When severe weather, extended power failures, or some type of disaster occurs, it can negatively affect a company's operations. At Chevy Chase Financial Services ("CCFS") we recognize how heavily our clients rely on our systems and services. We also recognize that the unexpected can and does occur - from temporary, localized outages to major regional failures. To prepare for the unexpected, CCFS participates in the Chevy Chase Bank, a division of Capital One, N.A. ("CCB") business continuity program. While planning for every type and severity of disruption may not be possible, CCB dedicates significant resources to its contingency planning and disaster recovery program and reviews and tests its plans annually.
Although the CCB plan assumes that either the main office location or the operations center would be functional during an outage, the CCFS business continuity plan addresses situations of varying length and scope. These include, but are not limited to, the loss of its main office location in Bethesda, Maryland, the loss of its data center operations, unplanned evacuations, power outages, major water leaks, fire, loss of water, severe weather, and facilities failures that may cause business interruption. CCB has contractual relationships with disaster recovery and business continuity service providers for additional resources and back-up facilities in the event of a significant business interruption.
In the event of a major disruption, as described more fully below, we want to assure you that we expect to continue servicing our clients. If CCFS is unable to use our main office location due to a temporary disruption such as a power outage, or major water damage, we expect to relocate to an alternate site and resume critical business functions by the next business day. The same timeframes would apply even if the entire city of Bethesda were affected in this way.
If CCFS experiences a significant business interruption such as a regional telecommunications outage, we may temporarily suspend the offering of our full range of services, because our Client Services Representatives may be unable to receive telephone calls or place trades. Additionally, our Financial Advisors may not actively pursue the opening of new accounts and scheduled client appointments may be postponed. The planned recovery time for Chevy Chase Financial Services will depend upon the nature and severity of the business interruption.
However, by using the methods suggested below, our existing customers should be able to continue to receive service on their accounts, even if CCFS is temporarily unable to provide such assistance directly.
If you cannot contact us as usual at 800-451-9963 or 240-497-7200 and your account is maintained by our clearing firm, Pershing, LLC, you should contact Pershing at 201-413-3635 for instructions on how you can enter orders, access your funds and other account related information. If your account is held directly with a mutual fund or annuity company, you should contact the company directly at the address and telephone number that is on your statement.
In addition to the elements of our program discussed above, all of our operating areas are covered by our business continuity program. If our operating areas experience a temporary outage, such as a power failure or a telecommunication interruption, we plan to continue conducting business via alternative methods. However, manual processing methods used during outages can be time consuming and may cause extended wait times for clients contacting our Client Relations Representatives. A loss of our operations area may also delay the processing of check and wire distributions from brokerage and managed asset accounts. A catastrophic loss of our operating areas may possibly cause CCFS to close for a period of time, or operate with severe limitations. In a catastrophic loss of our operating area, recovery time could be up to 24 hours.
If CCFS is experiencing a business interruption, we will inform clients of our recovery status and any new contact information via a recorded message on our main telephone number (240-497-7200 or 1-800-451-9963) and the Chevy Chase Bank, a division of Capital One, N.A. Web site, provided these channels are available. The business continuity program is subject to change. If this disclosure needs to be amended to reflect such a change, an updated version of this disclosure will be promptly posted on our Web site. Customers may also obtain our current Business Continuity Plan Customer Notice by requesting we send a copy by mail. Please contact us at 800-451-9963 or 240-497-7200 with any questions or concerns you may have regarding this information.
We appreciate your continued confidence in Chevy Chase Financial Services and look forward to serving your future investment and insurance needs.
