LSC has developed a Business Continuity Plan to
provide procedures for response and recovery in the event of a
significant business disruption. The purpose of the Plan is to
identify responsible personnel in the event of a disaster; safeguard
employees' lives and firm property; evaluate the situation and
initiate appropriate action; recover and resume operations to allow
continuation of business; provide customers with access to their
funds and securities; and protect books and records. The Plan was
developed considering the types of business conducted, systems
critical to support business, and geographic dispersion of offices
and personnel.
Designation of Responsibilities
The following is a
list of those responsible for LSC's Business Continuity Plan.
|
Responsibility
|
Title or Department
|
|
Maintain and update Plan
|
Designated
supervisor
|
|
Approve Plan and Plan revisions;
conduct annual review
|
Firm officer
|
|
Annual testing of Plan
|
Designated supervisor
|
|
Implementation of Plan when a
disruption occurs
|
Emergency Response Team
|
|
Quarterly review of Emergency Contact
Persons and report changes to regulators
|
Designated supervisor
|
|
Maintain and distribute Emergency
Contact List
|
Technology staff
|
|
Maintain and update Books and Records
Chart
|
Technology staff
|
|
Post Plan disclosure on LSC's web
site and update, as required
|
Technology staff
|
|
·
Review critical third party assurances or
disaster plans or plan summaries:
·
At initial engagement of third party
·
Annually when LSC's Plan is
reviewed
|
Technology staff
|
Retention and Location of The Plan
Copies of the current and prior versions of the
Business Continuity Plan are retained as follows. Copies are dated
as of the effective date of the version of the Plan.
·
Back-up copies are retained off-site at the homes of
responsible employees.
Implementation
of the Plan
The Plan has been designed to be implemented in
the event of a disaster that results in a significant business
disruption. Whether all or only parts of the Plan are implemented
depends on the nature of the disruption. Generally, a significant
business disruption would include:
·
Destruction of one of LSC's offices or facilities, whether by
natural causes or by other means
·
Loss of life or major injuries to personnel in an office
location that disables that office's ability to conduct business
·
Disruption of service from a critical service provider
·
Disruption of service due to wide-ranging regional outages
such as a power outage
Emergency
Response Team
LSC has designated an Emergency Response Team
that is responsible for implementing necessary procedures included
in this Plan. The Response Team's action will depend on the nature
and scope of the disruption. The "first responder" has the primary
responsibility for taking action, and the "secondary responder" acts
as a back-up in the event the first responder is unable to act.
Where feasible, the two responders are located in different office
locations.
Emergency Contact
List
LSC has established an Emergency Contact List
that includes the names, phone numbers (cell and land lines), e-mail
addresses, and other contact information for individuals critical to
LSC's business including key employees, key vendors or service
providers, regulators, insurance carriers, banks, attorneys, and
other key contacts. A copy of the List is provided to each member of
the Response Team and other key personnel. This list will be
reviewed and updated on at least an annual basis by designated
employee involved with day to day technical operations.
Alternative Business Locations
In the event employees can no longer conduct
business at one of LSC's office locations, the following actions may
be taken:
·
Transfer employees to the
Chicago and notify personnel
·
Transfer critical systems to another office or a back-up firm
or system
·
Transfer business operations to another LSC office unaffected
by the disruption
·
Transfer business operations to a different broker-dealer or
other entity
Back-up office will be at
Chicago branch office.
Data Back-Up and
Recovery
LSC maintains its books and records in both
hard copy and electronic format. The Books and Records chart
(Appendix A to the Plan) indicates whether records are maintained in
hard copy or electronic form; location of primary records; and
back-up site for records.
In the event of an internal or external
significant business disruption that causes the loss of LSC's
records (whether hard copy or electronic records), back-up records
will be recovered from the back-up site.
Mission
Critical Systems
Mission critical systems
are systems that are necessary to ensure prompt and accurate
processing of securities transactions including order taking, entry,
execution, comparison, allocation, clearance and settlement,
maintaining customer accounts, and providing access to customer
funds and securities.
The Mission Critical Systems chart (Appendix B
to the Plan) identifies systems (or generally describes procedures)
that are critical to the operation of LSC's business; identifies
third parties that provide those systems; and potential alternate
procedures or systems for handling these critical functions in the
case of a disruption.
Financial And Operational
Assessments
The following describes procedures for
assessing changes in operational, financial, and credit risk
exposures in the event of a significant business disruption.
Operational Risk
In the event of a significant business
disruption, alternative systems will be implemented to communicate
with customers, employees, critical business constituents (banks,
counter-parties, etc.), regulators, and other key parties depending
on the nature and impact of the disruption. Communication systems
are described in the section "Alternative Communications."
