1. Scope
The following General Terms and Conditions of Business regulate the contractual relationship between the participant in seminars, courses and conferences, live and digital [hereafter referred-to as the "event"] and Handelsblatt GmbH [hereafter referred-to as "Handelsblatt"]. Any diverging General Terms and Conditions of the participant shall have no validity.

2. Registration/confirmation of registration
You may register via the Internet or by letter, fax, email or telephone. The registration shall become legally binding following our written confirmation.

3. Services
The conference fee is charged per person and per event and is exclusive of any applicable value added tax. The fee covers conference documentation, in case of a live event lunch and beverages during breaks. Handelsblatt reserves the right to replace speakers if circumstances require and to make any necessary changes to the programme, while preserving the overall character of the event. The participants shall be notified without delay in the event of a cancellation due to force majeure, the indisposition of a speaker, problems arising at the venue or an insufficient number of delegates. Cancellation due to an insufficient number of delegates shall be announced no later than two weeks prior to the event. Under such circumstances the conference fee shall be refunded. If you are business people/a trader and the cancellation is due to force majeure a previously paid event fee will not be refunded.

No claims for reimbursement of travel expenses and accommodation costs, or for compensation due to lost working time, shall be accepted unless such costs are the result of grossly negligent or wilful behaviour on the part of Handelsblatt. In the event of any disruptions arising to its services Handelsblatt shall take all reasonable steps to remedy the disruption and to limit any possible damage.

4. Due date and payment, default of payment, compensation
The conference fee shall be due 14 days after the invoice has been issued. If the participant is in default of payment, Handelsblatt shall be entitled to demand late payment interest to the amount of 5% above the base lending rate p.a. [Section 247 (1) and Section 288 (1) of the Civil Code (BGB)]. If Handelsblatt is able to show that it has suffered greater damage due to the delay it shall be entitled to claim on this basis. Similarly, the participant shall have the right to prove that no damage has been caused or that the said damage is considerably less than that being claimed by Handelsblatt. The purchaser has the option of paying by direct debit, on account or by credit card. Handelsblatt reserves the right to exclude certain methods of payment on a case by case basis. Payments may not be made by sending in cash or cheque and Handelsblatt shall not be held liable for any losses arising therefrom. Participants may only seek compensation on the basis of legally established claims or claims that have been acknowledged in writing by Handelsblatt. Participants may exercise the right of retention only insofar as their counterclaim is based on the same contractual relationship.

5. Cancellation
For cancellations up to ten weeks before the event date Handelsblatt charges 50% of the registration fee as a cancellation fee. After that date or a No-show will be charged with 100 % of the registration fee. Handelsblatt will accept a substitute participant without additional costs or the participant will receive a credit note in the amount of the payments already made by Handeslblatt, chargeable to one of our events in the next 24 months.

6. Copyrights
All our conference documents are protected by copyright. Participants are only granted simple, non-transferrable rights of usage for personal purposes. Participants and third parties are not permitted under any circumstances to alter or make editorial changes, either in whole or in part, to the conference documents, or to use amended versions thereof, to copy them for third parties, to make them available to or release them to the public, to post them on the internet or on any other network, whether for payment or not, to imitate them, sell them on or use them in any way for commercial purposes. Copyright notices, trademarks or other identifying marks must not be removed.

7. Liability
The events shall be carefully prepared and conducted by qualified speakers. Handelsblatt assumes no liability for actuality, accuracy and completeness in regard to the conference documents and the staging of the event.

8. Applicable law, place of jurisdiction and place of performance
German law shall apply to the exclusion of the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods. It is agreed that Düsseldorf shall be the place of performance and jurisdiction, as far as this is legally permissible.

9. Participants' right of cancellation
Participants whose registration does not relate to either their commercial or their independent professional activity (Section 13 BGB) have the right to cancel the registration in writing, without giving a reason, within 14 days of receipt of the confirmation of registration. No cancellation fee will be charged. To meet the cancellation deadline a notice of withdrawal should be sent as soon as possible to the following address: Handelsblatt GmbH, Toulouser Allee 27, 40211 Düsseldorf, Germany. This right of cancellation shall automatically expire if the booked event has already taken place and the participant has attended it.