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J W KORTH & COMPANY
BUSINESS CONTINUITY PLAN
AS MANDATED BY NASD RULES 3510 AND 3520
This plan will be reviewed every quarter. The responsible officer is Michael Gibbons. The Disclosure Notice will be filed on our website.
- Emergency Contact Persons
James W. Korth and Holly MacDonald-Korth
- Firm Policy
Our firm's policy is to respond to a Significant Business Disruption (SBD) by safeguarding our customers prompt access to their funds and securities. Our plan anticipates a disruption internally i.e.: a complete breakdown of our systems or a fire and externally, a terrorist attack or city wide flood or wide scale regional disruption.
James Korth, a registered principal, is responsible for approving this plan and for conducting the required annual review. Michael Puch has the authority to execute this plan.
Our firm will maintain copies of this plan and the annual reviews for inspection. Written copies are located at the home office and the home of James W. Korth. An electronic copy of this plan is located on the BCP Repository Service offered by the NASD.
- Our firm conducts business primarily in fixed income securities. Our firm introduces accounts to RBC Dain Rauscher Inc. for clearing at: 510 Marquette Ave. Minneapolis, MN 554002. The name of our representative there is Diane Pouliot. Her telephone number is 866 506 8594 and email address is diane.pouliot@rbcdain.com. All transactions are sent to RBC Dain Rauscher. We simple accept and enter orders. All customer accounts, account records and funds and securities are held by RBC Dain. Our clearing firm has given us the following alternative contact information: Dennis Hollenkamp 314 589 5770.
- Our firm's main office is at 4660 South Hagadorn Ste. 225, East Lansing, MI 48823. We engage in order taking and entry at this location. We have branch offices at 37 N. Orange Ave. Ste: 770, Orlando, FL 32801, 3339 Virginia Ste. 104 Miami, FL 33133 (OSJ), and 5 N. Harrison Street, Easton, MD 21601. We also have virtual locations at the homes of Judy Nutter and Amy Cook.
- In the event of an SBD, we will move our employees to either 4022 S Douglas Rd Miami, Florida 33133 or 5374 AuGres Avenue, AuGres, Michigan 48703 where we maintain sufficient space to remain sufficiently responsive to customers.
ACCESS TO CUSTOMER FUNDS AND SECURITIES
Our firm does not maintain custody of customers funds or securities which are maintained at RBC Dain Rauscher. In the event of an SBD, our customers should contact our clearing firm for instructions if they cannot reach us.
DATA BACK-UP AND RECOVERY
Our firm maintains its primary hard copy books and records at 3339 Virginia Ste 104 Miami, Florida and client paperwork at 4660 South Hagadorn Ste 225 East Lansing, MI. Our firm transmits all customer documents to our clearing firm where copies are accessible in pdf format.
Customer account forms are also maintained on our corporate intranet, hosted by Worldwidedialup in Ada, Michigan. Our administrator there is Paul Holzmann; his telephone number is 616 682-1385. Other files such as contracts are maintained safe-type file cabinets. Files also have electronic versions at the various locations depending on the counter party to the documents. In the event paper documents are destroyed, the electronic versions will be accessed as needed from the counter parties.
Our email systems are hosted by Smarsh, Inc. Email communication should not be interrupted in the event of an SBD except to the extent employees can access a computer.
FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL RISK
- Operational Risk
In the event of an SBD we will immediately identify what means if any we may use to communicate with our customer and employees and critical business partners. This will be by whatever means is most practicable under the circumstances.
- Financial and Credit Risk
In the event of an SBD we will make a financial assessment to ascertain our financial stability and capital compliance. We will contact our clearing firm and other parties as necessary to apprise them of our financial status. In the event we have a capital deficiency we will file appropriate notices with our regulators. We anticipate no problem in this case for customers because funds and securities will be held at RBC Dain Rauscher.
- Mission Critical Systems
In the event of an SBD, and we cannot maintain our mission in providing execution to our customers, we will do our best to tell them so and direct them to RBC Dain Rauscher . The statement of RBC Dain Rauscher can be found on their website www.rbcdaincs.com.
- Order Execution
In the event of an SBD, and we could no longer take and execute orders we will refer our clients to RBC Dain Rauscher who holds their account.
- Other Services
In the event of an SBD, and we could not provide any other services such as cash disbursements to customers we would refer them to RBC Dain Rauscher who holds their account.
- Alternative Communications
We currently use telephone, email, and our website to communicate with our customers. In the event of a SBD, we will use our website which is in a different location than our office to communicate to customer and in the event our website was not functional we would use our email systems. These systems are dual and in different locations.
- Employees
In the event of an SBD, we will communicate with employees by whatever means is possible from mail, email, telephone, physically etc.
- Regulators
We are currently members of FINRA. We will communicate with the FINRA by any means possible and choosing the most expeditious in the event of an SBD.
- Business Partners
In the event that RBC Dain Rauscher cannot continue to function, we will find another clearing firm and transfer the accounts and securities wherever possible to the new firm as soon as possible.
- Banks
We have no critical bank relationships that could not be immediately replaced with other banks.
- Regulatory Reporting
In the event of an SBD, we will file reports in the most expeditious manner available to us.
- Disclosure of Business Continuity Plan
We post a Disclosure Statement of our Business Continuity Plan on our website and also will mail it to customers on request. Our Disclosure Statement is attached.
J W Korth & Company's Business Continuity Planning
J. W. Korth & Company and it Shop4Bonds Division 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 at 800 454 1628, you should call our alternate number 517 333-4512 or go to our web site at Shop4Bonds.com. If you cannot access us through either of those means, you should contact our clearing firm, RBC Dain Rauscher, at 866 861 3452 for instructions on how it may assist you with your account held there.
Our Business Continuity Plan – We plan to quickly recover and resume business operations after a significant business disruption by 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.
Our clearing firm, RBC Dain Rauscher backs 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 RBC Dain Rauscher that its objective is to restore its own operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments within the same business day. Your orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this period.
Varying Disruptions – Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single building housing our firm, the business district where our firm is located, the city where we are located, or the whole region. Within each of these areas, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe. In a disruption to only our firm or a building housing our firm, we will transfer our operations to a local site when needed and expect to recover and resume business within three business days. In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and recover and resume business within seven business days. In either situation, we plan to continue in business, transfer operations to our clearing firm if necessary, and notify you through our web site Shop4Bonds.com or our customer emergency number, 305 668-8485 how to 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 800 454-1628 or info@jwkorth.com.
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