Merrill Lynch employees are dedicated to protecting your personal information and are governed by the following internal Privacy and Security policies:

 

• Access to client information is granted for legitimate business purposes only.
• Globally, our employees receive annual mandatory training on information security and privacy policies and procedures, including incident reporting and current industry threats.

 

Our authentication standards

Merrill Lynch protects your information with stringent authentication standards; this is how we validate the request is coming from you:

 

At branch offices:

• Your financial advisor and his/her associates have a personal relationship with you. They collect information about you to understand your investment and transaction needs and practices.

 

On the phone:

• We follow strict, documented procedures to validate your identity.
• We offer all clients the opportunity to create a security code to securely access account information over the phone.

 

Online:

• You must enter a valid User ID and password in order to gain access to your account information, account profile, account history, etc.
• Comprehensive security features built into our site and the mobile apps are designed to protect the privacy and security of your personal information. These include:
  • Security questions with your personal answers to protect against unauthorized attempts to access your accounts.
  • An optional authorization code that you may establish to provide an added level of security. Once you enable this service online via the Security Center, we’ll send you a one-time code at each login based on your receipt preference. This option may be customized at any time.

 

Our incident response and resolution procedures

If you suspect that you have been a victim of identity theft or fraud, Merrill Lynch's employees are trained in incident response and resolution procedures.

• If you suspect identity theft or fraud, please call us at 1-800-MERRILL (637-7455), or contact your financial advisor. Our client services teams are trained to help you spot phishing or other attempts at fraud.
• Free downloadable IBM Security Trusteer Rapport online fraud prevention software is available through the MyMerrill site to protect against malware and fraudulent websites that can compromise your online User ID, password and other sensitive information.
• We encourage you to report any theft or fraud that affects your personal or financial information. We can even help provide guidance in non-Merrill Lynch related incidents.
• We use a consistent and integrated approach to quickly respond to any reported or suspected identity theft and fraud or information breach.
• We provide assistance for affected individuals via elevated security safeguards, notification processes and access to fraud investigators.

 

 

If you need to report identity theft or fraud, or if you have questions, please call us at phone 1.800.MERRILL (637.7455), or contact your financial advisor.