Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy explains how The Takeover Appeal Board (“TAB”) uses the personal information that it collects or generates, both in relation to this website and in relation to the exercise of its regulatory functions.

The list below sets out what is covered in this Privacy Policy and you can click on the headings below to go to a specific section.

BACKGROUND
THE TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA
HOW AND WHY WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
HOW WE SAFEGUARD YOUR INFORMATION
HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA
YOUR RIGHTS
COOKIES NOTICE
QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS

BACKGROUND
1. The Takeover Appeal Board, whose address is 1 Angel Court, London, EC2R 7HJ collects and uses certain Personal Data (as defined in paragraph 1.4, below). TAB is responsible for ensuring that it uses Personal Data in compliance with data protection laws.
2. TAB respects your privacy and is committed to keeping all your Personal Data secure. This Privacy Policy governs the handling of Personal Data by TAB in the course of the exercise of its regulatory functions.
3. Certain of TAB’s administrative functions are handled on its behalf by the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (“the Panel”). The Panel’s Privacy Notice can be seen at http://www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk/the-panel-on-takeovers-and-mergers/privacy-policy
4. We use the following definitions in this Privacy Policy:
  - “Personal Data” means any data which relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data or from data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, TAB (or its representatives or service providers). In addition to factual information, it includes any expression of opinion about an individual and any indication of the intentions of TAB or any other person in respect of an individual.
THE TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA
1. When exercising its functions, operating its website (the “TAB Website”) and when carrying out its services generally, TAB will process the following categories of Personal Data about you:
  1. information that you provide to TAB. This includes information about you that you provide. Such information will include:
    1. basic Personal Data (such as first name and family name); as business-related personal information such as your job title and your business contact details (address, email, telephone); and
    2. Personal Data related to your professional life or financial or personal dealings (such as details of directorships, involvement in share transactions, shareholdings in companies, banking arrangements (including details of bank accounts and prime brokerage accounts), details of professional advisers, business associates, friends and family and general corporate activity/history).
  2. information collected or generated about you. This includes (by way of non-exhaustive list):
    1. information generated through your use of the TAB Website (e.g. any documents downloaded from the Website, searches made on the Website, etc.);
    2. information received or generated as a result of providing publications or other information to you; and
    3. information generated about you in the exercise of TAB’s regulatory functions, including during the course of appeals.
  3. information obtained from other sources. This may include:
    1. information obtained from public websites and other public sources;
    2. information received from your advisers or intermediaries, including bankers, stockbrokers and financial advisers, with respect to transactions that you have engaged in or which are related to you;
    3. information obtained from third parties such as Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, the London Stock Exchange and other financial information outlets;
    4. information from your business associates, friends and family;
    5. information obtained from employees of third party companies involved in your business transactions that fall within TAB’s regulatory scope; and
    6. information provided by other regulators, authorities and/or related third parties relating to activities falling within TAB’s regulatory functions.
  4. cookies
    1. When you visit the TAB Website, cookies are used to collect technical information about the services that you use, and how you use them.
    2. For more information on the cookies used by TAB please see paragraph 9 below.
HOW AND WHY YOUR INFORMATION IS USED
1. Your Personal Data may be stored and processed in the following ways and for the following purposes:
  1. to ensure that TAB can exercise its regulatory functions properly and efficiently under, amongst other things, the Companies Act 2006 and the Takeover Code;
  2. to conduct administrative tasks within TAB in aid of the exercise of our regulatory functions or otherwise administering our organisation;
  3. for record-keeping purposes required for TAB’s internal business administration;
  4. to communicate with you in order to provide you with information about TAB;
  5. for the management and administration of the organisation;
  6. for ongoing review and improvement of the operation of the TAB Website and information provided on the TAB Website to ensure that it is user-friendly and informative;
  7. in order to comply with, and to assess compliance with, applicable laws, rules and regulations, and internal policies and procedures; and/or
  8. for the administration and maintenance of databases storing Personal Data.
2. However Personal Data is used, the usage will comply with the law. The law allows and requires the use of Personal Data for a variety of reasons. For example:
  1. The discharge of legal and regulatory obligations;
  2. Fulfilment of tasks that are within the public interest or by virtue of official authority under relevant statutes, such as the Companies Act 2006;
  3. You may have given your consent to the use of your Personal Data;
  4. to establish, exercise or defend legal rights or for the purpose of legal proceedings; or
  5. the use of your Personal Data may be necessary for legitimate interests, such as:
    1. allowing the effective and efficient management and administration TAB’s operations; and
    2. maintaining compliance with internal policies and procedures
3. Personal Data will be accessed only by employees of TAB who have a need to do so for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
1. Your Personal Data may be shared within TAB.
2. Your Personal Data may also be shared outside of TAB to the following recipients for the following purposes:
  1. with parties connected with the exercise of relevant regulatory functions in order to perform such functions, such as other regulators or official bodies (both in the UK and overseas), the Takeover Panel and other third parties as required in the exercise of our regulatory functions;
  2. to the extent required by law or regulation, for example if there is a duty to disclose your Personal Data in order to comply with any legal obligation (including, without limitation, in order to comply with a duty to cooperate with other regulators), or to establish, exercise or defend legal rights.
HOW YOUR INFORMATION IS SAFEGUARDED
1. There are extensive controls in place to maintain the security of our information and information systems. Files are protected with safeguards according to the sensitivity of the relevant information. Appropriate controls (such as restricted access) are placed on computer systems. Physical access to areas where Personal Data is gathered, processed or stored is limited to authorised personnel.
HOW LONG YOUR PERSONAL DATA IS KEPT
1. How long your Personal Data is held will vary and will be determined by the following criteria:
  1. the purpose for which it is being used – TAB will need to keep the data for as long as is necessary for that purpose; and
  2. legal obligations – laws or regulation may set a minimum period for which your Personal Data should be kept.
YOUR RIGHTS
1. In all of the cases described in this Privacy Policy you may have the following rights and, in most cases, you can exercise them free of charge. These rights include:
  1. the right to obtain information regarding the processing of your Personal Data and access to the Personal Data which we hold about you;
  2. where you have given consent for any processing of your Personal Data, the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please note, however, that TAB may still be entitled to process your Personal Data if it has another legitimate reason for doing so;
  3. in some circumstances, the right to receive some Personal Data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or request that those data be transmitted to a third party where this is technically feasible. Please note that this right only applies to Personal Data which you have provided directly to TAB;
  4. the right to request rectification your Personal Data if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
  5. the right to request erasure your Personal Data in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be circumstances where TAB is legally entitled to retain it;
  6. the right to object to, or request the restriction of processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances. Again, there may be circumstances where you object to, or ask us to restrict, processing of your Personal Data but TAB is legally entitled to refuse that request; and
  7. the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner if you think that any of your rights have been infringed.
2. There may be limitations or exemptions applicable to the exercise of your rights.
3. You can exercise your rights by contacting TAB using the details listed in paragraph 9 below.

