Our commitment to Your Privacy: BA Securities, LLC has a longstanding policy of protecting the confidentiality and security of information we collect about customers. We will not share nonpublic information about you (“Information”) without your consent, except for specific purposes described below. This notice describes the Information we may gather and the circumstances under which we may share it.
Why do we gather information? We collect information required to open an account, to transact business effectively and to safeguard your assets or your privacy. But we also continually strive to improve our services and provide you opportunities to use additional products and services you may find of interest. To do this, we gather information to help us assess your needs and preferences.
What information do we collect? The information we collect directly from you includes information required to communicate with you, including your name, mailing address, telephone number, e-mail address and fax number, gender, education, occupation employer name and address. And to identify who you are, including birth date and Social Security number. Additionally, as required by law, to assess your experience, we may also collect your approximate annual income, approximate net worth, approximate worth, and credit reports to assess your financial position.
When do we obtain information? You directly provide to us the majority of information we collect. You do this by completing the account application and related documentation, placing a trade, sending us an e-mail for questions or comment.
How do we use your personal information? Again, the trust of our clients is our most valued asset. Therefore, we use personal information only as appropriate to provide you quality service and security. For example, BA Securities, LLC may use the information collected from you to verify your identity and contact information. We may also use this information to maintain your portfolio and contact you with account information. This information helps us improve our services to you, customize your browsing experience and inform you about additional products, services or promotions that may be of interest to you. BA Securities, LLC may also use demographic information provided by others on our clients so that we can develop products and services for our clients. Should you close your account with us, BA Securities, LLC will retain your information as needed to comply with regulatory requirements.
What information does BA Securities, LLC share with affiliates, alliances and partners? BA Securities, LLC may share information with affiliates if the information is required to provide the product or service you have requested or to provide you the opportunity to participate in the products or services our affiliates offer. BA Securities, LLC also forges partnerships and alliances, which may include joint marketing agreements, with other companies who offer high-quality products and services that might be of value to our clients. In order to ensure that these products and services meet your needs and are delivered in a manner that is useful and relevant, BA Securities, LLC may share some information with partners, affiliates and alliances. This allows them to better understand the offers that are most relevant and useful. We may also compare our client lists with those of our partners and affiliates to ensure that they are not sending messages to you if you've elected not to be so notified. In our strategic relationships, we will require that it be identified that an offer is being extended because of the relationship with us. The use of your personal information is limited to the purposes identified in our relationship with the partner or affiliate. An affiliate is a company that we own or control or with which there is common ownership with us and our parent company. We may share with our affiliate’s information about our transactions and experiences with you such as name, e-mail address, mailing address, date of birth, employment status, and general account and demographic information. This information may be used for internal reporting, anticipating margin calls, and development strategies. We do not share information other than the types of transaction and experience information described above with our affiliates.
Do we share the information collected with any other third parties? The cornerstone of our Privacy Statement is the commitment to keep our clients' personal information confidential. BA Securities, LLC does not sell, license, lease or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party for any reason, except as noted earlier and as described below:
To help us improve our services to you, we may engage another business to help us to carry out certain internal functions such as account processing, fulfillment, client service, client satisfaction surveys or other data collection activities relevant to our business. We may also provide a party with client information from our database to help us to analyze and identify client needs and notify clients of product and service offerings. Use of the information shared is strictly limited to the performance of the task we request and for no other purpose.
All third parties with which we share personal information are required to protect personal information in a manner similar to the way we protect personal information. Examples of information shared are identifying information such as name, mailing address, e-mail address, telephone number, and information on account activity. If at any time you choose to purchase a product or service offered by another company, any personal information you share with that company will no longer be controlled under our Privacy Statement.
BA Securities, LLC also reserves the right to disclose your personal information to third parties where permitted by law or where required by law to regulatory, law enforcement or other government authorities. We may also disclose your information as necessary to credit reporting or collection agencies, or when necessary to protect our rights or property.
Does our Privacy Statement apply to the sites to which we link? No. We are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of sites we link to and have no control of the use or protection of information provided by you or collected by those sites. Whenever you elect to link to a co-branded Web site or to a linked Web site, you may be asked to provide registration or other information. Please note that the information you are providing is going to a third party and you should familiarize yourself with the privacy policy provided by that third party.
