GrowthPoint Technology Partners

GrowthPoint Technology Partners, LLC Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

I. Emergency Contact Persons

GrowthPoint Technology Partners, LLC’s (“GP Technology” or “Firm”) two emergency contact persons are:

John Savage
jsavage@gptpartners.com
(650) 322.2500
Robert Horstmeyer
rhorstmeyer@gptpartners.com
(650) 322.2500
Rule: FINRA Rule 3520

II. Firm Policy 
Our firm’s policy is to respond to a Significant Business Disruption (SBD) by safeguarding employee’s 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.
A. Significant Business Disruptions (SBD).
 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 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. 
John Savage, a registered principal and Firm CEO, is responsible for approving the plan and for conducting the required annual review. John Savage has 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. We have given the San Francisco District Office a copy of our plan.

III. Business Description 
GrowthPoint Technology Partners is a broker/dealer focused on providing high technology companies with merger and acquisition advisory services and with institutional financing through private placement. We do not hold customer funds or securities. Our firm services only institutional customers.
As an introducing firm engaging in private placements we do not hold client funds or have client accounts. During a transaction, client funds are maintained in an escrow account with a bank or other escrow agent selected for the transaction. The escrow is intended to hold customer funds short term to facilitate the closing.

IV. Office Locations 
We have once office, located at:
835 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California, 94304
The main telephone number is: (650) 322.2500
Our employees may travel to that office by means of foot, car and bus. All of our business functions are performed at this address.

V. Alternative Physical Location(s) of Employees 
In the event of an SBD, we will move our staff to our alternative office location and we will notify our clients of that location on our website. The phone number of the alternative location is: (650) 714.6476
Rule: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(6).  

VI. Customers’ Access to Funds and Securities 
Our firm does not maintain custody of customers’ funds or securities. In the event of an internal or external SBD occurring during a private placement, if telephone service is available, our registered persons will inform our clients how they may contact the escrow agent to access their funds. The firm will make this information available to customers through its disclosure policy. The terms of the specific escrow agreement for the transaction will govern the customer’s access to their funds.
Rules: FINRA Rule 3510(a); Securities Exchange Act Rule 15c3-1; 15 U.S.C 78eee (2003).

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 835 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California, 94304. Michael Shepherd, a registered Series 24 principal, is responsible for the maintenance of these books and records. Michael Shepherd’s phone number is (650) 322.2500.
Our firm maintains its back-up hard copy books and records at 835 Page Mill Road, Palo Alto, California, 94304. Electronic backups (mirrored server) are also kept. Our firm backs up all email electronically by a secure third party, SECCAS. These files are available online, on CDs created quarterly, and with SECCAS. Our firm backs up all PC files on a central file server. PC files are backed up monthly on a local server backup drive. A critical subset of PC files is synchronized nightly with a secure third party data storage service. Our firm backs up our paper records by creating an electronic copy each month that is stored on the central file server, backed up monthly, and synchronized nightly with a secure third party data storage service.
In the event of an internal or external SBD that causes the loss of our paper records, we will physically recover them from our back up site. If our primary site is inoperable, we will continue operations from our back up site or an alternate location. For the loss of electronic records, we will access our secure third party data storage service online.
Rule: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(1).  

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 communication options we will employ will include telephone, voice mail, and email. In addition, we will retrieve our key activity records, as described in the section above, Data Back Up and Recovery (Hard Copy and Electronic).
Rules: FINRA Rules 3510(c)(3) and (f)(2).
B. Financial and Credit Risk. 
In the event of an SBD, we will determine the value and liquidity of our investments and other assets to evaluate our ability to continue to fund our operations and remain in capital compliance. We will contact our bank to apprise them of our financial status. If we determine that we may be unable to meet our obligations to those counter-parties or otherwise continue to fund our operations, we will request additional financing from our bank or other credit sources 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.
Rules: FINRA Rules 3510(c)(3), (c)(8) & (f)(2).

IX. Mission Critical Systems 
Our Firm’s “mission critical systems” are those that ensure prompt and accurate notification of our clients. We have primary responsibility for establishing and maintaining our business relationships with our customers. In the event of an internal or an external SBD, we would have the FINRA member firm and/or it’s clearing firm deal directly with our customers.

