9th April 1998

Press Communiqué

Global Round Table on the Year 2000

On 8thApril the Bank for International Settlements hosted a Round Table on the Year2000, jointly sponsored by the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision (Basle Committee), the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). The meeting was attended by more than 200 senior executives (from 52 countries) representing a variety of public and private sector organisations in the financial, information technology, telecommunications and business communities around the world.

In 1997, the sponsoring organisations each took initiatives to raise awareness of the issues surrounding the century date change, enhance disclosure and prompt appropriate action within the financial industry. The sponsors' decision to organise the Round Table was motivated by their recognition of the seriousness of the challenges posed by the century date change in IT applications and of the potentially severe consequences in the financial markets associated with a lack of Year2000 readiness. The discussions at the conference focused on the increasing challenges presented by the century date change, with specific emphasis on the identification of initiatives that need to be taken in order to ensure that financial market participants and the interconnected infrastructures around the world can continue to function without major disruptions during the transition to the new millennium.

The discussions at the Round Table confirmed that the Year 2000 issue needs to remain a top priority of senior management and emphasised that private and public sector bodies should coordinate their focus on a number of important issues and approaches. These include the continuing need to ensure strengthening and widening of external testing programmes, improving information sharing among market participants and their vendors and service providers, fostering increased disclosure by financial and non-financial corporations of their Year 2000 readiness and testing results, establishing market conventions and procedures for dealing with potential contingencies, and reinforcing the role of oversight bodies such as supervisors and auditors. The importance of thorough testing, both internally and with counterparties, was emphasised as the most effective way to ensure that problems are minimised.

Sponsors' recommendations

1. Awareness of the seriousness and scope of the problem is high but varies considerably across markets and institutions worldwide. The sponsors believe that it is imperative that all market participants, and especially financial market supervisors, work to ensure that Year 2000 preparations receive the maximum senior management attention and priority, including at the board of directors level. In particular, market participants from regions that have not yet vigorously tackled the problem should consider the need to invest significant resources in the short time that remains.

2. Testing for Year 2000 readiness is the most critical and complex issue facing the financial industry. Because widespread testing has not yet begun, the extent of the problems and the amount of remediation work that remains is unclear. The sponsoring organisations urge market participants to explore ways to enhance the transparency of testing results.

3. The sponsors consider it critical that financial market supervisors around the world implement programmes that enable them to assess the Year 2000 readiness of the organisations and market infrastructures that they supervise. Further, it is important for supervisors to ensure that the risks related to the century date change are identified, properly communicated among market participants and appropriately managed in their jurisdiction.

4. The sponsoring organisations agree that the highest possible priority should be given to Year 2000 preparations by telecommunications and electricity providers in each national jurisdiction. Failure of these organisations to prepare adequately and share information on their plans in order to promote effective testing could lead to serious disruptions in the world's financial markets.

5. In order to achieve a greater degree of market transparency, the sponsors believe that the sharing of critical information on Year 2000 readiness by all market participants is essential. The sponsors encourage private sector efforts to develop standard questionnaires and frameworks for Year 2000 disclosure as these have the potential to provide clear means for measuring progress.

6. Financial industry conventions and dispute resolution procedures should be developed to address the possibility of transaction failures. Additionally, contingency measures should be considered for the potential failure of key parts of the financial market infrastructure. Further, it is recognised that national payment systems need to coordinate testing schedules in order to provide opportunities for end-to-end testing on a domestic and international basis. The Round Table sponsors welcome and support the initiatives taken by various industry groupings in this respect.

Joint Year 2000 Council

While the sponsoring organisations can raise awareness of the Year 2000 issue, only the private sector can assure that applications are ready and thoroughly tested internally and externally and on an international basis. To this end, several private sector initiatives fostering international coordination and cooperation were identified during the forum. To maintain a high level of attention within the supervisory community and to support and encourage these private sector efforts, the sponsoring organisations are forming a Joint Year 2000 Council comprised of senior members of each committee.

