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

To: John Mansfield who wrote (3791)	2/10/1999 5:07:00 PM
From: flatsville	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

Weiss Rating works the numbers. (If I recall correctly, this is not the first y2k survey conducted by Weiss. They had a similar problem with banks failing to respond to the last survey. It is unusual for an institution not to respond to a Weiss survey as the firm is highly regarded for its' safety ratings. And what to make of the discrepancy between the Weiss data and the fed data? Perhaps it is easier to be less than forthcoming with the govt. than lie to Weiss?) ----------- biz.yahoo.com Wednesday February 10, 1:51 pm Eastern Time Company Press Release Over 30% of Banks Admit Missing Y2K Deadline, Contradicting Government Assurances PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1999--Among banks and S&Ls responding to a Weiss Y2K readiness survey mailed Dec. 30, 1998, a surprisingly large percentage -- 32% -- admit that they missed a critical Y2K deadline. These institutions report that they did not complete remediation and testing of internal mission-critical systems by Dec. 31, 1998. Furthermore, 20% do not anticipate completion until March. This implies a failure to comply with the federal requirement that ''testing of internal mission-critical systems should be substantially complete'' by Dec. 31, 1998. (a) This finding directly contradicts recent assurances from banking regulators that only 4% of banking institutions have been rated ''unsatisfactory'' or ''needs improvement.'' ''I don't understand how the authorities can give 'satisfactory' Y2K compliance ratings to institutions that have apparently missed a critical compliance deadline,'' commented Martin Weiss, Ph.D., chairman of Weiss Ratings, Inc. ''I personally believe the authorities are either using outdated information in their pronouncements or simply sugar-coating the truth. In the long run, I feel this can only damage their credibility and create the conditions for the very consumer panic everyone wants to avoid.'' To date, 909 banks and S&Ls have responded to the Weiss survey. Among these, only 620 (68%) stated that they had completed the required Y2K fixes on all internal mission-critical systems by Dec. 31, while 289 (32%) reported that they had missed the deadline. Among these, 184 institutions (20% of respondents) stated that they did not anticipate completing the fixes until after Feb. 28. Final results of the Weiss survey, with additional analysis, will be released in early March. ''Furthermore,'' Weiss adds, ''we must assume that, on average, institutions that did not respond to our survey are more likely to be late in fixing their Y2K problems than those that did.'' Weiss urges consumers to write their Congressmen to require full and honest disclosure from regulators regarding the current Y2K status of financial institutions -- not only for banks and S&Ls, but also for insurers and credit unions. Further, Weiss advocates full disclosure to consumers of the official Y2K ratings issued to all banks and S&Ls by the regulators. Currently, these ratings are deemed strictly confidential and are not available to the public. Until this information becomes public, the Weiss Y2K Ratings are the only ratings of their kind that consumers can use to make informed decisions. For $15 per company, consumers may call 800/289-9222 for ratings on their bank, S&L, or insurer. Weiss will provide a Weiss Y2K Rating for those institutions who have responded to its surveys, plus a Weiss Safety Rating on virtually any financial institution in the country. Weiss Ratings Inc. issues financial safety grades on over 16,000 banks, S&Ls, insurers, HMOs, Blue Cross / Blue Shield plans, and security brokerage firms. (a) The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which coordinates various banking regulators, including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of Comptroller of the Currency, clarified this requirement in an Aug. 28, 1998 email to bank CEOs, entitled ''Year 2000 Questions And Answers,'' stating: ''The FDIC expects each financial institution to meet the following key milestones in the Year 2000 testing process by the date indicated: ... Dec. 31, 1998 -- testing of internal mission-critical systems should be substantially complete.'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contact: Weiss Ratings Inc. by Yui & Co. Ellen Yui 301/270-8571 ellenyui@aol.com or Elizabeth Kelley Grace 561/989-9855 lizkg@aol.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (3791)	2/10/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

NERC discussion - 'This writer is correct -- looking at the raw data is quite interesting in regards to the NERC ftp site which is at: nerc.com and ftp://ftp.nerc.com/pub/sys/all_updl/docs/y2k -- Roleigh ---------------------------------------------------------- garynorth.com Gary North's Y2K Links and Forums Category: Power_Grid Date: 1999-02-09 07:23:55 Subject: NERC's Statistics: More Bad News Comment: I received this e-mail on February 9. * * * * * * * * * * * Thanks a great article - but the writer missed the worst part of what's in the NERC November98.XLS worksheet. (It's on the public/Y2K area of their FTP: site) I downloaded their worksheet and went directly to the worksheet named "db". That's where the raw stats are. Each bulk power provider was given a code number for ID and the NERC region was listed for each reporting member. After reconfiguring the database by sorting by region I was shocked. Yes, the mathmatical average is 44% complete with Testing & Remediation. That's bad enough. But the bottom 40% of all members averaged 38% complete. In the MAIN Nerc Region (Mid-American Interconnected Network), which covers all of Illinois, there are 14 members. Five showed 0% complete and the bottom seven averaged 11% complete. That region is approximately 50-50 Nuclear/Coal. That's in the Eastern Interconnection. NERC's WSCC Region (basically the entire Western Interconnection) is in bad shape, according to their survey. The bottom 40% is less that 35% complete. These results were very consistent throughout each NERC Region (other than MAIN which may the the flashpoint for the Domino Effect on the power grid). The ERCOT Interconnection (Texas) isn't any different. . . . -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roleigh Martin ourworld.compuserve.com ( easy to remember alias is: webalias.com ) (A Web Site that focuses on Y2k threat to Utilities, Banks & more) To subscribe to free e-letter, fill in the form at the bottom of the page: ourworld.compuserve.com To unsubscribe, send blank subject and blank message to roleigh_for_web-unsubscribe@egroups.com Print out this Y2K brochure to give to your neighbors, friends & relatives: ourworld.compuserve.com Special Offer: egroups.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Roleigh Martin ourworld.compuserve.com ( easy to remember alias is: webalias.com ) (A Web Site that focuses on Y2k threat to Utilities, Banks & more) To subscribe to free e-letter, fill in the form at the bottom of the page: ourworld.compuserve.com To unsubscribe, send blank subject and blank message to roleigh_for_web-unsubscribe@egroups.com Print out this Y2K brochure to give to your neighbors, friends & relatives: ourworld.compuserve.com Special Offer: egroups.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Create an e-mail group for your baseball team. Help & Info