The School of International Financial Services MENA FZE (SIFS ) General Terms & Conditions

General Terms & Conditions

DEFINITIONS

SIFS: The School of International Financial Services MENA FZE.

Agreement: the Booking Details and these Terms and Conditions.

Booking Details: details of Course(s) can be found on the SIFS website at www.sifs-mena.ae and the booking of a Course(s) via the platform on the website constitutes the Booking Details.

Classroom Course: A course held face to face in person and includes a conference event organised by SIFS.

Course(s): the course(s) identified in the Booking Details and applies to both Classroom Course(s) and Online Courses(s).

Customer: the individual identified on the Booking Details as the “Delegate” or the “Student”.

Customer Employer: the employer of a Customer, as identified in the Booking Details, who has agreed in advance with the Customer to pay the Fees.

Data Protection Legislation: the Federal Decree-Law No. 45/2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (as amended or updated from time to time or any successor legislation applicable in the United Arab Emirates).

Fees: the fees payable by the Customer or Customer Employer, as set out in the Booking Details for any Course.

Online Course: A Course provided digitally and not in person.

1. PARTIES AND APPLICATION

1.1 Under and subject to this Agreement, tuition on the Course and any study materials shall be provided by SIFS.

1.2 Where a Customer Employer is sponsoring the Fees for the tuition, SIFS will not be obliged to supply tuition or study materials, until such time as that Customer Employer has paid the Fees in full.

1.3 By applying for tuition, the Customer agrees to be bound by this Agreement.

1.4 Where a Customer Employer completes and submits the Booking Details on behalf of the Customer, the Customer Employer agrees to be bound by the terms of this Agreement and to be responsible for any Fees incurred (where applicable).

2. PAYMENT TERMS & DISCOUNTS

2.1 Full payment of the Fees is due within 14 days from the date of the invoice.

2.2 SIFS reserves the right to:

• charge late payment interest on any outstanding Fees, at a rate of 5% above the Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates base rate; and

• recover any reasonable debt collection costs in connection with this Agreement.

2.3 Where a Customer Employer completes and submits the Booking Details on behalf of the Customer, the Customer Employer is liable for all unpaid Fees. Where the Customer completes and submits the Booking Details and chooses to invoice a Customer Employer for payment of the Fees, the Customer and Customer Employer are joint and severally liable for all unpaid Fees. In the event that a Customer submits Booking Details and chooses for the Customer Employer to be invoiced but without the prior approval of payment of the Fees by the Customer Employer, then the Customer remains individually liable for the Fees should the Customer Employer refuse to pay the Fees.

2.4 In the event that several discounts may apply to a Course, the Customer shall be entitled only to one discount, at SIFS discretion.

3. STUDY MATERIALS

3.1 Any study materials supplied to the Customer are provided by SIFS with intellectual property remaining the property of SIFS.

4. COURSES

**Classroom Courses Only **

4.1 Customers attending a Classroom Course shall be provided with SIFS study materials either in person or digitally.

4.2 SIFS reserves the right to cancel, reschedule, or change the location of a Classroom Course, tutor/speaker or course title, if in the opinion of SIFS, such an action is necessary. In certain circumstances, a digital alternative to physical attendance at a Classroom Course may be offered. SIFS will notify the Customer as soon as any such change is made. In such circumstances, the Customer has the option to:

(a) transfer to the same course at a later calendar date (subject to availability and the approval of the Customer Employer where applicable);

(b) transfer to an alternative course date (subject to availability and the approval of the Customer Employer where applicable). Where the price of the alternative course is higher, SIFS will invoice the difference due; or

(c) receive (or the Customer Employer receive where applicable) a credit note for the Fees paid.

4.3 Customers may cancel a classroom Course provided that at least 30 days’ notice is given to SIFS prior to the start date of the Classroom Course and a refund of the Fees will be given (less a deduction for study materials and a cancellation fee of AED 450). For cancellations notified less than 14 days prior to the start date of the Classroom Course, no refunds will be given.