Attached to this communiqué are further details on the discussions and conclusions of the Round Table. The BIS Web site contains further information on the Round Table and will be used to provide ongoing information on the activities of the sponsoring organisations and of the Joint Year 2000 Council.

DETAILS ON THE DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

OF THE YEAR 2000 ROUND TABLE

Key issues raised at the Round Table

The presentations and discussions at the Round Table confirmed that the complexity of the issues associated with the Year 2000 cannot be overestimated. Moreover, every senior political and business executive should have realised by now that the issues pose a critical management challenge and have potentially severe consequences for the ability of business entities to continue operating through the transition to the new millennium. The many challenges include the need to address resource constraints, the need to share information on readiness (not withstanding legal issues), the coordination of testing schemes within and across markets, the heightened disclosure of vital information, the development of market conventions to deal with transaction failures and contingency planning for infrastructure problems.

Discussions at the Round Table confirmed that the Year 2000 challenge continues to require the unwavering attention of senior executives in institutions throughout the world. Organisations need to ensure that appropriate programmes have been established to address all the various readiness issues that can be expected to affect their business. The resource constraints (financial, human and technological) and the amount of time needed to remediate and test internal systems are compounded by the need to evaluate readiness and arrange for testing with counterparties and customers, payment, clearance and settlement systems, and various trading and information systems.

It is obvious that no individual IT user, individual institution, sector, market, or country is immune to the difficult issues presented by the Year 2000 problem. Even if an institution has verified and tested all its internally developed systems and applications, it will be affected by: the state of readiness of its vendors and third-party service providers; the public utilities upon which it relies, particularly the telecommunications and electricity suppliers; the infrastructures that it relies upon for its trading, payment and external information needs; and the counterparties and customers upon which its business viability rests. Moreover, the globalisation of financial and economic activity and the widespread use of information and telecommunications technology throughout the world has created various international interconnections and global interdependencies which add greatly to the complexity of the challenge.

Particular areas requiring further attention

The discussions at the Round Table emphasised that while only the private sector can solve Year 2000 problems, public sector coordination is necessary to facilitate domestic and global activities. Such coordination is particularly helpful in designing external testing programmes, improving information sharing among market participants and their vendors and service providers, fostering increased disclosure by financial and non-financial corporations of their Year 2000 readiness and testing results, establishing market conventions and procedures for dealing with potential contingencies, and reinforcing the role of oversight bodies such as supervisors and auditors.

Testing for Year 2000 readiness may be the most critical and complex issue facing the financial industry in its effort to ensure that the various interrelated systems continue to function through the transition to 2000. Because widespread testing has not yet begun, the degree of uncertainty regarding the scale of the problems that will arise and the remediation work that remains to be accomplished is considerable. Further, the four sponsors urge market participants to explore avenues that will serve to enhance the transparency of testing results for the benefit of the remediation efforts of the industry at large.

Given the degree of interconnection between market participants and the fact that internal remediation programmes and testing efforts will require continuous reassessment and adaptation, organisations should maintain an open dialogue with their customers, counterparties and creditors in order that all interested market participants are able to make informed business decisions. Furthermore, it is essential that organisations consider the likely effects of the century date change on their customers and counterparties when evaluating future business transactions with these entities. In order to achieve a greater degree of market transparency, the sponsoring organisations believe that all possible efforts should be made to remove legal impediments to the sharing of critical information on Year 2000 readiness.

The significant dependence of most organisations on external product and service providers is another concern. The potential effects of a failing of the telecommunications or electric power infrastructure would have far-reaching consequences for global business. The sponsoring organisations agree that the highest possible priority should be given to Year 2000 preparations by telecommunications and electricity providers in each national jurisdiction because the failure of these organisations to prepare adequately and share information on their plans in order to promote effective testing could lead to serious disruptions in the world's financial markets.