COOKIES NOTICE

This Cookies Notice provides you with information about the cookies used and why they are used. It should be read together with the Privacy Policy outlining practices regarding your Personal Data.
Cookies are small text files that are sent to and temporarily stored on your computer, smartphone or other device for accessing the internet whenever you visit a website.
Cookies for a variety of reasons, including:
1. to improve the functionality and performance of the TAB Website (including your user experience) and to make sure the Website performs as you expect it to;
2. to distinguish you from other users of the Website; and
3. to analyse how you use the Website.

We use the following types of cookies on the TAB Website:

COOKIES	DESCRIPTION	DURATION
Analytics and integrity cookies	These help the analysis of how you use the TAB Website and allow TAB to identify what you like and do not like. They also allow for site integrity. TAB use Google Analytics.	These cookies will remain until they are deleted.
Session cookies	These cookies are essential to ensure performance of the TAB Website. Session cookies are also used to display search queries.	These cookies will expire when you leave the Website.
Content Management System Cookies	These cookies remember selections or preferences that you have already made on the TAB Website through the software (WordPress) which displays website content.	These cookies typically expire after 1 year

Most of the cookies used do not save any information that can identify you as an individual. Instead, TAB receives general and anonymised information from these cookies regarding all users of the TAB Website.
If you do not consent to the use of cookies on the TAB Website you should change your internet browser’s settings to block cookies. For more information about how to disable cookies, visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
The browsers of most computers, smartphones and other web-enabled devices are typically set up to accept cookies. If you wish to amend your cookie preferences for the TAB Website, you can do this at any time and by changing your browser settings. Your browser’s ‘help’ function will tell you how to do this. You do not have to accept cookies. However, please note that cookies are often used to enable and improve certain functions on the Website. If you choose to block cookies through your browser settings, it is may affect how the Website works.

QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
1. If you have any questions or concerns about TAB’s handling of your Personal Data, or about either the Privacy Policy or the Cookies Notice, please contact our Privacy Officer using the following contact information:
  
  Address:
  
  The Takeover Appeal Board
  One Angel Court
  London
  EC2R 7HJ
  
  Email address:
  
  supportgroup@thetakeoverpanel.org.uk
2. TAB would always hope to be able to directly resolve any questions or concerns you may have around the use of your Personal Data. However, you do have the right to lodge a complaint with the applicable privacy regulator in your jurisdiction, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) whose website is www.ico.org.uk.