Disclosures

Affiliates:  Companies related by common ownership or control. Our affiliates include, and are collectively referred to herein as “Argent”, the following entities:

Argent Trust Company, Argent Institutional Trust Company, Argent Trust Oklahoma, AmeriTrust Corporation, Heritage Trust Company, Salem Trust Company, Argent Advisors, Inc., Argent Retirement Plan Advisors, LLC, Argent Fiduciary Consulting Services, LLC, Argent Insurance Services, LLC, Argent Mineral Management, LLC, Highland Capital Management, LLC, Orleans Capital Management Corp., Argent Wealth, LLC, Argent Insurance, LLC, Funeral Services, Inc., Wynden Capital Management, LLC, Argent Solutions, LLC

Third-Party Service Providers: In order to effect, administer, or enforce a transaction requested or authorized by you, the client, we may share your personal information with third-party service providers. We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about you to unaffiliated third parties for them to rent, sell, trade, or for their independent use.

Employee Access to Information: All employees must adhere to Argent’s policy on confidentiality. Employee access to client information is authorized for business purposes only, and the degree of access is based on the sensitivity of the information and the employee’s need to know in order to service the client’s account or comply with legal requirements.

Inactive Customers and Closed Accounts: Should you ever decide to close your account(s) or become an inactive client at Argent, we will continue to adhere to the privacy policies and practices as described in this Privacy Notice.

Internet Privacy: Like most websites, Argent’s website gathers and maintains statistics about the number of visitors. However, visitors to our website are anonymous except where registration is required and cookies are used to improve your online experience. Argent does not rent, sell, trade, or otherwise disclose any personal information collected through our website. Any information you provide is for Argent’s use only.

E-Mail: Please do not provide any account or personal information such as tax identification numbers, account numbers, or account balances within your e-mail correspondence to us. We cannot use e-mail to execute transaction instructions, provide personal account information, or change account registration.

Funds Awaiting Investment or Distribution: All cash or cash equivalents received for your account are generally invested or swept into a money market fund or other interest-bearing investment during the normal course of business. Distributions are removed from the account and from investment and other interest-bearing accounts on the business day that distributions are processed. Depending on the timing of the collection of funds received and distributed and the availability of those funds, interest or other income may be earned on funds held for investment, sweep or distribution. Such interest or other income may be paid to Argent. The possibility of the receipt of such interest or other income was a factor in determining the total fees charged to your account.

Administrative and Shareholder Servicing Fees: From time to time, Argent may invest funds in mutual funds, bank deposits, or other investments from which Argent may receive financial benefits. These benefits may include receipt of administrative fees, 12b-1 fees, or other income from other revenue sharing arrangements for providing services to clients of these investments. These benefits may result from shareholder servicing, administrative, and accounting services, for example. The possibility of receipt of these financial benefits is a factor in determining the total fees charged to your account. There will be no out of pocket charge to you as a result of such an arrangement. Argent reserves the right to negotiate differing fee structures with clients including arrangements that may affect the interest paid on the certain mutual funds, bank deposits, or other investments. For further questions or specific rate information, please contact Argent at 800-375-4646 or clientadvocate@argentfinancial.com

Affiliated Entities: From time to time, Argent may invest funds in deposits of Origin Bank and may receive financial benefits in the form of interest or other income from Origin Bank as disclosed above. Origin Bank’s parent, Origin Bancorp, Inc., is a minority stockholder of Argent Financial Group, Inc., and both entities have other mutual contractual relationships. The ownership interests and other relationships may create a conflict of interest. You may write your account officer to request that your account not be invested in Origin Bank deposits.

Class Action Litigation: Argent employs a third-party vendor for the processing of class action lawsuits. Class Action Settlements will be deposited from each successful claim, less processing fees.

Dormant Accounts: A dormancy service charge, as permitted by law, may be assessed by Argent for any unclaimed property required to be paid or delivered to a state’s unclaimed property division.

Important Information About Procedures For Opening A New Account With Argent 

To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, federal law requires all financial institutions to obtain, verify and record information that identifies each person who opens an account.

What this means for you: When you open an account, we will ask you for your name, address, date of birth (in the case of an individual), taxpayer identification number, and other information that will allow us to identify you. We may also ask to see your driver’s license or other identifying documents in order to verify the information that you have provided to us. We are required by law to attempt to verify the information provided by you against lists issued by various governmental agencies to confirm that you are not a known or suspected terrorist or in any way affiliated with a known or suspected terrorist group.

If you have any questions about this process, please discuss them with your account officer or our internal anti-money laundering program coordinator. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding with this process.

Pricing

Pricing for securities traded on the exchange is provided by third-party sources. While sources used for pricing publicly traded securities are considered reliable, the prices displayed on your statement may be based on actual trades, bid/ask information, or vendor evaluations. As such, the prices displayed on your statement may or may not reflect actual trade prices you would receive in the current market. It is possible, prices for certain securities may vary widely at the time of trade execution in comparison to valuation prices displayed for statement purposes. Securities not traded on an exchange are valued by a variety of sources, which may include issuer-provided or client-provided information. Securities not traded on exchange and without a readily ascertainable market value will remain at cost or book value of the investment until an updated price may be obtained. If an asset does not have a readily ascertainable market value and you do not provide us with valuation information, this may result in adverse tax consequences to the account owner. As such, the current statement will reflect the value of the asset based on its last known valuation, which may not coincide with the statement reporting period. Argent, including any of its affiliates, does not guarantee the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or attainability of any pricing information provided by third party sources.

Trade Execution

Argent will attempt to obtain best execution for our clients when processing trade order requests. This is defined as seeking the most favorable terms for a client transaction reasonably available under the circumstances. Unless directed otherwise by the client, Argent will use its discretion on how to best effect the transaction, including the utilization of electronic trading platforms and through reputable broker/dealer organizations. Clients may also direct Argent to use specific broker/dealers to execute transactions. In these instances, Argent will not attempt to negotiate commissions with the designated broker/dealer resulting in the possibility of the client being charged higher commissions. When a specific broker/dealer is not selected, Argent may utilize brokers/dealers who provide research products and services, which benefit you and other Argent clients. The cost for these additional benefits and services is factored into our negotiated commission rates with these firms and may result in the direct trading costs incurred for executing the trades being less than the total commissions charged (this difference is referred to as “soft dollars”).

Objection To Disclosure of Beneficial Ownership
In an effort to permit direct communications between a company which issues securities and the shareholder who votes the securities, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted a rule, referenced as 14b-1, “Shareholders Communication Act”.

For your protection, the Rule prohibits the requesting company from using your name and address for any purpose other than corporate communications.

Argent is authorized to refuse to disclose the client’s name, address, and security position(s) of current and/or future holdings that the client(s) may own from time-to-time pursuant to SEC Rule #14b-1.

Please contact your account officer to request current prospectuses or if you have any questions regarding this disclosure.