Financial And Credit Risk
In the event of a significant business
disruption, LSC's financial status will be evaluated to determine
the need for additional financing or identify capital deficiencies
including the following:
·
Review the impact of the disruption on LSC's ability
to conduct business
·
Identify inability to satisfy obligations with
counter-parties
·
Contact banks or other counter-parties to secure
needed additional financing
·
Notify regulators of capital deficiencies
·
Reduce or cease business as may be required due to
capital deficiencies or inability to conduct business
·
Transfer business to other financial institutions
until LSC may resume conducting business
Alternative
Communications
LSC may use a wide range of communication
systems to communicate with its customers, employees,
counter-parties, and regulators including telephone; mail; fax;
e-mail; vendor systems (such as Bloomberg); and personal meetings.
Procedures for instituting alternative communications in the event
of a significant business disruption include the following,
depending on the nature of the disruption:
·
Identify the most expedient remaining means of communication
·
Notify employees if an off-site command center has been
activated
·
Notify employees of alternative communication systems to be
used
·
Transfer communications to another firm
Determination of what communication system will
be used depends on the nature of the disruption and which
communication systems (electronic mail, telephone calls, etc.) are
functional and the availability of personnel in the event telephone
contact is necessary.
Between Customers And LSC
In the event of a significant business disruption
that disables communications systems, alternative system procedures will
be implemented, including the following:
Between LSC And
Its Employees
In addition to the above, LSC has developed a
system to enable senior management to contact employees in the event
of an emergency. The system is proprietary and confidential
Between
LSC And Regulators
Communications with regulators will be
conducted using the most expedient available communication system.
The designated Response Team person will contact regulators
regarding any major business disruption and plans for continuing
business.
Business Constituent, Bank, And
Counter-Party Impact
This section describes business continuity
procedures regarding third parties that are critical to the conduct
of LSC's business. In most instances, contracts with critical third
parties will include assurances regarding the third party's disaster
recovery plans. A disruption impacting LSC's ability to conduct
business may occur either at LSC itself or at the third party.
The Business Constituent, Bank, And
Counter-Party chart (Appendix C to the Plan) identifies key parties
and potential alternatives in the event of a disruption.
Business
Constituents
·
Determine whether the third party is able to continue
providing critical services.
·
If not, identify and contact an alternate third party
to provide services.
Banks And
Other Financial Institutions
·
Determine whether the bank/financial institution is
able to continue providing financing.
·
If not, identify and secure alternative financing.
Critical
Counter-Parties
·
Determine whether transactions may be completed with
counter-parties.
·
If not, contact counter-party directly to make
alternative arrangements to complete transactions.
Accepting
Customer Orders
In the event LSC's systems for accepting
customer orders are disrupted, alternative systems will be
communicated to customers and to employees including, where
appropriate:
·
Accepting orders by telephone or other alternative
means
·
Communicating orders to trading desks (internal or
external) or order execution systems by telephone or other
alternative means
Prompt Access To
Funds And Securities
When customer access to funds and securities
is impacted by a significant business disruption, customers will be
notified by whatever expedient means is available (telephone,
e-mail, etc.) regarding who may be contacted to request funds or
securities. If LSC is unable to continue business operations,
customers will be notified of an alternative financial institution
where they may conduct business and access their funds and
securities.
SIPC Liquidation
In the event SIPC liquidation of LSC's
business is required, designated personnel will work with the
SIPC-appointed trustee to wind down LSC's operations and transfer
customer funds and securities.
Education Of
Employees
The Business Continuity Plan is communicated to
employees as follows:
·
A summary is included in the chapter GENERAL EMPLOYEE
POLICIES in the section Emergency Business Recovery
Procedures and is provided to all employees
·
A current copy of the Plan is provided to the Emergency
Response Team and key employees with responsibilities for aspects of
the Plan.
·
The most recent Emergency Contact List is provided to key
employees.
Updating, Annual
Review, And Testing
The Plan will be reviewed on at least an annual
basis and revised as needed. Each revision will be approved by the
designated senior manager and copies of the revised Plan distributed
to the Emergency Response Team and key employees. Some material
events require updating the Plan when they occur, including:
·
Material changes to LSC's business
·
A change in LSC's main office location
·
Added office locations
·
A change in a major service provider
When the Plan is reviewed, the procedures and
accompanying lists and charts will be reviewed and updated as needed
including the:
·
Plan itself
·
Emergency Response Team list
·
Emergency Contact List
·
Books and Records chart (Appendix A)
·
Mission Critical Systems chart (Appendix B)
·
Business Constituent, Bank, and Counter-Party chart (Appendix
C)
·
Designation Of Offices section of the chapter
DESIGNATION OF SUPERVISORS AND OFFICES
·
Any other charts or information related to the Plan
A written record of the annual review including
the date reviewed and name and signature of the reviewer will be
retained by Compliance.