MSC Group – Help Centre

1.1. Introduction and overview

In this Privacy Policy, “we”, “our” and “us” refer to Melbourne Securities Corporation Limited and related entities listed in section 1.2 below.

This privacy policy outlines how we collect, hold, use, manage and disclose your Personal Information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Personal Information is defined in the Privacy Act and includes information or an opinion about you from which you are reasonably identifiable.

1.2. Scope

This policy is applicable to the entities listed below:

We collect Personal Information in order to provide, manage, and/or administer our financial products and related services, including for the purposes of complying with our legal obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 or otherwise as required by law.

We may not be able to provide you with services if we do not collect this Personal Information from you.

2.1. What Personal Information do we collect?

We will only collect, use, hold and disclose your Personal Information in accordance with the APPs for the purposes set out below.

The following are examples of Personal Information that we routinely collect:

• Identification and contact information – name, date of birth, current or previous address, driver’s licence number;
• Employment details, such as information relating to your remuneration, superannuation contributions and employment status;
• Accounting records;
• Tax File Number and taxation records;
• Statements of financial position regarding assets and liabilities;
• Nominated beneficiaries of a superannuation fund;
• Attitudes to investment risks;
• Information on family members and partners, e.g., details of next of kin, family details; and
• Details relating to some related personal interests, e.g., charitable interests.

If we provide a credit service to you, we may also collect and hold the following credit information:

• Identification and contact information – name, date of birth, current or previous address, driver’s licence number;
• Type and amount of credit sought;
• Trade references – the name of the entity, ABN, contact name, telephone number, fax number, email, years of trading with you;
• Publicly available information about an individual’s creditworthiness;
• Consumer credit liability information – name of credit provider, type of consumer credit, details of the consumer credit provided;
• Default information;
• Repayment history information; and
• Payment information about an overdue payment.

Generally, we will not collect sensitive information about you, such as your race, political beliefs, religious beliefs, or sexual orientation. However, with your consent, we may collect information about your health, financial hardship, or criminal record in order to provide you with or make applications for our products or services.

2.2. How do we collect your information?

We may collect information directly from you or a third party (with your consent). This may include collecting Personal Information from:

• Your financial adviser or authorised representative;
• Your solicitor or power of attorney;
• A credit reporting body or agency;
• Corporate clients for which you are associated; and
• Service providers engaged by MSC – such as fund or investment managers, custodians, registry providers, and fund administrators.

When you visit our website or websites associated with MSC products and services, we may record information about your visit for statistical purposes. This information will be collected as aggregated data, and the user will remain anonymous. We do not attempt to identify users of our websites except when we specifically ask for Personal Information, which includes online banking and online services provided to our business partners.

2.3. Cookies

Cookies are pieces of data, typically a string of text containing information about the user. When visiting our websites, we may use cookies, Google Analytics and other analytics tools to identify you, your browser or other information about you while using our site. These cookies may be permanently stored on a computer or are temporary session cookies. They are used for various purposes, including security, marketing and personalisation of services. The following is information that may be collected from a user when visiting our website:

• Server address;
• Top-level domain name;
• Date and time of the visit to the site;
• The pages accessed;
• The previous site was visited; and
• Type of browser being used.

Cookies are frequently used on websites, and users may choose whether and how to accept them by configuring their preferences and options in their browser. All browsers allow you to be notified when you receive a cookie, and you may elect to accept it. If you wish to avoid accepting a cookie, this may impact the website’s effectiveness.

2.4. Anonymity

The Privacy Act allows you to remain anonymous or use a pseudonym in your dealings with MSC. For example, you may keep your name or contact details private if enquiring about a product or service.

However, this option will not be available to you where it is impractical for us to provide a service or product without verifying your identity.

2.5. Unsolicited Information

There may be instances where MSC receives that it has not requested. If this occurs, we may be permitted to record or use this information if the information could have been collected through the ordinary course of our business. However, if the information is not collected through the ordinary course of our business, we will destroy or de-identify any information.

We may collect, hold or use your Personal Information to:

• Provide you with financial products and services;
• Assist you with your queries or concerns;
• Perform our necessary business functions (such as internal audit investigations, performance reporting, research, recruitment, product development and planning); or
• Perform our contracted role when MSC is an agent for another product issuer or service provider.

We may also collect, hold, use or disclose your Personal Information to:

• Consider any concern or complaint that you raise against MSC and manage any legal action between you and MSC;
• Prevent or investigate any actual or suspected fraud, unlawful activity or misconduct;
• Identify you or establish your tax status under any Australian or foreign legislation; or
• Comply with relevant laws, regulations, codes of practice and court orders.

