Before using this site, you should read the following important information relating to it. This information governs your use of this site and, by using it, you agree to be bound by our terms. If you do not agree please exit this website immediately. The contents of this website, including these terms, are subject to change by us without notice.

The products and services are not offered to any person or entity in any jurisdiction where the advertisement, offer or sale of such products and services is restricted or prohibited by law or regulation or where any Coutts office would be subjected to any registration or licensing requirement.

This website is designed to be accessed through its principal product home pages and such other pages as we may decide. If you access the site through individual pages directly, which are not designed for this purpose, you may not see important information which is relevant to a full understanding of our products and services. In addition to this Important Information page, you will be referred on certain site pages to read “Important Information”. These will contain important product details and relevant legal or regulatory information and must be read together with the relevant site pages.

All references on this website to Coutts are to Coutts & Co unless stated to the contrary.

Certain aspects of Coutts & Co’s service may be performed through, or with the support of, different members of The Royal Bank of Scotland (‘RBS’) Group, of which Coutts & Co is a member.

The information in the Coutts blogs is not intended as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell securities or any other investment or banking product, nor does it constitute a recommendation to buy or sell such products. Nothing in this material constitutes investment, legal, credit, accounting or tax advice or a representation on that any investment or strategy is suitable or appropriate to your individual circumstances.

The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up, and you may not recover the amount of your original investment. Past performance should not be taken as a guide to future performance. Where an investment involves exposure to a foreign currency, changes in rates of exchange may cause the value of the investment, and the income from it, to go up or down. For some investments, there is no recognised market. Therefore it may be difficult to deal in them or obtain reliable information about their value or the extent of the risks to which they are exposed. Investments in emerging markets are subject to certain special risks, e.g. the risk of political instability, unpredictable financial market trends and economic growth patterns, a financial market that is still in the development stage and a weak economy.

The information in these blogs is believed to be correct but cannot be guaranteed. Any opinion or forecast constitutes our judgment as at the date of issue and is subject to change without notice.

The analysis contained in the Coutts blogs has been procured, and may have been acted upon, by Coutts and connected companies for their own purposes, and the results are being made available to you on this understanding. To the extent permitted by law and without being inconsistent with any applicable regulation, neither Coutts nor any connected company accepts responsibility for any direct or indirect or consequential loss suffered by you or any other person as a result of your acting, or deciding not to act, in reliance upon such information, opinions and analysis.

Neither any blog post nor any copy thereof may be sent to or taken into jurisdictions where the distribution may be restricted by local law or regulation. The reproduction, publication and/or distribution of any of Coutts blog posts in whole or part without prior permission of Coutts is prohibited.

Posting on Coutts Blogs

By submitting comments or any other material for publication on the Coutts blogs, you grant Coutts and the RBS Group a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive and perpetual licence to use in any way whatsoever any comments or material submitted to us in any format. This licence includes, but is not limited to, the right to develop, reproduce, modify, adapt, implement, publish, distribute and display the comments or material in any medium.

In addition, by posting a comment or any other material on the Coutts blogs, you warrant that this material belongs to you and that your submission of it does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third party.

We will attempt to check every comment submitted before it is published on any of the Coutts blogs to ensure it complies with our standards but we cannot guarantee the same. We reserve the right to refuse, in our absolute discretion, to allow or to delay posting of all or any part of any comments or other material and to edit or remove any comments or other material posted to the blog. We reserve the right to preserve any content you may post to the extent required by law or the rules of any regulatory authority to protect the rights, property or personal safety of the blog, its users, the public, Coutts and the RBS Group.

Nonetheless, we assume no responsibility for monitoring the blog for inappropriate content or conduct, no obligation to modify or remove any inappropriate content and no responsibility for the conduct of the user of submitting any such content.

These House Rules apply to social media accounts operated by Coutts & Co, UK Wealth division (‘Coutts’, ‘us’, ‘we’, ‘our’) on social media platforms, including but not limited to, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Any references in these House Rules to ‘you’, ‘your’ or ‘yours’ are references to the person(s) using our social media accounts.

We have designed these House Rules so you can interact with us in a safe and appropriate way. If you do not accept these House Rules, please do not use our social media accounts.

We are part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (the ‘RBS Group’). For information about our group of companies please visit www.rbs.com and click on ‘About Us’.

