Digital assets trading terms and conditions

Section I - General provisions

1. Purpose and scope of application

These terms and conditions for trading in digital assets (“Digital Assets Trading Terms”) govern any orders for the trading of digital assets by the client (“Client”) with Taurus SA (“Taurus”) in, from or into fiat currencies and/or Digital Assets (as defined in the General Terms and Conditions of Taurus; “GTC”), and specify how Taurus prices, handles and executes such transactions.

The Digital Assets Trading Terms form an integral part of the contractual relationship between the Client and Taurus and apply together with and in addition to the GTC and any other terms and conditions of Taurus, subject to any special agreements between the Client and Taurus and subject to any separate regulations of Taurus for specific platforms or communications channels, including with regard to digital banking systems or mobile applications, or for special types of trading.

2. Trading services of Taurus

The Client can elect to use the following Taurus digital asset trading services on an “execution-only” basis (hereinafter the “Service”):

  1. Digital asset trading/brokerage service, where the Client transmits orders to Taurus, who as “principal” or “riskless principal” (also called sometimes “matched principal”) then takes in charge the execution of those orders with third-party execution venues and/or counterparties;

  2. Trading on the T-DX Organised Trading Facility (“T-DX OTF”) as indirect participant via Taurus. In this case, the Client registers with Taurus and agrees to route and execute orders on the T-DX OTF (“T-DX Client”) and/or specifically instructs Taurus to route a given order for execution to the T-DX OTF. This trading service is subject to the rules set in the T-DX OTF Rulebook.

  3. Trading on the T-DX OTF as a direct participant. This trading service is also subject to the rules set in the T-DX OTF Rulebook.

3. Trading channels

As an exception to the Art. GTC “Communication and associated risks”, the Client may only transmit any orders and instructions to Taurus through the following trading channels:

  1. By telephone, either through the client relationship manager competent for the Client or by direct access to the Taurus trading desk; or

  2. By Taurus electronic communication channels and systems/platforms (e.g, e-mail, chat, FIX, API, mobile applications or web services) as may be offered by Taurus from time to time, as described in the Electronic access terms and conditions.

Any oral or written instructions received by Taurus (including electronic instructions) in respect of any Transaction and identified as to proper authority to Taurus’ satisfaction shall be deemed to be the Client’s proper and duly authorised instructions and shall be binding on the Client, and Taurus shall not be liable for acting upon such instructions even if such instructions contain an error or are not authentic or duly authorised.

The eligibility of the Client to access or use any particular trading channel is at the sole discretion of Taurus. Taurus is not required to receive or accept any orders or instructions of the Client by any communications or transmission channels other than those listed above (including without limitation by e-mail, text message or in writing), and any orders or instructions by such other channels shall be deemed refused without any notice or other action by Taurus unless explicitly accepted in the individual case in Taurus’ discretion.

The Service provided by means of an electronic access are subject to the terms of this agreement and the Electronic access terms and conditions. Use of the Taurus electronic platform by individual users is also subject to the terms of the Privacy Policy.

4. Range of digital assets and fiat currencies

Taurus determines the range of Digital Assets and fiat currencies available to the Client for trading at its sole discretion. In particular, Taurus may from time to time decide not to offer, or to discontinue, or limit, the conversion or trading in specific Digital Assets without giving any reason and without prior notice to the Client, even if the Client still holds positions in such Digital Assets. Taurus may also set minimum and maximum amounts for transactions in Digital Assets at its sole discretion at any time.

Taurus then reserves the right to take any measure necessary to safeguard its interests or those of the Client, such as, but not limited to, the sale, transfer, compensation or conversion of Digital Assets, securities or assets.

5. General prerequisites for trading

The Client requires an account with Taurus for each of the Digital Assets between which he/she wishes to perform conversions or account transfers or in which he/she wishes to trade, subject in particular to the provisions of the GTC on Digital Assets Account(s) (see in particular GTC Art. “Accounts in foreign currencies and Crypto Currencies”, “Trading in foreign currencies and Crypto Currencies” and “Crediting and debiting amounts in foreign currencies and Crypto Currencies”).

