Terms of Business

We arrange investment related transactions on an execution-only basis or direct offer basis. We don’t give financial advice, neither before nor after a transaction has been arranged. If you are unsure whether an investment is suitable for you, you should seek independent financial advice from a suitably qualified professional.
CommShare doesn’t handle client money. You never pay investment monies to us and we never hold investment monies for you. We never handle cash and only accept payments from you that relate to our fees, if applicable.
We will arrange for all of your investments to be registered in your name unless you instruct us otherwise in writing beforehand. We will forward documents of title to investments to you as soon as is practicable after we receive them. Where there are a number of documents relating to a series of transactions, we will normally hold the documents until the series is complete and then forward them to you.
Occasions can arise where we or one of our other customers will have some form of interest in business that we arrange for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other customers conflict with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions.
We cannot be held liable for the suitability of any product, service or advice that you have previously received from another company.
We may contact you by telephone during normal business hours in order to discuss your current investments.
We usually require written instructions to avoid possible disputes. We will however accept spoken instructions if they are recorded or subsequently confirmed in writing.
You or your appointed agent have the right to inspect copies of contract notes, vouchers and entries in books or computerised records relating to your transactions. Records of business transactions are kept for at least six years.
You will be told the amount of commission or any other form of benefit we receive from the issuer of a security or from another intermediary.
When you instruct us to arrange an investment we reinvest or rebate part or all of our initial commission for your benefit. As a general rule, if we’re entitled to renewal (trail) commission we give up all of our initial commission, otherwise we give up half of our initial commission. If this isn’t the case e.g. you negotiate better terms for a larger investment, or we arrange your investment in response to certain direct offer promotions you will be informed of the terms before you invest.
Cash Account. We maintain a cash account for you. We use your cash account to credit cash rebates of initial commission, Annual Cashbacks and other cash incentives offered by us or product providers from time to time. We also use your cash account to debit fees or charges that have been agreed with you. Your cash account is available to view online. Paper statements can be sent on request, but incur a £10 administration charge.
11.1. Your cash account is not client money in the sense referred to in paragraph 2 above. It will never be used to handle your investment monies.

11.2. Payments from your cash account will only be made by direct credit to a bank account of your choice. Payments will automatically be made by the last working day of each month if there is a credit balance of £10.00 or more. Payments by direct credit will usually reach your bank account within 3 working days.

11.3. Any cash account balance of £10 or less remains our property.

11.4. Interest will not be added to cash account balances.

11.5. Direct credits returned to us for any reason will be re-credited to your cash account, subject to a £10 administration charge.

11.6. We reserve the right to invoice you directly if there is a debit balance on your cash account. Invoices are payable within fourteen days of the invoice date.

11.7. In the event that we invoice you directly, we reserve the right to charge interest at the rate of 3% above Bank of England Base Rate for the duration after the due date.
Annual Cashbacks. These are payments based on the amount of renewal commission we receive from your investments during a year and are payable if you continue to hold a minimum level of investments with us as your servicing agent. We often refer to Annual Cashbacks as your share of renewal commission.
12.1. Annual Cashback calculations are based on renewal commission received from your investments during a 12 month period ending on your Annual Cashback date.

12.2. Your Annual Cashback date is one of 31 March, 30 June, 30 September or 31 December. It depends on the quarter that we first enter your details into our administration system. For example, if we enter your details on 22 February, your Annual Cashback date is the next quarter end date i.e. 31 March.

12.3. Although Annual Cashbacks are based on renewal commission received from your investments, renewal commission always remains CommShare’s property.

12.4. Annual Cashbacks become payable as follows:
12.5. We reserve the right to change the basis of the calculation, including dates, amounts or percentages with 14 days notice.

12.6. We may at our discretion and with permission (if required) transfer renewal commission from one client to another for the purpose of calculating an Annual Cashback.

12.7. Interest will not be added to renewal commission before Annual Cashbacks are calculated. Interest will not be added to any Annual Cashback.

12.8. Under current HMRC regulations, Annual Cashbacks, except perhaps where they relate to pensions renewal commission are not liable to tax. We don’t believe that Annual Cashbacks relating to pensions are subject to tax, but the situation is not clear. This is our understanding based on current HMRC regulations and guidelines, but may be subject to change at any time. We cannot be held liable for any tax that may become due on Annual Cashbacks.
SIPPs and Unit Trust/OEIC based personal pensions. We prefer not to offer Annual Cashbacks on pension products because HMRC rules and guidelines are unclear with regard to the consequences and tax position. Instead, we usually arrange for renewal commission to be retained in your pension plan for your benefit. Depending on the product provider, we keep the first 0.25% p.a. renewal commission or charge a fee of 0.25% p.a. of the value of your pension and arrange for all renewal commission to be retained in your pension plan. These are broadly equivalent and approximately the same value as Annual Cashbacks. If neither of these options is possible, we’ll include renewal commission in your Annual Cashbacks, but please note 12.8 above.
Stakeholder pensions. We prefer not to offer Annual Cashbacks on pension products because HMRC rules and guidelines are unclear with regard to the consequences and tax position. Instead we arrange to receive 0.2% p.a. renewal commission from stakeholder pension providers. This commission is less than generally available and usually results in a lower annual management charge for your pension fund. If this isn’t possible, we’ll include renewal commission in your Annual Cashbacks, but please note 12.8 above.
We may charge fees for our services. These fees will be agreed with you in advance. Fees may be deducted by product providers from your investments and paid to us. Alternatively, we may debit fees to your cash account and invoice you directly.
We maintain professional indemnity insurance.
We will hold information about you in computer and/or in paper files. This information will be used to administer your application, to deal with queries and to bring to your attention additional services and products that may be of benefit to you. The information that you give us may be disclosed to third parties, such as product providers and credit reference agencies for the purpose of processing your application, to our Regulators, the Financial Services Authority, and to our Compliance Advisers. It will also enable further services to be provided to you, and so that your details can be best matched with the services available. You may ask CommShare not to contact you about additional services and products in writing. In the course of providing services we will not be acting contractually for you.
We are legally obliged to verify your identity for certain transactions. We will attempt to do so using a verification agency, such as Experian. Occasionally, we will require proof of identity and address. For example, original or certified copies of a Passport or Driving Licence and Utility bills. We will write to you if we need these. We cannot be held liable for any loss that might arise as a result of delay or failure to carry out an instruction where our identity verification requirements have not been satisfied.
We aim to offer a friendly, efficient and professional service at all times. If you do have cause for complaint, we have a Complaints Handling document that is available on request. If we are unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you will be given the opportunity to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
As a result of the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive we will treat you as a Retail Client unless agreed with you otherwise. Retail clients have the highest level of protections under the new regime.
You or we may terminate our authority to act on your behalf, at any time, without penalty. Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect immediately upon receipt of the notice. Termination will not prejudice the completion of transactions already initiated on your behalf or any rights or obligations already arising.
These are our standard terms upon which we intend to rely. For your own benefit and protection you should read these terms carefully. If you do not understand any point please ask for further information.