General

A. General Provision and Introduction

1. Herein, set out the Terms and Conditions of 3circlefunding GmbH, Höschgasse 25, 8008 Zürich (hereinafter 3CF) to regulate the conditions of participation, and the rights and obligations of members, individuals and businesses; both borrowers and lenders in connection with the services offered by 3circlefunding GmbH.
2. The services of 3CF are to act as an intermediary marketplace to match people (individuals) and entities (businesses) for social loans – Crowdlending and Crowdfactoring – and the provision of various services and assistance relating to the settlement (via the website www.3circlefunding.ch – including all subdomains) and conclusion of Loan Agreement Contracts between the aforementioned parties.
3.  A Secondary Selling Market facilitates the liquidation of loan parts – (sale of loan parts) to registered member lenders only.
4. Autoinvest enables registered lenders to build a predefined investment profile where bids are automatically placed against loans using these self-assigned values.
5. Additionally, the 3CF platform also facilitates Crowdfunding donations (both for individuals and businesses) of campaigns/projects that range from business start-ups, charities, NGOs, non-profits to creative causes and promotion of entrepreneurship.
6. The 3CF platform is available in English and German.

B. Eligibility and Provision of Service

Loan Agreement Contracts in these Terms and Conditions refers to the following social loans:

• Crowdlending – investment of funds for a return of principal amount plus interest payments
• Crowdfactoring – invested advancement amount plus discount rate gain (settlement amount)

