This estimate of up to $6 billion sounds like a lot of money. It is a lot of money. The question is: Will it be spent? The bigger question is: Will the spending work? The biggest question is: Will it matter if the world's banks and all the securities industries on earth are not compliant?
We're back to those three deadly words in the Year 2000 Problem: "You go first." You go. As in Yugo.
On the allocation of resources necessary to complete a y2k repair job, see the
California White Paper.
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Arthur L. THOMAS of Merrill Lynch heads the SIA Year 2000 Committee. Merrill has estimated that Y2K compliance will cost the securities industry $4-6 billion over the next two years. Securities firms are expected to be conducting internal tests by mid-1998 and industry-wide testing is scheduled to begin March 1999.
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