Website Terms of Use

CIGNO TERMS OF USE

1. About the Website

1.1 Welcome to www.cignoau.com.au (the ‘Website‘).

1.2 The Website is owned and operated by FTA Data Solutions Pty Ltd ABN 95 670 814 221 trading as ‘Cigno’ https://replicarichardmille.io (hereinafter referred to as ‘we’, ‘us’ ‘Cigno’). Your use of the Website is governed by these Website Terms and Conditions of Use (‘Terms’). Please read these Terms carefully. By continuing to access and use this Website, this signifies that you have read, understood and agree to be bound by the Terms (as amended from time to time). If you do not agree with these Terms, you must cease usage of the Website immediately.

1.3 Cigno reserves the right to review and change any of the Terms by updating this page at its sole discretion. When Cigno updates the Terms, it will use reasonable endeavours to provide you with notice of updates to the Terms. Any changes to the Terms take immediate effect from the date of their publication. Before you continue, we recommend you keep a copy of the Terms for your records.

2. User Eligibility

2.1 You acknowledge and agree that:

(a) we may consolidate and track your personal information on this website in accordance with the terms of our privacy policy;

(b) we can use information to provide you with our services, this may include presenting you with offers or opportunities from third parties (including our network partners) which may require us to provide some of your personal information to these third parties;

(c) any advice provided to you in the use of this website is of a general nature and is not considered to be providing any type of financial, legal or credit advice;

(d) we do not provide any type of legal, accounting, tax, financial or credit advice and we are not purporting to be professional advisors in any of these areas;

(e) you are solely responsible for any decision to enter into a transaction in connection with these Terms or the use of our services or the goods or services of any of our network partners (including any associated credit providers and providers of other goods or services), including the evaluation of any and all risks related to any such transaction;

(f) we are not responsible for any loss caused by your failure to act in accordance with our policies or procedures; and

(g) you engage in your own transactions entirely and acquire any goods and services which may be introduced to you by us or one of our network partners, at your own risk.

3. Acceptance of the Terms

3.1 You accept the Terms by continuing to access and use the Website. You may also accept the Terms by clicking to accept or agree to the Terms where this option is made available to you by Cigno in the user interface.

4. Privacy

4.1 Cigno takes your privacy seriously and we will handle any personal information provided to us through your use of the Website in accordance with Cigno’s privacy policy and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

4.2 Our privacy policy sets out how we:

(a) collect, use and disclose personal information and how you may access and correct personal information about you;

(b) how you can complain to us about the handling of your personal information about you; and

(c) how we will handle any complaint.

4.3 We may disclose the information provided to us with third parties who help us deliver our services (including information technology providers, communication providers and our intermediary partners and network partners and related entities (including any associated credit providers)) or as required by law. This includes recipients who may be located outside of Australia.

4.4 If you do not provide us with the personal information that we request, we may not be able to provide all our services to you.

4.5 We may use cookies to facilitate a more personalised web browsing experience. You may disable the cookies in your web browser’s settings.

5. Content on this Website

5.1 In these Terms, ‘Content’ means the contents of this Website, including any information, stylistic elements (such as text, graphics, images, logos and button icons), photographs, editorial content, notices, software (including programs) and other material on this Website.

5.2 The Content on this Website is intended to provide a summary of the subject matter covered. While we use reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the Content, to the greatest extent permitted by law we give you no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of the Content or information on this Website.

5.3 The Content on this Website may change without notice to you, but we do not warrant that we will keep this Content or information updated.

5.4 We are not liable to you or anyone else if the Content is not up-to-date, accurate or complete.

5.5 We are not liable to you or anyone else if any part of this Website (or a third party website linked from this website) causes interference with or damage to your computer systems (including your mobile devices). You must take such precautions as you feel are sufficient to protect yourself from any malware, viruses or any other way in which this Website (or a third party website linked from this Website) could damage your computer systems (including your mobile devices).

5.6 Any information on this Website is general in nature and does not take into account your personal circumstances. You agree that nothing on this Website is:

(a) a representation that a particular product or service will be suitable for you; or

(b) advice that you should acquire a particular product or use a particular service.

6. Warranties and Disclaimer

6.1 This Website and the Content are provided on an ‘as is’ basis, and you acknowledge that:

(a) your use of this Website is at your own risk and is also subject to the terms and conditions of any websites, products and services of our affiliates (including entities within our  intermediary partners and network partners) that you may access via the Website;

(b) at no time prior to accepting these Terms have you relied on our skill or judgement and that it would be unreasonable for you to do so.

6.2 In Australia, our services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under Australian Consumer Law.

6.3 Nothing in these Terms modifies, limits or excludes or purports to modify, limit or exclude any guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions implied or imposed by law, including the Australian Consumer Law (or any liability under them) which by law may not be limited or excluded.

