Business Continuity Plan

Community Investment Services, Inc. 

Business Continuity Planning

Community Investment Services, Inc .has developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we 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 the firm’s books and records, and allowing our customers to transact business. In short, our business continuity plan is designed to permit our firm to resume operations as quickly as possible, given the scope and severity of the significant business disruption. 

Our clearing firm, National Financial Services LLC, maintains business continuity and disaster recovery plans that comply with laws and regulations applicable to NFS, including back up systems to help ensure your transaction data and other account information are protected in the event of a disaster. While every emergency situation poses unique problems based on external factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, NFS periodically updates and tests the operability of its business continuity and disaster recovery plan to help ensure minimal interruption. In short, NFS business continuity and disaster recovery plans are designed to permit NFS to resume operations as quickly as possible given the scope and severity of the significant business disruption. Your orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed depending upon the ability of our clearing firm to restore normal operations.

Our business continuity plan addresses: data back up and recovery; all mission critical systems; financial and operational assessments; alternative communications with customers, employees, and regulators; alternate physical location of employees; critical supplier, contractor, bank and counter-party impact; regulatory reporting; and assuring our customers prompt access to their funds and securities if we are unable to continue our business. 

Varying Disruptions – Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single building housing our firm, the business district where our firm 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 a disruption to only our firm or a building housing our firm, we will transfer our operations to a local site when needed.  In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area.  In either situation, we plan to continue in business, transfer operations to our clearing firm if necessary, and notify you through our web site or our customer service number, (800)234-5228, how to contact us.  If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will assure our customer’s prompt access to their funds and securities.

 For more information – If you have questions about our business continuity planning, you can contact us at (800)234-5228 or 201 N. Union Street, Olean NY 14760.