6. Availability and hours of operations

With regard to bank holidays (see GTC Art. “Bank holidays”), Taurus is free to determine, adjust and amend at any time the hours of operations and cut-off times in respect of each available trading service and trading channel, as well as any minimum, incremental and maximum transaction amounts, availability of order types or applicable trading rules. Taurus may communicate any such parameters, requirements or limitations, if applicable, to the Client as it considers appropriate, including with respect to individual orders or transactions or in general form and in each case as set forth in GTC Art. “Communications and associated risks”.

In operating and maintaining its systems relevant to the provision of conversion and trading services to the Client, Taurus applies due care. Taurus is not responsible for any persons or systems outside its sphere of influence and, in particular, does not warrant or guarantee in any form the availability of services or of specific trading channels.

Taurus may at any time, whether for legal, regulatory, reputational, technical, market- or currency-specific or for any other reasons, limit or cancel the Client’s ability to perform conversions or trade in Digital Assets, limit or cancel the use of any of Taurus’ trading channels or refuse to execute the Client’s orders, without giving any reason.

7. No advice

Taurus solely provides its trading services on an “execution-only” basis.

In no case do the trading possibilities offered by Taurus (as a broker or through its T-DX OTF) or its choices in the digital assets, securities, financial instruments and fiat currencies available to the Client constitute advice to buy, hold or sell assets, now or in the future.

As an Investor, the Client confirms that he/she has done his/her own due diligence on individual securities, digital assets and/or financial instruments before to buy. This is his/her sole responsibility. The Client declares to understand that some Issuers may be non-listed private companies publishing limited financial information on an annual basis (via regular audit or limited review/Limited Statutory Examination (“LSE”) for example).

In particular, each Investor acknowledges that no Existing Shareholder, nor the Issuer nor Taurus, is making any representations as to budgets, business plans, forward-looking statements, the future development or success of the Company and its business or other projections of a financial, technical or business nature relating to the business of the Company.

8. Taurus’ trading role and capacity

All transactions with the Client regarding Digital Assets are made and entered into by Taurus as principal or riskless principal, as the case may be. In particular, unless otherwise agreed or specified, Taurus does not act as agent or otherwise in a fiduciary capacity for or on behalf of the Client in such transactions.

Taurus may at its discretion act as principal or riskless principal vis-à-vis the Client, as further specified herein, in particular with respect to pricing, order handling and execution.

As principal, Taurus acts for its own account and benefit on an arm’s length basis. As riskless principal, Taurus fulfils the Client’s order by simultaneously executing an identical transaction (or combination of transactions) with other counterparties.

Taurus’ interests in trading in Digital Assets may run contrary to or otherwise conflict with those of the Client. By trading with Taurus, the Client acknowledges Taurus’ role as principal and counterparty and the potential conflicts of interest resulting therefrom and accepts the implications on pricing, order handling and execution including as further set out herein.

Taurus maintains a framework including policies, processes, training and education, controls and reporting, to identify and manage any potential conflicts of interest in connection with trading activities appropriately, in particular by taking measures to avoid their realisation or to mitigate the effects of realisation or by disclosing them to the Client.

When executing T-DX Clients’ transactions, Taurus receives and transmits orders to the T-DX OTF, which are then submitted, executed and settled with other participants according to the rules set in the T-DX OTF Rulebook.

Section II - Pricing

9. Pricing with trading service

9.1. Taurus as principal

When trading as principal vis-à-vis the Client, Taurus quotes and applies “All-in” prices for and to the relevant transactions. An “All-in” price includes:

  • the price negotiated and agreed in the identical transaction entered into by Taurus with other counterparties in the market;
  • the potential spread and fees applied by such counterparties;
  • Taurus fees;
  • a potential mark-up.

Above mentioned fees and potential mark-up are determined by Taurus at its sole discretion. In order to determine its fees and potential mark-up, Taurus bases itself on, among other things:

  • the relevant fiat currency or Digital Asset;
  • the size of the order; ­
  • market conditions, such as liquidity and volatility;
  • transaction processing costs and venue fees associated with execution; ­
  • credit and settlement risks associated with the transaction; ­
  • operational risks, including the operational stability of the market venues where transactions are executed;
  • Taurus financial resources.

The fees and mark-up applied by Taurus may not be uniform across transactions and clients. Taurus may at its discretion distinguish and adjust the fees and mark-up provided to the Client based on objective criteria, in particular the relevant trading activities and volumes and the level of deposits of the Client with Taurus.