6.4 Subject to this clause, and to the extent permitted by law all terms, guarantees, warranties, representations or conditions which are not guaranteed by law and are not expressly stated in these Terms are excluded, including incidental, special, indirect or consequential loss or damage caused by breach of any express or implied warranty or condition (unless such loss or damage is reasonably foreseeable resulting from our failure to meet an applicable consumer guarantee), loss of profit or opportunity, or damage to goodwill arising out of or in connection with Cigno or these Terms, whether at common law, under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, pursuant to statute or otherwise. In particular, we do not warrant

(1) that your access to this Website will be free from interruptions, errors or viruses; or

(2) the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of information on this Website (nor do we undertake to keep this Website updated).

6.5 To the extent that we are in breach of any consumer guarantee or any other warranty or condition that cannot be excluded from these Terms:

(a) your sole remedy will be for us to provide the features or services that were previously provided; and

(b) our maximum liability to you is limited to the reasonable cost of having the features or service re-provided to you.

6.6 In entering into these Terms, you represent and warrant to us that:

(a) any information that you provide to us is accurate and complete;

(b) we will be entitled to rely on the accuracy and completeness of any information provided by you;

(c) you have not entered into these Terms in reliance on or as a result of any statement by us or any conduct of any kind by us;

(d) you have independently satisfied yourself in respect of all matters in connection with these Terms;

(e) your use of this Website does not and will not violate any other agreement to which you are bound or any law, rule, regulation, order or judgment to which you are subject;

(f) you will not infringe or violate any of the Terms;

(g) you possess the legal authority to enter into these Terms and to form a binding agreement under any applicable law, to use this Website in accordance with these Terms, and to fully perform your obligations under these Terms;

(h) you are solely responsible for complying with applicable laws regarding use of this Website; and

(i) you have read and agree to assume the risks identified above.

6.7 Use of the Website is at your own risk. Everything on the Website and Cigno Services is provided to you “as is” and “as available” without warranty or condition of any kind. None of the affiliates, directors, officers, employees, agents, contributors and licensors of Cigno make any express or implied representation or warranty about any products or services (including the products or services of Cigno) referred to on the Website and includes (but is not restricted to) loss or damage you might suffer as a result of any of the following:

(a) failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, failure to correct defects, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus or other harmful components, loss of data, communication line failure, unlawful third party conduct, or theft, destruction, alteration or unauthorised access to records;

(b) the accuracy, suitability or currency of any information on the Website, (including third party material and advertisements on the Website);

(c) incurred as a result of you using the Website or any services provided by Cigno; and

(d) operation in respect to links on this Website that are provided for your convenience.

7. Limitation of Liability

7.1 Cigno’s total liability arising out of or in connection with these Terms, however arising, including under contract, tort (including negligence), in equity, under statute or otherwise, will not exceed the resupply to you of any services provided by Cigno.

7.2 To the maximum extent permitted at law, including under Australian Consumer Law, you expressly understand and agree that Cigno, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors and licensors (including entities within our intermediary partners and network partners) shall not be liable to you for any direct, indirect, incidental, special consequential or exemplary loss, expenses or damages, however rising, which may be suffered or incurred by you, as a result or in connection with your use of this Website, or any material accessible via this Website. This shall include, but is not limited to, any loss of profit (whether incurred directly or indirectly), any loss of goodwill or business reputation and any other intangible loss.

8. Termination

8.1 Your access to all or part of this Website may be terminated at any time by us without notice to you. Following termination we will have no further obligations or liabilities to you.  Any exclusions of liability or other provisions contained in these Terms which by their nature survive termination of these Terms will survive any such termination.

9. Indemnity

9.1 You agree to indemnify Cigno, its affiliates, employees, agents, contributors, third party content providers and licensors (including any entities within our intermediary partners and our network partners) from and against:

(a) all actions, suits, claims, demands, liabilities, costs, expenses, loss and damage (including legal fees on a full indemnity basis) incurred, suffered or arising out of or in connection with any content you provide to us on or via the Website;

(b) any direct or indirect consequences of you accessing, using or transacting on the Website or attempt to do so; and/or

(c) any breach of the Terms.

10. Third Party Websites

10.1 This website may contain hyperlinks to websites operated by third parties. Those links are provided for your convenience only and may not remain current or be maintained in the future. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, we do not endorse and are not responsible for the content on those linked websites and have no control over or rights in those linked websites. 

11. Intellectual Property

11.1 The Content and this Website are protected by intellectual property laws.

11.2 Unless otherwise stated, we own or license from third parties all of the rights, title and interest (including copyright, designs, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property rights) in the Content and this Website.

11.3 Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited licence to access this Website and view and use the Content for personal, non-commercial purposes. Nothing in these Terms operates to grant you any further right or interest in the Content or this Website.

