Business Continuity Notice
Defining a disruption in business
Pursuant to NASD Rule #3510, Richards, Merrill & Peterson, Inc. (“RMP”) has established a business continuity plan (“BCP”) that contemplates both temporary and longer term business disruptions. For planning purposes, RMP considers a temporary disruption to be an event specific to RMP or to the building in which RMP is located, whereas a longer term disruption would be an event that impacts the entire city of Spokane or the U.S. financial markets. A copy of our current Disclosure Of Business Continuity Plan will be mailed to you upon your request.
Business Continuation
RMP hereby discloses to its customers that we intend to continue business in the event of any business disruption. We have made arrangements to conduct our operations at alternate locations, both within and outside of the City of Spokane, in the event that we can no longer conduct business at our main office facility. We expect to be able to recover from a temporary disruption in a matter of hours, and to recover from a longer term disruption during the following business day. However, we should also inform you that our ability to continue operations after a longer term disruption could be impacted by factors outside of our control – such as when the markets were closed the week of the 9/11 disaster – and the recovery time for such a significant disruption could extend beyond the next business day.
Access to your funds
Remember that we have access to your funds. You may contact our Operations Department at any time during normal business hours to request a check be issued from your RMP account to your bank or address of record. You may also request that we wire funds to your bank account, however, wire fees may apply.
In the event of a business interruption, updated information will be published on our website at www.rmpinvest.com or may be obtained by calling us at either (509) 624-3174 or 1-800-572-5296 or e-mailing us at tmcdonald@rmpinvest.com.
Customer Private Policy Statement
Under current securities law, we are required to provide you with a copy of our "Privacy Policy". No action is required on your part, however, we hope that you take the time to read this notice to understand the importance we place on maintaining your trust by protecting the confidentiality of the information you share with us.
Non-Public Information We Collect
We collect nonpublic, personal information about you from the following sources: Information we receive from you on your account application, account transfer form or other forms; Information we receive from other Financial Institutions, such as other Broker-Dealers, Mutual Fund Companies and Banks when you transfer your assets to us.
As you know, you provide us with confirmation information so that we may help identify your financial goals and objectives and provide you with statements on the investments you hold in a Richards, Merrill & Peterson account.
Non-Public Information that may be Disclosed
In certain instances, we may release information about you or your account activity with Richards, Merrill & Peterson to non-affiliated companies in order to provide products and services that your request. Additionally, we may disclose information about you (such as your name, address, and transaction information) to outside parties that we contract with to mail you proxy information, prospectuses, statements, tax forms or other information necessary to administer your account. And, of course, we will release any information when so required to do so by law (such as upon receipt of a court order or subpoena) and when you have instructed us to do so (such as when you ask us to send a copy of your statement to your attorney or accountant).
It the policy of our firm not to sell information about our current or past clients to anyone. Nor do we share information except as necessary to process transactions or service your account, as described above.
How we Protect your Non-Public Information
Access to your personal information is restricted to Richards, Merrill & Peterson personnel and our service providers who need to know that information in order to provide products and services to you. We maintain strict physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to keep your information protected at all times.
We appreciate your business and the opportunity to continue to be of service to you.
