Corporate Governance - Business Policies
Records Retention
It is the policy of Pepco Holdings, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “PHI” or the “Company”) to comply with all federal, state and local laws, rules, regulations and orders governing records retention.
Corporate records are an important asset. They can include virtually anything produced in the normal course of business. A corporate record may be in the form of paper, computer tapes, disks or memory, electronic mail, voice mail or instant messaging. A record may be something as obvious as a memo, contract or spreadsheet, or something not so obvious, such as a desk calendar, appointment book, personal notebook or expense account statement. Records, if related to work for PHI, could also be contained on a Blackberry or other PDA, a home computer, a compact disk (CD) or flash drive, or any other electronic device on which work data might be stored. Employees and others working at PHI must bear in mind that it may be necessary to produce any of these types of records, and the medium on which they are stored, in the event of a threatened or pending governmental investigation or legal proceeding. A records retention program helps the Company meet legal retention requirements, assists with litigation involving the Company, and assures orderly clearance of files and storage facilities.
Failure to retain records for any minimum period required by law, rule, regulation or order could subject the Company to penalties. Depending on the type of record and the circumstances, failure to retain could cause the Company to lose certain legal rights, place it at a disadvantage in litigation or subject it to a claim of obstruction of justice or contempt of court. Alternatively, having a well-documented retention and disposition policy that is understood and adhered to by all employees and others working at the Company can prevent penalties for failure to properly respond to requests for information.
Records are to be retained only while they are being actively used, unless a longer retention period is required by law, rule, regulation, or order or for business purposes (i.e., internal or historic reference). The Company has set up controls to assure retention for required periods, followed by destruction when the records are no longer required to be kept either by law or for business purposes. Note, however, that routine records destruction procedures are to be suspended for any records that are or may be relevant to threatened or pending litigation (even if the records are kept at home, on a home computer, or elsewhere). Records relevant to legal actions: Destruction of records that relate to a governmental investigation or legal proceeding may constitute obstruction of justice; therefore records of this type are not to be destroyed without specific authorization from the Legal Services Group.
Electronic Storage in Lieu of Paper: Files may be stored electronically in lieu of paper, so long as the selected electronic storage method offers the same assurances of accuracy, integrity and accessibility as would be available for paper retention. Procedures must be in place to reasonably protect electronic records from loss, alteration or destruction, to limit access to those records to properly authorized personnel, and to reasonably ensure that electronic records that are created from hard copy are complete, true and legible.
