-Caveat Lector- SEC Votes to Shut Down Brokerage Firms Unprepared for Y2K 1.28 p.m. ET (1728 GMT) July 27, 1999 Reuters WASHINGTON � Federal securities regulators will go to court starting Dec. 1 to shut down brokerage firms that are not ready for the Year 2000, under new rules adopted Tuesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the rules. They set a target date of Aug. 31 for brokerage firms to complete their Year 2000 compliance efforts but allow additional time for unprepared firms to show that they will be ready no later than Nov. 15. "Any firm that cannot achieve Y2K compliance in a timely fashion will be required to cease doing business by Dec. 1," SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt said before the vote. "A few firms' lack of readiness could have adverse consequences for countless others," Levitt said. "We simply cannot allow firms to continue to operate if they threaten the integrity of the system, or if they are not able to assure customers' access to their funds and securities." Richard Walker, the agency's enforcement director, said the regulators would go into federal courts starting Dec. 1 seeking injunctions forcing the unprepared brokerage firms to cease operations and notify their customers. He said the regulators expect they will only have to go after "a few" problem firms. The SEC estimates that only 1 percent or so of the 3,900 brokerage firms covered by the new rules will be unprepared for the millennial date change. Concerns about the Jan. 1, 2000, date stem from the fact that some computer systems may read only the last two digits of a four-digit year and interpret the year 2000 as 1900, potentially wreaking havoc on financial transactions. The new rules also apply to the 600 or so transfer agents that are not banks. Transfer agents are responsible for keeping records of shareholders of corporations and for issuing or canceling stock certificates when shares are bought and sold. The SEC has said failure of transfer agents to anticipate and fix Year 2000 computer problems could seriously disrupt corporations' dividend payments and other transactions with their shareholders. The market watchdog agency also requires mutual fund companies and publicly traded corporations to disclose their readiness. In the federal government's first major enforcement action related to the Year 2000 problem, the SEC charged 37 relatively small brokerage firms last October with failing to fully disclose the state of their computer readiness. Some of the firms agreed to settle the charges by promising to refrain from such violations in the future, being censured and paying civil penalties ranging from $5,000 to $25,000. In January, the SEC accused nine transfer agents of allegedly failing to adequately disclose their readiness. Five of the agent companies settled the charges and four contested them. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
