Issued by: National Year 2000 Decision Support Centre
7 May 1998
Is my money safe with your bank on 1 January 2000? While rumours are spreading that Banks may not be ready to face the Year 2000 computer phenomenon and that maybe your hard-earned cash is safer in a tin box under the bed, the Financial Services Sector in South Africa is confident that it will be "business as usual" in the Year 2000 (Y2K).
The Financial Services Committee convened by the National Year 2000 Decision Support Centre serves as a monitoring body, which also coordinates Y2K initiatives within that sector. The Committee comprises all the major banking regulated institutions in South Africa. The banks are represented in an individual capacity, for example ABSA, Standard Bank, First National Bank, the Reserve Bank, The Land Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The Committee also includes representatives from the Council of South African Banks (COSAB). Other institutions included in this sector committee are representatives from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, The Life Officers Association , ITC and ITI.
According to Jim Ramdin, the National Y2K DSC Executive: Financial Services & Tertiary Institutions, care was taken to ensure that the Financial Services Sector committee is adequately representative of that sector. Representatives from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange were also included in order to determine what regulatory measures need to be put in place in order to ensure that all 648 companies listed on the Stock Exchange are Year 200 compliant.
After the first Sector Committee meeting Jim is cautiously optimistic:" I am fairly comfortable at this stage to say that the banks in South Africa are quite advanced in attempts to address the Y2K problem. The Chief Executive of COSAB has given me written assurance that the majority of South African Banks will comply on time for the Year 2000. The methodology and approach to the problem by local banks is fairly advanced and comparable to international best practices in this global fraternity."
During that first sector meeting it also became clear that banks are already playing an important role in terms of Y2K awareness. A majority of these banks have implemented well-articulated and clearly documented programmes and procedures for addressing the millennium bug. Some of them are in a fairly advanced stage of testing code and running parallel systems with little or no disruption to their normal business activities.
More good news is that the IT division of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange has put in place a well-documented approach to ensure that systems both internal and external are 2000 compliant by the end of 1998. From their point of view the project is well on track and in line with global practices as implemented in countries such as Australia, United States and Canada.
Issued by: Reinhild Niebuhr
Communication Executive
National Year 2000 Decision Support Centre
Tel. 082-852 0970
Fax. 012-427 8242