Doc 16 — Electronic Communications and E-Signature Consent

1. What this document does

1.1 This consent is incorporated by reference into the Platform Terms of Service (see Doc 02 — Platform Terms of Service). By accepting Doc 02, or by using the Platform's signing and communication features, you give the consents in this document.

1.2 You give the same consents in this document to the Participating Firm named in your Service Order, for the purposes of your Engagement (see Doc 03 — Singapore Terms of Business). The Firm relies on these consents to communicate with you electronically about your Engagement and to use electronically signed documents you complete through the Platform, without collecting a separate paper consent.

2. Consent to electronic records and communications

2.1 You consent to receive, and to transact through, electronic records and communications as the primary channel between you, DPW and (for your Engagement) the Firm. This covers, for example: terms, notices, Service Orders, quotes, invoices and receipts, engagement documents, KYC requests, drafts for review, filing confirmations, and service and account messages.

2.2 The channels we use are: (a) your client portal on the Platform; (b) the email address on your account; and (c) where you have opted in to it, a messaging channel of the kind provided by consumer messaging apps ("messaging"). A communication is treated as received: (i) when it is made available in your portal; or (ii) when it is sent to the email address or opted-in messaging number currently recorded on your account, unless the sender receives a delivery-failure notification for that communication. This Section 2.2 is the deemed-receipt rule that applies wherever a document in this suite refers to the delivery or receipt of electronic communications.

2.3 Electronic records satisfy any requirement in our terms for "writing" or "notice", to the fullest extent the law allows.

3. Legal basis — Electronic Transactions Act 2010

3.1 Under the Electronic Transactions Act 2010 ("ETA"), information is not denied legal effect solely because it is in electronic form, and an electronic signature can satisfy a legal requirement for a signature where: (a) a method is used to identify the signer and to indicate the signer's intention in respect of the information signed; and (b) the method is as reliable as appropriate for the purpose, or is proven in fact to have identified the signer and indicated their intention.

3.2 You agree that documents signed through the Platform's e-signature process described in Section 4 are intended to be signed and legally binding, and that you will not challenge their validity solely on the ground that they were signed electronically.

4. How our e-signature process works

4.1 Signing is coordinated through the Platform using an e-signature service (a Third-Party Service Provider — see Doc 06 — Subprocessor and Service Provider Notice). The process is designed to meet the ETA criteria in Section 3.1:

• (a) Review before signing — you receive the full document and can read it before you sign; nothing is signed automatically on your behalf;
• (b) Per-signer identification — each signer receives an individual signing request tied to their own verified email address (and, where used, their portal login), so the signature is attributable to that signer;
• (c) Intention — you must take a deliberate signing action (for example, applying your signature and confirming) to complete signing; and
• (d) Completion records — the completed document, the identity of each signer, and the completion events are recorded, and an audit trail of the signing process is retained with the signed document.

4.2 Where a document requires signatures from several people (for example, all directors and shareholders in an incorporation pack), each person signs individually and the document is complete only when all required signatures are collected.

4.3 The Firm — not DPW — decides which Engagement documents require signature and reviews signed documents as part of its professional work (see Doc 03 — Singapore Terms of Business and Doc 20 — Professional Review and Filing Authorisation).

5. Documents we will not e-sign

5.1 Some documents are excluded from electronic signing under the First Schedule to the ETA or as a matter of prudent practice — in particular, powers of attorney, and other excluded matters such as documents concerning certain interests in immovable property, wills, negotiable instruments and trust declarations to the extent the exclusions apply.

5.2 If your matter needs such a document, we or the Firm will tell you, and that document will be prepared for wet-ink signature with instructions for returning the original or a certified copy. Everything else in your matter can still proceed electronically.

6. Withdrawing your consent

6.1 You may withdraw your consent to electronic records and communications at any time by written notice through the support channels in Doc 18 — Complaints, Support & Escalation Policy (the "Complaints Policy").

6.2 If you withdraw consent: (a) we and the Firm will use paper alternatives where reasonably practicable; (b) timelines will be longer, and reasonable additional costs of paper handling may be charged where a quote or Service Order states them in advance; and (c) some Platform features that are inherently electronic (for example, the portal workflow) may become unavailable to you, in which case Doc 02 and Doc 03 govern the consequences. Withdrawal does not affect the validity of anything signed or delivered electronically before it takes effect.

7. What you need (hardware and software)

7.1 To use electronic communications and e-signing you need: a current version of a mainstream web browser; a device able to view PDF documents; access to the email account on your Platform account; and, for messaging, the relevant messaging app and an active number. If we materially change these requirements in a way that risks your access to records, we will notify you.

7.2 You can download and keep copies of your documents from the portal, and we encourage you to do so.

8. Keeping your contact details current

8.1 You must keep your email address and phone number on the Platform current. A communication properly sent to the details on your account is effective even if you no longer use them. Statutory deadlines in corporate and filing matters can be short; missed communications caused by out-of-date contact details are your responsibility.

9. Transactional and marketing messages are different

9.1 Transactional messages are messages about your account, your Service Orders, your Engagement, security, service changes or legal notices. We keep transactional messages free of promotional content. You receive them for as long as you have an account or an active matter; you cannot opt out of them while the service relationship continues, though you can adjust channels (Section 6).

9.2 Marketing messages are sent only if you have given separate, express, channel-specific consent — email marketing consent covers email only, and messaging marketing consent covers that messaging channel only. Marketing consent is never a condition of buying or using any service (PDPA section 14: consent obtained as a condition of service beyond what is reasonable is not valid consent).

9.3 Every marketing message includes a working unsubscribe facility. We honour unsubscribe requests within 10 days, and each unsubscribe facility remains valid for at least 30 days after the message is sent, in line with the Spam Control Act 2007.

9.4 For Singapore telephone numbers, we check the Do Not Call registers before sending telemarketing messages or making telemarketing calls, unless we have your clear and unambiguous consent in writing to that mode of contact.

10. Record of consents

10.1 The Platform keeps a versioned record of each consent you give under this document (and of the terms versions you accept), including who consented, when, to which version, and through which action. Consent records are integrity-protected (hash-verifiable) and retained per Doc 17 — Document Retention / Records Notice (the "Retention Notice"), so that both DPW and the Firm can evidence your consent later.

10.2 You can ask for a copy of your consent records through the channels in Doc 19 — DPO / Data Subject Request Procedure (the "DSR Procedure").

11. Cross-references

11.1 Personal data handling: Doc 04 — Privacy Notice. Providers used for e-signature, email delivery and messaging: Doc 06 — Subprocessor and Service Provider Notice. Cookies and similar technologies: Doc 07 — Cookie Notice.