Personal information collected about you may be used by companies associated with MSC, including companies in Singapore, but only if this is necessary in order for us to provide you with our products or services.

4.1. Disclosure to Third Parties 

In certain circumstances, we may disclose your information to third parties who assist in providing, managing, and administering our goods and services. Their privacy policy will deal with information provided to third parties. People we may disclose your information to include:

• Mailing houses, printing companies, marketing agencies, and digital agencies;
• Investment managers, custodians, registry providers, and fund administrators;
• Auditors, solicitors, insurance providers, and brokers;
• Website hosts, software application providers, or third-party consultants;
• Organisations listed as trade references in a credit application;
• Your nominated representatives (e.g., financial advisers) and their respective service providers;
• Third parties providing goods and services to or through us.

If we are replaced as a product or service provider or our business is reorganised, merged or transferred, your Personal Information may be disclosed to the new entity or third party to ensure continuity of services.

We may also disclose information to law enforcement agencies, courts, or government agencies when necessary to comply with specific legal requirements. If necessary, we may share information with companies associated with us, including those in Australia and Singapore, to provide our products and services.

4.2. Disclosure of Personal Information to Overseas Recipients

We may need to share some of your information, including credit information, with staff in our offices located in Malaysia or Singapore or other organisations outside of Australia. We may also store your information in networked or electronic systems, such as the cloud, which may be accessed from various countries. If your information is stored in the cloud, disclosures may occur in countries other than Australia, and we remain legally responsible for any data losses or breaches.

We will not disclose information to an overseas recipient unless:

• Reasonable steps have been taken to ensure the overseas recipient complies with the Australian Privacy Principles;
• We have obtained consent from you; and
• The disclosure is required or permitted by law.

4.3. Data Handling Assurance

Where we disclose your information to service providers, steps will be taken to ensure they are authorised to use Personal Information only for the required functions. MSC will never sell, rent, or trade your Personal Information with third parties.

We will only disclose your Personal Information, including government-related identifiers, to a third party if:

• You have provided consent for the disclosure;
• The disclosure relates to the purpose for which the information was collected;
• It is required by law or an Australian court or tribunal order;
• Exceptional circumstances apply, such as imminent risk to health or criminal activity.

For example, Personal Information may be provided to a third-party broker to execute a trade for a client’s portfolio, provided the disclosure is relevant to the service provision.

MSC has implemented systems to ensure Personal Information is protected. MSC processes and measures to protect against unauthorised use or disclosure of Personal Information include:

• Secure computer storage facilities (both in-house and at our service providers) on paper-based files, as well as in other formats;
• Control of database access;
• Third-party agreements reflect privacy law obligations;
• Technical security measures such as secure authentication, password controls, encryption, firewalls and anti-virus technology; and
• Destruction of Personal Information after it is no longer required (typically seven years after ceasing to provide financial or designated services to you).

Subject to certain exceptions, you have a right to access to the Personal Information we hold about you and, if necessary, seek correction of Personal Information that we hold about you that you may believe is inaccurate, incomplete or outdated.

Requests to access, correct, or update the Personal Information collected should be addressed to the Privacy Officer, as detailed in section 8 of this Privacy Policy.

We will first take all reasonable steps to verify your identity or determine whether you act as an authorised agent of the respective individual. MSC will respond to the request within a reasonable time after it is made. If the request is accepted, MSC will provide access to or correct the Personal Information as requested.

If you reside in a country that is a member of the European Economic Area (the EU and Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland), in addition to the protection you receive under the Privacy Act, you are entitled to other protections provided by the GDPR, including, in certain circumstances, the right to:

• have your Personal Information erased;
• access your Personal Information in an electronic and portable format; and
• restrict or object to the processing of your Personal Information.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, if you wish to complain about how we handled Personal Information about you, or if you want to access or correct your Personal Information, please contact:

• Phone: 1300 798 790
• Email: enquiries@msc.group
• Post: Privacy Officer
  Melbourne Securities Corporation Ltd
  Level 2, 395 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

We may ask you to place your concerns in writing in order for us to fully understand and investigate the issues you have raised.  We will make every effort to resolve your issue within a reasonable time of us being notified.

If a complaint remains unresolved, you may contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA):

• Online: www.afca.org.au
• Phone: 1800 931 678
• Email: info@afca.org.au
• Post: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

You may also apply to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) to have the complaint heard and determined:

• Online: www.oaic.gov.au
• Phone: 1300 363 992
• Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
• Post: GPO Box 5218, Sydney NSW 2001

We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices relating to the collection and management of Personal Information or legislative changes. Those changes will take effect upon them being published on our website. By continuing to use our services, website or provide us with Personal Information, you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy.