Compliance and regulation
In the area of compliance we approach individual legal obligations and standards without exception, but with sober judgment, and we comply with them so as not to jeopardise our activity in any way, while at the same time providing our clients with an appropriate degree of protection and protecting above all their interests.
That is why we always strive to keep up to date with the latest obligations and trends in compliance and regulation, both because of our own obligations and in the interest of our clients complying with them.
Confidentiality and discretion
Our clients’ trust in the security of the information they disclose to us as their lawyers is crucial to us. That is why we maintain confidentiality regarding all information we learn while providing legal services. Without the client’s consent we will not disclose information subject to confidentiality obligations to anyone. In certain cases defined by law, however, there are exceptions to the duty of confidentiality. Such an exception is, for example, a situation where we have a duty to prevent the client from committing a criminal offence.
Money laundering / Legalisation of proceeds of crime
Since our practice also specialises in the area of legislation on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, we know our obligations very well. That is why, in certain very limited cases defined by law, we have an obligation to verify the identity of our clients, their corporate structure, the ultimate beneficial owner and other information defined by law for the purposes of preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Where circumstances and national legislation so require, we may be obliged to report a suspicious transaction to the relevant local authority. At the same time, however, we maintain the confidentiality of the information our clients have provided to us, to the greatest extent possible under the law, and the confidentiality of our clients’ information is our primary goal.
In order to fulfil the obligations of preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, we have developed our own standards and projects (programmes), which we have incorporated into the internal processes of client onboarding.
Anti-corruption legislation
Corruption, bribery or other similar conduct is considered criminal in all democratic and law-governed states. At Steiniger we ensure honest conduct in providing our legal services, at every stage and in every matter. We guide every member of our team towards such an approach and, without exception, condemn any conduct contrary to our principles and rules. We take the same approach with our clients and immediately withdraw from a mandate if we were to be exposed to criminal-law consequences as a result of providing our legal services to a client breaching criminal-law regulations.
Data protection and IT security
In protecting data, IT security and communication with the client, we use the most modern technologies providing the highest possible degree of protection. To this end we continually train in IT security, contract specialised IT support, upgrade our hardware and software, and incorporate procedural security standards into our internal processes to ensure they are observed by all our employees and partners.
As regards the protection of personal data, please read more in the section Privacy Policy.
If you are our client or would like to become one, under certain circumstances and to an appropriate extent we will be glad to acquaint you more closely with our compliance standards.
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