With respect to the role of oversight bodies, the sponsoring organisations consider it very important that financial market supervisors worldwide implement a strategy that enables them to assess the Year 2000 readiness of the organisations and market infrastructures they supervise in order to make certain that the risks related to the century date change are identified and appropriately managed in their jurisdiction. When Year 2000 remediation and testing programmes of individual financial organisations or infrastructure operators are deemed inadequate, supervisors will need to take prompt, meaningful action. Further, it is essential that internal and external auditors understand how an organisation's programmes for remediation and testing are likely to effect their going concern status. It is also necessary for auditors to ensure that the information used to compile client financial statements has not been compromised by system errors related to the date change.

Another important issue is the extent to which market participants and regulators can rely on certifications of Year 2000 readiness. The sponsoring organisations believe that financial institutions must understand that an issuance of a certification does not guarantee a product will perform as expected. While vendors have an obligation to let clients know when they have renovated and tested their products, users need to test that product within their environment to ensure that it performs properly as a component of their system. As such, attempts to obtain legally binding certifications of compliance are likely to needlessly complicate the important work that must be completed in the period prior to 1st January 2000. Additionally, market participants must not adopt a false sense of security but recognise the limits of any statement on readiness and that they need to perform their own due diligence.

Follow-up to the Round Table

The private sector, both in a domestic context and internationally, appears committed to move ahead on a variety of fronts, including the further development of mechanisms to share information relating to Year 2000 issues, an effort to set minimum best practices for programmes designed to achieve readiness, and the support of rigorous internal and external testing. Although competitive pressures may arise from the markets' assessment of the readiness of individual institutions, there is likely to be scope for institutions, individually or through industry associations, to cooperate to ensure that the time remaining before the new millennium is used to the mutual benefit of all organisations. In the financial industry, in particular, it would be useful if conventions could be developed for the resolution of transaction failures, and contingency measures are considered for the potential failure of key parts of the financial market infrastructure. Further, it is recognised that national payment systems need to coordinate testing schedules in order to provide opportunities for end-to-end testing on a domestic and international basis. The Round Table sponsors welcome and support the initiatives taken by various industry groupings in this respect.

The sponsoring organisations intend to remain pro-active and continue to pay particular attention to Year 2000 issues and to the way in which individual firms, market infrastructures and industry associations in their respective areas of competence implement programmes and testing schemes aimed at ensuring Year 2000 compliance. In the case of the Basle Committee, it may be decided in the future to publish, if needed, more guidance on specific issues, such as the cross-border aspects of the Year 2000 problem and the management of external dependencies. The CPSS will maintain and expand the special section on the BIS Web site (www.bis.org) that provides information on the testing plans and readiness status of payment and settlement systems worldwide. Likewise, IOSCO will continue to update the special Year 2000 section on IOSCO's Web site (www.iosco.org), including information on the testing and readiness status of the securities industry and markets worldwide. The IAIS will continue to work with its members to urge insurance companies to implement detailed action plans to resolve the Year 2000 problems associated with their business activities.

Where appropriate, the four sponsors plan to take further joint action to promote the Year2000 readiness of the global financial industry. They will cooperate with regional efforts to promote the organisation of regional seminars on the Year 2000 topic in order to enhance worldwide awareness of the seriousness of the situation and to induce appropriate action with the aim of achieving Year 2000 readiness and contingency planning.

In order to share information on regulatory and supervisory strategies and approaches, discuss possible contingency measures, and establish a point of contact with national and international private sector initiatives, the sponsoring organisations have formed a Joint Year 2000 Council, composed of senior members of each committee with broad-based experience.

The BIS Web site contains further information on the Round Table and will be used to provide ongoing information on the activities of the sponsoring organisations and of the Joint Year2000 Council. The Web site also carries details on the Year 2000 readiness and testing schedules of payment and settlement systems worldwide. A summary video recording of the proceedings will also be available and can be obtained (in the appropriate format for your region) from the BIS Publications Service.