What about "cookies" and other tracking devices? Cookies are small text files sent from the Web server to your computer. BA Securities, LLC may maintain a website that contains cookies. Cookies also may be placed by third parties when you access their sites through linking from a Web site. We do not have access to these cookies or any information that these cookies may contain. Please contact the third-party site for more information on these cookies. Although we encourage third parties to adhere to appropriate privacy policies and standards, we are not responsible for the actions or policies of such parties. To administer and improve the BA Securities, LLC Web site, we may use a third party to track and analyze usage and volume statistical information, including page requests, form requests, and click paths. All data collected for this purpose is owned and used by BA Securities, LLC The third party may use cookies to track behavior and may set cookies on behalf of BA Securities, LLC These cookies do not contain any personally identifiable information.
Will I be able to review, change or correct my information? Yes. Personal identifying information may be reviewed, changed or corrected at any time. You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy and completeness of your personal and other information. At least once every 36 months we will send you a letter asking you to confirm the information we have on file. If you would like to review your personal information or if you believe that any of your information is incorrect, or if you have any questions regarding your personal information, or if you have any other questions or concerns regarding this privacy policy, simply contact our office.
How will I know if there are any changes to this Privacy Statement? BA Securities, LLC will provide each client an annual Privacy Statement that will include all changes. Should you have any additional questions concerning our privacy policy, you may submit a written request for additional information to our Customer Service Department located at Four Tower Bridge, 200 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 400, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428.
Mutual Funds Breakpoint Discounts Disclosure Statement
Before investing in mutual funds, it is important that you understand the sales charges, expenses, and management fees that you will be charged, as well as the breakpoint discounts to which you may be entitled. Understanding these charges and breakpoint discounts will assist you in identifying the best investment for your particular needs and may help you reduce the costs of your investment. This disclosure document will give you general background information about these charges and discounts. However, sales charges, expenses, management fees, and breakpoint discounts vary from mutual fund to mutual fund. Therefore, you should discuss these issues with your financial advisor and review each mutual fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, which are available from your financial advisor, to get the specific information regarding the charges and breakpoint discounts associated with a particular mutual fund.
Sales Charges
Investors that purchase mutual funds must make certain choices, including which funds to purchase and which class share is most advantageous. Each mutual fund has a specified investment strategy. You need to consider whether the mutual fund’s investment strategy is compatible with your investment objectives. Additionally, most mutual funds offer different share classes. Although each share class represents a similar interest in the mutual fund’s portfolio, the mutual fund will charge you different fees and expenses depending upon your choice of share class. As a general rule, Class A shares carry a “front- end” sales charge or “load” that is deducted from your investment at the time you buy fund shares. This sales charge is a percentage of your total purchase. As explained below, many mutual funds offer volume discounts to the front-end sales charge assessed on Class A shares at certain predetermined levels of investment, which are called “breakpoint discounts.” In contrast, Class B and C shares usually do not carry any front-end sales charges. Instead, investors that purchase Class B or C shares pay asset-based sales charges, which may be higher than the charges associated with Class A shares. Investors that purchase Class B and C shares may also be required to pay a sales charge known as a contingent deferred sales charge when they sell their shares, depending upon the rules of the particular mutual fund.
Breakpoint Discounts
Most mutual funds offer investors a variety of ways to qualify for breakpoint discounts on the sales charge associated with the purchase of Class A shares. In general, most mutual funds provide breakpoint discounts to investors who make large purchases at one time. The extent of the discount depends upon the size of the purchase. Generally, as the amount of the purchase increases, the percentage used to determine the sales load decreases. In fact, the entire sales charge may be waived for investors that make very large purchases of Class A shares. Mutual fund prospectuses contain tables that illustrate the available breakpoint discounts and the investment levels at which breakpoint discounts apply. Additionally, most mutual funds allow investors to qualify for breakpoint discounts based upon current holdings from prior purchases through “Rights of Accumulation,” and future purchases, based upon “Letters of Intent.” This document provides general information regarding Rights of Accumulation and Letters of Intent. However, mutual funds have different rules regarding the availability of Rights of Accumulation and Letters of Intent. Therefore, you should discuss these issues with your financial advisor and review the mutual fund prospectus to determine the specific terms upon which a mutual fund offers Rights of Accumulation or Letters of Intent.
1. Rights of Accumulation – Many mutual funds allow investors to count the value of previous purchases of the same fund, or another fund within the same fund family, with the value of the current purchase, to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Moreover, mutual funds allow investors to count existing holdings in multiple accounts, such as IRAs or accounts at other broker-dealers, to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Therefore, if you have accounts at other broker- dealers and wish to take advantage of the balances in these accounts to qualify for a breakpoint discount, you must advise your financial advisor about those balances. You may need to provide documentation establishing the holdings in those other accounts to your financial advisor if you wish to rely upon balances in accounts at another firm. In addition, many mutual funds allow investors to count the value of holdings in accounts of certain related parties, such as spouses or children, to qualify for breakpoint discounts. Each mutual fund has different rules that govern when relatives may rely upon each other’s holdings to qualify for breakpoint discounts. You should consult with your financial advisor or review the mutual fund’s prospectus or statement of additional information to determine what these rules are for the fund family in which you are investing. If you wish to rely upon the holdings of related parties to qualify for a breakpoint discount, you should advise your financial advisor about these accounts. You may need to provide documentation to your financial advisor if you wish to rely upon balances in accounts at another firm.