4.4 Subject to availability and provided full payment has been received, if SIFS is informed at least 14 working days prior to the Classroom Course start date, it may be possible to transfer to a different Classroom Course of the same value, for which a course transfer fee of AED 115 will be charged. Such transfer may also give rise to an additional charge by SIFS for replacement study materials.

4.5 Where the cost of the cancelled Classroom Course is less than AED450, no refund will be payable by SIFS and no administration or cancellation fee in excess of the Fees will be payable by you.

4.6 Where SIFS issues the Customer (or the Customer Employer) with a credit note, that credit note will be valid for 12 months from the date of its issue. Any credit note not used within 12 months will be written off and no alternative will be offered.

4.7 In the event that SIFS are forced for reasons beyond their control to cancel a Classroom Course, then either a credit note or ticket to a rescheduled event will be provided but a refund will not be given.

4.8 Personal possessions are the sole responsibility of the Customer, and SIFS do not accept any responsibility for anything that is lost or stolen from their premises or premises used to provide Classroom Course(s). Customers are advised to keep valuables with them at all times.

Online Courses Only

Some of the Online Courses provided are live events and are to be attended at the date and time set by SIFS. Tickets for Online Courses are for single Customer use and are not, without the advance permission of SIFS, to be streamed by the Customer or Customer Employer to others, including internally within the Customer Employer’s organisation.

Some of the Online Courses are recorded and some are not, this is largely dependent on speaker preference. There is no guarantee that a recording of an Online Course will be available. It is within SIFS absolute discretion to determine whether to make available a recording and SIFS will only actively consider doing so if sufficient evidence of technical issues in attending the relevant Online Course is provided. Any such request should, in any event, be made within 30 days of the Online Course date. Any recording that is provided is for the sole use of the Customer and is not to be otherwise shared, including internally within the Customer Employer’s organisation.

At the time of publishing, the software utilised for Online Courses is MS TEAMS with a capacity per webinar of 10,000 attendees. This may, however, be subject to change. In the event that capacity for an Online Course is reached and access to a course cannot be achieved on a given date, then one of the following will happen:

If a recording is available, that recording shall be made accessible for 30 days after the Online Course date; or

If no recording is available then SIFS shall use best endeavours to try and find a suitable similar Online Course as a replacement.

The Customer Employer is solely responsible for ensuring that its computer systems meet all relevant technical requirements to enable attendance at Online Courses.

The Customer Employer and the Customer shall not record any Online Course and no copies of recordings are to be stored digitally or otherwise. Access to recorded copies shall only be available via SIFS.

If a Customer is unable to attend an Online Course for any reason this is not the responsibility of SIFS and no replacements shall be provided.

Whilst SIFS uses its best endeavours to deliver its Online Courses, there may on occasion be the need to change a particular speaker, date or topic.

Customers may cancel an Online Course provided that at least 14 days’ notice is given to SIFS prior to the start date of the Online Course and a refund of the Fees will be given (less a deduction for study materials and a cancellation fee of AED450). For cancellations notified less than 14 days prior to the start date of the Course, no refunds will be given.

Where the cost of the cancelled Online Course is less than AED450 no refund will be payable by SIFS and no administration or cancellation fee more than the Fees will be payable.

Where SIFS issues the Customer (or the Customer Employer) with a credit note, that credit note will be valid for 12 months from the date of its issue. Any credit notes not used within 12 months will be written off and no alternative will be offered.

If SIFS are forced for reasons beyond their control to cancel an Online Course, then either a credit note or re-booking to a rescheduled date will be provided but a refund will not be given.

5. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

5.1 SIFS grants the Customer a non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use SIFS products supplied to that Customer under the terms of this Agreement.

