Remarks by

John D. Hawke, Jr.

Comptroller of the Currency

Y2K Interagency Press Conference

# September 16, 1999

Washington, D.C.

A thousand days seems like a long time ago. The Atlanta Olympics were
just getting under way. The Dow Jones Industrials closed at a record
6000. And Federal bank regulators had begun their work to prepare for
the Year 2000.

Not many others were thinking about it back then. The Y2K problem \--
and few were willing to concede that it [was]{.underline} a serious
problem \-- seemed esoteric and far in the future. Most of those who did
think about it contended that Y2K talk was overstated and alarmist. Or
that a magic bullet was right around the corner. Or that, with the right
incentives, software developers and vendors would get the job done.

We in the financial regulatory community took a different tack. First,
we rigorously studied the likely impact of Y2K on the banking system and
we calculated what it would take to prepare for it. Second, we looked at
our own internal systems and earmarked the necessary resources to bring
them to a state of readiness.

Third \-- and perhaps most important \-- we began working with the
financial institutions we supervise to heighten their awareness and
encourage them to move with all due haste toward Y2K solutions of their
own. We encouraged, we supported, and we cajoled. Through the FFIEC, we
issued more than 20 interagency policy statements, dealing with such
things as testing, contingency planning, customer awareness, and more.
We even took enforcement actions in those cases where it seemed
warranted.

Financial institutions in the United States, along with their service
providers and software vendors, have responded magnificently to the
challenge. They have spent literally billions of dollars getting ready
for Y2K.

As a result, they [are]{.underline} ready. And we're not just taking
their word for it. Federal examiners have conducted Y2K examinations in
each insured financial institution at least twice, and in some cases,
three, four, or more times. The largest banks have received continuous
Y2K oversight.

The results prove how effective our collaborative efforts have been.
Right now, 99.7 percent of all federally supervised financial
institutions have finished their renovations and tests of their systems
\-- not just the systems that house their records and run their
elevators, but the systems that bank customers rely upon for access to
their funds.

No more than a small handful of institutions are still awaiting our
determination that they are in acceptable shape. And these few are
receiving intensive, on-site supervision to ensure that they, too, will
experience no disruptions of the systems their customers depend upon
when the long anticipated day arrives.

The American people need to know how well prepared the banking system is
to meet the century date change, and we in the regulatory community are
doing everything in our power to get the word out \-- including holding
this press event.

We've prepared videos and brochures that financial institutions can use
to tell the American people what all of us, working together, have
accomplished to ensure that their funds are safe. And we're doing
everything in our power to encourage financial institutions to do more
to bring their own accomplishments to the attention of their customers.

The coming New Year's Day promises to be a memorable one in many
respects. But I'm confident that, at least as far as the banking system
is concerned, it will be remembered primarily for the seamlessness of
the transition from the 20^th^ century to the 21^st^ and for glitches
that never occurred.

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