The basic rule for using our social media accounts is:

Only post information you are happy for everyone to see

Do’s and don’ts

If you don't comply with these House Rules we may delete your comments or block you from our social media accounts.

Management of our social media accounts

Our social media accounts may be managed by RBS Group employees and / or third parties appointed by the RBS Group. We cannot moderate what others post about us or the RBS Group before it is posted, but we may (if we are able) remove posts which don't comply with our House Rules.

Views and opinions

Social media platforms are independent third party websites and are not associated with us or the RBS Group; we can't control what they do.

With the exception of our own comments and messages, the views and opinions expressed on our social media accounts are the views and opinions of the person posting the information and are not our views or those of the RBS Group. While we try to ensure that the information on our site is current, we cannot guarantee that the information provided on our social media accounts will be complete, accurate or up-to-date.

Complaints

If you would like to make a formal complaint about the financial or other services we provide, please follow our complaints procedure. If you do make a complaint through our social media accounts, we will try to collect details of the complaint, using secure communication. We will attempt to resolve your complaint through our standard customer complaint procedure.

Using your comments, ideas and images

You confirm any material (like suggestions, ideas, videos or photos) you post or message to our social media accounts belongs to you and does not infringe anyone else's intellectual property rights.  Unless prohibited by the social media platform's own terms of use, you also grant us and the RBS Group a non-exclusive royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence to use develop, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, distribute, and display the material in any medium.

Our materials and intellectual property

Our names, images, trade marks and other materials contained on our social media accounts are protected by intellectual property rights.  You must not use these materials for any reason without our express consent.

External websites

Where there are links to third party websites or resources, whether posted by us or a third party, you access these at your sole discretion and at your own risk. We are not responsible or liable for any damage caused by third party websites or resources. 

Please note that external websites are governed by their own terms of use and privacy policies and you should read these carefully.

Advice

Our comments or messages are not intended to provide any financial, investment or professional advice and shall not be deemed to constitute the offer or provision of financial, investment or other professional advice in any way. You should obtain advice from a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decision.

Changes

We reserve the right to amend these House Rules at any time without prior notice. We will notify you on our social media account when there has been a change to these House Rules. You should make sure you are complying with the current House Rules.
 
We reserve the right to close our social media accounts at any time, without prior written notice.

Notices

Please do not issue any formal notices to us through our social media accounts.  These should be sent to our address which is indicated below within the ‘Regulatory information’ section.

Governing law

These House Rules are governed by the laws of Scotland if your address is in Scotland.  If you live elsewhere, the laws of England and Wales apply to these House Rules.  Any dispute regarding these House Rules shall be subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Scotland if your address is in Scotland, or the courts of England and Wales if you live elsewhere.

Regulatory information

Coutts & Co, registered in England no. 36695. Registered office: 440 Strand, London WC2R 0QS.  Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority  and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Calls may be recorded.

Coutts & Co is registered in England No. 36695. Registered office: 440 Strand, London WC2R 0QS. Registered VAT number: GB 243852752.

Coutts Finance Co is registered in England No. 908417. Registered office: 440 Strand, London, WC2R 0QS.

This website is issued by Coutts & Co, which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Calls may be recorded.

Coutts & Co Financial Services Firm Reference Number 122287.

This website shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law and is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts. The information, products and services referred to on this website are not directed at any person or entity in any jurisdiction or country outside those where services may lawfully be offered by Coutts & Co and purchased by a visitor to this website.

The information on this website is provided “as is” and has been compiled in good faith to provide information about Coutts and its products and services. It is believed to be correct, but we cannot guarantee the accuracy, timeliness, or completeness of any such information. Coutts shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever and howsoever arising as a result of your use of or reliance on the information contained on this website.

Before acting on any information obtained from this website you should check it by calling your local Coutts office.

Nothing contained on this website constitutes investment, legal, tax or other advice and is not to be relied on in making an investment or other decision. You should obtain relevant and specific professional advice before making any investment decision.

Coutts reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue this website or any part of it, with or without notice, at any time, and shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any such modification, suspension or discontinuance of this website.

Coutts shall not be liable for any losses or damages of any kind arising out of your use or inability to use this website, or in connection with any error, omission, or defect contained on this website. Furthermore, Coutts accepts no liability in respect of losses or damages arising out of changes made to the content of this website by unauthorised third parties.

