Search      advanced • tips  News.com all CNET the Web

Get the latest tax-prep software at CNET.com!

ADVERTISEMENT Click and Bid! Click and Save!     Latest headlines display on desktop Enterprise Computing Microsoft's browser tactics revealed Cirrus gets serious with Lucent deal IBM revamps AS/400 line Lotus suite pushes collaboration Processor price war breaks out Communications Bell Atlantic reviews wireless options Verio to offer DSL in new markets MCI WorldCom grabs $1.5 billion contract Cisco seeks a little help from friends The Net Microsoft site still buggy to Communicator Motorola takes profits from Net stakes ICANN sets guidelines for NSI competitors Sports Illustrated makes splash on Web Personal Technology Fujitsu, Toshiba team on memory chips NEC celebrates new Millennium E-Commerce Site jams after startup plans PC giveaway Network Associates adds Linux product Bertelsmann won't spin off Net shop Firms sign on to e-commerce XML standard Services and Consulting MCI Worldcom inks $1.5 billion deal Did you miss a day? > One Week View   News Options One Week View  Desktop News  News Alerts  My News.com  Advanced Search  Push    Special Offers from our sponsors •  "In the Company of Giants" •  $1 computers? Bid here! •  IT execs shop here & save •  Apply for 3.9% APR   FREE Newsletter sample >

SEC may seek more Y2K info
By Reuters
Special to CNET News.com
February 23, 1998, 3:30 p.m. PT

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission soon may require more information from broker dealers and other firms to ensure that they prepare their computers for the next century, a top official said.

Under the proposed actions, most broker dealers and non-bank transfer agents would have to make additional reports to the agency during 1998 and 1999, according to SEC Commissioner Laura Unger.

The plan, which likely will be released during the next few weeks, would require firms to provide two special progress reports to the SEC during 1998 and three during 1999.

While the SEC does not have direct regulatory authority over a firm's progress, Unger said that the SEC does regulate the information these firms disclose to the public.

The extra reporting required by the new plan aims to encourage firms to work quickly toward year 2000 compliance.

"Our only hook is books and records violations," Unger told a group of housing and finance professionals at a briefing on Friday.

The so-called year 2000 problem is rooted in the way dates are recorded and computed. For the past several decades, systems typically have used two digits to represent the year, in order to conserve memory. With this two-digit format, however, the year 2000 is indistinguishable from 1900.

As a result, system or application programs that use dates to perform calculations, comparisons, or sorting may generate incorrect results, or simply not function at all, which means that computerized stock quoting systems, wire transfers, and clearing functions--even telephone systems--may not work on January 1, 2000.

Unger said that, in the new reports, firms would be required to include information on the plans they have underway and the costs involved in their 2000 efforts. The SEC also may propose that these reports be vetted by independent auditors.

The agency is still considering whether the reports would be made available to the public, Unger said, but she said the information contained in them likely would be provided to stock exchanges and other self-regulatory organizations.

Even so, the agency is expected to move quickly on the new disclosure rules, Unger said.

The new rules will have a 30-day comment period before being finalized, after which time firms may have only a couple of weeks to make their first report to the agency.

Story Copyright © 1998 Reuters Limited All rights reserved.

Do you want to know more?
Read related news View story in The Big Picture Go to Message Boards Search News.com

Related news stories
• House panel OKs Y2K bill February 6, 1998
• World unprepared for Y2K bug February 3, 1998
• Year 2000 bug draining revenues January 8, 1998