This Confirmation is provided by {{$company_name}} (Business Registration Number: {{$br_no}}) (“Data Owner”).
1. The Data Owner understands that the Sustainability Disclosure e-Portal (“Portal”) aims to facilitate the sharing of climate-related data of non-listed companies and small and medium-sized enterprises to financial institutions for risk assessment and relevant business decisions. The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross Agency Steering Group (“Steering Group”) is responsible for administering the Portal, including but not limited to processing account registration and supporting ongoing maintenance and enhancements of the Portal. The Steering Group comprises the Monetary Authority appointed pursuant to section 5A of the Exchange Fund Ordinance (Chapter 66 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“HKMA”), the Securities and Futures Commission referred to in section 3(1) of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong), the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council referred to in section 6(1) of the Accounting and Financial Reporting Council Ordinance (Chapter 588 of the Laws of Hong Kong) , the Environment and Ecology Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China (“HKSARG”), the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau of the HKSARG, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited, the Insurance Authority established under section 4AAA of the Insurance Ordinance (Chapter 41 of the Laws of Hong Kong) and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority established under section 6 of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Ordinance (Chapter 485 of the Laws of Hong Kong).
2. To the fullest extent permitted by any applicable laws, rules and regulations, the Data Owner hereby agrees to the Steering Group and its members transferring or disclosing any of the Data Owner’s data, information and/or document provided to the Portal (“Company Data”), including but not limited to the following, to the persons and entities set out in Clause 4 below:
(a) data, information and/or document (including but not limited to “personal data” as defined in the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Chapter 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“Personal Data”)) provided in creating the Data Owner’s account for the Portal (“Account”);
(b) data and/or information (including but not limited to Personal Data) on the “Company Profile” page of the Account;
(c) the Data Owner’s response(s) to the Climate and Environmental Risk Questionnaire for Non-listed Companies/Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (“Questionnaire”); and
(d) data and/or information provided in using the calculator on the “GHG Emissions Calculator” page of the Portal and/or the estimator on the “GHG Emissions Estimator” page of the Portal and the related calculation and/or estimation results.
For the avoidance of doubt, “Company Data” does not include anonymised data or information from which the Data Owner cannot be directly or indirectly identified.
3. The Data Owner hereby agrees that the Company Data can be used for the following purposes:
(a) support the auto-fill in function of the Questionnaire;
(b) activities relating to the compilation, research, analysis, transfer, disclosure and publication of the Company Data by the Steering Group, any of its members, and/or any operator or developer of the Portal or any functionality or tool thereon or any green finance-related research and development partner or collaborator of the Steering Group or any of its members (each and collectively, “Operator of the Portal”);
(c) activities relating to the processing, vetting, authentication and counter-checking of the registration of the Account and notification(s) to the Data Owner of the registration result(s) by the Steering Group, any of its members and/or any Operator of the Portal;
(d) activities relating to the day-to-day management, development, maintenance, enhancement and operation of the Portal by the Steering Group, any of its members and/or any Operator of the Portal; and
(e) activities relating to the processing, transfer and disclosure of the Company Data through the Commercial Data Interchange (CDI) (which is a consent-based financial data infrastructure launched by the HKMA in 2022, aiming to enhance data sharing by facilitating financial institutions’ retrieval of enterprises’ commercial data from both public and private data providers) by the Steering Group, any of its members and/or any Operator of the Portal to the Permitted Data Consumers (defined in Clause 4(b) below).
4. The Company Data can be disclosed, transferred or otherwise made known to the following persons and entities:
(a) the Steering Group and its members for the purposes mentioned in Clause 3 above;
(b) any persons and entities added by the Data Owner to the “Authorised List of Data Sharing” on the “Option of sharing” page of the Portal (“Permitted Data Consumers”);
(c) any Operator of the Portal for the purposes mentioned in Clause 3 above; and
(d) any persons and entities where such disclosure or transfer is required by law or is consented by the Data Owner.
5. By providing this Confirmation, the Data Owner acknowledges and agrees that:
(a) the consent given under this Confirmation supersedes and overrides any privacy, confidentiality or secrecy obligation relating to the Company Data owed to the Data Owner by the Steering Group, any of its members and/or any Operator of the Portal;
(b) the Steering Group, any of its members and/or any Operator of the Portal may request the Data Owner to provide further data, information or document relating to the Company Data from time to time;
(c) it will comply with all applicable legislation, rules and regulations relating to the Company Data that are in force from time to time; and
(d) it has obtained all necessary consents, and given all necessary notices, to enable lawful transfer or disclosure of the Company Data to the Steering Group and its members, any Operator of the Portal and/or any of the Permitted Data Consumers.
6. This Confirmation comes into force on and from the date of provision of this Confirmation, unless and until the Data Owner gives no less than 14 calendar days of prior written notice to the Steering Group at info@sustainablefinance.org.hk (“Withdrawal Notice”), in which case this Confirmation shall terminate on such date as specified on the Withdrawal Notice.
7. In relation to data access, correction, retention and destruction, the Data Owner acknowledges and understands that:
(a) the Data Owner has the right to request access to and correction of the Company Data held by the Steering Group/ the Operator of the Portal. Request for access to and correction of the Company Data may be made to the officer of the Steering Group at info@sustainablefinance.org.hk;
(b) the Steering Group/ the Operator of the Portal shall take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the Personal Data will not be kept longer than is necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose (or any directly related purpose) for which the Personal Data is or is to be used, unless the retention is otherwise permitted or required by law; and
(c) the Steering Group/ the Operator of the Portal shall delete the Account and destroy the Company Data without prior notice to the Data Owner (i) upon the receipt of the Withdrawal Notice; or (ii) when the Company Data is no longer required.
8. The Data Owner acknowledges and understands that the provision of this Confirmation and providing the Company Data is not compulsory and is entirely based on the Data Owner’s voluntary act. However, the Data Owner acknowledges and accepts that if it does not provide this Confirmation, the Data Owner will not be able to create the Account and to submit its response to the Questionnaire on the Portal.
9. Unless otherwise provided in this Confirmation, the Data Owner acknowledges and agrees that neither shall the Steering Group, its members and any Operator of the Portal and any of their parents, subsidiaries and any other companies, persons or entities directly or indirectly affiliated with them nor any of their officers, employees, agents, nominees, custodians or professional advisers (including auditors, accountants and legal advisers) or any other persons acting in any duly authorised representative capacity be liable to the Data Owner, and the Data Owner hereby waives all claims against the above-mentioned persons and entities for any liability, claim, loss, damage, action, proceedings, demand, cost, fee or expense of any kind or nature whatsoever and howsoever caused in connection with the collection, use, processing, transfer and/or disclosure of the Company Data or any part thereof.
10. This Confirmation and all matters arising from or connected with it are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“Hong Kong”).
11. The courts of Hong Kong have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute arising out of or in connection with this Confirmation (including a dispute relating to the existence, validity or termination of this Confirmation or the consequences of its nullity).