FDIC Gives Banks Timetable for Fixing Year 2000 Glitches
Washington, April 10 (Bloomberg) -- The Federal Deposit
Insurance Corp. gave banks one year starting June 30 to rid their
critical computer systems of Year 2000 bugs.
Computers may cause transaction errors by misreading
''2000'' as ''1900'' unless banks make fixes. The FDIC has said
banks may face regulatory penalties for failing to update systems
for the millennium.
The FDIC said banks must have written plans for testing
computers by June 30, 1998. Banks must have their most crucial
systems tested and almost ready to go by June 30, 1999.
The FDIC also said that banks should start testing their
internal computer systems by Sept. 1, 1998, and complete the
tests by Dec. 31, 1998. In this period, banks must test not only
their own proprietary systems, but also computer systems or
software purchased from outside vendors.
Banks that rely on outside vendors for critical computing
services have an extension until March 31, 1999, for completing
the Year 2000 tests.
All federally insured banks by March 31, 1999, should have
started tests to ensure that their computers communicate smoothly
with computers belonging to customers and other businesses. The
banks must do the tests with the outside parties, the FDIC said.
The FDIC and state banking regulators plan to inspect
vendors and software producers for Year 2000 readiness, but they
won't certify the outside vendors' systems, the FDIC said. The
regulators will also continue to review banks' Year 2000
preparations.
o~~~ O |
