Thincats is a Registered Trade Mark of Business Loan Network Limited.
Thincats, ThinCats.com and The Business Loan Network are trading names of Business Loan Network Limited.
No part of this website may be used for purposes other than operating the Business Loan Network without written permission.
Group Structure
The Network is operated through two companies:
Business Loan Network LimitedRegistered in England & Wales No. 07248014
This is the company that manages the network and provides all the administration.
and
Thincats Loan Syndicates Limited
Reg No. 07248014 a 'not for profit' company limited by guarantee
The role of this company is to represent the members of lending syndicates in signing documents and to oversee the voting process if ever a decision is needed about varying a loan or taking legal action.
Thincats Loan Syndicates Limited has six directors, the three founders of Business Loan Network Ltd and three representatives lenders. Whenever a decision is needed in which one of the directors is involved by being a lender they will abstain from voting and we will ensure that at least one director is not a member of every syndicate.
More information about the way TLSL operates is available in the Membership Terms and conditions
The Registered Office of both companies is: PO Box 11679, Herdsman’s Rest, Green Lane, Middleton. Staffordshire. B78 2YD.
Signing Documents Electronically
Here is the legal advice we have been given about methods of signing documents electronically:
"There is a UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures which was adopted in December 2001. This provides that a legal requirement for a signature is met by an electronic signature provided that it is as reliable as was appropriate for the purpose for which the data message was communicated in light of all the circumstances and by reference to the relevant agreement.
The reliability of an electronic signature is presumed if the signature creation data is uniquely linked to the signatory, were under the signatory's control at the time of signing and any alteration of the signature is detectable. Practices have evolved and guidelines have been published but a European directive issued requires member states to ensure that electronic signatures are not denied legal effect or admissibility merely on the grounds that they are in electronic form so typing one's name in a signature space on an electronic form will constitute an electronic signature even though it offers little assurance as to authenticity and none as to integrity of the document signed. English courts will obviously give consideration to evidential weight that can be provided too.
The risk is that you rely on an electronic signature only to find that the individual concerned was not involved in giving it and that a fraudster has been involved. However if the signature to the terms and conditions is a forgery but then the lender e-mails BLN and takes parts in bids then I would suggest that he would be estopped from stating that he was not bound by the terms and conditions merely because he had not signed up to them personally because he would be operating within that framework by taking parts in bids.
Certainly in banking circles electronic signatures are now permitted on loan agreements including those with individuals regulated by the Consumer Credit Act however for protection the Banks tend to supply secure digital certificates for use by the customer which is a more complicated form of electronic signature and verification of the same and may not be suitable for your purposes as you should only need a lender to sign one document being the terms and nothing else in the future.
The other way of dealing with this and if the software can deal with this is that the lenders have to click on an accept button and they cannot access the site until they have done this. This would be proof that they had accepted the terms and conditions as the data generated or code "behind" this button authenticates and confirms that the person has accepted the terms. This is very common on internet sites already.
Other examples of electronic signature are a signature written in pen and then scanned into a computer to become an image to either attach as a PDF to an e-mail or to send by a computer generated fax and this may be the simplest way to progress this at the moment."