Taurus determines pricing in respect of conversions, account transfers or trading in foreign currencies or Digital Assets pursuant to the principles set out above in good faith and with due consideration to the interests of the Client. However, as a counterparty to the Client in a principal capacity, Taurus is not obliged to provide the best available price or “best execution” to the Client and is not required to disclose the spread, fees and/or mark-up applied by it in the specific transaction.

Applicable fees are set out in the Taurus PRIME price schedule unless agreed differently.

9.2. Taurus as riskless principal

When trading as riskless principal vis-à-vis the Client, Taurus passes on the price negotiated and agreed in the identical transaction entered into by Taurus with other counterparties in the market (i.e. including any spread and fees applied by such counterparties), subject to an additional fee and/or mark-up negotiated and agreed with the Client in advance. If Taurus enters into a combination of transactions to fill the order of the Client, it is entitled to apply an average price (including spreads) plus Taurus fees and/or merk-up.

The fees and/or mark-up offered to the Client is determined by Taurus in its discretion and may take into account substantially the same aspects as set forth in respect of the fees and/or mark-up in the previous Article (Taurus as principal).

In negotiating and agreeing the transaction or transactions in the market required to fill the order of the Client, Taurus does not provide a “best execution” service, but will choose from one or several offers available to Taurus in the market.

Transactions are executed via the counterparties chosen by Taurus in its sole discretion. Digital asset counterparties include regulated or unregulated markets (such as crypto exchanges), trading venues, counterparties, OTC dealers, market makers and other services providers to buy or sell Digital Assets. Transactions may also be executed via the Liquidity Provider(s) chosen by Taurus in its sole discretion. The list of execution venues and counterparties which may be used by Tarusu, may be amended or updated by Taurus unilaterally from time to time without prior notice.

Taurus has no obligation to make prices available for Digital Assets, in particular in situations of illiquidity where no bids/asks are available.

Applicable fees are set out in the Taurus PRIME price schedule unless agreed differently.

10. Pricing with T-DX OTF trading service

When a Client executes an order on the T-DX OTF, the order is executed according to the applicable market schedule and in full compliance with the rules set in the T-DX OTF Rulebook.

Taurus has no obligation to make prices available for Admitted Digital Assets, in particular in situations of illiquidity where no bids/asks are available.

Applicable fees for the T-DX OTF are set out at https://app.t-dx.com/pricing.

11. Responsibility of Client

The Client is required to examine the price quoted by Taurus in respect of each individual order and must determine, in its sole responsibility, whether such price is acceptable taking into account prevailing market conditions, its individual objectives and circumstances and all other relevant considerations. It is the sole responsibility of the Client to decide on proceeding with a transaction at the price and conditions quoted by Taurus.

Section III - Order handling and execution

12. Access to Digital assets, securities and other financial instruments

Taurus provides access to Digital Assets, securities or other financial instruments to the Client subject to the provisions of the GTC (including Custody Regulations and these Digital assets trading terms and conditions) and compliance with applicable laws, regulations and standards of self-regulation, contractual provisions, business or trade practices or internal rules and policies of Taurus. It may limit or exclude such access, or refuse, limit or condition the performance of transfers, with respect to individual financial instruments, types or classes of financial instruments at any time in its discretion without giving any reason.

13. Instructions

The Client may instruct Taurus to place orders, such as purchases, sales, subscriptions, conversions or redemptions, or to perform transfers of Digital Assets, securities or other financial instruments, whether listed/admitted to trading on any trading venue or not, in each case subject, in particular, to the GTC; see in particular GTC Art. “Execution of instructions and orders”. The Client shall be fully responsible for the investment decisions leading to an order and it acknowledges and accepts that transactions so instructed are at its own risk and expense.

The Client may only rely on the valid acceptance of orders or instructions, or of any cancellations, modifications and corrections of orders or instructions, upon confirmation by Taurus. Orders received via the same trading channel will generally be executed in the sequence in which they were acknowledged and accepted by Taurus.

Taurus may further specify the terms of individual transactions in its quotes or trade confirmations provided to the Client.

