KSEI says it is ready for Y2K bug

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Central Securities Depository (KSEI) announced on Thursday its readiness to anticipate the millennium bug.

KSEI said in a statement that its preparedness was based on internationally accepted "best practices" as acknowledged by independent auditor Ernst & Young Consulting.

Preparations to anticipate the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem began in 1998 with Ernst & Young auditing its readiness on Nov. 15, 1999, KSEI said.

"KSEI has prepared its back office computers in line with international standards and has met "best practices" qualifications," KSEI president Erry Firmansyah said regarding the company's Y2K compliant computers.

On Nov. 23, Ernst & Young announced that KSEI completed all recommendations suggested by the consultant, and had thereby adopted internationally acknowledged standards, the statement added.

In reaching this conclusion, Ernst & Young studied the approach and methodology used by KSEI to prepare computer systems for the Y2K problem, the company said.

Under the recommendations of Ernst & Young, KSEI revised its Y2K project plan, established task forces and completed other necessary actions.

Among the project phases KSEI conducted are an employee awareness program, risk assessment, hardware and software year 2000 certification, internal system testing, a street wide test and business continuity planning.

Erry said the Y2K problem was of serious concern to KSEI since the company was also developing a central depository and book entry settlement system, or C-BEST, which would be implemented during the first semester of 2000.

The Y2K problem, or the millennium bug, arises because older computer systems record dates using only the last two digits of the year. If left uncorrected, such systems could treat 2000 as 1900, generating errors or system crashes when the date rolls over on January 1, 2000.

As part of its Y2K readiness, KSEI also developed a contingency plan to ensure the continuation of its service in the stock market.

During and after the critical dates, KSEI will conduct additional tests on all of its system, the results of which will be reported hourly to the stock market's Y2K central post.(03)