BOSTON EQUITY ADVISORS, LLC
Business Continuity Plan (BCP)
I. Emergency Contact Persons
Our firm’s two emergency contact persons are:
Mark C. Butts
(781)821-4114, primary or (781)789-4232, alternate
butts@boston-equity.com
and
Arnold E. Freedman
(781)821-4114, primary or (617)462-9393
freedman@boston-equity.com
These names will be updated in the event of a material change, and our Executive Representative will review them within 17 business days of the end of each quarter.
II. Firm Policy
Our firm’s policy is to respond to a Significant Business Disruption (SBD) by safeguarding employees’ lives and firm property, making a financial and operational assessment, quickly recovering and resuming operations, protecting all of the firm’s books and records, and allowing our customers to transact business. In the event that we determine we are unable to continue our business, we will assure customers prompt access to any necessary information we maintain about them.
A. Significant Business Disruptions (SBDs)
Our plan anticipates two kinds of SBDs, internal and external. Internal SBDs affect only our firm’s ability to communicate and do business, such as a fire in our building. External SBDs prevent the operation of the securities markets or a number of firms, such as a terrorist attack, a city flood, or a wide-scale, regional disruption.
B. Approval and Execution Authority
Mark C. Butts, Managing Member, a registered principal, is responsible for approving the plan and for conducting the required annual review. Mark C. Butts, Managing Member, a registered principal, and Arnold E. Freedman, Managing Member, a registered principal each have the authority to execute this BCP.
C. Plan Location and Access Our firm will maintain copies of its BCP plan and the annual reviews, and the changes that have been made to it for inspection. An electronic copy of our plan is located on the Boston Equity Advisors, LLC network server on the local drive D: in the directory Butts/LLC/LLC Admin/NASD/Business Continuity/BEA Business Continuity Plan.doc. A backup copy is located as described in Section VII below.
III. Business Description
Our firm conducts private placements of debt and equity securities. Furthermore, we neither handle nor hold customer funds or securities nor do we carry customer accounts.
IV. Office Locations
Our Firm has one office located at275 Turnpike Street, Suite 202, Canton, MA 02021. Its main telephone number is (781) 821-4114. Our employees may travel to that office by means of foot, car, or train.
V. Alternative Physical Location(s) of Employees
In the event of an SBD, we will move our staff from the affected office to our former office location, 21 York Brook Road, Canton, MA 02021. The telephone number there is (781)828-2374.
VI. Customers’ Access to Funds and Securities
Our firm does not maintain custody of customers’ funds or securities nor does it ever handle customer’s funds or securities nor do we carry customer accounts.
If SIPC determines that we are unable to meet our obligations to our customers or if our liabilities exceed our assets in violation of Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1, SIPC may seek to appoint a trustee to disburse our assets to customers. We will assist SIPC and the trustee by providing our books and records identifying customer accounts subject to SIPC regulation.
VII. Data Back-Up and Recovery (Hard Copy and Electronic)
Our firm maintains its primary hard copy books and records and its electronic records at 275 Turnpike Street, Canton, MA 02021. Mark C. Butts, Managing Member, (781) 821-4114, is responsible for the maintenance of these books and records. Our firm maintains the new account forms electronically.
The firm backs up its electronic records daily by accessing a remote backup service provided by Mozy, 2162 Grove Parkway, Suite 200, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062.
Phone: (801) 756-2331
Fax: (801) 443-1801
For the loss of electronic records, we will either physically recover the storage media or electronically recover data from our back-up site, or, if our primary site is inoperable, continue operations from our back-up site or an alternate location.
VIII. Financial and Operational Assessments
A. Operational Risk
In the event of an SBD, we will immediately identify what means will permit us to communicate with our customers, employees, critical business constituents, critical banks, critical counter-parties, and regulators. Although the effects of an SBD will determine the means of alternative communication, the communications options we will employ will include our Web site, telephone voice mail, and e-mail. In addition, we will retrieve our key activity records as described in the section above, Data Back-Up and Recovery (Hard Copy and Electronic).
