Fifth Third securities business continuity plan

Fifth Third Securities in cooperation with parent company, Fifth Third Bank, have established a comprehensive plan for its response to business disruptions that result from both natural and man-made emergencies.

The plan is designed to minimize the disruption to Fifth Third Securities personnel, automated systems, and our customers by ensuring a rapid recovery from a variety of situations with varying levels of severity.

Procedures and facilities exist to provide service with minimal disruption in the event of any one location or business district being rendered inoperative. Personnel may be required to relocate to a predetermined facility that is able to adequately accommodate their needs.

A city wide or regional disruption that does not affect the Fifth Third Securities Main Office Operations Department would be handled by directing customers to Fifth Third Securities main corporate phone number for account servicing. In addition, those representatives who have the ability to conduct business from their home will function as if from a remote location.

A disruption affecting the building or business district surrounding Fifth Third Securities Main Office Operations Department may require the relocation of key support personnel to a fully equipped recovery site. A voicemail message stating that Fifth Third Securities Main Office Operations is temporarily unavailable will direct customers to Fifth Third Securities' clearing firm for order processing until recovery can be facilitated.

A regional disruption affecting the Fifth Third Securities Main Office Operations Department and several remote facilities will result in a voicemail message that directs customers to contact Fifth Third Securities' clearing firm for order processing until recovery can be facilitated.

A disruption affecting the information technology infrastructure will result in a simultaneous transition of processing to a proprietary Information Technology Hot-site located hundreds of miles from the Fifth Third Bank's main processing site.

We have also reviewed the business continuity plans of our key support vendors to verify that they also have adequate recovery procedures and infrastructure in place.

Fifth Third Securities may periodically modify its Business Continuity Plan, Public Disclosure as needed. The modified disclosure will be posted on its public website promptly. A current version of the firm's disclosure may otherwise be requested by sending a written request to: Fifth Third Securities, MD 1MOB2A, Cincinnati, OH 45263.