CONCLUSIONS OF G7 FINANCE MINISTERS

London, 8 May 1998

1. Finance Ministers of the G7 and the representative of the European Commission met in London on 8 May, as a part of the preparations for the Birmingham Summit, 15 - 17 May. We reached conclusions on a group of issues, set out below. We will also be reporting our discussions to our Heads of State or Government, for their Summit next week. Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the IMF and Jim Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, joined us for our discussions on the lessons of the Asian crisis, and steps to strengthen the world’s financial system.

World Economy

2. We reviewed recent developments in the world economy. We welcomed the historical decisions in Europe on Economic and Monetary Union. We look forward to a successful EMU which contributes to the stability of the international monetary system. We discussed and welcomed the substantial policy measures announced by the Government of Japan in April, aimed at achieving domestic demand-led growth. Japan expressed its intention to implement them quickly and stressed the importance of further strengthening the financial system. We also noted that the United States economy required vigilance to stay on a sustainable path.

Strengthening the global financial system

3. Globalisation brings clear benefits to people throughout the world but it also brings certain risks. Previous summits have agreed on ways to reduce these risks and strengthen the global financial system. However, the continuing process of globalisation and recent events in Asia have revealed a number of weaknesses and vulnerabilities in national and international financial systems, as well as in the lending practices of private sector investors. We need to act to strengthen the global financial system further, both to reduce the likelihood of such crises occurring in future and to improve techniques for containing and responding to crises when they do occur.

4. We have developed proposals where there is now an emerging consensus for modifications to the architecture of the international financial system. There are important aspects of the issues discussed that require further work. Discussion within our countries, with emerging market countries and with the private sector will continue over the coming months. For now, having restated the importance of sound economic policies, we have identified the need for action in five key areas:

* enhanced transparency and data dissemination;
* helping countries prepare for integration into the global economy and for free global capital flows;
* strengthening national financial systems;
* ensuring that the private sector takes responsibility for its lending decisions;
* enhancing further the role of the International Financial Institutions and cooperation amongst them and with the international regulatory fora. We are considering ways, and ask the relevant institutions to develop proposals on ways, in which greater co-operation can be achieved including options for institutional reform.

5. We have set out our proposals in a separate report to our Heads of State or Government, which outlines how work is being taken forward in each of these areas and signals a number of areas for further work.

Financial Stability: Supervision of Global
Financial Institutions

6. Since the Lyon and Denver Summits, work has been underway to strengthen the international financial system. Recent events in Asia, combined with the rapid consolidation and globalisation in the financial sector, have highlighted once again the need to improve urgently co-operation between supervisors of internationally active financial institutions. We welcome the work done by the international regulatory bodies in this area and urge them to move quickly towards implementation of the concepts they have devised. Today we have reached important conclusions in a separate report. We commend the 10 Key Principles on information exchange which we will be promoting throughout the world as standards to which all countries should aspire. The G7 also looks forward to the continuing contribution of the private sector to developing international standards that enhance the supervision of global financial firms, while reducing regulatory burdens. On the year 2000 issue, we call on the Basle Committee, the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS), and their newly formed joint Year 2000 Council to monitor the work that firms in the financial area already have underway, and to do all that they can to encourage compliance.

Financial Crime

7. The fight against financial crime is one of the major challenges of our times. We emphasise that, as both financial services and crime become increasingly globalised, this challenge can only be met if all major financial centres work together. Effective co-operation between financial regulators and law enforcement authorities at the international level is an essential element of this. A G7 expert group was set up by the Denver Summit to consider how this cooperation can be improved within our countries. We now agree to:

* review our laws and procedures concerning information exchange between financial regulators and law enforcement agencies against a common list of key elements for effective cooperation;
* identify by October what modifications are desirable, consistent with fundamental national and international legal principles,to improve our systems and to implement such measures as quickly as possible;
* take forward a number of practical steps to improve cooperation;
* disseminate a G7 Reference Guide to Procedures and Contact Points on Information Exchange to financial regulators and law enforcement agencies in our countries and to expand this Guide to cover all major financial centre countries.

