Ridgeway & Conger, Inc. has developed a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) to strategize how we will respond to any event that may significantly disrupt our business. Since events creating a disruption in business will vary in scope and nature and are unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to such events as they occur.
The plan is designed to address the following areas of concern:
1. Books and Records Recover
2. Mission Critical Systems
3. Financial and Operational Assessments
4. Alternate means of communication between RWC and its customers
5. Alternate means of communication between RWC and its employees
6. Alternate physical locations of employees
7. Critical business constituent, bank and counter-party impact
8. Regulatory reporting
9. Communication with regulators
10. How RWC will ensure that customers have access to their funds and securities in the event RWC determines that it is unable to do business
We plan to quickly recover and resume business operations after a significant business disruption and respond by safeguarding our employees and property, making a financial and operational assessment, protecting the firm’s books and records and allowing our customers to transact business. Our BCP is designed to permit our firm to resume operations as soon as possible given the range and severity of the significant business disruption.
Our clearing firm, Legent Clearing, backs up our important records in an geographically separate area form ourselves and from their home office. While each significant business disruption will pose its own unique problems based on variable external factors, we have been advised by our clearing firm that its objective is to restore its own operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments as quickly as possible. It is possible that your orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this recovery period.
Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope. It could consist solely of an internal disruption, affecting only our firm or the building housing our home office. It could consist of an external disruption, affecting the business district where our firm is located, the city we are in which we are located, or the whole region. In an internal disruption affecting our firm or building housing our firm, we will transfer our operations to an alternate site and expect to recover and resume business within hours of the disruption. In an external disruption, affecting our business district, city or geographic region we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and recover and resume business as quickly as possible. In either situation, we plan to continue in business, transfer operations to our clearing firm, if necessary, and notify you via telephone, fax or e-mail on how to contact us. If the disruption is so severe as to prevent us from remaining in business, we will assure our customer’s prompt access to their funds and securities.
If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us as you usually do at 315 662-7450, you should call our alternate emergency number 315 663-4129 or 314 892-1038. If you cannot access us through either of those means, you should contact our clearing firm, Legent Clearing, at 866-774-0218 on how it may enter your orders, provide prompt access to your funds and securities, maintain your account and perform other trade-related, security and cash transactions.
If you have any questions about our BCP, you can contact us at 315 662-7450.