-Caveat Lector- >From Fox Market Wire, http://www.foxmarketwire.com/wires/1129/f_rt_1129_1.sml - World's Exchanges Hunker Down for Y2K 1.18 a.m. ET (0618 GMT) November 29, 1999 LONDON � The New York Stock Exchange's Web site offers a sobering reminder of the legal and technical havoc that Y2K could wreak, even though the world's biggest bourse says all millennium tests have been successful. The NYSE begins its millennium section by telling investors how to contact the exchange's lawyer for prelitigation notices, as required under America's Y2K Act to limit damage claims. Wall Street is, nevertheless, gearing up for what it hopes will be just another session when it kicks off the new millennium. "Based on what we have done, we expect it to be business as usual for individual investors on January 3rd,'' said Margaret Draper of the U.S. Securities Industry Association, or SIA. The association represents 98 percent of the U.S. securities business and has worked on the Y2K issue with U.S. exchanges, and regulators at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The SIA and others prefer talking about due diligence and tests when discussing Y2K, and steadfastly avoid guaranteeing that all will be well. "We have never issued a definition of compliance or seal of approval, but what I can say is that they have all participated in a thorough testing program,'' Draper said. "The links with overseas have been checked -- we have seen an enormous upswing in preparedness in Europe.'' GUESSING ON THE GLITCHES Bourses and other market participants say testing has been done and have moved to guessing which glitches may crop up. The Paris-based Federation of International Stock Exchanges (FIBV) said it could not issue a collective clean bill of millennium health as this made some national lawyers nervous. "We got blocked by a couple of lawyers on that because of the risk of liability,'' said Thomas Krantz, FIBV deputy secretary general. The FIBV represents 54 of the world's top bourses and almost all global stock market capitalization. "Everything you can do internally has been tested on a stand-alone basis, but exchanges are anything but stand-alone as they depend on so many linkages with other things,'' Krantz said. January 3 will not just be about getting the exchanges to operate smoothly -- it's also about making sure there are enough market participants to ensure proper share prices, Krantz said. "Will things work in January? Yes, probably,'' Krantz said. "Will there be some problems? Probably, but I would imagine only temporary outages.'' EUROPEAN EXCHANGES LESS RETICENT In Europe's less legalistic culture, the region's bourses and futures exchanges, represented by the Federation of European Stock Exchange and the European Committee on Futures and Options Exchanges, are not so reticent as their U.S. counterparts. "FESE and Ecofex member exchanges believe that they have taken the appropriate steps to put them in a position of readiness for the millennium change,'' the two organizations said in a joint statement. One of Europe's biggest bourses was equally clear. "The Year 2000 simulation was completely successful and exceeded even our already high expectations,'' Deutsche Boerse management board member Michael Kuhn said. Europeans say their switch to the euro currency last year was a good experience in making the millennium change. CUSTODIANS AND CLEARERS ALSO SEEN READY Global custodians and clearers also say they are ready. "Being an optimist, I would say we don't expect any problems, and so far everything has gone very smoothly,'' said David Hardman, senior vice-president at Standard Chartered bank and a member of Custody 2000 steering committee. Custody 2000 has 38 members comprising custodians, the big investment banks and regional sub-custodians which hold shares on behalf of investors. "But the panic buttons will be hit if there are rumors that a certain bank in a certain country is not ready,'' Hardman said. "The group has moved on from testing to prepare event management.'' International clearer Euroclear, a Custody 2000 member, said all testing was completed. "Compliance issues are at comfort levels and we have also resolved our contingency plans,'' said a Euroclear spokesman. In case the Y2K bug cripples transport and other public services, many bourses will have staff on site throughout the millennium weekend to tackle glitches. Some bourses have caterers in case nearby restaurants and delis let them down and leave staff hungry. "The key to success of transition is not only doing thorough testing but also to be prepared for any of the little � 1999, News America Digital Publishing, Inc. d/b/a Fox Market Wire. All rights reserved. Fox Market Wire is a trademark of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. � 1999 Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved -- Dan S 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. 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