"NY Fed McDonough urges attention to Y2K problems" -- Reuters
NEW YORK, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of New
York President William McDonough on Sunday urged the
world's financial community to address computer problems
related to the Year 2000, also known as the Millennium Bug or
''Y2K.''
''I do not think it would be possible to overstate the importance of the Year 2000 problem as an
issue for financial markets,'' McDonough told the Regional Y2K Meeting for Financial Regulators in
the Asia/Pacific Region.
McDonough's speech delivered in Sydney, Australia, was also available in New York.
''The Year 200 problem is an issue for every country, firm, organization, government agency, bank
and piece of critical infrastructure in the world,'' McDonough stressed.
The millennium bug could wreak havoc on information systems or global financial transactions after
the century changes if old software programs are unable to correctly process two-digit year
references in dates after December 31, 1999. When the year 2000 arrives, systems could
mistakenly interpret the ''00'' in the year field as 1900 -- causing them to crash or corrupt data.
McDonough also stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination, as well as information
sharing and disclosure, as key steps to address the Y2K problem.
''Of the many different elements of a sound Year 2000 project plan, perhaps none is more important
than testing,'' said McDonough who also underscored contingency planning in the global financial
industry.
McDonough also is Chairman of the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision of the Bank for
International Settlements (BIS)."
More good news for our cause!
-JD |