Access to and use of this website is at your sole risk and Coutts does not warrant that the use of this website or any material downloaded from it will not cause damage to any property, including but not limited to loss of data or computer virus infection.

There is no exclusion of duties or liabilities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, or any conduct of business rules which Coutts are bound to comply with. There is no attempt to exclude liability for death, personal injury, or fraudulent misrepresentation.

Nothing on this website should be construed as a solicitation or offer, or recommendation, to buy or sell securities or any other investment or banking product, or to provide any investment advice or service.

This website contains hypertext links to other websites which are hosted and maintained by third parties and which are not, or may not be, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. When you activate any of these links you leave the Coutts website and we have no control over the content or security of any such site. You use such links entirely at your own risk and Coutts accept no responsibility or liability for the content, use, or availability of such websites or for any loss or damage, however arising, as a result of their use.

Under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, for credit facilities you should be aware of the following:

• Over 18s only
• Written quotations available
• Security may be required
• Overdrafts are repayable on demand

The Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) represents the annual rate effectively received by the client if interest at the gross rate applied during a year remained in the account and itself earned interest. As every advertisement for a savings product, where a rate is displayed, will contain an AER, you will be able to compare more easily what return you can expect from your savings over time.

YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE.

CHANGES IN THE EXCHANGE RATE MAY INCREASE THE STERLING EQUIVALENT OF YOUR DEBT.

Sterling mortgage loans are provided by Coutts Finance Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coutts & Co. Non-sterling mortgage loans are provided by Coutts & Co. Both Coutts & Co and Coutts Finance Co are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority  and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Over 18s only. Written quotations available. Security required. An acceptable life assurance policy may also be required.

Past performance should not be taken as a guide to future performance.

The value of investments, and the income from them, can go down as well as up, and you may not recover the amount of your original investment.

Where an investment involves exposure to a foreign currency, changes in rates of exchange may cause the value of the investment, and the income from it, to go up or down.

Any tax reliefs referred to on this website are those available under current legislation, which may change, and their availability and value will depend on your individual circumstances.

In the case of some investments, you should be aware that there is no recognised market for them and that it may therefore be difficult for you to deal in them or to obtain reliable information about their value or the extent of the risks to which they are exposed.

Certain investments carry a higher degree of risk than others and are, therefore, unsuitable for some investors. Before contemplating any transaction, you should consider whether you require financial advice, which we would be pleased to provide upon request.

Whilst a portfolio of investments specially selected to meet your requirements can be expected to perform in a broadly similar way to the market as a whole, some divergence will be experienced, especially over the short to medium term.

Before contemplating any transaction in a Coutts Investment Programme, you should have read the prospectus relating to the relevant investment programme and consulted your financial adviser. Series 2 units are available only to advisory and discretionary investment management clients of companies in the RBS Group. The Coutts Investment Programmes are recognised by the Financial Conduct Authority under Section 264 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

With regard to currency accounts, there is an exchange rate risk if the currency is not the depositor’s reference currency.

Coutts & Co is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.

This is an execution only dealing service. We will not provide investment advice to you. Accordingly, when giving orders or instructions to us, you must rely upon your own judgement and in every case the transaction will be your responsibility.

At Coutts & Co, we place great importance on providing the highest standards of service to our clients.

However, we recognise that occasionally we do make mistakes. In these instances, we encourage our clients to advise us of their complaints so that we have the opportunity to put matters right.

We aim to get your complaint resolved as quickly as possible by staff with the right experience, knowledge and authority.

We want to:

• make it easy for you to raise your complaint;
• listen to your complaint;
• consider your suggestions for how we can put matters right;
• make sure you are satisfied with how your complaint was handled and resolved;
• be polite, efficient and fair in all of our dealings with you.

This page explains what to do if you have a complaint about our services. It also outlines the timescales you should expect for resolving complaints and who to contact if you are not satisfied with our response.

How and where to complain

If you are not satisfied with any aspect of our service or products, please advise your relationship manager in person, in writing, by telephone or email.

If your complaint relates to your relationship manager, please advise their Managing Director. Their details are available on request by calling 020 7649 9654.

How long will it take?

