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One member of the German central bank has warned commercial banks about the Millennium Bug. This constitutes the beginning of the awreness phase. Awareness, when completed, constitutes the first 1% of a y2k repair program. Perhaps the other members of the central bank will soon become active in this awareness campaign.
Then, when awareness is complete, the German banks will have 99% of the project to go.
If the German commercial banks don't make the deadline, will all compliant banks (if any) shut Germany out of their little group? If so, what will that do to the international banking system? If not, what will that do to the compliant banks' computers?
It is now mid-1998. Still, most analysts think the world will be ready for testing their repairs by December 31, 1998.
The first week of January, 1999, will be unpleasant.
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FRANKFURT, May 28 (Reuters) - Bundesbank council member Guntram Palm urged financial institutions on Thursday to update their computer software to prevent the so-called millennium computer bug from causing ``unforseeable consequences'' in 2000. . . .
Financial institutions should take timely steps to secure their computer systems against the threat posed by the millennium bug and urge their clients to do the same, said Palm, president of the state central bank of Baden-Wuerttemberg. . . .
The presence of the bug in one computer could infect others, setting off a chain reaction between extensive networks, Palm said.
Failure to tackle the problem could, for example, lead to liquidity and credit rating problems, he said.
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