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| July 1999 Vol. 188 No. 1 |
| Highlights | |
| Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Colleen Katz ExecutiveEditor Managing Editor Senior Editors Senior News Editor Associate News Editor Assistant Editors
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Contributing Editors Production Director Art Director Production Manager Senior ManagerPublishing Technology Production Editor Senior Production Associates Production Assistant Associate Publisher-Advertising Advertising Representatives Advertising Coordinator Editorial Offices Advertising Offices Classified Ads | SECURITIES INDUSTRY PASSES Y2K TEST This spring Wall Street received news that gladdened the hearts of nervous investors and brokers as well as financial analysts. The securities industry completed a series of tests on its computer systems that demonstrated that the Street has successfully squashed the year 2000 computer bug threat. SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt said the tests show the securities industry is in good shape with respect to Y2K-readiness. Approximately 400 brokerage firms, mutual funds, service bureaus and clearing agencies took part in the industrywide tests. U.S. securities exchanges, Nasdaq and the Depository Trust Corp. also participated in the tests that spanned six weekends in March and April. For the tests, participants processed simulated trades on computer systems reconfigured to reflect the dates of December 29, 30 and 31, 1999, and January 3, 2000. The trades included equities, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, corporate and municipal bonds, options, government securities and money market products. The upshot—according to the Securities Industry Association (SIA), Y2K-related problems affected less than 1% of the 259,654 expected results. In addition, the Y2K problems that did crop up during the test did not disrupt the transactions that were being simulated. Any remaining errors were not Y2K-related. “I am heartened by the success the securities industry has achieved in addressing the Y2K computer problem thus far,” Levitt said. “Testing, disclosure and contingency planning remain the three key guideposts that will help to successfully navigate the millennial date change.” The SIA, which began planning for the industrywide test three years ago, worked closely with the SEC to develop the testing process. According to the SEC, the series of Y2K tests cost more than $100 million to run. RUBIN STEPS DOWN Robert E. Rubin recently resigned as secretary of the Treasury after more than four years in the post. Rubin, who worked for 26 years at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York City, said he was leaving because he wished to return to New York and to spend more time with his family. At the time of his resignation, Rubin received bipartisan praise for his economic policy leadership and his steady handling of budget issues. The 70th Treasury secretary, he succeeded Lloyd Bentsen in 1995. Rubin will most likely be followed in the position by Deputy Secretary Lawrence Summers. Summers, who has worked in the Treasury department for the last six years, assumed his current post also in 1995. He is said to share Rubin’s economic philosophy and policy approach. “Secretary Rubin is considered to be one of the most effective secretaries the country has ever had, but the expectation is that Larry Summers will follow very closely in his footsteps,” said Gerald Padwe, vice-president of the AICPA’s tax division. “We have worked with Mr. Summers on a few issues in the past. We’ve not always agreed, but the relationship has always been cordial—with a good exchange of information.”
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| Editorial Advisers Andrea Andrews, Ken D. Askelson, Robert C. Beheler, John C. Boma, Jacob R. Brandzel, Steven J. Brown, Jolene C. Brucks, Richard A. Burrell, R. Patrick Cargill, Benson J. Chapman, Elliott Scott Cohen, Henry M. Dachowitz, Susan M. Comeau Daniels, Rosemarie T. Dunn, Sandra English, Robert J. Freeman, John S. Gibbons, Alan Glazer, Dan Gould, Cindy Gustafson, Patrick T. Hanratty, Thomas P. Hess, Karen L. Hooks, James E. Hunton, Ann D. Jevne, Harold Wayne Joseph, Christopher G. Keller, Pamela S. Kemp, Frank J. Kopczynski, Jeffrey B. Kraut, Dennis B. Kremer, Daniel Laufer, William F. Laurie, Alan Levin, John Lewison, Joseph P. Liotta, Ellen M. Long, James V. Long, Mano Mahadeva, Patrick Michael McDonough, Patrick L. McNamee, Benjamin F. Mathews, Anita Meola, Robert R. Moeller, Roger H. Molvar, G. Philip Morehead, Bea L. Nahon, Nancy L. Newman-Limata, Lyne P. Noella, Edward T. Odmark, Stanley Person, Grover L. Porter, Mark L. Richardson, Wesley Riemer, David B. Robinson, Marshall B. Romney, Susan J.Rosenberg, Chester P. Sadowski, David Satava, Peggy Scott, Carolyn S. Sechler, Gary Shamis, Jeffrey D. Solomon, Ivan J. Sotomayor, Paul C. Sullivan, Keith Tobias, Gary R. Trugman, Norman D. Turnipseed, Robert Willens, Jon Arthur Wise, Mark A. Yahoudy | |