Sanders Morris
Harris Group (“SMHG”) has developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will
respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. Since the timing and impact of disasters and
disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to
actual events as they occur. With that
in mind, we are providing you with this information on our business continuity
plan.
Contacting Us – If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us as you
usually do, you should call our alternative number at 1-800-538-0020 or go to our web site at www.smhgroup.com. Additional contact information will be
available at both locations. If you
cannot access us through either of those means, you should contact the clearing
firm that handles your account for instructions on how it may provide you with
prompt access to funds and securities, enter orders and process other
trade-related, cash and security transfer transactions.
Our Business
Continuity Plan – 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. In short, our business continuity plan is designed
to permit our firm to resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope
and severity of the significant business disruption.
Our business
continuity plan addresses: data back up and recovery; all mission critical
systems; financial and operational assessments; alternative communications with
customers, employees, and regulators; alternate physical location of employees;
critical supplier, contractor, bank and counter-party impact; regulatory
reporting; and assuring our customers prompt access to their funds and
securities if we are unable to continue our business.
SMHG contracts with
several clearing firms. All of our
clearing firms back up our important records in a geographically separate area.
While every emergency situation poses unique problems based on external
factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, we have been
advised by our clearing firms that their objective is to restore their own
operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions
and payments through alternative work sites in a very short period of
time. Your orders and requests for funds
and securities could be delayed during this period. Contact information for clearing firms used
by SMHG is listed below.
Varying
Disruptions – Significant
business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single
building housing one of our offices, the business district where one of our
offices is located, a city where we are located, or an entire region. Within each of these areas, the severity of
the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. In a disruption affecting our firm, a
building housing one of our offices, business district, city, or region, we
will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and
recover and resume business within four hours.
In any business disruption, we plan to continue in business, transfer
operations to our clearing firm if necessary, and notify you through our web
site at www.smhgroup.com or our customer
emergency number, 1-800- 538-0020, to provide information on how you can
contact us. If the significant business
disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will
assure our customer’s prompt access to their funds and securities.
For more
information – If you have
questions about our business continuity planning, you can contact us at
713-224-3100.
For information
regarding National Futures Association – Please call 312-658-6588
Clearing Firm
Contact Information:
Pershing, 630-472-7410 www.pershing.com
Goldman Sachs
Clearing and Execution Services,
212.357.3821
www.gs.com
Ridge Clearing & Outsourcing Solutions, 888-836-6798 www.ridgeclearing.com
First Clearing Corporation, 804-727-0304 www.firstclearing.com