LEGAL
Summary of the Business Continuity Plan
1. Purpose
In accordance with the best international practices and recommendations of the Securities Market Commission (“CMVM”), DIF Broker – Empresa de Investimento, SA. (“DIF Broker”) informs about its Business Continuity Plan (“BCP”) in the event of a disaster, described in this document.
The BCP was designed to be the reference instrument so that DIF Broker may pursue its activity in the case of an uncontrollable contingency – such as a disaster-, without interruptions, or with minimal interruptions, so that its assets are safe and accessible, and in order for DIF Broker to remain reachable, regardless of the unpredictability of the activity’s interruption period, or the severity of the situation. The BCP is reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors every year, and the information is provided to all the DIF Broker’s employees.
2. Strategies and Recovery Plans
DIF Broker is concerned with the recovery of its technological systems. In general, its technological systems are placed in multiple locations with at least 300 km of distance between them. This design ensures that, in case one of the work locations suffers a service failure, it is possible to resort to the systems on an alternative location to continue to provide that service.
In addition, DIF Broker resorts to services of accommodation and provision of virtual machines, which allow the access and operation of the crucial computer systems of DIF Broker from any location, without interruptions, enhancing the continuity of operations.
In the case of an event that prevents DIF Broker to access a building, in a city, or even in a whole region, the availability and continuity of the activity is, therefore, ensured, without interruption or only interrupted for a few minutes.
DIF Broker also offers recovery/contingency plans in the event of various scenarios. The plans are designed to test the response capacity and continuity of the service, such as when a technology provider, or of any other service relevant to the activity of DIF Broker ceases to operate for any reason.
Whatever happens, the plans have been designed to allow the operations to resume within a maximum period of 24 hours.
With the creation of the BCP, it was verified that the locations identified as “pre-designated alternative locations” are available, that there are enough human resources, assuming that external organizations, such as government agencies and market systems, remain operational. If these requirements are not met, the activity of DIF Broker may be interrupted until the resetting of the essential services.
However, it is not possible to ensure the continuity of the service without interruptions in certain circumstances, such as in a regional blackout, a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or other events with comparable effects.
3. Preparation
Despite DIF Broker’s belief that its customers shall continue to have access to their accounts in case of a significant rupture of the activity in this context, a temporary break, or alteration in the way they may have access to their account might occur. DIF Broker shall notify their customers regarding any relevant crisis or interruption, posting a notice in their websites, www.difbroker.com and/or www.dif.pt..
Technology and , in particular, the use of computer-based systems and communications, make the possibility of generalization of an event more urgent, regardless of the location of such event. DIF Broker, as a global brokerage financial company, allows investors to access more than 40 markets, in almost all continents, involving dozens of partners permanently present in many other Countries to maintain this reality. The occasional breaks of access to a particular market are not within the scope of this BCP.