14. Pre-funded Transactions

In general, by default, any Transactions executed via Taurus must be pre-funded in full (100%), unless agreed differently. In case of “Pre-funded Transactions”, the Client acknowledges that Taurus will not be able to start the execution of an order before the funds (Digital Assets or Permitted Currencies) have been received and are available on Taurus’ account(s) or wallet(s). The Client acknowledges and agrees that he/she shall have no claim against Taurus for any damages, opportunity costs or liabilities attributable to an adverse price movement during the period between the order is submitted and when the funds are received by Taurus and then by the respective Liquidity Providers for final execution of the order. Where there is insufficient cover for an order, it shall be considered not to have been issued. Once money, digital assets or securities have been debited from the account, orders can no longer be revoked. During trading hours it is generally impossible to revoke market orders, since they are normally executed immediately.

15. Pre-hedging

Taurus may, as principal, conduct risk management and market making activities for its own account while executing a Client order or in anticipation of a Client order. This may involve Taurus undertaking pre-hedging activities in the market or positioning its portfolio to meet anticipated demand. Taurus may further, as principal, pre-hedge Client orders if it considers, inter alia, that such hedging activity would be in the Client’s interest or that such hedging activity could avoid disrupting the market. In doing so, Taurus will take into consideration the prevailing market conditions as well as the size and nature of the anticipated transaction. Pre-hedging may result in profit, or loss, to Taurus. Taurus does not pre-hedge or pre-position when acting as riskless principal.

16. Limitations

Taurus has no obligation to accept orders or instructions regarding Digital Assets and may in its sole discretion provide or decline to provide quotes, accept, reject, limit or cancel orders or instructions without giving any reason. Transactions with the Client in Digital Assets are entered into at the discretion of Taurus. In particular, GTC Art. “Execution of instructions and orders”, “Payments, deposits, withdrawals and acceptances of assets” and Custody Regulations Art. “Orders” apply.

Any orders to transfer Digital Assets or any other instructions for transactions concerning Digital Assets have to be placed by the Client with Taurus with sufficient advance notice taking into account the current form of custody of the relevant Digital Assets.

The Client and Taurus will comply at all times with the General Rules for Transactions set in Exhibit 1. If the conditions set in Exhibit 1 are or have not been met, Taurus reserves the right to cancel such Order or Transaction whereupon neither party shall have any obligation to the other in respect of such Transaction.

The Client acknowledges and agrees that:

  • the liquidity of Digital Assets relies on the prices offered by the trading venues and liquidity providers selected by Taurus, which may include regulated or unregulated markets, trading venues, counterparties and other services providers (the “Liquidity Providers”), for the relevant Digital Asset;

  • Taurus has no obligation to make available prices at any time, in particular in situations of illiquidity where no prices are available from any of Taurus’ Liquidity Providers for Digital Assets or where no bid/ask are available on the T-DX OTF. The Client is solely responsible for assessing whether the purchase prices and/or selling prices are acceptable to him;

  • the Client bears the risk of the Digital Assets held directly by Taurus for the Client and/or through a third-party Liquidity Provider being compromised for any reason (e.g., hacking, theft, fraud, cyber-attack, loss of private key, etc.) (each a “Loss Event”), absent any fraud of Taurus. In particular, Taurus shall have no liability in connection with a Loss Event resulting from any action, omission, or otherwise attributable to Liquidity Provider. In case of any Loss Event, Taurus shall promptly notify the Client and inform the Client of any measures taken to mitigate the impact of such Loss Event.

17. Confirmation

Once an order is executed, Taurus will send a Confirmation within a reasonable time with the final price and conditions of the Transaction, which shall be governed by the general and specific terms and conditions.

Any Confirmation or other documents to be given to the Client shall be validly given if dispatched to the Client in accordance with his/her contact details last registered with Taurus, and shall be deemed to have been received by the Client the day after their dispatch.

The Client undertakes to verify the correctness of each Confirmation and to inform Taurus immediately, within maximum 2 business days from dispatch of any Confirmation, of any discrepancies, omissions or debits wrongly made to, or inaccuracies or incorrect entries in, the account or in the particulars of the Confirmation. After two (2) business days, the account entries as kept by Taurus and the details contained in the Confirmation shall be conclusive evidence vis-à-vis the Client without any further proof that the entries in the account and the details contained in the Confirmation are correct and notwithstanding any discrepancies, omissions or debits wrongly made to, or inaccuracies or incorrect entries in, the account, statement or Confirmation as so stated, whether made, processed or paid out as a result of forgery, fraud, lack of authority, negligence or otherwise by any person whatsoever.

