Tejas Securities Group, Inc.
Business Continuity Statement
June 2010
As you may know, Tejas Securities Group, Inc. (“TSG”) and Penson Financial
Services (“Penson”) have an agreement in which Penson may provide trade
execution, clearing, and other related services for your brokerage account.
In connection with these services, TSG is required to communicate its
position on business continuity practices.
At TSG, we recognize how heavily you rely on our systems and services.
We also recognize that the unexpected can and does occur; from simple
situations to major outages. TSG
wants you to know that we have an extensive plan in place to help safeguard your
assets (along with Penson) and protect vital account information in the event of
a business disruption.
TSG has pre-established contingency and disaster recovery plans.
Components of these plans are tested periodically to ensure
effectiveness. TSG considers
contingency planning to be an iterative process, requiring ongoing review to
assess various risks and appropriate responses.
As a result, this plan may change as necessary.
Please feel free to contact TSG at any time to receive the most recent
version of our Business Continuity Statement.
TSG Continuity Planning Guidelines
TSG has developed plans that include the ability to recover from situations
including, but not limited to, unplanned evacuations, power outages, major water
leaks, fire, loss of water, severe weather, and any facilities failures that may
cause business interruptions. Our
plan is designed to account for business interruptions of various lengths and
scope and require that TSG is able to recover critical functions according to
their time criticality. Key features
of TSG’s corporate disaster recovery planning include annual reviews of the
following:
-
Identification of all
mission critical systems (and system backup and recovery for such systems)
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A review of financial and operational risks
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Alternate communications between TSG and
Penson
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Employee safety strategies and communications
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System and telecommunications accessibility
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Alternate physical site location and
preparedness
TSG Contingency Planning and Business Recovery
TSG mitigates risks to reduce potential issues and impact.
In the event of an outage, TSG has tested plans to support recovery of
its critical business functions. In
addition to following the guidelines stated above, TSG’s recovery plans also
include the following:
-
Designated Contingency Site – In
the event of a site outage, we have established an alternate site which
should reduce downtime in your ability to contact TSG or Penson.
-
Notification to Clients – Procedures for notifying our clients have been
established with TSG and Penson to follow in the event of an outage.
Notification will include length of outage, instructions for
contacting TSG and support information (e.g., where to send faxes, issues
pertaining to data transmissions and communications)
-
Regulatory Reporting – TSG’s business contingency plan is designed to
ensure that, regardless of the length of an outage, TSG’s ability to
continue to meet regulatory requirements, as mandated by the Securities and
Exchange Commission and FINRA, would not be impacted.
-
Communications with Regulators – TSG will communicate with its
regulatory authorities regarding the nature and extent of any significant
outage at our location, as required by applicable law and regulation.
-
Access to Your Funds – A site outage at TSG would not impact your
ability to have access to your available funds, as TSG’s continuity plan is
designed to ensure sustained service.
However, your ability to trade your available funds may be impacted
by market events outside of TSG’s control, such as when the market was
closed following the September 11 tragedy.
In the event that TSG suffers from an outage, or unforeseen
occurrence, customers can call the Penson Customer Service Line at
800-677-1858.
If you have any questions, please contact TSG at 800-846-6803.
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