Conflicts of Interest Policy Disclosure Statement 2020

Conflicts of Interest Policy Disclosure Statement

1. Purpose

Under the FCA’s Rules and MiFID 11, JVA is required to take all reasonable steps to identify and manage conflicts of interest between:

  • JVA (including for these purposes employees “Staff”) and a client; or
  • one client and another client.

JVA has a Conflicts of Interest Policy (“Policy”) which sets out the organisational and administrative arrangements to prevent conflicts of interest from constituting or giving rise to a material risk of damage to the interests of its clients. This Conflicts of Interest Policy Disclosure Statement (“Disclosure Statement”) is intended to provide you with information about the Policy.

2. Scope of Application

JVA’s duty to identify and manage conflicts of interest applies with respect to all clients when carrying out regulated activities or ancillary services for clients.

3. Identification of Conflicts

JVA have identified and documented the key actual or potential conflicts of interest JVA face in its day to day business and how these are controlled. These are reviewed periodically and updated when a new actual or potential conflict of interest is identified. The Policy is made available to all Staff to ensure that they are aware of how JVA deals with relevant actual or potential conflicts of interest.

For the purposes of identifying actual or potential conflicts of interest, JVA considers whether it or its Staff:

  • is likely to make a financial gain, or avoid a financial loss, at the expense of a client;
  • has an interest in the outcome of a service provided to the client or transaction carried out on behalf of a client, which is distinct from the client’s interest in that outcome;
  • has an incentive to favour the interest of another client or group of clients over the interests of a client;
  • carries on the same business as a client;
  • receives or will receive from a person other than the client an inducement in relation to a service provided to the client, in the form of remuneration, goods or services, that is not the standard commission or fee for that service;
  • has made a trading error;
  • personal account dealing.

4. Conflict Avoidance

Where an actual or potential conflict of interest is identified, JVA seeks to organise its business activities in a manner which avoids such a conflict. This may include considering the appropriateness of external relationships.

5. Conflict Management

Where an actual or potential conflict of interest is unavoidable, JVA seeks to identify them in advance and provide for their mitigation and management. These management arrangements will be designed to ensure JVA or its Staff are not advantaged, and that no client is disadvantaged.

6. Conflicts Disclosure

Where JVA is not reasonably confident that JVA is able to manage an actual or potential conflict of interest to adequately protect the interest of a client, JVA will clearly disclose the general nature and/or sources of the actual or potential conflict of interest to the client before undertaking any business

The disclosure will be in writing and provide sufficient details, taking into account the nature of the client, to enable that client to make an informed decision with respect to the service in the context of which the conflict of interest arises.

7. Conflict Monitoring

JVA has procedures and controls to detect actual or potential conflict of interest situations as they arise, and the Compliance Officer updates the Policy accordingly. Once actual or potential conflicts of interest have been identified, JVA has further procedures and controls to monitor its management arrangements of such conflicts.

8. Education and Awareness

All Staff receive a copy of the Policy and JVA’s compliance manual. In addition, all Staff are required to adhere to JVA’s compliance procedures, including procedures for personal account dealing and receipt of gifts and inducements.

In addition, all Staff receive both formal and informal training in respect of conflicts of interest generally, and on specific or potential conflicts relating to JVA or them individually.

9. Summary of Policy

High Level Procedures and Policies: All Staff are trained in the requirements set out in the Policy and are required to report any actual or potential conflicts of interests which are not already referred to in the Policy they identify to the Compliance Officer. Conflicts of interest are managed by the Compliance Officer on an on-going basis.

The Compliance Officer maintains a Conflict register which is regularly updated.

Lines of business: JVA’s services are broking and JVA does not issue investment research or Proprietary trade.

Recruitment of personnel: JVA undertakes pre-employment screening to ensure that Staff are fit and proper and appropriately qualified. Staff are required to disclose any outside business interests they may have both before and during their employment.

Supervision of personnel: All Staff are appropriately supervised by JVA’s CEO.

Personal Account Dealing: Staff are not permitted to trade futures and options on their own account

Gifts and Entertainment: JVA’s gifts and entertainment policy is for Staff to declare all gifts and entertainment received to the Compliance Officer and ensure that staff act with integrity and pay due regard to customers’ interests when giving or accepting gifts or entertainment.

Confidentiality: JVA have a strict client confidentiality policy to ensure that all information relating to clients is retained within JVA and treated as confidential information. Confidential information is only disclosed to those entitled to receive it. Staff are prohibited from using any such confidential information for their own interests.

Disclosure of conflicts to you: As a last resort, where there is no other means of managing the conflict or where the measures in place do not, in JVA’s view, sufficiently protect your interests, the conflict of interest will be disclosed to you or JVA will decline to act for you. Such disclosure:

  • will be made in writing; and
  • will contain sufficient detail to allow you to make an informed decision with respect to the service
    to be performed and in the context of which the conflict of interest arises.

10. Status of this disclosure

This Disclosure Statement is provided to you is for information only and is not intended to be contractually binding or impose or seek to impose any obligations on us which JVA would not otherwise have under the FCA Rules or any client terms of business or agreement.

11. Further information

If you require further information about JVA’s Conflicts of Interest Policy, please contact JVA’s Compliance Officer.