Mutual funds also follow different rules to determine the value of existing holdings. Some funds use the current net asset value (NAV) of existing investments in determining whether an investor qualifies for a breakpoint discount. However, a small number of funds use the historical cost, which is the cost of the initial purchase, to determine eligibility for breakpoint discounts. If the mutual fund uses historical costs, you may need to provide account records, such as confirmation statements or monthly statements, to qualify for a breakpoint discount based upon previous purchases.
You should consult with your financial advisor and review the mutual fund’s prospectus to determine whether the mutual fund uses either NAV or historical costs to determine breakpoint eligibility.
2. Letters of Intent – Most mutual funds allow investors to qualify for breakpoint discounts by signing a Letter of Intent, which commits the investor to purchasing a specified amount of Class A shares within a defined period of time, usually 13 months. For example, if an investor plans to purchase $50,000 worth of Class A shares over a period of 13 months, but each individual purchase would not qualify for a breakpoint discount, the investor could sign a Letter of Intent at the time of the first purchase and receive the breakpoint discount associated with $50,000 investments on the first and all subsequent purchases. Additionally, some funds offer retroactive Letters of Intent that allow investors to rely upon purchases in the recent past to qualify for a breakpoint discount. However, if an investor fails to invest the amount required by the Letter of Intent, the fund is entitled to retroactively deduct the correct sales charges based upon the amount that the investor actually invested. If you intend to make several purchases within a 13 month period, you should consult your financial advisor and the mutual fund prospectus to determine if it would be beneficial for you to sign a Letter of Intent.
As you can see, understanding the availability of breakpoint discounts is important because it may allow you to purchase Class A shares at a lower price. The availability of breakpoint discounts may save you money and may also affect your decision regarding the appropriate share class in which to invest. Therefore, you should discuss the availability of breakpoint discounts with your financial advisor and carefully review the mutual fund prospectus and its statement of additional information, which you can get from your financial advisor, when choosing among the share classes offered by a mutual fund. If you wish to learn more about mutual fund share classes or mutual fund breakpoints, you may wish to review the investor alerts available on the FINRA Web site.
See Understanding Mutual Fund Classes at: www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/InvestorAlerts/MutualFundsand also Mutual Fund Breakpoints: a Break worth Taking at www.finra.org/Investors/ProtectYourself/InvestorAlertsor visit the many mutual fund Web sites available to the public.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINT NOTICE - SEC Rule 17a-3(a)(18)(ii) DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
BA Securities, LLC., in accordance with Rule 17a-3(a)(18)(ii), is furnishing this statement to provide you with a name, telephone number and address, if you ever need to report or notify us of a possible complaint. If, for any reason, you feel you have a complaint, please contact our offices immediately, either by mail at Four Tower Bridge, 200 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 400, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428, Attention: Compliance Department or 1-877-738-5841 and ask to speak with our Chief Compliance Officer.
BA Securities, LLC has developed a Business Continuity Plan on how we will respond to events that significantly disrupt our business. Since the timing and impact of disasters and disruptions is unpredictable, we will have to be flexible in responding to actual events as they occur. With that in mind, we are providing you with this information on our business continuity plan.
Contacting Us – If after a significant business disruption you cannot contact us as you usually do at 1-877-738-5841, you should call our alternative number 215-888-4267 and also look for updates on our website at www.basecuritiesllc.com.
Our Business Continuity Plan – 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 if we are unable to continue our business.
Varying Disruptions – Significant business disruptions can vary in their scope, such as only our firm, a single building housing our firm, the business district where our firm is located, the city where we are located, or the whole region. Within each of these areas, the severity of the disruption can also vary from minimal to severe.
In a disruption to only our firm or a building housing our firm, we will transfer our operations to a local site when needed and expect to recover and resume business within 24 hours of the disruption. In a disruption affecting our business district, city, or region, we will transfer our operations to a site outside of the affected area, and recover and resume business within 48 hours.