B. Financial and Credit RiskIn the event of an SBD, we will evaluate our ability to continue to fund our operations and remain in capital compliance. If we determine that we may be unable to continue to fund our operations, we will request additional capital contributions from the Members of the LLC in order to fulfill our obligations to our customers and clients. If we cannot remedy a capital deficiency, we will file appropriate notices with our regulators and immediately take appropriate steps.
IX. Mission Critical Systems
We have determined that Boston Equity Advisors, LLC does not have any mission critical systems. This is due to the nature of our business, conducting private placements of securities coupled with the fact that we neither handle nor hold customer funds or securities. nor do we carry customer accounts Nor does Boston Equity Advisors, LLC have the ability to execute sales of securities of client companies. Ultimately, all sales of securities are made directly between the client company to the customer.
X. Alternate Communications Between the Firm and Customers, Employees, and Regulators A. Customers
We now communicate with our customers using the telephone, e-mail, our Web site, fax, U.S. mail, and in person visits at our firm or at the other’s location. In the event of an SBD, we will assess which means of communication are still available to us, and use the means closest in speed and form (written or oral) to the means that we have used in the past to communicate with the other party. For example, if we have communicated with a party by e-mail but the Internet is unavailable, we will call them on the telephone and follow up where a record is needed with paper copy in the U.S. mail.
B. Employees
We now communicate with our employees using the telephone, e-mail, and in person. In the event of an SBD, we will assess which means of communication are still available to us, and use the means closest in speed and form (written or oral) to the means that we have used in the past to communicate with the other party. Since there are only two employees, each will have the obligation of attempting to contact the other.
C. Regulators
We are currently members of the following SROs: FINRA. We communicate with our regulators using the telephone, internet, e-mail, fax, U.S. mail, and in person. In the event of an SBD, we will assess which means of communication are still available to us, and use the means closest in speed and form (written or oral) to the means that we have used in the past to communicate with the other party.
XI. Critical Business Constituents, Banks, and Counter-Parties
A. Business constituents We have contacted our critical business constituents (businesses with which we have an ongoing commercial relationship in support of our operating activities, such as vendors providing us critical services), and determined the extent to which we can continue our business relationship with them in light of the internal or external SBD. We will quickly establish alternative arrangements if a business constituent can no longer provide the needed goods or services when we need them because of a SBD to them or our firm.
B. Banks
Not applicable – we do not handle customer funds nor do we borrow from banks.
C. Counter-PartiesNot applicable – we have no counter-parties.
XII. Regulatory Reporting
Our firm is subject to regulation by FINRA and various state regulators. We now file reports with our regulators using paper copies in the U.S. mail, and electronically using fax, e-mail, and the Internet. In the event of an SBD, we will check with the SEC, FINRA, and other regulators to determine which means of filing are still available to us, and use the means closest in speed and form (written or oral) to our previous filing method. In the event that we cannot contact our regulators, we will continue to file required reports using the communication means available to us.
XIII. Disclosure of Business Continuity Plan
Since Boston Equity Advisors, LLC does not carry customer accounts, we disclose, in writing, a complete copy of our BCP to customers at the time the customer relationship is established. We also post the complete BCP on our Web site and mail it to customers upon request.
XIV. Updates and Annual Review
Our firm will update this plan whenever we have a material change to our operations, structure, business or location. In addition, our firm will review this BCP annually, together with our annual review of Supervisory procedures, to modify it for any changes in our operations, structure, business, or location.
XV. Senior Manager Approval
I have approved this Business Continuity Plan as reasonably designed to enable our firm to meet its obligations to customers in the event of an SBD.
Signed: ___Mark C. Butts /s/____________________________
Title: ___Managing Member____________________________
Date: _______March 27, 2009________________________
|