18. Erroneous or delayed execution of orders

In the event of the erroneous, incomplete or delayed execution of an order, Taurus’ liability shall be limited to the interest lost.

19. Erroneous transactions and erroneous entries (mistrades)

The Client is aware and accepts that a stock exchange, a multilateral trading facility (MTF) or organized trading facility (OTF) may reserve the right to declare an executed transaction invalid if, for example, the stock exchange/MTF authorities or the operator of the OTF believe the transaction is clearly the result of an erroneous transaction or entry. If, in the meantime, the Client has sold on the security affected by the erroneous transaction or entry, this constitutes a short sale. The Client accepts and assumes the risk of erroneous transactions, erroneous entries and short sales. The Client is aware and agrees that short sales are not allowed and will thus automatically be covered by Taurus without further notification, i.e. negative positions will be closed out.

Taurus expressly draws attention to the fact that digital assets and securities to be sold by the Client must be present in the Client’s account in a long position permitting proper delivery on or before the settlement date of the respective transaction. Save where guilty of willful intent or gross negligence, Taurus shall not be liable for any damage in connection with such a declaration from the stock exchange. With regard to reversal of debit entries, the provisions of the Swiss Federal Intermediated Securities Act shall apply.

Upon learning that assets credited to his/her account must in all good faith be assumed to have been credited erroneously, the Client shall be obliged to notify Taurus immediately of the credit entry either in writing or orally.

20. Revocations and cancellations

The Client can cancel/revoke an order he/she has placed only before it has been performed or executed. Taurus will process this new instruction from the Client on a best effort basis but shall not be held responsible if the order is nevertheless finally processed.

The Client acknowledges that Taurus may unilaterally cancel or reverse a trade in case of high market volatility.

21. Settlement

Promptly upon Taurus’ instructions and within maximum 4 hours for Digital Assets, the Client shall make payment or deliver Digital Assets, on the relevant settlement date, to specific account/wallet instructed and communicated by Taurus. If the Transaction is not settled by the Client on the relevant settlement date, Taurus reserves the right to cancel or revert such Transaction and to ask the Client to compensate for any losses associated with the Transaction (e.g., opportunity costs, late interests). Taurus will not accept payments from any party other than the Client. All amounts payable by the Client under this agreement shall be paid in full without set-off or counterclaim or any restriction or condition.

Settlement of Transactions in Digital Assets may take longer than the customary settlement cycle of regulated securities exchanges or other markets and trading facilities. The Client acknowledges that the settlement of Transactions may be delayed by daily, weekly or monthly deposit and withdrawal limits imposed by third-party digital asset liquidity providers or exchanges. Taurus will use commercially reasonable efforts to settle Client’s Orders as soon as reasonably possible.

The Client acknowledges that the settlement or execution of trades may be materially delayed by liquidity providers or correspondent banks. In some cases, trading counterparties may delay, suspend or limit the withdrawal of cash and require further information about the Client. The Client commits to provide Taurus with all required information, in particular AML and KYC information, to unblock the funds and recognizes that funds may be locked for an indefinite amount of time if all necessary information is not provided in due time.

The Client acknowledges that Taurus may unilaterally cancel, refuse or reverse an unsettled trade if the funds (Digital Assets or Permitted Currencies) are not delivered within the settlement deadline indicated by Taurus or if the counterparty cannot settle the trade.

Taurus shall not be liable for any loss directly or indirectly attributable to an action or omission, or for the insolvency/bankruptcy, default or similar event affecting any counterparties.

Section IV - Risk disclosure

22. General trading risks

The Client is aware that trading in Digital Assets is a highly speculative activity in potentially extremely volatile and partially unregulated markets. As such, it involves substantial risks of loss including a total loss.

In particular, trading orders are subject to a risk of slippage, i.e. they may be executed at a different price than expected at the time of entry of the order. This risk, and its potentially detrimental financial consequences for the Client, may intensify during periods of high volatility, liquidity shortfalls or other exceptional market circumstances as well as in connection with market closures during weekends or on local holidays, all of which are outside the sphere of influence of Taurus. Such circumstances and events may also delay, hinder or outright prevent order execution or conversions between particular pairs of currencies, Crypto Currencies or Digital Assets and may further add to the cost of individual Client transactions.

