Financial institutions have been forbidden to publicly disclose the FDIC rating -- be it pass, fail, or incomplete -- assigned to their computers' ability to handle dates past 31 December 1999.
Citing rules of confidentiality, Nicholas Ketcha Jr., director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said the institution categorically prohibits the disclosure of Year 2000 assessment results to the public and other companies. The FDIC is an independent deposit insurance agency created by Congress to maintain public confidence in the nation's banking system.
Banks and financial institutions around the world are scrambling to update their computers and software to handle dates past 2000. Experts speculate that some banks might lose vital information -- like the amount of money in depositors' checking accounts -- on New Year's Day 2000 because some computers store years in only two digits. The "00" of 2000 might confuse some computers and cause them to delete critical files or crash entire bank networks.
Earlier this spring, the FDIC, in cooperation with state banking authorities, completed an initial on-site assessment of how well financial institutions and software vendors are prepared to deal with the transition to 2000. Examiners gave all participating institutions ratings of "satisfactory," "needs improvement," or "unsatisfactory."
Recently, some banks wanted to publicize the assessments to reassure their depositors that their bank balances would not be deleted. "Typically, some banks like to use it as a marketing tool," said Frank Hartigan, project manager for the FDIC initiative.
"Institutions may not disclose results from Year 2000 assessments just as they may not disclose other types of examination information," said Ketcha in a letter addressed to heads of FDIC-supervised commercial and savings banks.
As an alternative, however, "the FDIC strongly encourages financial institutions to publicly disclose the steps they have taken to address Year 2000 issues, including their own evaluation of their compliance with Year 2000 guidance. Such disclosures are an effective method to inform customers of their Year 2000 readiness."
The FDIC has not yet received any response to its letter from the banks.