8. We have instructed the G7 expert group to provide a report on progress on all these areas and any further recommendations in preparation for the Köln Summit.

9. We also recognise that action must not be confined to G7 members and we emphasise that all countries should provide effective international administrative and judicial cooperation. In particular, we are concerned at the number of countries and territories, including some financial offshore centres, which continue to offer excessive banking secrecy and allow screencompanies to be used for illegal purposes. We recognise that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has already taken significant steps in this area and endorse FATF’s efforts to support the Offshore Group of Banking Supervisors in its mutual evaluation process. We therefore call on the FATF to review the present position and make recommendations to Ministers by the Köln Summit on what can be done to rectify these abuses.

Financial Action Task Force

10. We commend the work that the FATF has carried out since its creation in 1989 to develop and promote action against money laundering. Its Forty Recommendations remain the essential standard for effective countermeasures. However, although considerable progress has been made in the fight against money laundering, we agree with the FATF that much still remains to be done. We therefore endorse the decision of the FATF to continue its mandate for a further five years and the new strategy it has adopted.

11. We agree that the major task during this period should be the establishment of a world-wide anti-money laundering network encompassing all continents and regions of the globe. We support FATF’s intention to expand its own membership to a limited number of countries meeting the agreed criteria and to encourage the further development of regional anti-money laundering bodies. We call on other international organisations to work closely with the FATF in its mission. We also consider it essential that the FATF continues to monitor money laundering trends and techniques and to ensure that its Recommendations keep pace with new developments.

12. We encourage FATF to implement its new strategy as quickly as possible and urge all countries to join in the fight against money laundering.

Tax Competition

13. We warmly welcome the OECD agreement on action to tackle harmful tax competition. This provides a strong basis for co-ordinated international action to curb harmful tax competition through preferential tax regimes and tax havens. And we note the complementary development of the EU Code of Conduct.

14. We strongly endorse the OECD recommendations, and we welcome the establishment of the OECD Forum on harmful tax practices. We will work through the Forum to secure effective implementation of the recommendations, and will actively support the proposed dialogue with non-OECD members to promote the agreed principles and recommendations on a global basis.

15. We urge the OECD to give particular attention to the development of a comprehensive programme to improve the availability of information to tax authorities to curb international tax evasion and avoidance through tax havens, and through preferential tax regimes. This would involve developing further the proposals to improve exchange of tax information between OECD countries to address the problems caused by restricted access to banking information and to improve the supply of information from tax havens by the negotiation of effective information exchange arrangements.

16. In addition we encourage international action to enhance the capacity of anti- money laundering systems to deal effectively with tax related crimes. Action here would both strengthen anti-money laundering systems and would also be an essential component of a coherent programme to increase the effectiveness of tax information exchange arrangements. Action could be based on furthering the following objectives:

a) Effective anti money laundering systems must ensure that obligations to report transactions relating to suspected criminal offences continue to apply even where such transactions are thought to involve tax offences.

b) Money laundering authorities should be permitted to the greatest extent possible to pass information to their tax authorities to support the investigation of tax related crimes, and such information should be communicated to other jurisdictions in ways which would allow its use by their tax authorities. Such information should be used in a way which does not undermine the effectiveness of anti-money laundering systems.

17. We intend to pursue the development and implementation of these objectives with our OECD partners and in other appropriate fora including the FATF.

18. We in G7 commit ourselves to giving a lead by working to further the foregoing objectives in all territories and jurisdictions for which we have international responsibilities or over which we have influence. And we will follow closely the progress of further work on harmful tax competition which the OECD intends to undertake and the related work on tax related crimes.

Customs Procedures

19. In Lyon we initiated an effort to standardize and simplify customs procedures. We welcome the further work undertaken since Denver which has produced a harmonised and simplified data set for import and export procedures, and urge our experts to reduce that data to a minimum consistent with customs responsibilities by the end of this year. We ask our experts to complete their work, including the development of standardised electronic declarations and to encompass the related import and export data requirements of other government departments and agencies. Our countries will, drawing on each others’ experience, take all steps possible to establish customs prototypes or other procedures involving all the G7 countries, which will use an agreed G7 data set, by the Summit in the year 2000 if possible.