In either situation, we plan to continue in business, and notify you through our web site www.basecuritiesllc.com or our customer alternate numbers located on our website. If the significant business disruption is so severe that it prevents us from remaining in business, we will assure our customer’s prompt access to their funds and securities.
Important Information You Need to Know About Opening A New Account
To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person who opens an account. This Notice answers some questions about the firm’s Customer Identification Program.
What types of information will I need to provide?
When you open an account, we are required to collect information such as the following from you:
- Your name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Identification number
- U.S. Citizen: taxpayer identification number (social security number or employer identification number) -
- Non-U.S. Citizen: taxpayer identification number, passport number, and country of issuance, alien identification card number, or government-issued identification showing nationality, residence, and a photograph of you.
You may also need to show your driver’s license or other identifying documents.
A corporation, partnership, trust or other legal entity may need to provide other information, such as its principal place of business, local office, employer identification number, certified articles of incorporation, government-issued business license, a partnership agreement, or trust agreement.
U.S. Department of the Treasury, Securities and Exchange Commission, FINRA, and New York Stock Exchange rules already require you to provide most of this information. These rules also may require you to provide additional information, such as your net worth, annual income, occupation, employment information, investment experience, objectives and risk tolerance.
What happens if I don’t provide the information requested or my identity can’t be verified?
We may not be able establish a relationship or carry out transactions for you. We thank you for your patience and hope that you will support the financial industry’s efforts to deny terrorists and money launderers access to America’s financial system.
Should you have any additional questions concerning our customer identification program, you may submit a written request for additional information to our Customer Service Department located at Four Tower Bridge, 200 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 400, W. Conshohocken, PA 19428.
BA Securities, LLC (BA Securities or Firm) is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a broker-dealer and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). We offer Merger and Acquisition, Corporate Advisory and Private Placement services through investment bankers and institutional placement agents (collectively, our “Representatives”). We hold no customer assets, nor do we trade public securities. We have no customer accounts.
There are free and simple tools available to investors to research firms and financial professionals at www.Investor.gov/CRS, which also provides educational materials about broker-dealers, investment advisers, and investing.
Brokerage and investment advisory services and fees differ, and it is important for you to understand these differences. You should carefully consider which types of accounts and services are right for you. This document gives you a summary of the types of services we provide and how we earn our fees. Please ask us for more information. There are some suggested questions below.
Relationships and Services
What investment services and advice can you provide me?
- Our Representatives offer Merger and Acquisition and Corporate Advisory services to business owners, corporations, and institutional investors.
- Our Representatives also offer Private Securities to institutional investors, and to a lesser extent retail investors that are accredited investors.
- We offer a limited selection of investments, specifically Private Placements. Other firms could offer a wider range of choices, some of which might have lower costs.
- We are not required to, nor do we, monitor your portfolio or investments on an ongoing basis.
Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct
What fees will you pay?
- The fee we earn on Private Securities transactions is typically paid by the Issuer, not you.
Our Legal Obligations to You when we provide a Recommendation.
- When we provide you with a recommendation, we have to act in your best interest and not put our interest ahead of yours. At the same time, the way we make money creates some conflicts with your interests. You should understand and ask us about these conflicts because they can affect the recommendations, we provide you.
How does the Representative make money?
- Your Representative has an incentive to offer or recommend certain investments, such as a Private Placement to you, and the Representative’s compensation is often dependent upon the amount that you invest, which can create a conflict of interest and affect the recommendations that we provide you. Your Representative can receive both cash and non-cash compensation from the Issuer.
Disciplinary History
Do we or your Representative have legal or disciplinary history?
- BA Securities LLC does not have any legal or disciplinary events.
- Some of our Representatives have legal or disciplinary history. Visit Investor.gov/CRS for a free and simple search tool to research our firm and our Representatives.
- To report a problem to the SEC, visit Investor.gov or call the SEC’s toll‐free investor assistance line at (800) 732‐0330. To report a problem to FINRA, visit finra.org/investors/have-problem. If you have a problem with your investment or Representative, contact us in writing at the address below
Additional Information
For additional information about our Representatives and our services, visit BrokerCheck (BrokerCheck.Finra.org), our web site (www.basecuritiesllc.com) or call or write:
BA Securities LLC
Four Tower Bridge
200 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 400
West Conshohocken, PA 19428
877-738-5841
Ask our Representatives these key questions about our investment services and accounts.
- What are the most common conflicts of interest? Explain how you will address those conflicts when providing services to me.
- How will you choose investments you recommend to me?
- Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments.
- Do you or your firm have a disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?
- What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education, and other qualifications?
- Who is the primary contact person for my account? If I have concerns about how this person is treating me, who can I talk to?