11.4 Except where necessary for viewing the Content on this Website on your browser, or as permitted under any applicable legislation, no Content on this Website may be reproduced, adapted, uploaded to a third party, linked to, framed, distributed, displayed or transmitted in any form by any process without our specific written consent.

12. No Commercial Use

12.1 This Website is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, commercially exploit, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any Content, software, products or services contained within this Website unless authorised by us in writing.

12.2 You must not use this Website or any of the Content, to further any commercial purpose.

13. Proper Use

13.1 You are prohibited from doing any act that we, acting reasonably, consider to be inappropriate, or is unlawful or prohibited by any laws applicable to this Website, including but not limited to any act which would constitute a breach of privacy, using this Website to defame or libel us, our employees or any other individuals.

13.2 You must not seek to reverse engineer the code contained in this Website or upload files which contain viruses or malware which may cause damage to our property or the property of other individuals or post or transmit to this Website any material which we have not authorised including material which is, in our sole opinion, likely to cause annoyance, or which is racist, defamatory, obscene, threatening, pornographic or otherwise or which is detrimental to or in violation of security protocols.

13.3 If we permit you to post any information, such as comments or other content, to this Website, we reserve the sole right to remove that information without notice to you. If you are permitted to post information to this Website, in doing so you agree that you are deemed to have granted us a irrevocable and unlimited license to use any of that information in any manner we see fit.

14. Venue and Jurisdiction

14.1 This Website is intended for residents of Australia. In the event of any dispute arising out of or in relation to the Website, you agree that the exclusive venue for resolving any dispute shall be in the courts of Queensland, Australia.

15. Governing Law

15.1 The Terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. Any dispute, controversy, proceeding or claim of whatever nature arising out of or in any way relating to the Terms and the rights created hereby shall be governed, interpreted and construed by, under and pursuant to the laws of Queensland, Australia, without reference to conflict of law principles, notwithstanding mandatory rules. The validity of this governing law clause is not contested. The Terms shall be binding to the benefit of the parties hereto and their successors and assigns.

16. Severance

16.1 If any part of these Terms is found to be void or unenforceable by a Court of competent jurisdiction, that part shall be severed and the rest of the Terms shall remain in force.

17. Amendment

17.1 We may amend these Terms from time to time and in our absolute discretion. By continuing to use this Website after any such amendment, you agree to the Terms as amended

NOTIFICATION OF MISCONDUCT BY CIGNO AUSTRALIA

Ordered by the Federal Court of Australia

The Federal Court of Australia has found that Cigno Australia Pty Ltd (Cigno Australia) and BSF Solutions Pty Ltd (BSF Solutions) have breached the law by engaging in unlicensed credit activity and charging prohibited fees.

In the period from July 2022 to 3 October 2023, over 100,000 consumers have been lent a total of $34 million, and charged fees of over $70 million, under the ‘No Upfront Charge Loan Model’ operated by BSF Solutions and Cigno Australia. At no time has either BSF Solutions or Cigno Australia held an Australian Credit Licence.

The Court also found that Mark Swanepoel (director of Cigno Australia) and Brenton James Harrison (director of BSF Solutions) were involved in these breaches of the law.

With effect from 24 May 2024, the Court has granted permanent injunctions preventing Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions from:

  • demanding, receiving or accepting fees or charges, including amounts of loan principal, from consumers in relation to credit provided under the ‘No Upfront Charge Model’; and
  • engaging in further credit activity pursuant to the ‘No Upfront Charge Loan Model’, including by entering into new agreements with consumers, for so long as they do not hold an Australian Credit Licence.

Cigno Australia was ordered by the Court to, by 5th July 2024, send written communications to consumers who between July 2022 and December 2022 entered into agreements with Cigno Australia and BSF Solutions under the ‘No Upfront Charge Loan Model’.

The Court will later determine whether (among other things) Cigno Australia and Mark Swanepoel ought to pay a pecuniary penalty in respect of this conduct, and whether Mark Swanepoel should be restrained from carrying on a business engaging in credit activity.

Cigno Australia, BSF Solutions, Mr Swanepoel and Mr Harrison intend to appeal the decision of the Court and have filed an application for leave to appeal. If the appeal is successful, some or all of the orders of the Federal Court of Australia may be set aside.

Where can you get more information?

Where to go for further support

You can access legal advice in your state at: Free legal advice – Moneysmart.gov.au.

If you are experiencing trouble with debt, or money worries in general, contact:

  • the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 or online chat (9:30am to 4.30pm, Monday to Friday).

If you need someone to talk to, contact:

  • Lifeline on 13 11 14 (24 hours) or their crisis support online chat or
  • Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 (24 hours) or their webchat