Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) requires consumer privacy disclosures in the financial arena. These privacy provisions broadly extend to many institutions and businesses engaged in “financial activities” and may extend to certain aspects of Austin Trust Company’s business and its activities. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which regulates the application of the new privacy requirements to trust companies, has determined that merely serving as trustee of a trust does not make these new privacy requirements applicable. However, the FTC has also determined that an individual who selects a financial institution to be a custodian of securities or assets, for example in an IRA, is obtaining a financial product or service from the financial institution and is, therefore, a consumer under the law. In these circumstances, the privacy requirements would apply.
Austin Trust Company has always been committed to maintaining customer confidentiality. Keeping customer information secure and using it only as our customers would want us to is a top priority for all of us at Austin Trust. In accordance with the new law, we are taking this opportunity to clarify our privacy practices.
- As part of our business, we may receive certain non-public personal financial information (“information”) about you. This information includes information that we receive from you on applications, agreements or other forms and information about your transactions with us or our affiliate.
- We restrict access to the information to authorized individuals who need to know this information to provide service to you. Employees who violate our privacy policies will be subject to disciplinary action.
- The law permits us to share this information with our affiliate, Thornhill Securities, a securities broker-dealer. We will limit the collection and use of your information to the minimum we require to provide proper service to you and to conduct our business.
Austin Trust Company is chartered under the laws of the State of Texas and by state law is subject to regulatory oversight by the Texas Department of Banking. Any consumer wishing to file a complaint against Austin Trust Company should contact the Texas Department of Banking through one of the means indicated below:
In Person or U.S. Mail: 2601 North Lamar Boulevard, Suite 300, Austin, Texas 78705-4294
Telephone No.: (877) 276-5554
Fax No.: (512) 475-1313
Web site: www.dob.texas.gov
*Do not include account numbers, social security numbers or other non-public personal information*
*Notice: At the time that you log on to a link provided on this site you are leaving Austin Trust Company’s web site. Austin Trust Company makes no representations concerning the accuracy of information contained on any site other than its own and assumes no liability for information obtained on those sites*