23. Special risks of trading in Digital Assets

Special risks of trading in Digital Assets are detailed in the “Risks involved in trading, custody and staking of digital assets”, as amended from time to time.

The markets in Digital Assets are in principle not subject to closures during weekends or on local holidays. However, crypto exchange venues may halt trading in particular Digital Assets due to external events such as forks in a relevant blockchain, which may reduce or eliminate liquidity in such Digital Assets for extended periods of time. Execution of orders may take longer than the customary execution time of regulated securities exchanges or other markets and trading facilities.

Section V - Trading on T-DX OTF

24. Direct connectivity as T-DX participant

If the Client connects to the T-DX OTF as a direct participant, he/she/it agrees to:

  1. Comply will Taurus’ reasonable test requirements in relation to connectivity, IT systems and such other matters as Taurus may reasonably specify;

  2. Maintain a connection to T-DX OTF of such minimum quality as Taurus may reasonably prescribe from time to time in accordance with the Technical Specification(s). The Client is solely responsible for connecting to, and maintaining its connection to T-DX OTF;

  3. Comply with the continuing obligations requirements as set out in the T-DX OTF Rulebook (the “Rules”)(see T-DX OTF Rulebook); ensure that all personnel trading on its behalf understand, are aware of and comply with the Rules and applicable laws; ensure that it implements appropriate procedures and controls to ensure its ongoing compliance with the Rules;

  4. Not act as a professional Liquidity Provider or Market Maker on the T-DX OTF unless and until it has executed a Liquidity Provider or Market Making Agreement with Taurus;

  5. Provide reasonable assistance to Taurus regarding any investigation concerning compliance with the T-DX OTF Rulebook and applicable laws, which assistance may include providing access to information reasonably within the control of the Client.

The Client agrees that Taurus may monitor any and all orders, offers and transactions entered on the T-DX OTF. Taurus may, at its absolute sole discretion, suspend a Participant, or restrict the Participant’s right to place orders or receive information from T-DX OTF at any time.

25. Trading withdrawal/unlisting/suspension

The Taurus’ decision to trade the Admitted Digital Assets on its OTF is subject to conditions and may be reversed at any time by Taurus. There is no guarantee that Taurus will continue to trade Digital Assets on the T-DX OTF in the future. Taurus may, at any time withdraw/suspend a digital assets from trading, if Taurus deems it necessary in order to maintain a fair and orderly market on the T-DX OTF, to comply with Applicable Laws or in response to a request from a regulator, or for any other reason at its sole discretion. The Client acknowledges and understands that trading withdrawal/unlisting/suspension may lead to a total lack of liquidity and/or the total absence of market places.

26. T-DX OTF market data

Subject to the provisions of the Swiss Data Protection Act, the Client acknowledges and agrees that all T-DX OTF market data (e.g., price history, order book history, trade history) are the full and exclusive property of Taurus. If and to the extent that he/she/it wishes to access and use the T-DX OTF Data, such access and use will be subject to the terms and conditions of a Data Licence with Taurus. The Client must enter into a Data Licence with Taurus prior to receiving or accessing any T-DX OTF Data. In any event, the Client shall be permitted to use T-DX OTF Data to the extent necessary to enable the Client to meet any regulatory obligations under applicable law, but not to distribute T-DX OTF Data.

The Client agrees that (to the extent it owns any rights to the same) Taurus may possess or use data for any legitimate business purpose. Taurus shall not distribute such data to any third party without the prior written consent of the Client. Taurus will ensure that Member Data is de-identified and aggregated in a manner that does not directly identify or link the Member with any orders or transactions, where such Member Data is used in a data feed or otherwise made available to third parties.

Section VI - Forward Transactions, derivatives and structured products

27. Scope

This Section applies to the following transactions (hereinafter the “Transactions”):

  • Forward transactions concerning any types of underlying assets (transferable securities, digital assets, precious metals, commodities, exchange rates, interest rates, indices, etc.);
  • Transactions involving OTC options on any type of underlying assets (transferable securities, digital assets, precious metals, commodities, exchange rates, interest rates, indices, etc.), listed options and warrants, futures, perpetuals, swaps or “Stillhalter” options and any other possible combinations of these financial instruments;
  • Structured or hybrid products, such as guaranteed capital products, performance optimisation products, structured products with participation or investment products with benchmark debtors;
  • Credit derivatives or any other structured credit product.

