate internal business proceedings such as sending invoices or making payments to you or on your behalf;
(e) Make contact with you on future issues which may interest you which may include the sending of email updates, function invites, information about the services we offer or anything else we may consider relevant to you;
(f) Verify with third parties and third-party systems (including Government agencies such as NZ Transport Authority, Motor Vehicle Register and the Personal Properties Securities Register) any information that you give us including any information we may collect from other sources about you;
(g) Debt recovery, including appointing an agent to collect any outstanding debts and listing defaults with a credit reporting agency;
(h) Verify with third parties and third-party systems, in order to comply with our obligations in relation to fraud prevention and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Act 2009, any information that you have given us including any information we may collect from other sources.

If you have given us your driver licence information, this information may also be disclosed to a credit reporting agency and/or the Ministry of Justice when carrying out any of the activities listed in the previous clause.

If we disclose any of your personal information to a credit reporting agency, that agency may hold your information on their credit reporting database and use it for credit reporting services and for any other lawful purpose. They may also disclose your information to their subscribers for the purpose of credit checking or debt collection or any other lawful purpose.

Subject to the above, confidential information concerning you will as far as practicable be made available only to those in the firm providing legal services to you.

We will not disclose to you confidential information which we have in relation to any other client.

You have a right to access and correct any personal information we hold about you. If you would like to access your information or have any questions regarding our privacy policy then please email office@trustlaw.co.nz or call +64-4-498 8500.
You may also contact:
(a) Office of the Privacy Commissioner (New Zealand): – P O Box 10094, Wellington 6143 | 0800 803 909 | www.privacy.org.nz
(b) Office of the Australian Information Commissioner: – GPO Box 5218, Sydney, NSW 2001 | +61-1300 363 992 | www.oaic.gov.au

Further information
If we ask you to do so at any time, you will give us any further information we believe is required so that we can:
(a) give you full advice and carry out your instructions; or
(b) meet our obligations to provide information to our bank or any government body in New Zealand or overseas.
We may refuse to act for you (or to continue to act) if you do not provide this information when requested.
This information may, among other things, include:
(a) certified copies of identity documents such as a passport or drivers licence;
(b) confirmation of where funds have come from; and
(c) deeds and other relevant documents.

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[1] We may collect this information from you directly, but may also collect personal information from publicly available sources or external third-party systems and providers.
[2] Personal information means identifiable information about a person and may include, name, address, contact number, email address, billing information and any communication information you provide to us through our website or social media accounts, photo identification that identifies your nationality, date of birth, occupation as well as documentation that identifies your New Zealand residency status (e.g. visa or citizenship status), your criminal history, financial related information (e.g. tax details, bank details, assets and liabilities) or any other information that may be required to carry out your engagement. If you are an organisation this may include holding information about your personnel and organisation structure.

COVID-19

If you are at all unwell, we ask you to avoid entering our office, and instead arrange to meet through remote means, whether via Teams, Zoom, telephone, or email.

Opening hours

Our standard hours are 8:30-5pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30-4.30pm on Fridays.

AML

Lawyers are required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. Please understand that, like banks and other financial institutions, we need to establish the identities of those we deal with in accordance with the Act and, where a trust or company is involved, we will need to understand that entity’s source of wealth and/or funds.

Email policy

The information contained in our emails is privileged and confidential and intended for the addressee only. If you receive an email from us and you are not the intended recipient you are asked to respect that confidentiality and not disclose, copy, or make use of its contents. If received in error, you are asked to destroy the email and contact the sender immediately.  Your assistance is appreciated.

Unless otherwise stated, nothing in any email we send designates an information system for the purposes of s 11(a) of the New Zealand Electronic Transactions Act 2002.