Business Continuity Plan

Securities industry regulations require securities brokerage firms such as CCS to create and maintain a business continuity plan to ensure that the impact to your securities accounts is minimized in the event of an emergency, disaster, or other significant business disruption. 

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 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.

Contacting Us: After a significant business disruption, you should first try to reach your CCS Representative at his or her local office. If you cannot reach your Representative, you should try to reach our Home Office at 608-221-4545. Alternatively, you may go to our website, www.ccsmadison.com where we will post emergency contact information. If you have an account at our clearing firm First Clearing, LLC you should contact them directly at the information provided below.

If you have an account with a mutual fund company or an insurance company, you should contact that company directly at the telephone number or website shown on statements they send you.

Our Clearing Firm:
First Clearing Correspondent Services (First Clearing)
One North Jefferson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63103
Telephone: 1-800-775-7041

First Clearing provides a comprehensive suite of solutions to help independent, unaffiliated, retail broker dealers run more efficiently, grow more confidentially and protect more effectively. These solutions include trade execution and clearance, securities settlement, record keeping, client confirmations and statements, broker workstation technology, and access to a full range of investment products and services.

During a significant business disruption, we will re-establish telephone service with our clients as soon as possible. Our clients should check the Disclosure Page of our website at www.ccsmadison.com for our latest information.

As a client of CCS we recognize you may need access to your account to sell a position or request a check before we re-establish telephone service. During this time First Clearing, our clearing firm, will assist you with sell/liquidation orders and provide cash disbursements, if needed. If you can not contact our firm, please contact First Clearing for assistance at 877-496-3223.

Varying Disruptions:  Since events creating business disruptions may vary in nature and scope, CCS has anticipated scenarios in which our primary building is affected or a branch location is affected or there is a citywide or regional disruption. Regardless of the scope of potential disruption, CCS intends to continue to provide service to its customers. In the event our primary building or business is affected by a disruption, CCS has an alternative location, located approximately 15 miles from our primary location, where operations can be restored promptly. In the unlikely event of city-wide or regional disruption, CCS has established an out-of-state recovery site that can be used to restore operations as soon as key employees are relocated to the facility. In either situation, we will attempt to notify you through our website www.ccsmadison.com with respect to our plans and our progress.

If the business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, our clearing firm, or the mutual fund companies or insurance companies which hold your accounts will be responsible for providing prompt access to your funds or securities. It is possible that your orders and requests for access to your funds or securities could be delayed during this period.