TALLINN STOCK EXCHANGE

ANNOUNCEMENT

02.07.99

 

 

Y2K READINESS OF TSE AND ECDS 

 

The Millennium Committee of the Tallinn Stock Exchange (TSE) and 

the 

Estonian Central Depository (ECDS) on July 1 1999 confirmed the 

Year 

2000 readiness of the two organisations based on the successful 

outcome of the Y2K compliance project. 

 

The testing of the systems was done in accordance with the 

requirements of the British Standard Institute document DISC PD 

2000-1. 

 

The systems correspond to the following requirements set forth in 

the 

document: 

- no value for current date will cause an interruption in the 

operation of the product;

- date-based functionality must behave consistently for dates prior 

to, during and after Year 2000;

- in all interfaces and data storage, the century in any date must 

be specified either explicitly or by unambiguous algorithms or 

inferencing rules;

- the system will recognise the year 2000 as a leap year.

 

 

The Y2K compliance project consisted of the following activities:

 

 

1. Definition of the project, selection of strategies, 

determination of the scope of the project and expected 

results.

 

The project was started by the Millennium Committee in February 

1998. 

The first stage included raising awareness of the problem’s nature 

and informing stakeholders of potential system complications.

 

 

2. Inventory of IT and other technological base of the TSE 

and ECDS.

 

The inventory review was conducted in fall 1998 and updated 

in February 1999. Compliance checks will be conducted upon 

the acquisition of new equipment and software to ensure Y2K 

readiness.

 

 

3. Evaluation of importance of information system components 

with regard to reliability of the system as a whole; 

detailed agenda of further activities.

 

The equipment, software and products used were ranked in 

three categories according to their level of importance in 

carrying out the functions of the organisations.

 

 

4. Testing.

 

Testing consisted of preparations in January and February 1999, 

hardware and system software testing in April and May, followed by 

core system testing and end-user testing with external counterparts 

of TSE and ECDS in May and June. 

The purpose of testing was to evaluate Y2K compliance of the TSE 

trading system, ECDS registry software and user interfaces of the 

clients of both organisations. The communication lines were not 

tested for technical considerations.

 

The TSE trading system was tested by Hansapank (Hansabank), Eesti 

Ühispank (Estonian Union Bank), Optiva Pank (Optiva Bank), 

Talinvest 

Suprema Väärtpaberid (Talinvest Suprema Securities) and Sthenos 

Grupp 

(Sthenos Group). The ECDS registry software was tested by 

Hansapank, 

Eesti Ühispank and Optiva Pank.

 

The ECDS also participated via Hansapank in the international 

testing program “Custody 2000”.

 

All tests were completed successfully.

 

The suppliers of TSE and ECDS system software, upon the completion 

of 

independent testing, have also confirmed that the products fully 

conform with the requirements.

 

 

The TSE and ECDS are of the opinion that the systems of two 

organisations are Year 2000 compliant. The TSE and ECDS, however, 

will continue to monitor and test their systems in order to be 

fully 

prepared. This includes:

 

 

5. Recovery plan

 

The TSE and ECDS continue to specify and implement the recovery 

plan. 

 

 

6. Changeover period

 

Detailed procedures to ensure smooth transition to the next 

millennium are to be specified. The changeover period is 

tentatively 

set to end in June 2000.

 

 

The Millennium Committee consists of the TSE chairman, the ECDS 

chairman and IT department heads of both companies.

 

 

 

 

Additional information:

Eva Palu

phone: +372 6408 840

e-mail: eva@tse.ee