IX. Mission Critical Systems

Our firm’s “mission critical systems” are those that ensure prompt and accurate processing of securities transactions, including order taking, entry, execution, comparison, allocation, clearance and settlement of securities transactions, the maintenance of customer accounts, access to customer accounts, and the delivery of funds and securities.

We have primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining our business relationships with our customers and have sole responsibility for our mission critical functions of order taking and entry. Our clearing firm provides, through contract, the execution, comparison, allocation, clearance and settlement of securities transactions, the maintenance of customer accounts, access to customer accounts, and the delivery of funds and securities.

Our clearing firm contract provides that our clearing firm will maintain a business continuity plan and the capacity to execute that plan. Our clearing firm represents that it will advise us of any material changes to its plan that might affect our ability to maintain our business. In the event our clearing firm executes its plan, it represents that it will notify us of such execution and provides us equal access to services as its other customers. If we reasonably determine that our clearing firm has not or cannot put its plan in place quickly enough to meet our needs, or is otherwise unable to provide access to such services, our clearing firm represents that it will assist us in seeking services from an alternative source.

Our clearing firm represents that it backs up our records at a remote site, Chicago, Illinois. Our clearing firm represents that it operates a back-up operating facility in a geographically separate area with the capability to conduct the same volume of business as its primary site. Our clearing firm has also confirmed the effectiveness of its back-up arrangements to recover from a wide scale disruption by testing and back-up is available on the E-View site, www.mesirowfinancial.com, E-View.

Recovery-time objectives provide concrete goals to plan for and test against. They are not, however, hard and fast deadlines that must be met in every emergency situation, and various external factors surrounding a disruption, such as time of day, scope of disruption, and status of critical infrastructure—particularly telecommunications—can affect actual recovery times. Recovery refers to the restoration of clearing and settlement activities after a wide-scale disruption; resumption refers to the capacity to accept and process new transactions and payments after a wide-scale disruption. Our clearing firm has the following SBD recovery time and resumption objectives: recovery time period within four (4) hours and resumption time of forty-eight (48) hours.

A. Our Firm’s Mission Critical Systems

1. Order Taking

Currently, our firm receives orders from customers via fixed connectivity, telephone, fax, or in person visits by the customer. During an SBD, either internal or external, we will continue to take orders through any of these methods that are available and reliable, and in addition, as communications permit, we will inform our customers when communications become available to tell them what alternatives they have to send their orders to us. Customers will be informed of alternatives by telephone or email. If necessary, we will advise our customers to place orders directly with our clearing firm at 1-800-552-2491, Ext. 7007.

2. Order Entry

Currently, our firm enters orders electronically or by recording them on paper, if received verbally, and sending them to our clearing firm electronically or telephonically.

In the event of an internal SBD, we will enter and send records to our clearing firm by the fastest alternative means available, a messenger. In the event of an external SBD, we will maintain the order in electronic or paper format, and deliver the order to the clearing firm by the fastest means available when it resumes operations. In addition, during an internal SBD, we may need to refer our customers to deal directly with our clearing firm for order entry.

3. Order Execution

In the event of an internal SBD, we would contact our clearing firm by wire, cell phone, or by messenger. In the event of an external SBD, we would contact our clearing firm by wire, cell phone, or by messenger.

B. Mission Critical Systems Provided by Our Clearing Firm

Our firm relies, by contract, on our clearing firm to provide order comparison, order allocation, and the maintenance of customer accounts, delivery of funds and securities, and access to customer accounts.