1. Usage of 3CF services are granted to members only (see B10). There are no fees associated with registration.
2. Registration is subject to acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
3. Borrowers’ loan requests and crowdfunding campaigns can be posted on the 3CF website only after successful verification by 3CF.
4. Right of registration and usage of 3CF services are wholly at the discretion of 3circlefunding GmbH. 3CF reserves the right to exclude registered members from all 3CF services without prior notice.
5. Upon a registered member being excluded from all 3CF services; those specified member(s) will not be permitted to re-register with 3CF.
6. The member registration is only applicable to those able persons who are resident in Switzerland and are 18 years old and above. Access to services is not permitted to those residing outside Switzerland.
7. Allocation of registration (user dashboard) is only provided to one individual and that registration is only permitted to be used by the applicant member and is not transferable. Access to Social Loans (Crowdlending and Crowdfactoring) and Crowdfunding services requires unique e-mail addresses to log in.
8. 3CF services are not provided to individuals/businesses that conduct activities or provision of credit in any commercial or professional capacity. The individual/business must not hold a Consumer Credit Licence or be a credit broker or lend money to other persons in the course of any business.
9. A registration log in function is required whether an individual or a business wants to become either a borrower or a lender and a crowdfunding campaign creator and donor.
10. Member registration is completed by way of populating the e-mail address field, a self-assigned password and user name.
11. To authenticate the e-mail address, an e-mail is sent to the e-mail address provided. The user registering must activate their registration, by clicking the link sent in the e-mail, which will take the user to their dashboard after logging in again.
12. The registration information will be checked for authenticity and accuracy.
13. Registration is only provided to the applicable owner on an individual basis. Not applicable or usable by couples, partners, family members or other groups of any kind.
14. Any subsequent changes to the registration details will be verified for completeness and correctness.
15. Unused registrations will be periodically deleted.
16. Provision of 3CF services is only enabled via way of the registration and verification process.
17. Information provided by registered members is subject to the Swiss Data Protection Directive, which forms part of these Terms and Conditions. In respect of a loan application, registered members authorise 3CF employees to use the information provided for the purpose of completion of a Loan Agreement Contract between a borrower and lender(s), in association with various third parties for credit checks and verification purposes.
18. By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions for the processing of Social Loans and Crowdfunding, the registered member hereby authorises 3CF to process, transfer and store all data including passing this data to the Debt Collection Agency (only applicable to Social Loans) – Credit Reform – should the need arise.
19. By agreeing to provide 3CF with all data required from registration to provision and exchange of Loan Agreement Contracts (and Crowdfunding campaigns), the registered members hereby permit any member of 3CF to analyse this data for internal statistical purposes both within and outside of Swiss jurisdiction. Usage of this data may be rescinded by members via e-mail to admin@3circlefunding.ch or via the ‘Contact Us’ on the 3CF homepage.
20. Both campaign creators and campaign donors can provide their respective real names as usernames to the 3CF platform but Campaign donors can remain anonymous using a pseudonym.
21. 3CF is not responsible in any way, shape or form of third party infringement concerning copyright, trademark, IP (intellectual property) or patents and hereby accepts no liability for materials used to promote respective business loans/crowdfunding campaigns. 3CF reserves the right to take off-line any obscene, offensive, libellous, defamatory or otherwise unlawful materials uploaded by business borrowers or campaign creators. Falsification of information or descriptions of loan requests or campaigns is subject to immediate cancellation of all 3CF services and may lead to legal action being taken where warranted.
22. Data provided in conjunction for the provision of loans and campaigns may be used for the advancement of 3CF sales, marketing and business development. By accepting these Terms and Conditions, the registered member grants permission to 3CF to perform the aforementioned activities. This can be revoked by sending 3CF an e-mail to admin@3circlefunding.ch or via ‘Contact Us’ on the 3CF website.
23. When registering as an individual, the e-mail ID should take the form of a private e-mail address (not employer e-mail etc.) as not to infringe the copyrights or trademarks of third parties. When registering as a business, the e-mail ID must be a business e-mail address assigned to a signatory within the Swiss Commercial Register (Handelsregister). Username must not be obscene or otherwise objectionable or contrary to public morals. The password must be kept secret and must not be disclosed to third parties. 3CF reserves the right to take legal action for violations of abuse and misconduct.
24. By using the 3CF services and platform, the registered members declare that they will not pass their password or access details to third parties.
25. 3CF will never request any access details by e-mail, telephone or letter. All such enquiries or approaches should be ignored and 3CF must be informed via admin@3circlefunding.ch or via ‘Contact Us’ on 3CF homepage website.
26. 3CF apportions any violations of access details to the registered member that provided these details to other parties.
27. The sending of bulk e-mails or like messages on the website of 3CF; the infection of the website with Trojans, worms and other viruses; the circumvention of hacking protocols; the use of automatic updating software or programs that allow download of information; is forbidden. In such cases, 3CF reserves the right to take legal action for violations and misconduct.
28. The addresses and other contact information of individuals/businesses (registered members), which are made available through the use of the services of 3CF will not be used for any other purpose but for the specific Loan Agreement Contract or Crowdfunding Campaign.
29. 3CF reserves the right to suspend the www.3circlefunding.ch website and associated services due to technical or capacity issues including security or safety risks. By agreeing to these Terms and Conditions, 3CF will not be made liable for the suspension of services or associated losses.
30. Registered members can request via an e-mail at admin@circlefunding.ch or via ‘Contact Us’ on the 3CF home page, the deletion of their user account, when their respective portfolio balance is zero (0); all loans have been paid back and/or no new loan requests have been processed and have no active status. This provision is only effective once confirmed by 3CF. Thereafter, the account will be deleted but the data and associated records will be retained for regulatory and audit purposes.
31. All users must regularly check their respective dashboards and e-mails in order to address attention items and information.

C. Limits of Liability

1. 3CF is only liable for gross negligence or intentionally induced direct damage. Any liability for indirect or consequential damages is excluded. 3CF assumes no liability for third party services with which it contracts to facilitate and fulfil its services.
2. 3CF is not liable for damages or grievances suffered by registered members, users or third parties in conjunction with the behaviour of other registered members.
3. 3CF assumes no liability for damages caused by technical failure, inadequate or incorrect transmission, network congestion, application issues/compatibility, system interruptions, delays in data transmission, incompatibility between the website and the data/software of the registered members and/or computer malfunctions, interference, transmission of viruses, illegal access or any other defective performance by telecom network provider or wider technical environment.
4. In particular, 3CF assumes no liability or responsibility for:
   • the validity and effectiveness of the contract between borrower and lenders;
   • the assessment of the borrower (indicative rating) generated by third parties or the indicative evaluation provided by 3CF;
   • the solvency of the borrower;
   • losses suffered by a lender due to default of a borrower;
   • the debt collection agency, which is responsible for collection of non-performing loans and for the settlement of late payments;
   • forged or falsified documents, which are filed by the borrowers and lenders alike (this also applies to crowdfunding creators and donors).
5. 3CF assumes no liability for damages caused by technical failure, inadequate or incorrect transmission, network congestion, application issues/compatibility, system interruptions, delays in data transmission, incompatibility between the website and the data/software of the registered members and/or computer malfunctions, interference, transmission of viruses, illegal access or any other defective performance by telecom network provider or wider technical environment.