28. Relationship between Taurus and the Client

In principle, Taurus shall act in its own name but on behalf of, and at the risk of, the Client.

Where the Transactions are executed on over-the-counter (OTC) markets (the “OTC Transactions”), the Client acknowledges and accepts that they may not assert any right against the counterparties with which Taurus handles said Transactions, under the framework contracts that link it with these counterparties. Accordingly, the Client expressly waves the legal transfer of rights provided for by Article 401 of the Swiss Code of Obligations.

29. Covered writing of options and contracts

For any covered writing of call options or any selling position in forward contracts, the Client agrees to transfer the title to the underlying assets or entitlement to the corresponding assets/securities to Taurus, as collateral, and authorises Taurus in turn to transfer such title or entitlement to the corresponding assets/securities to its correspondent, counterparty or to the clearing house of the exchange in question. This transfer of title or entitlement shall be valid until the Client’s short call or sell position is closed out. Furthermore, the Client instructs Taurus to confirm delivery of the assets/securities to its counterparty if the option is exercised or the contract stipulates “physical delivery”, or to credit to the buyer’s account the transfer of the assets/securities.

30. Blocking and margins

The Client undertakes to continually maintain in their account a level of assets in the form of cash, digital assets or easily tradeable securities, that will enable them to meet the commitments resulting from the orders they submit to Taurus. The Client authorises Taurus to block their assets insofar as necessary until the Transactions are completed.

Where the Transactions that the Client instructs Taurus to conduct are subject to a margin call (e.g. the purchase or sale of futures contracts or the sale of non-covered call and put options), the Client is required to constitute a margin designed to guarantee the proper execution of their obligations, as resulting from the Transactions that they ask Taurus to execute on their behalf. The required margin level is freely determined by Taurus in accordance with its internal policy on collateral assessment; this may be revised by Taurus at any time in accordance with market developments and/or for regulatory reasons. The Client’s margin may be provided by a pledging of assets to an account or a transfer of assets for security purposes. Taurus may also, at its sole discretion, decide to grant a credit limit to the Client, in the same amount as the margin.

The Client authorises Taurus to meet any margin calls from its correspondents/counterparties at the start of the Transactions and at any time throughout their duration by debiting the Client’s account.

Where Taurus believes that the value of the collateral provided as margin is no longer sufficient to cover the Client’s commitments, Taurus is entitled, but has no obligation, to require the Client to reconstitute the margin (margin call). The Client undertakes to respond to any margin call by Taurus, within the given timeframe.

If the Client does not respond to a margin call by Taurus, Taurus’ claims against the Client in respect of the Transactions will become immediately payable. Taurus may then, at its sole discretion and without advance notice, liquidate in full or in part the Transactions undertaken and/or realise the assets provided by the Client as collateral, in accordance with GTC Art. “Lien and set-off”.

31. Liquidation of Transactions in progress

The Client hereby irrevocably authorises Taurus, at any time and without being required to inform the Client in advance, to liquidate all or part of the Transactions in progress, in the following cases:

  • Insufficient Client assets provided as collateral;
  • Failure by the Client to properly respond to a margin call;
  • Breach by the Client of any other obligations with respect to Taurus;
  • Occurrence of early termination with respect to agreements reached between Taurus and its counterparties in relation to the Transactions.

If Taurus conducts an early liquidation, it will determine a liquidation value for the Transactions, in Swiss francs or any other currencies freely determined by Taurus. The liquidation value corresponds to the replacement value of the Transactions on the early liquidation date, taking into account unsettled amounts due, due by the Client or due to the Client in respect of the Transactions. The liquidation value produces a single obligation settlement amount, due either by the Client or by Taurus. This liquidation amount must be settled within a period of 3 business days starting from its notification to the Client, subject to regulations or agreements reached between Taurus and its counterparties that state a shorter settlement period. Taurus’ rights to compensation are reserved in all cases.

32. Covered warrants (Stillhalter warrants)

If the Client instructs Taurus to issue or to have a third party issue options on financial instruments, digital assets or other securities that the Client holds with Taurus or with a third party under the direction of Taurus, the Client accepts that the financial instruments, digital assets or securities in question may be (i) transferred to a blocked safe custody account at Taurus, a central depositary or a third party bank and (ii) pledged in favour of the issuer of the warrant to secure the rights to exercise.

