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It's not just the y2k problem that threatens banks; it's the proposed conversion of all software to handle the new Eurocurrency. The European banking community refuses to delay the introduction of the Euro, scheduled for 1999. This is placing huge pressure on IT resources. COMPUTING CANADA (July 7, 1997), goes into some of the details.
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According to Michael Donahue, who heads up KPMG Peat Marwick LLP's Peoplesoft practice in the U.S., the Y2K issue will seem like a "walk in the park" when compared to what it will take organizations to become euro-compliant, especially for financial institutions.
"Euro conversion is costing Wall Street banks six times the investment of the Year 2000 issue," he says. . . .
"If you don't get caught in the Y2K trap, you might get caught in the euro trap," Michael Kleman, SAP AG's German director of corporate cross-application marketing, told Computing Canada at Sapphire '97, SAP's recent annual user conference held in Amsterdam. . . .
Experts recommend that companies access the impact of EMU and make technical preparations as early as possible. Starting on New Year's Day, 1999, participating EMU countries are slated to start using both their national currencies and the euro. After a transition phase, the euro will become the only legal currency in those countries. . . .
The possibilities are nightmarish., says Howard Neubauer, SAP Canada's vice-president of marketing. "Just imagine the scenario where you send an invoice to a company in the Netherlands. Starting January 1, 1999, you have to bill in Dutch guilders and in euros. They can then send back payment in either. You then have to account for gain and losses in both currencies."
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