Complaints procedure 9Corporate B.V.

Introduction

9Corporate makes every effort to provide the best possible services to its client and attaches great value to client satisfaction. Nevertheless it is possible that a customer is not fully satisfied or may have a complaint. A customer may of course contact the attorney involved to discuss the matter. In addition, 9Corporate uses the following complaints procedure to ensure that all complaints are handled adequately.

Clause 1: definitions

In this complaints procedure the following terms shall have the following meaning:

• “9Corporate”: 9Corporate B.V.
• “complaint”: any written expression of dissatisfaction from or on behalf of a client towards 9Corporate, any of its attorneys or any other individual working under 9Corporate’s responsibility on the basis of an engagement, the quality of the services or the amount of an invoice, with the exception of a complaint as meant in Section 4 of the Counsel Act (Advocatenwet);
• “client”: means the client or its representative that submits a complaint; and
• “complaints Officer”: the attorney in charge of handling the Complaint.

Clause 2: scope

1. This complaints procedure applies to every engagement between 9Corporate and a client.
2. Each attorney at 9Corporate ensures that complaints are handled in accordance with this complaints procedure.

Clause 3: purpose

The purpose of this complaints procedure is to:

1. establish a procedure to constructively and within a reasonable period of time handle complaints of clients;
2. establish a procedure to determine the cause of complaints;
3. maintain and improve relationships with clients by adequately dealing with complaints;
4. train employees to handle complaints with the client’s needs in mind; and
5. improve the quality of services through the handling and analyzing of complaints.

Clause 4: information at engagement

1. This complaints procedure is publicly available on 9corporate.nl. Upon engagement, 9Corporate informs the client of this complaints procedure.
2. 9Corporate has included in its general terms and conditions that a complaint that has not been resolved can be submitted to the competent court in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Clause 5: internal procedure

1. All complaints submitted to 9Corporate will be sent to the complaints officer, Mark Miedema (miedema@9corporate.nl).
2. After receiving a complaint, the complaints officer informs the person to whom the complaint relates in writing and the complaints officer provides the client and the attorney the opportunity to provide an explanation to the complaint.
3. The person against whom the complaint is made will try to resolve the matter with the client, before or after intervention of the complaints officer.
4. The complaints officer handles the complaint within four weeks after receiving the complaint or notifies the client in writing that this term will be deviated from, including a specification of the reasons for deviating and the term within which the complaint will be handled.
5. The complaints officer informs the client and the person to whom the complaint relates in writing about its opinion on the validity of the complaint and its recommendations.
6. If the complaint is handled to the satisfaction of the client, the complaints officer, the client and the person to whom the complaint relates sign the opinion regarding the validity of the complaint.

Clause 6: confidentiality and cost-free complaints procedure

1. The complaints officer and the person to whom the complaint relates shall observe confidentiality in relation to the complaint.
2. The client does not have to pay any compensation for the handling of the complaint.

Clause 7: responsibilities

1. The complaints officer is responsible for handling the complaint within the term set out in this complaints procedure.
2. The person to whom the complaint relates shall keep the complaints officer informed on possible solutions of the complaint and any contacts.
3. The complaints officer shall keep the client informed on the handling of the complaint.
4. The complaints officer shall keep the complaint file.

Clause 8: registration of complaints

1. The complaints officer shall maintain a register of all complaints and the subject of the complaints.
2. A complaint may be divided in more than one subject.
3. The complaints officer shall report periodically on the handling of complaints, make recommendations to prevent new complaints and improve procedures.
4. At least once every year the reports and recommendations of the complaints officer shall be discussed at 9Corporate and be presented for decision making.