About Herbert Smith
- Herbert Smith is an international legal practice comprising Herbert Smith LLP and its affiliated businesses and firms. All references to "Herbert Smith", "the firm" and the like should be read as referring to Herbert Smith LLP and/or its affiliated and subsidiary businesses or firms.
- We use the word "partner" to refer to a member of Herbert Smith LLP, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications.
- Herbert Smith LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC310989. It is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority whose rules can be accessed via http://www.sra.org.uk/code-of-conduct.page. A list of the members is open to inspection at the registered office, Exchange House, Primrose Street, London EC2A 2HS.
- Herbert Smith LLP is registered for Value Added Tax or similar taxes in the United Kingdom (registration number GB 927 1996 83) and Belgium (registration number BE 873 250 814).
- Herbert Smith has DIFC Licence Number 0330.
- Herbert Smith LLP and Al-Ghazzawi Professional Association are two independent firms which have a formal association in Saudi Arabia.
- Herbert Smith LLP and Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung are two independent firms which have a formal association in Indonesia.
About our services
- Herbert Smith is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 but we are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors' Regulation Authority, which has complaints and redress procedures. We can only provide investment services if they are an incidental part of the professional services we have been engaged to provide.
- We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority of England. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by Solicitors' Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority Web site at: www.fsa.gov.uk.
- If you would like to discuss how the service to you could be improved, or should there be any aspect of our service with which you are not satisfied at any time, you should raise the matter with the partner with whom you deal or with the head of the division or department where the work has been carried out. If you would like to make a formal complaint, including a complaint about any bill we have delivered to you, you should do so in writing addressed to the head of the relevant division or department or to the Complaints Partner and ask for a copy of our complaints procedure. We will look into your complaint carefully and promptly. If for any reason we are unable to resolve any problem between us, you may be able to use the complaints and redress procedures operated by the Legal Ombudsman. This service is open to all members of the public, certain small businesses, charities, clubs, societies, associations and trusts. There are time limits on making such a complaint, generally within six months of our written response to your complaint and within one year from the act/omission complained of or one year from when you should reasonably have known there was cause for complaint. The contact details for the Legal Ombudsman are www.legalombudsman.org.uk, tel 0121 245 3050, enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the professional regulator of Herbert Smith LLP and handles complaints relating to professional misconduct.
- The firm acts as legal adviser; it is not part of our role to give advice on the merits of investment transactions. Any investment decision is for our clients to make and no communication by the firm should be treated as an invitation or inducement to our clients to engage in investment activity.
- Pursuant to our obligations under the anti-money laundering laws and our professional obligations in the countries in which we operate, if you instruct Herbert Smith, we will use various available sources of information to establish certain matters about you, such as verifying your identity, including electronic verification.
- Interest policy: Where Herbert Smith holds monies on account of costs in its client accounts, it will ensure that interest paid ensure that interest paid will be fair and reasonable over the whole period for which client money is held. For funds held in the Herbert Smith LLP General Client Account, a sum in lieu of interest will be payable on the funds calculated by using the Natwest Solicitors Reserve Account Rates. All funds held in a separate designated client account will receive the full amount of interest credited by the bank. No interest is payable if the amount calculated on the balance held is £20.00 or less.
- In accordance with the disclosure requirements of the Provision Services Regulations 2009, our professional indemnity insurer is Travelers Insurance Company Limited (broker reference no. QF078309) of Exchequer Court, 33 St. Mary Axe, London, EC3A 8AG.
- We outsource certain office support functions to selected specialist service providers from time to time and further details are available on request from our Group Chief Operating Officer. This may involve giving them client confidential information subject, of course, to safeguards.
Anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws
- We have anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies and procedures which apply to all our employees worldwide. These policies prohibit the making, offering or promising to make a payment or transfer anything of value, including the provision of any service, gift or entertainment, on our behalf, by all such employees, for any improper purpose or business advantage. These policies apply to dealings by our employees with all third parties on our behalf. They specifically prohibit such dealings with government personnel and other officials for the purpose of improperly obtaining or retaining business or for any other improper purpose or business advantage.
About this website
- If you have a specific legal question you should address it to one of our lawyers. The materials contained on Herbert Smith websites are of a general, informational nature. We have used reasonable endeavours to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the contents of the pages on our websites but the information does not constitute legal or professional advice and must not be relied on as such.
- To the extent permitted by law, we do not accept responsibility for any loss which may arise from reliance on information contained in our website pages. Furthermore, Herbert Smith does not endorse or accept responsibility for the material of any website referred to or accessed through our websites.
- You may link to our websites provided you link to the top level page and you do so in a way which indicates the link is to a Herbert Smith website, is fair and not misleading. You may not display the contents of any of our websites in a frame surrounded by other material not originated by us.
- You may only access and download the contents of the pages on our websites on a temporary basis and for the sole purpose of viewing such information. You may not permanently copy or reproduce any part of the contents of the pages on our websites without our prior written permission.
- This site is protected by copyright and database right, both of which are owned by Herbert Smith.
- "Herbert Smith" is a registered trademark.
Scams and frauds
Please be aware that criminals may pose as someone from Herbert Smith, in order to carry out scams or frauds.
These scams will often originate by email, and usually involve offering a large sum of money to the victim (such as an inheritance, unclaimed bank funds, lottery wins, or even loans), in return for paying a more modest sum, often referred to as transaction fees or brokering costs. Key to the scam is the entering into any form of communication with the victim.
More information regarding these frauds can be found at:
If you receive an email of this nature claiming to be from Herbert Smith, do not correspond with the sender. It is highly unlikely that it originates from Herbert Smith. Please forward it to servicedesk@herbertsmith.com and we will advise accordingly on whether it comes from Herbert Smith.
Neither Herbert Smith LLP nor any of its partners, employees, or consultants will be responsible for any losses incurred by any such scam.