X. Alternate Communications Between the Firm and Customers, Employees, and Regulators
A. Customers. 
We now communicate with our customers using telephone, email, fax, US mail, and personal visits. In the event of and 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 email in the past 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 US mail.
Rule: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(4).
B. Employees. 
We now communicate with our employees using telephone, email, 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. We will also employ a call tree so senior management can reach all employees quickly during an SBD. The call tree includes all staff home and office phone numbers. The person to invoke use of the call tree is: Robert Horstmeyer
Rule: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(5).
C. Regulators. 
We are currently members of the following SROS: FINRA. We communicate with our regulators using the telephone, email, fax, US 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 an form (written or oral) to the means that we have used in the past to communicate with the other party. Our regulator is located at:
525 Market Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94105
Rule: FINRA Rule 2510(c)(9).

XI. Critical Business Constituents, Banks, and Counter-Parties
A. Business Constituents. 
We have contacted our critical business constituents (business 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 an SBD to them or to our firm.
Utilities: PG&E
Phone: AT&T
Rules: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(9)
B. Banks. 
We have contacted our banks and lenders to determine if they can continue to provide the financing that we will need in the case of an internal or external SBD. The bank maintaining our operating account is:
Union Bank of California Palo Alto Private Bank
400 University Avenue
Palo Alto, California 94301
Rules: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(7)  
C. Counter-Parties. 
We have contacted our critical counter-parties, such as institutional customers, to determine if we will be able to carry out our transactions with them in light of the internal or external SBD. Where the transactions cannot be completed, we will work with our counter-parties directly to make alternative arrangements to complete those transactions as soon as possible.
Rules: FINRA Rule 3510(a)&(c)(7)

XII. Regulatory Reporting 
Our Firm is subject to regulation by: SEC, FINRA, and the State of California. We now file reports with our regulation electronically using the internet. In the event of an SBD, we will check with the SEC, NSAD, 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.
Rules: FINRA Rule 3510(c)(8).

XIII. Disclosure of Business Continuity Plan 
We disclose in writing a summary of our Business Continuity Plan to customers on or prior to the closing of their first transaction with us and regularly thereafter. We also mail it to customers upon request. Our summary addresses the possibility of a future SBD and how we plan to respond to events of varying scope. In addressing the events of varying scope, our summary: (1) provides specific scenarios of varying severity (e.g., a firm-only business disruption, a disruption to a single building, a disruption to a business district, a city-wide business disruption, and a regional disruption); (2) states whether we plan to continue business during that scenario, and if so, our planned recovery time; and (3) provides general information on our intended response. Our summary discloses the existence of back up facilities and arrangements.

GrowthPoint Technology Partners, LLC Privacy Policy

GrowthPoint Technology Partners, LLC ("GPTP") is concerned with our client's privacy.  As a Broker/Dealer, we are required to gather information about our clients from applications, transactions, discussions with the client, and from time to time, banking references or consumer reporting agencies.  We have adopted the following policies regarding this information.

We do not disclose non-public personal information about our clients or former clients to third parties other than as described below:

• We use the information we gather to provide services to you, process transactions for you, or otherwise in furtherance of our business services to you.
• In order to provide service, we may provide your personal information to our affiliates and to firms that assist us and have a need for such information, such as the escrow agent.
• We do not otherwise provide information about you to outside firms, organizations or individuals except to our attorneys, accountants and auditors as permitted by law.
• We restrict access to non-public personal information about you to our employees who need to know that information to provide products or services to you.  We maintain physical, electronic and procedural safeguards and comply with federal standards to safeguard your information.
• If you decide to terminate your business with us or become an inactive client, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices as described herein.

As required by federal law, we will notify you of our privacy policy annually.  We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time  However, if such changes occur, we will notify you promptly.

If you have submitted personally identifiable information to GPTP and would like this information deleted from our records, or if you have questions or comments about this Statement, please contact us at (650) 322.2500.

This statement was last updated November 20, 2008.

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