D. Indemnity

3CF cannot be held responsible, liable or incur any costs (legal or associated) for grievance procedures initiated between registered members or third party suppliers. Disputes between these entities are entirely at their own cost and discretion.

E. Part Invalidation of Terms and Conditions

Breach of these Terms and Conditions does not invalidate the Loan Agreement Contract between borrowers and lenders. All contractual obligations between borrowers and lenders are not annulled when the Terms and Conditions of 3CF have been violated.

F. Transfer of Assignment

1. 3CF is entitled to transfer to one or more third parties any or all rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions.
2. Registered members do not have the right, under these Terms and Conditions, to transfer their respective rights and obligation to other parties.

G. Changes to these Terms & Conditions

1. 3CF reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice for any reason.
2. Changes to Terms and Conditions are accepted by registered members unless they inform 3CF by e-mail of any issues within 10 working days from publication on the website.

H. Linked Sites

1. Activating certain links on the website of 3CF can lead to access to external content not under the control or influence of 3CF.
2. 3CF does not control external links on the 3CF website and makes no representations regarding the quality, relevance, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, availability or legality of the content on such websites and assumes no liability for the products or services offered on these websites.
3. Linking the site of 3CF to external sites without the prior written consent of 3CF is forbidden.

I. Confidentiality & Encryption

The exchange of data between 3CF and its registered members is carried across open, public and non-controlled networks. The data transmitted can also be outside Switzerland, despite the fact that both 3CF and its registered members are located in Switzerland. Even if data is encrypted, this may not necessarily be for the entire transmission and therefore data could potentially be intercepted. 3CF accepts no responsibility or liability for the routing or interception of said data as this is solely the responsibility of the carrier.

J. Records & Storage

1. 3CF records the movements on the site, for reasons of security, system monitoring and management, and for marketing purposes and analyses. 3CF takes necessary precautions to observe the applicable privacy and other regulation concerning said recorded movements.
2. 3CF observes the applicable privacy conventions and other regulations and takes the necessary precautions to adhere to theses protocols.

K. Intellectual Property Rights

1. The content and presentation on www.3circlefunding.ch are protected by copyright, other intellectual property rights, and are fully trademarked. 3CF and any third party with which 3CF works, are holders of the aforementioned rights. Downloads to hard drives, printing or any other copying of information from the site for personal and private purposes is allowed, provided that the copyright notices and other legal documents are also reproduced accordingly and acknowledged. Notwithstanding the aforementioned, if used, all rights remain with 3circlefunding GmbH. Duplication of any kind of software or other tools, which are available on the website is expressly prohibited.
2. Without the prior written consent of 3circlefunding GmbH, the whole or partial reproduction, transmission, modification or use of copyrighted elements of this website is prohibited for public or commercial purposes.
3. The 3CF platform and the logo are trademarks of 3circlefunding GmbH. For any other language and/or graphic element of the website, which serves to identify the origin of other products or services, these may be the trademark of its entities e.g. the brand of a business partner of 3CF. Reproduction or any other use of these identification trademarks is prohibited without prior consent of the owner.

L. Cookies

1. Cookies are small text files, which are stored on your access device – computer, mobile or tablet when you visit websites. The cookies 3circlefunding GmbH use can’t harm your computer. 3circlefunding GmbH only use two types of cookies on the website. These cookies are essential for the website to function and operate correctly.
2. The cookies 3circlefunding GmbH use only enable the site to recognise the language chosen and the current log-in session. (The session cookie allows the site to log out registered members for inactivity reasons).

M. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

N. Federal Law on Consumer Credit

1. The 3CF platform enables the facilitation and conclusion of signed Loan Agreement Contracts between private individuals and businesses that do not provide credit or financial services for commercial purposes of the loan terms.
2. Therefore, Consumer Credit law 23 March 2001 is not applicable to these Loan Agreement Contracts.