Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. ('KBW') has developed a Business Continuity Plan on how the Firm will respond to events that significantly disrupt KBW's business. Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, KBW 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.
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 KBW's books and records, and allowing our clients to transact business. In short, our business continuity plan is designed to permit KBW to resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope and severity of the significant business disruption.
KBW's business continuity plan addresses: data backup and recovery; all mission-critical systems; financial and operational assessments; alternative communications with clients, employees, and regulators; alternate physical location of employees; critical supplier, contractor, bank and counterparty impact; regulatory reporting; and assuring our clients have prompt access to their funds and securities if KBW is unable to continue our business.
KBW's clearing firms, Stifel and Pershing LLC, back up their records including those that relate to your account 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 in a timely manner. 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 affecting KBW, a single building housing KBW, the business district where KBW 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 the event of a public health crisis that resulted in a high rate of employee absences, KBW would focus available personnel on critical business functions that directly support client needs. Additionally, we would implement our workforce continuity plan, which includes social distancing and other actions to limit exposure and the spread of outbreak. In a disruption to only KBW or a building housing KBW, we will transfer our operations to another KBW office at a remote site located outside of the affected area and expect to recover and resume business within 24 hours. 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 24 hours. In either situation, we plan to continue to be in business, and notify you through our web site www.kbw.com or our client emergency number, (877) 529-3722 (877-KBW-DRBC) on how to contact us. If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, KBW will assure our clients have prompt access to their funds and securities.
Contacting Us - If after a significant business disruption you are unable to contact KBW or your representative through the means you normally use, you should call our emergency contact number (877) 529-3722 (877-KBW-DRBC) or go to our web site www.kbw.com. Further, inquiries concerning the positions and balances in your Stifel account may be directed to Stifel's Client Services Department, at 501 North Broadway, St. Louis, Missouri 63102, or by calling (800) 679-5446. Or if you have assets held at Pershing LLC please call (201) 413-3635 or (213) 624-6100 (or go to www.pershing.com for more information).