Actually, I thought it might save time for others. Enjoy.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990317/tc/y2k_1.html

Dozen Big British Finance Firms Face Y2K Shut-Down Risk

By Clelia Oziel

LONDON (Reuters) - A dozen major financial firms in Britain that haven't yet met Year 2000 compliance face closure or may be forced to wind down operations, the super-watchdog Financial Services Authority (FSA) warned Wednesday.

``In the last resort and where it is apparent there is no better way to protect depositors, investors, policy holders, or the integrity of markets, we will take action to restrict a firm's business or in extreme cases to remove its authorization altogether,'' said Michael Foot, managing director of financial supervision at the FSA.

Foot told a conference on the financial sector's Year 2000 readiness that the 12 suspect firms were plucked out of a total 160 classified as ``high impact,'' whose failure to comply would have serious consequences for retail customers or the markets.

He did not unveil the firms' names due to legal constraints, but some of them were ``household names'' and others ``very widely known'' in their sectors, Foot later told a news conference.

The ``high impact'' group includes retail and investment banks, insurance companies and building societies, all of which are big players in terms of customer numbers.

The FSA, which has wide regulatory powers to police Britain's financial services sector, is also closely monitoring the millennium compliance of 350 medium impact groups, out of a total of 8,000 financial services companies which it regulates.

It allocated traffic lights -- ``red'' for non-compliant, ''amber'' for behind but likely to get on track, ``blue'' for on track -- based on the companies' self-assessment. ``Green'' would be awarded to firms that are millennium compliant, but so far no firms have been awarded that color.

According to a snapshot of figures from end-1998, 58 percent of the high impact groups were on track and 35 percent at ''amber.'' In the medium impact group, 40 percent were on track, 45 percent were at ``amber'' and 15 percent at ``red.''

The FSA had told every high and medium impact group at ''red'' of its judgement and challenged them to prove it wrong or rapidly produce a convincing solution. This could involve a number of routes including contingency planning, it said.

The same process was underway with ``amber'' groups. It was working closely with the Bank of England and industry experts.

Foot did not give a specific deadline for initiating legal action, but said this would be ``toward the end of the year.''

``As the year goes on, the time runs out,'' he said. But added: ``With over nine months to go before the millennium the conditions to justify such measures have not yet manifested themselves.''

Another risk for companies not meeting Year 2000 requirements was they could merge with or be taken over by other companies with a larger pool of resources to dedicate to millennium compliance and IT systems.

Most high-impact firms had the capital to beat the millennium bug but simply ignored the potential risks or did not see it as a serious threat to the market, Foot said. In the area of counter-party risk, implying situations where a UK company itself is compliant but can be impacted by a non-compliant counter-party in another country, the FSA said it was advising firms on any precautionary actions they can take.

But it was not in a position to force firms not to deal with companies from a specific country, Foot said.

The primary responsibility for achieving Year 200 compliance rests with the financial institutions themselves. The FSA sees Year 2000 preparedness as a major supervisory priority.

Gwynneth Flower, managing director of Britain's Action 2000 group charged with ensuring millennium compliance, told the conference she expected no material disruption in public services, but could not give a guarantee.

Flower said two in five of all businesses had yet to take appropriate action to protect itself from the millennium bug.

``The most guilty of these are those that employ less than 10 people,'' she said.

According to an independent assessment program it carried out, 46 percent of electricity and 85 percent of gas services posed no risks of material disruption. Water and telecommunications were at ``amber,'' suggesting they have agreed containment plan to rectify shortcomings.

Next.....

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990317/tc/cebity2k_2.html

Will All High-Tech Companies Survive Y2K Bug?

By Neil Winton, Science and Technology Correspondent

HANOVER (Reuters) - Few experts will be surprised if some information technology companies displaying their products at the annual CeBIT technology trade fair this week fall victim to the millennium computer bug and do not return next year.

``I wouldn't be at all surprised if a very major IT (information technology) company is in serious trouble by CeBIT next year,'' said Margaret Joachim, Year 2000 expert for U.S. computer services company Electronic Data Systems Corp (NYSE:EDS - news) .

``I won't say which one, but it is entirely likely that somebody will come unstuck,'' Joachim said.

Joachim also says there will be turmoil amongst smaller technology companies which may go bankrupt as the scale of the millennium bug becomes apparent in terms of costs and lawsuits.

Troubled smaller companies might also be taken over by bigger ones which can see damaging supply chain interruptions looming.

The millennium computer problem stems from the once-common practice of computer programmers of using only two digits for the year in dates, like ``97'' for ``1997.''

This has the potential, when dates change in 2000, to confuse computers and microchips embedded in machines, causing them to produce flawed data or crash.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY VULNERABLE TO BUG

Experts are divided on how successful companies, institutions and governments will be in protecting themselves from the bug. The information technology industry in particular, even though it has great insight into the problem is still considered vulnerable

``It'll be interesting to see if the technology industry manages to scrape itself together to hold a CeBIT 00 (2000), given the rash of lawsuits they can expect when their products begin failing on January 1st,'' said author Simon Reeve.

Reeve co-authored ``The Millennium Bomb'' in 1996, which he says was the first book to warn of the potential technological chaos in 2000.

``It is astonishing that the technology/computer industry is so eager to get together and pat itself collectively on the back at CeBIT when it remains reluctant to get together and address the millennium bomb issue. It's known about it for years, problems are already emerging, and customers are now starting to really panic,'' said Reeve.

SUPPLY CHAIN PROBLEMS COULD HIT EVEN RESPONSIBLE COMPANIES

Nick Fitzhugh, Year 2000 expert at management consultants Ernst & Young, is a little less apocalyptic but still sees the possibility of major problems.

Fitzhugh said many technology companies have put themselves into reasonable shape, but doubts remain.

``No one is saying they are 100 percent confident everything's OK for two reasons. There's the pervasive nature of the problem, there's always the residual risk even after testing.''

``But I think the greater risk is the supply chain. It's all very well having all systems tested 100 percent and OK, but problems along the supply chain could impact business,'' said Fitzhugh.

JUST-IN-TIME SUPPLY CHAINS MOST VULNERABLE

So-called Just-In-Time (JIT) supply systems are in jeopardy, said Fitzhugh. JIT supply chains are designed to eliminate stocks, or push them back onto suppliers. JIT depends on meticulous, computer controlled timing of parts deliveries. When the production line needs the next delivery of parts the truck supplying it arrives five minutes earlier.

``But if the supply chain fails, everything fails. And the customer chain. If you are producing products and customers are not able to receive and pay for the products, these are significant issues,'' Fitzhugh said.

Fitzhugh said industry in general and technology in particular will need strong continuity planning.

SMALLER COMPANIES FACE BANKRUPTCY, TAKEOVER

EDS's Joachim suggested smaller companies probably can't afford such lifelines and that those that look vulnerable may be taken over by customers in order to protect themselves.

``During the rest of this year, a lot of smaller companies are going to disappear in voluntary, or involuntary, liquidation as the problems become all too much for them. They will suddenly find themselves taken over by somebody who is extremely concerned about them as suppliers,'' Joachim said.

``If key suppliers to large organizations look rocky, taking them over and making sure they perform is quite a good contingency plan. It could be cheaper than letting them go off the rails.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), March 17, 1999

Answers

Hi Deb. rickjohn posted the bank article today, and I did the high-tech story last night. Don't feel bad, I did the same thing last week. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), March 17, 1999.

Sysman,

ROTFL. Some days I think I should have just stayed in bed.

I looked, I guess I missed 'em.

You know, there just aren't enough repetive posts here. Just doing my share.

-- Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), March 17, 1999.