5.2 The licence in clause 5.1 automatically terminates upon termination of this Agreement for whatever reason.

5.3 The Customer warrants that they shall only use SIFS products for their own educational purposes and shall not, without SIFS prior written consent, copy, make available, retransmit, reproduce, sell, disseminate, licence, distribute, publish, broadcast or otherwise circulate SIFS products (or any part of them) to any person other than in accordance with this Agreement. In certain scenarios the intellectual property attaching to materials provided remains with a third party-tutor and this warranty extends to the use of such material.

5.4 The Customer shall fully indemnify SIFS in respect of any infringement of any intellectual property rights arising as a result of their use of SIFS products in breach of this Agreement.

6. CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR OTHER CONTACT DETAILS

6.1 Each Customer must notify SIFS in writing of any change in their contact details or employment details, in particular including the email address specified on the Booking Details and telephone number.

7. NOTICES

7.1 Any notices required to be served by SIFS under this Agreement will be deemed properly served if sent via prepaid postage to the postal address, or emailed to the email address (at SIFS discretion) provided by the Customer on the Booking Details.

8. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

8.1 The liability of SIFS for direct losses arising out of their negligence (other than in respect of liability for death or personal injury), breach of contract or any other cause of action arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be limited to the cash receipts from the Customer (or Employer) for the Fees. This includes liability attached to any premises that SIFS uses for the delivery of Classroom Course(s).

SIFS shall not be liable for any indirect or consequential loss whether arising from negligence, breach of contract or otherwise.

Courses are often delivered by individual trainers outside of SIFS. As such, any opinions or expressions are those of the trainer and not of SIFS. Any opinions, expressions or materials provided do not constitute legal advice. Although reasonable care is taken to ensure the accuracy of information contained in Courses, no warranty is given for the accuracy of the information included and SIFS shall not be liable for any loss or damage in connection with the use of information from Courses.

If a Classroom Course takes place in third-party premises then any liability arising out of those premises, is the liability of the premises not SIFS. If third-party supplier equipment results in injury in any form, liability rests with that third party supplier and not SIFS.

9. WARRANTY

9.1 SIFS warrants that study materials will be of satisfactory quality but does not warrant that study materials will be error free.

9.2 SIFS warrants that it will perform any services under this Agreement with reasonable skill and care.

9.3 These warranties are provided in lieu of all other warranties express or implied which are hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.

10. DATA PROTECTION

10.1 The Customer (and the Customer Employer where applicable) agree that, as provided in the Booking Details, personal data collected for the purposes of this Agreement will be shared with SIFS and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Legislation and privacy policy (available at www.sifs-mena.ae/w/privacypolicy/).

10.2 In addition, the Customer agrees that, where the Course has been paid for by a Customer Employer, SIFS may share information regarding the Customer’s attendance and performance with the Customer Employer and acknowledges that their personal information will form part of the Booking Details.

11. CPD ACCREDITATION

11.1 CPD certificates will be awarded to attendees based on their information provided at the point of signing into any Course. The Customer must sign in using the same name they registered with. 

11.2 For Online Courses, CPD will be awarded only to Customers who have attended the full session of the relevant Online Course. SIFS will usually organise a register before and at the end of the session to verify this or include a poll question part way through the seminar, which it is compulsory to answer to acknowledge attendance.

11.3 SIFS awards CPD for its Courses but it is incumbent on the Customer or Customer Employer to ensure that the Course and CPD certificate meets with the needs of their organisation, regulator and/or professional bodies requiring CPD.

11.4 SIFS takes no liability of CPD is rejected by a Customer’s organisation, regulator and or professional body requiring CPD, after the point of purchase.

12. VALIDITY

12.1 If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable by any tribunal of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions shall not be affected and shall be carried out as closely as possible according to the original intent.

12.2 In the event of any inconsistency between the Terms and Conditions on SIFS website and those contained in the Booking Details, the Booking Details shall take precedence.

13. GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

13.1 This Agreement and any non-contractual matters arising out of it shall be governed by the laws of Jersey. The parties to this Agreement irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts for the determination of disputes arising out of and/or under this Agreement.

Effective from October 2023