20. We also welcome the significant progress made on the Action/Defis programme of the World Customs Organisation to strengthen co-operation between enforcement agencies and associations of international carriers. We encourage further development of this work.

Ageing

21. We welcome the reports of the G10 and OECD on macroeconomic and financial implications of ageing populations. We ask the OECD to undertake further work looking at individual country ageing issues. We ask for a report from the OECD by the Summit in the Year 2000.

Joint Year 2000 Council
Press Communiqué

19th May 1998

On the occasion of the Round Table on the Year 2000 held at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on 8th April 1998, the committees sponsoring the event agreed to establish a Joint Year 2000 Council. The Council is constituted by senior members of each committee, that is the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision (Basle Committee), the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO). Mr. Ernest Patrikis, First Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, chairs the Council and its secretariat is provided by the BIS.

The Council intends to meet regularly and has agreed on a range of initiatives to ensure a high level of attention on the Year 2000 computer challenge within the global financial supervisory community, to share information on regulatory and supervisory strategies and approaches, to discuss possible contingency measures, and to serve as a point of contact with national and international private-sector initiatives.

At their meeting in London in early May, the G-7 finance ministers called on the Council and its sponsoring committees to monitor the Year 2000-related work in the financial industry worldwide and to take all possible steps to encourage readiness.

A fact sheet presenting the Council's objectives and projects as well as its membership is attached. Information regarding the Council's ongoing activities will be posted on the BIS web site (www.bis.org).

Joint Year 2000 Council
Fact Sheet

The mission of the Joint Year 2000 Council is

to ensure a high level of attention on the Year 2000 computer challenge within the global financial supervisory community,

to share information on regulatory and supervisory strategies and approaches,

to discuss possible contingency measures, and

to serve as a point of contact with national and international private-sector initiatives.

The Joint Year 2000 Council is sponsored jointly by

the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision,

the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS),

the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and

the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).

The Secretariat for the Joint Year 2000 Council is provided by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Information from the Council will be made available on the BIS Web site (www.bis.org).

The projects envisaged by the Joint Year 2000 Council include:

providing a forum for the disclosure of the status of global financial market preparations for the Year 2000,

encouraging all payment and settlement systems, clearinghouses, exchanges, and other parts of the global financial market infrastructure to make publicly available information on their preparatory efforts and testing programs,

meeting regularly with an external consultative committee composed of organizations or associations with an international perspective on Year 2000 preparations,

developing a global supervisory contact list for the Year 2000 challenge that includes a coordinating contact covering as many countries as possible,

supporting, co-sponsoring, and providing assistance in planning further conferences and roundtables on the Year 2000 challenge in different regions of the world,

facilitating exchanges of information related to Year 2000 testing programs within the international financial community,

encouraging coordinated cross-border testing to the maximum extent possible,

developing a series of publicly-available working papers on different aspects of the Year 2000 challenge,

facilitating the sharing of information on Year 2000 preparations by core infrastructure providers such as telecommunications, electric power, and government utilities, as they relate to preparations by financial market participants,

sharing and developing ideas on contingency measures appropriate for individual firms and domestic markets,

serving as a point of contact for the coordination of international contingency efforts, and

encouraging the development of, and the global sharing of plans for, market conventions and dispute resolution procedures designed to mitigate the effect of Year 2000 transaction failures.

MEMBERS OF THE JOINT YEAR 2000 COUNCIL

Please address inquiries to:

Joint Year 2000 Council
Secretariat
Paul Van den Bergh
Bank for International Settlements
CH-4002 Basle

SWITZERLAND
telephone number: +41 61 280 8432
fax number: +41 61 280 9100
e-mail: paul.van-den-bergh@bis.org