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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (2361)	8/4/1998 5:25:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

' Some of the cost estimates for Y2K seem out of wack. Here are a few examples: The U.S. government estimates $5 billion for federal computers alone: "Fixing the Y2K glitch in government computers will cost at least $5 billion, according to budget projections. But officials acknowledge the overall repair bill will likely grow next year as agencies scramble to beat the deadline." washingtonpost.com but the Gartner Group estimates $30 billion: usnews.com yet the U.S. banking system alone plans on spending up to $20 billion: "The banking industry is devoting unprecedented efforts and resources to achieve Year 2000 readiness, including the systems that process or store data for consumer credit or leasing transactions. The estimates of the total cost to depository institutions of this undertaking range from $4 billion to $20 billion, depending on types of expenditures included, and the timeframe encompassed. For example, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reports that, based on information collected from national banks as of March 31, 1998, national banks will spend at least $11.3 billion on Y2K remediation efforts. This estimate reflects the efforts of approximately 2,800 national banks. Additionally, substantial amounts are being spent by the 7,000+ banks and thrifts regulated by the other federal banking regulatory agencies (i.e., Federal Reserve Board, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision). This massive commitment of efforts and resources is focused on the goal of providing a smooth transition of banking and financial services into the 21st century with minimal disruptions. " American Bankers Association, June 22, 1998 marketpartners.com and for comparison, this estimate of Russia's remediation costs seem ridiculous - "Russia has warned that its bill for millennium bug remediation could reach $US500 million. Alexander Krupnov, head of the state communications and information committee, said leaving the problem unresolved could trigger a collapse of banking, stock market, telecommunications, energy and national early warning defence systems." theaustralian.com.au and in Japan, $0, are being budgeted, so they're honest about doing nothing: "Unfortunately, there is no real unified effort of this sort among government agencies in Japan. MITI plans some tax relief for smaller companies, but the budget is small in scope, and many companies do not even know the help is available. And Japan's financial institutions will not run their first test on their interconnected computer systems until December. " web.lexis-nexis.com So the U.S., with the greatest need of all, has only last March appointed one man, along with a few assistants (three, according to Ed Yourdon) to help manage something potentially more costly than World War II. "As chairman of President Clinton's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, John Koskinen operates out of the Old Executive Office Building next door to the White House. A large conference table in his office features two centerpieces: a soccer ball, emblematic of Koskinen's favorite sport, and a small digital clock given him by Vice President Gore that counts down the hours, minutes and seconds to 2000." washingtonpost.com What, me worry? Art Frank ___ 'From: "Art Frank" <Artfrank@ix.netcom.com> 23:16 Subject: Y2K Budgets Have Stopped Making Sense from c.s.y2k

To: John Mansfield who wrote (2361)	8/4/1998 5:28:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

'Subject: Sighting: SEC Sample Meaningful Disclosure does not follow From: "Kemp, Bruce F." <BFKemp@rmc.com> To: "'year2000-discuss@year2000.com'" <year2000-discuss@year2000.com> Subject: Sighting: SEC Sample Meaningful Disclosure does not follow SEC Guidelines Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 11:25:58 -0400 The SEC Meaningful Y2K Disclosure paragraphs do not mention two categories: the Risks of the Company's Year 2000 Issues (category 3) and The Company's Contingency Plans (category 4). Since the SEC truly wants meaningful disclosure, they will likely update the sample disclosure statement to conform to the guidelines. Maybe this encouragement will help them to do this on a timely basis before too many folks think they are being let off the hook. After a brief search, I could not find an e-mail address at the SEC to use to get this suggestion to them directly. I believe the guidelines are excellent and applaud the SEC for this strong and helpful Interpretation. . Guidelines: sec.gov Sample Disclosure: sec.gov My opinions only, just starting to share this information within my company, so it can't be their opinion. Bruce Kemp ___ 'Date: Tue, 4 Aug 1998 10:29:57 +0100 To: year2000-discuss@year2000.com From: "Y2K Maillist (Via: Amy)" <amy@year2000.com> Save Address Block Sender