Securities Lawyer's Deskbook                          published by The University of Cincinnati College of Law

Rule 17Ad-21T -- Operational Capability in a Year 2000 Environment

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1. This section applies to every registered non-bank transfer agent that uses computers in the conduct of its business as a transfer agent.
   
   
2. 1. You have a material Year 2000 problem if, at any time on or after August 31, 1999:
      
      
      1. Any of your mission critical computer systems incorrectly identifies any date in the Year 1999 or the Year 2000, and
         
         
      2. The error impairs or, if uncorrected, is likely to impair, any of your mission critical systems under your control.
         
         
   2. You will be presumed to have a material Year 2000 problem if, at any time on or after August 31, 1999, you:
      
      
      1. Do not have written procedures reasonably designed to identify, assess, and remediate any material Year 2000 problems in your mission critical systems under your control;
         
         
      2. Have not verified your Year 2000 remediation efforts through reasonable internal testing of your mission critical systems under your control and reasonable testing of your external links under your control; or
         
         
      3. Have not remediated all exceptions related to your mission critical systems contained in any independent public accountant's report prepared on your behalf pursuant to Rule 17Ad-18(f).
         
         
3. If you have or are presumed to have a material Year 2000 problem, you must immediately notify the Commission and your issuers of the problem. You must send this notice to the Commission by overnight delivery to the Division of Market Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-6628 Attention: Y2K Compliance.
   
   
4. 1. If you are a registered non-bank transfer agent that has or is presumed to have a material Year 2000 problem, you may not, on or after August 31, 1999, engage in any transfer agent function, including:
      
      
      1. Countersigning such securities upon issuance;
         
         
      2. Monitoring the issuance of such securities with a view to preventing unauthorized issuance;
         
         
      3. Registering the transfer of such securities;
         
         
      4. Exchanging or converting such securities; or
         
         
      5. Transferring record ownership of securities by bookkeeping entry without physical issuance of securities certificates.
         
         
   2. Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(1) of this section, you may continue to engage in transfer agent functions:
      
      
      1. Until December 1, 1999, if you have submitted a certificate to the Commission in compliance with paragraph (e) of this section; or
         
         
      2. Solely to the extent necessary to effect an orderly cessation or transfer of these functions.
         
         
5. 1. 1. If you are a registered non-bank transfer agent that has or is presumed to have a material Year 2000 problem, you may, in addition to providing the Commission the notice required by paragraph (c) of this section, provide the Commission and your issuers a certificate signed by your chief executive officer (or an individual with similar authority) stating:
         
         
         1. You are in the process of remediating your material Year 2000 problem;
            
            
         2. You have scheduled testing of your affected mission critical systems to verify that the material Year 2000 problem has been remediated, and specify the testing dates;
            
            
         3. The date by which you anticipate completing remediation of the material Year 2000 problem in your mission critical systems; and
            
            
         4. Based on inquiries and to the best of the chief executive officer's knowledge, you do not anticipate that the existence of the material Year 2000 problem in your mission critical systems will impair your ability, depending on the nature of your business, to assure the prompt and accurate transfer and processing of securities, the maintenance of master securityholder files, or the production and retention of required records; and you anticipate that the steps referred to in paragraphs (e)(1)(i)(A) through (C) of this section will result in remedying the material Year 2000 problem on or before November 15, 1999.
            
            
      2. If the information contained in any certificate provided to the Commission pursuant to paragraph (e) of this section is or becomes misleading or inaccurate for any reason, you must promptly file an updated certificate correcting such information. In addition to the information contained in the certificate, you may provide the Commission with any other information necessary to establish that your mission critical systems will not have material Year 2000 problems on or after November 15, 1999.
         
         
   2. If you have submitted a certificate pursuant to paragraph (e)(1) of this section, you must submit a certificate to the Commission and your issuers signed by your chief executive officer (or an individual with similar authority) on or before November 15, 1999, stating that, based on inquiries and to the best of the chief executive officer's knowledge, you have remediated your Year 2000 problem or that you will cease operations. This certificate must be sent to the Commission by overnight delivery to the Division of Market Regulation, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-6628: Y2K Compliance.
      
      
6. Notwithstanding paragraph (d)(2) of this section, you must comply with the requirements of paragraph (d)(1) of this section if you have been so ordered by the Commission or by a court.
   
   
7. Beginning August 31, 1999, and ending March 31, 2000, you must make backup records for all master securityholder files at the close of each business day and must preserve these backup records for a rolling five business day period in a manner that will allow for the transfer and conversion of the records to a successor transfer agent. If you have a material Year 2000 problem, you must preserve for at least one year the five day backup records immediately preceding the day the problem was discovered. In addition, you must make at the close of business on December 27 through 31, 1999, a backup copy for all master securityholder files and preserve these records for at least one year. Such backup records must permit the timely restoration of such systems to their condition existing prior to experiencing the material Year 2000 problem. Copies of the backup records must be kept in an easily accessible place but must not be located with or held in the same computer system as the primary records, and you must be able to immediately produce or reproduce them. You must furnish promptly to a representative of the Commission such legible, true, and complete copies of those records, as may be requested.
   
   
8. For the purposes of this section:
   
   
   1. The term mission critical system means any system that is necessary, depending on the nature of your business, to assure the prompt and accurate transfer and processing of securities, the maintenance of master securityholder files, and the production and retention of required records as described in paragraph (d) of this section;
      
      
   2. The term customer includes an issuer, transfer agent, or other person for which you provide transfer agent services;
      
      
   3. The term registered non-bank transfer agent means a transfer agent, whose appropriate regulatory agency is the Commission and not the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and
      
      
   4. The term master securityholder file has the same definition as defined in Rule 17Ad-9(b).
      
      
9. This temporary section will expire on July 1, 2001.
   
   

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