Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 13th, 2023
MFG has established this privacy policy to comply with applicable federal and/or provincial legislation regarding the collection, use, disclosure, and protection of Personal Information (as defined below) of individual investors in prospectus exempt securities or separately managed accounts (collectively “Clients”). MFG is committed to protecting Personal Information and MFG employees are responsible for and obligated to always protect such information.
Personal Information
“Personal Information” is defined as information that identifies an individual and includes, but is not limited to, their name, email, address, age, marital status, race/nationality, financial records, religion, or social insurance number.
Clients are requested to notify MFG as soon as possible of any changes, deletions, or corrections to their Personal Information so that MFG may keep such information up-to-date.
Purposes of Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information and Client Consent
MFG collects and maintains Personal Information about Clients in connection with the offering and sale of interests in MFG private investment funds, the opening and operating of managed accounts, Client communications, or otherwise as required by law. MFG collects and maintains Personal Information in order to:
- Establish, service and administer Client accounts (such as providing tax receipts, transaction confirmations, statements; investment fund financial statements, and other information that may be requested or needed to service these accounts);
- Establish the identity of a Client or an authorized individual;
- Assess a Client’s eligibility in a MFG fund;
- Execute transactions;
- File with applicable Canadian regulatory authorities a report setting out a Client’s name, address, telephone number, email address and other information relating to a Client, the class and series of Interests issued, the date of issuance, the purchase price of Interests issued to a Client and other details of the distribution;
- Protect MFG and its Clients from error and fraud;
- Comply with anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing and other regulatory requirements; and
- Establish MFG’s legal rights or defend against legal claims.
Personal Information collected from a client includes name, address, date of birth, and social insurance number; MFG typically collects this information from the following sources:
- Subscription agreements submitted by an investor or prospective investor;
- Investment management agreements;
- Transactions with MFG or any of its affiliates;
- Communications between MFG and a Client; and
- Other information provided.
Personal Information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected. MFG may disclose Personal Information to third parties and to MFG affiliates, when necessary and without the consent of a Client, including:
- financial service providers, such as banks and others used to finance or facilitate transactions by, or the operations of, a MFG Fund and/or managed account;
- other service providers to a Fund and/or managed account such as fund administrators, accounting, legal, or tax preparation services; and
- regulatory, tax or other government authorities and agencies. MFG will only disclose Personal Information to a governmental entity or other regulatory or self-regulatory organization when required to do so by such laws and regulations, or by court order.
The collection of Client information will be limited to that which is necessary for MFG to provide services to a Client and for third-party service providers to be able to provide services to MFG, its Funds and/or managed accounts. Before MFG may use Personal Information for a purpose not previously identified to a Client, the new purpose shall be identified and consent will be obtained from the Client before the information is used for the new purpose (or the client may opt-out), unless the use is otherwise required by law.
Security Safeguards
MFG maintains physical, technological, and organizational controls consistent with regulatory standards to safeguard Personal Information in its possession. Reasonable security safeguards have been implemented to help protect Personal Information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, or disclosure. These measures include, but are not limited to:
- Restricted physical and system access controls;
- Safeguards to detect and prevent security system failures;
- Use of secure user authentication protocols for access to records with Personal Information;
- Use of reasonably up-to-date firewall protection and operating system security patches;
- Use of reasonably up-to-date versions of system security agent software including malware protection and virus definitions;
- Reviewing safeguarding controls of service providers who receive Personal Information as part of the provision of MFG services; and
- Employee training on MFG’s privacy obligations.
MFG remains responsible for Personal Information it has disclosed to third parties and endeavors to protect this information through contractual agreements. MFG does not sell or lease Personal Information to third parties nor does it share Personal Information with third parties for their marketing purposes.
Notwithstanding the controls, there remains a residual risk of a breach of security safeguards which could result in a real risk of significant harm. See section “Breaches and Risk of Harm” below for MFG’s reporting and notification procedures to deal with a privacy breach which results in a real risk of significant harm to an individual.
In the event of a sale, transfer, or reorganization of MFG, MFG may disclose Personal Information to the acquiring organization, but will require the acquiring organization to agree to protect the privacy of Personal Information in a manner that is consistent with this privacy policy.
Personal Information will be retained for at least seven years following the end of the relationship (unless there are legal requirements that require its retention) after which all documentation will be destroyed in a manner commensurate with its sensitivity.
Website
When a Client accesses MFG’s website, MFG collects device information in order to render its website. For the purpose of this policy device information is not considered to be Personal Information, and therefore, this information is not stored. MFG does not use cookies on its website.
Client Access to their Personal Information
MFG's Chief Financial Officer has been appointed Chief Privacy Officer ("CPO"). The CPO oversees privacy governance including the development of policies, adherence to procedures, training, and education, reporting to MFG’s Board, and dispute resolution. Clients may contact MFG’s Chief Privacy Officer in writing if they wish to:
- access their Personal Information;
- correct their Personal Information;
- withdraw consent to any use and disclosure of their Personal Information (however, this may limit the Client’s opportunity to access MFG’s services or products);
- obtain more information or have concerns; and
- file a complaint relating to how MFG has handled their Personal Information (if a Client is dissatisfied with the results of an investigation of a complaint, they may bring the complaint to the attention of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (“OPC”)).
Costs associated with the provision of Personal Information further to a Client’s written request are borne by the Client. Requested information will generally be provided within 30 days of the request being made. MFG’s Chief Privacy Officer may be contacted at:
Meckelborg Financial Group Ltd.
300 – 728 Spadina Crescent East
Saskatoon SK S7K 3H2
T: (306) 933-9993
Email:
Breaches and Risk of Harm
MFG is subject to reporting and notification obligations in the event a privacy breach occurs which results in a real risk of significant harm to an individual. A privacy breach is the loss of, unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, Personal Information resulting from a breach of an organization's security safeguards. A real risk of significant harm includes but is not limited to damage to reputation or relationships, identity theft, humiliation, or financial loss.
In the event of a privacy breach, MFG will investigate and assess the implications of the breach as soon as feasible. Where MFG has determined the breach creates a real risk of significant harm to an individual, MFG will investigate the matter, report to the OPC and notify affected individuals as soon as feasible, and take remedial measures as applicable.