Common Platform & Legal Terms and Conditions

1.Definitions

• “Platform” means the Verified Brands website, applications, databases, directories, communication features, verification services, advertising services, educational materials and related services.
• “User” means an individual who accesses or uses the Platform.
• “Business Entity” means a company, organisation, trader, service provider, professional or other commercial entity listed or participating on the Platform.
• “Business Profile” means a profile containing information relating to a Business Entity.
• “Verification” means Verified Brands’ internal process for reviewing information or documents submitted by a Business Entity.
• “Advertisement” means promotional, sponsored or commercial content displayed through the Platform.
• “Lead” means a potential customer enquiry or business opportunity generated through the Platform.
• “Qualifying Activity” means an activity identified by Verified Brands as eligible for a reward or payout under applicable payout rules.

2.Nature of Verified Brands

Verified Brands operates as an independent online business marketplace, information, verification and business/social networking platform. It enables Users and Business Entities to discover each other, exchange information, communicate, review businesses, advertise and participate in business-related activities.

Verified Brands is not a bank, financial institution, broker, investment adviser, payment institution, government regulator, licensing authority or guarantor of any Business Entity. Verified Brands does not provide financial, investment, legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice.

3.Business Profiles and Content

Business Entities may create or manage profiles containing company information, logos, registration details, licences, websites, contact details, products and services, descriptions, verification status, reviews, ratings and advertisements. Business Entities remain solely responsible for the accuracy and legality of submitted information.

Verified Brands may edit, restrict, suspend or remove information that is false, misleading, unlawful, incomplete, fraudulent or materially outdated.

4.Verification

Verified Brands may conduct internal verification using registration documents, business licences, corporate records, website information, contact details, ownership information and other supporting documents.

Verification is not an endorsement, recommendation, certification, government approval, regulatory authorisation or guarantee. It does not guarantee future performance, financial stability, profitability, legal or regulatory compliance, customer satisfaction, product/service quality, solvency or absence of fraud. Verification may be suspended or withdrawn if information changes or concerns arise.

5.Advertising

Advertisements must be truthful, accurate, lawful, non-deceptive and compliant with applicable advertising requirements. Business Entities are solely responsible for claims, products, services, prices, offers and representations in their advertisements. Verified Brands may reject, modify, suspend or remove advertisements that violate law, these Common Terms or Platform policies.

6.Lead Generation

The Platform may provide enquiries or potential leads. Verified Brands does not guarantee a minimum number of leads, clicks, enquiries, customers, sales or revenue. A lead is not a confirmed customer, sale or contract. Business Entities are responsible for responding to leads and assessing their authenticity, suitability and commercial viability.

7.Communications

Users and Business Entities may communicate directly through Platform features. Verified Brands does not control negotiations, promises, representations, agreements or transactions between parties. Each party must conduct its own due diligence.

8.No Consumer Payment Collection

Verified Brands does not collect, hold, receive, process or settle consumer payments for transactions between Users and Business Entities unless expressly agreed under a separate written arrangement. The relevant Business Entity is responsible for payment arrangements, invoices, refunds, delivery, warranties, customer service, taxes and applicable consumer protection obligations.

9.Third-Party Transactions

Verified Brands is generally not a party to transactions between Users and Business Entities. Each party is responsible for its own products, services, contracts, prices, payments, refunds, warranties, delivery, representations, customer service and legal obligations.

Disputes concerning third-party transactions should generally be resolved directly between the relevant parties, including disputes concerning payments, refunds, products, services, investments, delivery, contracts, representations, warranties or business performance.

10.Financial and Regulated Businesses

Business Entities operating in financial services, investment, trading, lending, insurance, cryptocurrency, digital assets or other regulated industries must maintain all required licences, registrations and approvals. Verified Brands does not provide investment advice and does not guarantee the safety, profitability, legitimacy or performance of any financial product or service.

10A.Forex, CFDs and Leveraged Financial Products

Where the Platform contains information, advertisements, promotions or other content relating to foreign exchange (“Forex”), Contracts for Difference (“CFDs”), leveraged derivative products or other high-risk financial products, Users acknowledge that such products involve significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors.

Information provided through the Platform is general information only and does not constitute personalised financial, investment, legal, tax or other professional advice. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Users should independently assess whether any financial product or service is suitable for them, ensure that they fully understand the relevant risks, and review the applicable legal, regulatory, risk disclosure and product documentation before entering into any transaction.

Verified Brands does not provide investment advice, execute trades, hold client funds, provide financial products or guarantee the safety, profitability, legality, performance or suitability of any third-party financial product, service, broker, advertiser or Business Entity.

Where applicable, Users should independently verify that the relevant financial service provider is properly authorised or licensed by the competent regulatory authority in the relevant jurisdiction.

11.Reviews and Ratings

Reviews must be genuine, truthful, accurate, lawful and not deliberately misleading.

• Users and Business Entities must not create fake reviews, purchase fraudulent reviews, manipulate ratings, create fake accounts, impersonate customers, threaten users regarding reviews or otherwise manipulate the review system.
• Verified Brands may investigate suspicious activity and remove or restrict content that violates applicable policies. A Business Entity does not automatically have a right to remove a genuine negative review merely because it is unfavourable.

12.User Information and Privacy

Business Entities may receive information from Users through the Platform. Such information must be used only for legitimate purposes and in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection laws. Business Entities must not sell, misuse, unlawfully disclose or improperly retain User information.

Verified Brands may process Platform information in accordance with its Privacy Policy and applicable law.

13.Commercial Services, Fees and Payments

Verified Brands may generate revenue through verification services, premium profiles, advertising, promotional services, branding solutions, lead-generation services, research, educational partnerships and other commercial services.

