Year 2000 Update (June)

March 1999

Deadline For Completion Of Form BD-Y2K Is Near

The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD^®) recently mailed a Form BD-Y2K package to each member firm for completion by April 30, 1999.

The recent amendments to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Rule 17a-5 require all NASD members with minimum net capital requirements of $5,000 or greater as of March 15, 1999, to file the Form BD-Y2K report with the SEC and the firm's designated examining authority (DEA). Broker/dealers with minimum net capital requirements of $5,000 or greater as of March 15, 1999, are required to file Part I of Form BD-Y2K by April 30, 1999.

Broker/dealers with minimum net capital requirements of $100,000 or greater are required to file, also by April 30, 1999, the Part II narrative and Part III-an independent public accountant's report—in addition to Part I. Part III of the Form must be completed by an independent public accountant; to complete this process, the independent public accountant must review completed Parts I and II. For background on constructing the independent public accountant's report, visit the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Web Site (www.aicpa.org).

If you did not get a copy of this package, please call the Year 2000 Program Office at (888) 227-1330 or visit the Year 2000 Web Pages on the NASDR and NASD Web Sites (www.nasdr.com and www.nasd.com, respectively).

See the following page for helpful hints in preparing the Form BD-Y2K.

SEC Readiness Information

The SEC has provided a searchable database on the SEC Web Site (www.sec.gov), which features information from Year 2000 required reports from securities firms and other constituents. Currently, the database includes more than 13,000 reports that describe the following for each firm included in the database:

• state of Year 2000 readiness



• costs to address the Year 2000 problem



• Year 2000 risks



• progress in developing contingency plans

1999 Form BD-Y2K Best Practices And Helpful Hints

Firms should keep in mind the following points when completing and submitting the Form BD-Y2K:

More Information/Questions

NASD Year 2000 Program Office
e-mail: [email protected]
phone: (888) 227-1330

Year 2000 Education And Events

New York Workshop

The NASD Year 2000 Program Office will host a workshop on contingency planning at the Marriott World Trade Center in New York City on April 5, 1999. Please note that registration is required; to register, call (888) 227-1330.

Virtual Workshops

The NASD Year 2000 Program Office is continuing to offer Virtual Workshops—conference call-in sessions. The NASD strongly encourages registration, but it is not required. To register, call (888) 567-0578, listen to the greeting, and provide the following information when prompted: firm name, Broker/Dealer #, and workshop date. On the day of the session, call (800) 857-7323 and indicate the password and confirmation number provided for the specific workshop. See next page for a list of these specifics organized by date of session, as well as a brief summary of issues to be discussed.

See next page for Virtual Workshops.

Year 2000 Education And Events

Virtual Workshops

March 17   BD-Y2K 1999 Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Password: Questions

Conf #: 2920202

Issues to be covered:

• Frequently asked questions about the Form BD-Y2K 1999 in comparison to the Form BD-Y2K 1998



• Helpful hints in the completion of Part 2 and how your DEA will review your SOP

March 23   Year 2000 Overview/Business Continuity Strategies

Password: Strategies

Conf #: 2920237

Issues to be covered:

• Developing or updating a disaster and contingency plan



• Documenting plans



• Business impact analysis



• Recovering mission-critical systems



• Validating firms' business continuity strategies

April 6   Investor Communication "Best Practices"

Password: Communication

Conf #: 3111435

Issues to be covered:

• Frequent problems



• Disclosure issues



• Best practices



• Questions & Answers

April 13   Internal Testing

Password: Testing

Conf #: 3112914

Issues to be covered:

• What kinds of firms need to test



• Testing best practices



• Potential testing - contingency planning



• Questions & Answers

April 20   Contingency Planning

Password: Contingency

Conf #: 3112165

Issues to be covered:

• Step-by-step guide



• Timeline/impact if no contingency - a case study



• External/internal contingency planning



• Global view



• Questions & Answers

April 27   Utilities and Critical Services

Password: Services

Conf #: 3111865

Issues to be covered:

• State of utilities and recent guidelines



• Other critical services



• How these critical services affect broker/dealer's preparedness



• Best practices in dealing with uncertainty



• Questions & Answers

May 6   Audit, Agreed Upon Procedures, and Examination

Password: Audit

Conf #: 3111848

Issues to be covered:

• Differences between audit and agreed upon procedures



• Purpose of examination



• Records retention and documentation



• Sources of information to retain (e-mails, letters, etc.)



• Questions & Answers

May 13   Investor Communication "Best Practices"

Password: Communication

Conf #: 3111736

Issues to be covered:

• Frequent problems



• Disclosure issues



• Best practices



• Questions & Answers

May 20   Utilities and Critical Services

Password: Services

Conf #: 3113760

Issues to be covered:

• State of utilities and recent guidelines



• Other critical services



• How these critical services affect broker/dealer's preparedness



• Best practices in dealing with uncertainty



• Questions & Answers

1999 NASD Regulation Spring Securities Conference

As mentioned in the last issue of Notices to Members, Year 2000 issues will be featured as part of the 1999 NASD Regulation annual Spring Securities Conference to be held in New Orleans on May 20-21. A conference brochure has been mailed to NASD members and is available on the NASD Regulation Web Site at www.nasdr.com.

NASD Year 2000 Event Calendar