Subject to the deduction of its commissions and charges, Taurus shall credit the Client’s account with the amounts it receives for issuing the covered warrants, or for selling the underlyings if the warrants are exercised, in proportion to the Client’s participation in the warrants issued.

33. Special risks

Forward transactions, derivatives and structured products involve a potential for high risk and/or a complex risk structure.

The Client may theoretically be exposed to an unlimited risk of loss, depending on the type of transaction performed by the Client. The Client may even be required to inject funds beyond the initial amount of the investment. Such a scenario may occur, for example, in the case of forward transactions, selling uncovered call options or put options.

To limit the risk of a price drop, the Client may give Taurus a stop-loss instruction, setting the price at which a sell order is triggered. The Client understands that stoploss orders are “at best” orders and that, depending on the circumstances, they might not be executed at the price instructed by the Client. The Client further understands and accepts that under certain circumstances Taurus cannot execute the order at the exact moment the specified price is reached, particularly if the market is illiquid, the electronic system fails and, more generally, in cases of force majeure.

In addition, the Client may also incur a liquidity risk, in that the situation of the market concerned (imbalance between demand and supply) or regulatory or economic policy reasons (e.g. suspension of activity by a supervisory authority or suspension of activities following a monetary policy decision) may prevent the execution of the Client’s buy, sell or stop-loss orders.

Where it trades on OTC markets (e.g., typically for digital assets), the Client is subject to specific risks, which result from the following characteristics specific to these markets:

  • Absence of marketability: where the OTC Transactions are concluded off-exchange or not on a trading platform, there is no market to trade the associated contracts; the latter can only in principle be liquidated before the due date by concluding a reverse transaction with the same counterparty; furthermore, the sale or transfer to third parties of the Client’s position resulting from the transaction requires the agreement of all parties;
  • Lack of price transparency: in the absence of trading platforms that set prices, the latter result from agreements reached between the parties to the transaction;
  • Absence of involvement of a central counterparty: the Client incurs a credit risk and an issuer default risk;
  • Mechanisms for the liquidation of obligations stated in the framework contracts between Taurus and its counterparties (netting agreements): these mechanisms accelerate the payability and the offsetting of the rights and obligations of Taurus and of the counterparty concerned if certain events occur (for example the bankruptcy of one of the parties); these mechanisms may result in the early liquidation of certain transactions, at a time that is unfavourable for the Client.

The Client confirms that they understand and accept these risks.

Section VII - Miscellaneous provisions

34. Taurus’ duty of care

Taurus shall conduct any conversions, account transfers or trading for the Client in Digital Assets with due care.

Taurus does not provide any guarantee regarding the rating of any digital assets bought via its trading service and/or T-DX OTF. Taurus disclaims in particular all responsibilities to the fullest extent if a digital assets purchased via Taurus is then associated ex-post with any criminal and/or fraudulent activites.

35. Fees and remuneration

Taurus is entitled to debit from any account and/or transaction of the Client the relevant transaction settlement amounts as well as any fees, commissions and costs pursuant to these Digital Assets Trading Terms and Conditions or agreed with the Client. In particular, third-party brokerage fees, exchange fees, bank custody and administration fees, stamp duties, taxes, blockchain network and transaction fees, etc. may be charged separately on top of Taurus fees and/or mark-up.

Taurus reserves the right to adjust and amend the fee schedules at any time, including due to changes in market conditions or costs. Changes will be communicated to the Client by appropriate means, including as set forth in GTC Art. “Communications and associated risks”, and will take effect 30 days from the date of notification by Taurus unless otherwise specified by Taurus.

36. Severability

If any provision of these Digital Assets Trading Terms and Conditions is or becomes invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall continue to be binding.

37. Amendments to the Digital Assets Trading Terms and Conditions

Taurus is entitled to amend and modify these Digital Assets Trading Terms and Conditions at any time. The Client will be notified in advance of any amendments by appropriate means, including as set forth in GTC Art. “Communications and associated risks”, and such amendments are deemed approved if the Client does not submit an objection within 30 days of the date of the amendment.

The currently valid version of the Digital Assets Trading Terms and Conditions, as amended from time to time, can be accessed on Taurus website.