Our aim is to address any concerns as soon as possible and within the regulatory guidelines. The timescales we will adhere to are detailed below;

Five days

If we have been unable to resolve your complaint with you by the end of the fourth business day, we will write to you within five business days to:

• acknowledge receipt of your complaint;
• tell you who is dealing with your complaint;
• tell you how long we expect to take to resolve it.

Responding to your concerns

Should your concerns take us longer to resolve than we initially anticipated, we will contact you to update you on progress.

Within eight weeks

We will generally send you a 'final response' letter. This will clearly set out Coutts & Co's position with regard to your complaint and will also advise you how to contact the Financial Ombudsman Service to request them to review your case if you feel it appropriate.

You will receive a copy of their leaflet and will have six months from the date of our 'final response' letter to ask them to carry out a review.

After eight weeks

In exceptional circumstances, where your complaint is particularly complex, matters may take longer than eight weeks to resolve. If this occurs, you will be advised in writing what investigation has taken place and you will be provided with a reason as to why the complaint has not been resolved.

Additionally, you will be provided with a realistic timescale as to when a final response can be expected. We will also provide details of the Financial Ombudsman Service and how you may ask them to look into your complaint.

The Financial Ombudsman Service

The Financial Ombudsman Service acts independently of Coutts & Co and provides a service as an unbiased adjudicator. The Ombudsman works under 'Terms of Reference' which allow them to deal with complaints about most types of banking/investment business from most types of clients.

The address to write to is:

The Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, Harbour Exchange Square, London E14 9SR
Telephone: 0300 123 9123
Website:  www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Email: enquiries@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)

If you:

(a) Are resident in the EU;

(b) Have purchased a product or service online from a trader established in the EU; and

(c) Are unable to get your complaint resolved satisfactorily,

you can contact the European Commission by accessing the Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at http://ec.europa.eu/odr.  To use this service you will need the following information:

(a) Email address: odrplatform@coutts.com

(b) Our name: Coutts & Co.

The ODR platform will then send your complaint to the FOS for an independent review.

As part of our commitment to dealing with your complaints effectively, Coutts, as part of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, are the first bank to publish the number of complaints we've reported to the Financial Conduct Authority.

View our complaint volumes

Coutts & Co in the UK subscribes to the Lending Code (pdf 273kb).

Compliance with the Code is independently monitored and enforced by the Lending Standards Board.

Investment services for residents of the USA can be provided. Please speak to your Private Banker for more information.

The Coutts US Dollar Card and Coutts Euro Charge Card are issued by The Royal Bank of Scotland International Limited trading as Coutts.

Registered Office: P.O. Box 64, Royal Bank House, 71 Bath Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE4 8PJ. Regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission.

Regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission and licensed under the Insurance Managers and Insurance Intermediaries (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2002 and the Protection of Investors (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 1987, as amended. Guernsey business address: P.O. Box 62, Royal Bank Place, 1 Glategny Esplanade, St. Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 4BQ.

Licensed by the Financial Supervision Commission of the Isle of Man registered with the Insurance and Pensions Authority in respect of general business. Business address: Royal Bank House, 2 Victoria Street, Douglas, Isle of Man IM99 1NJ.

Charge cards are only issued to people who meet our criteria.

Our services are not offered to any person in any jurisdiction where their advertisement, offer or sale is restricted or prohibited by law or regulation or where we are not appropriately licensed.

Calls may be recorded.

The analysis contained in this presentation has been procured, and may have been acted upon, by Coutts & Co and connected companies for their own purposes, and the results are being made available to you on this understanding. To the extent permitted by law and without being inconsistent with any applicable regulation, neither Coutts & Co nor any connected company accepts responsibility for any direct or indirect or consequential loss suffered by you or any other person as a result of your acting, or deciding not to act, in reliance upon such analysis. Any company in the RBS Group, its clients, and officers may have a position or engage in transactions in any of the securities mentioned.

Coutts & Co undertakes investment research in respect of equity investments primarily for internal use in the portfolio management process. Upon request, some of this research material may be made available to existing investment management clients at the discretion of the relevant private banker. In accordance with the requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority, Coutts & Co has in place a Conflicts Management Policy in respect of the research process.To view the conflict management policy please select the Conflict Management Policy from the drop down above or contact your private or commercial banker.