Fees, subscription terms, advertising charges, renewal terms and payment conditions may be specified separately through an order, invoice, subscription, service agreement or other applicable commercial terms.

Payment for Verified Brands services does not guarantee verification approval, positive reviews, higher ratings, favourable editorial treatment, search ranking, leads, customers, sales or financial returns.

14.User Rewards and Payouts

Where Verified Brands offers rewards or payouts, eligibility, thresholds, geographical restrictions, verification requirements, payment methods and processing periods will be governed by the applicable payout rules.

Fraudulent, artificial or invalid activity may result in withholding, cancellation or reversal of rewards and suspension or termination of an account.

15.Prohibited Activities

• Fraud, impersonation or knowingly false information.
• Advertising unlawful products or services.
• Review, advertising, lead or payout manipulation.
• Artificial traffic, fake accounts, bots, click farms or unauthorised automation.
• Misuse, unlawful disclosure or improper retention of User information.
• Malware, interference with Platform security or other technical abuse.
• Unauthorised scraping or data extraction.
• Intellectual property infringement.
• Deceptive financial claims or attempts to evade regulatory requirements.
• Harassment, threats or other unlawful or abusive conduct.

16.Intellectual Property

Users and Business Entities retain ownership of lawful content they submit, subject to the licences granted in the applicable Sign-Up Terms. By submitting content, the contributor grants Verified Brands a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, publish, distribute and use the content for operating, maintaining, promoting and improving the Platform.

The Verified Brands name, trademarks, logos, software, designs, databases, systems, articles, reports, graphics and other Platform materials are owned by Verified Brands or its licensors unless otherwise stated. They may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, modified, sold, licensed or commercially exploited without prior written permission.

17.Reporting and Platform Integrity

Users may report suspected fraudulent businesses, fake reviews, misleading information, impersonation, intellectual property infringement, unlawful content or other suspicious activity. Verified Brands may investigate using information reasonably available to it. A report does not guarantee removal or any particular action.

18.Disclaimer

To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Platform is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. Verified Brands does not guarantee uninterrupted availability, permanent accuracy of Business Profiles, continued verification, advertising performance, lead quality, customer conversion, sales, revenue, business profitability, commercial success, reward availability or performance by third parties.

Nothing in these Common Terms is intended to replace any specific risk disclosure, regulatory disclosure or legal document required by applicable law for a particular financial product, service or jurisdiction.

19.Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Verified Brands shall not be responsible for indirect, consequential, special or business losses arising from use of the Platform or dealings with third parties, including loss of profits, customers, revenue, business opportunities, reputation or expected commercial benefits.

Verified Brands is not responsible for losses arising from third-party products, services, investments, payments, refunds, contracts, fraud, business failure, representations or misconduct, except to the extent liability cannot legally be excluded.

Nothing in these Common Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot legally be excluded or limited under applicable law.

20.Indemnification

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a Business Entity agrees to indemnify Verified Brands against claims, losses, damages, liabilities and reasonable costs arising from inaccurate Business Profile information, advertisements, products or services, violation of law, intellectual property infringement, disputes with Users, misuse of User information or breach of the applicable terms.

21.Suspension and Termination

Verified Brands may suspend, restrict or terminate an account or Platform access where it reasonably believes that a User or Business Entity violates the applicable terms, provides false information, engages in fraud, loses required licences, manipulates reviews or advertising, misuses User information, creates security or compliance risks or engages in unlawful activity. Access may also be restricted during a reasonable investigation.

22.Effect of Termination

Termination or suspension does not automatically affect rights or obligations that by their nature should survive, including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, dispute provisions and obligations relating to prior transactions.

23.Governing Law and Disputes

The parties should first attempt to resolve disputes through good-faith communication and reasonable efforts to reach an amicable resolution.

For consumer Users, mandatory consumer protection laws applicable in the User's country of residence apply where required by law, and nothing in these Terms is intended to remove mandatory consumer rights. For matters not subject to mandatory consumer law, the laws of the jurisdiction in which Verified Brands is legally established shall apply, subject to applicable law. For Business Entities, unless otherwise agreed in writing, disputes shall be governed by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Business Entity is legally established and shall be subject to the competent courts of that jurisdiction, subject to mandatory law.

24.Changes to These Terms

Verified Brands may update these Common Terms from time to time. Updated terms may be published on the Platform or communicated to registered users. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised terms, subject to applicable law.

25.Severability

If any provision of these Common Terms is determined to be unlawful, invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law and the remaining provisions will continue in effect.

26.Entire Agreement and Order of Precedence

The applicable B2B or B2C Sign-Up Terms, these Common Terms, the Privacy Policy, and any separate commercial, advertising, subscription, verification or payout terms applicable to a service together form the contractual framework governing use of the Platform. If a specific written commercial agreement expressly conflicts with these Common Terms, the specific written agreement will prevail to the extent of the conflict.

27.Final Statement

Verified Brands provides a digital environment where businesses and Users can establish or discover online business presence, access business information, obtain or view verification information, advertise, communicate, generate or receive potential leads, submit reviews and participate in legitimate Platform activities.

Verified Brands is a marketplace and business/social networking platform and is not a financial institution, payment intermediary, investment adviser, regulator or guarantor of third-party businesses or transactions.

Users and Business Entities remain responsible for their own conduct, businesses, advertisements, products, services, transactions and legal obligations.

28.Acceptance

By continuing to use the Platform after registration, the User or Business Entity acknowledges and agrees to these Common Platform & Legal Terms, together with the applicable B2B or B2C Sign-Up Terms and any other terms expressly applicable to the relevant service.