You may use information on this site for your own personal reference only. You may reproduce this information in hard copy solely for your personal use. The information may not otherwise be reproduced, stored, distributed, or transmitted to any other person or incorporated in any way into another document or other material unless you first get our written permission.

To maintain the security of its systems, protect its staff and detect fraud and other crimes, the RBS Group (of which Coutts is a part) reserves the right to monitor all internet communications, including web and e-mail traffic, into and out of its domains. Such monitoring includes, but is not limited to, checks for viruses and other malignant code, criminal activity and use or content which breaches the Group’s internal policies. The RBS Group also reserves the right not to deliver any communication that breaches its internal policies.

We may monitor, record, store and use any telephone, email or other communication with you (in order to check any instructions given to us, for training purposes, for crime prevention and to improve the quality of our customer service).

Investment Research

1.1 The Bank’s business model is limited to the extent described in 1.2 and 1.3 below. Accordingly it is the Bank’s view that the research material described below in 1.3 is offered on an independent and objective basis and such conflicts as may arise are effectively managed by the policies set out in 1.4 – 1.8, in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

1.2 The nature of the Bank’s business model is such that that the bank does not :-

• trade for its own account
• engage in corporate finance activities, or
• act as a Retail Service Provider/Market Maker.

1.3 The Bank produces research, in respect of individual equities, based upon approved brokers’ research and available market information. This material is, in appropriate circumstances, available to clients upon request.

In addition the Bank publishes, on a regular basis, in promotional/presentational material, historic performance figures in respect of the Coutts Group’s collective investment schemes(funds), which include unregulated funds e.g.alternative investment strategies.

1.4 The Bank operates policies of Chinese Walls and independence, which are designed to restrict the flow of information and ensure the impartiality of the research analysts e.g.

• equity research material is produced within the Research Department, which is physically, separate from, and has a separate reporting line from the private banking area and the portfolio advisors which are responsible for client relationships.
• equity research is produced solely from approved brokers’ research and available market information.
• staff are required to be independent when advising clients, i.e. to disregard any relationship or competing interest of which they are aware, and which could conflict with the Bank’s responsibility to its clients.
• research analysts are free to express their own views in research material, free from the influence or editorial control by subject companies, or by staff in any other area of the Bank.
• selection and monitoring of the investment advisers to the Coutts funds and alternative investment strategies is carried out by Royal Bank of Scotland
  Asset Management (RBSAM) which is an independent company within the Royal Bank of Scotland group.
• the net asset value of these funds and strategies is subject to independent annual audit and historic performance figures are subject to review by the Bank’s Product Marketing Department.

1.5 The Bank has strict policies in respect of receiving gifts and inducements from suppliers of services and also in respect of personal account share dealing by members of staff. In particular, staff are forbidden, by the Coutts Group Staff Share Dealing Rules, to deal ahead of the publication of research material.

1.6 The remuneration policy in respect of Research staff is such that there is no link between pay and reward of such staff and the volume of business transacted by the Bank.

1.7 It is one of the Bank’s objectives that all communication with clients is conducted in a manner, which is clear, fair and not misleading.

1.8 The Bank has in place a clear code of conduct for staff, which outlines the principles that staff are required to adhere to in their dealings and relationships with clients.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ^SM is proprietary to and is calculated, distributed and marketed by Dow Jones Indexes, a licensed trademark of CME Group Index Services LLC and has been licensed for use.

“Dow Jones®”, “Dow Jones Indexes” and “Dow Jones Industrial Average ^SM ” are service marks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings, LLC. “CME” is a trademark of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. All content of the Dow Jones Industrial Average © CME Group Index Services LLC 2010.  Terms and conditions of use of Dow Jones Indexes (pdf 16kb).

This policy is relevant to Retail and Professional clients to whom Coutts owes contractual or agency obligations. It sets out our standards and methodology and explains how we ensure business is conducted in line with current regulation and in particular the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (‘MiFID’) and corresponding Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) rules.

This list of execution venues is not exhaustive. We are not required to use these venues on every occasion and therefore we reserve the right to use other execution venues. Where we deem appropriate we may add or remove any execution venues from this list. This list will be reviewed and updated where necessary or on at least an annual basis. You will be notified separately of any material changes to these venues. You are encouraged to therefore refer to the current list of execution venues from time to time.