Press Releases

HKMA's Event Management Centre
to monitor the rollover to 9 September 1999

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced this afternoon (6 September) that it will be opening its Year 2000 Event Management Centre on the evening of Wednesday 8 September to monitor the operation of banks through 9 September, which is one of the relevant dates in connection with the Year 2000 problem.

"We are not expecting that banks will face any Year-2000-related problems on 9 September," an HKMA spokesperson said. "All banks in Hong Kong have reported that they are Year 2000 compliant, which means that their computer systems should be able to manage data without being abnormally affected by date changes prior to, during, and after the year 2000. These date changes include 9 September, which, though identified as a potentially problematic date, is not considered to be a major risk."

"Although no difficulties are expected, we have asked banks to be on the alert for potential problems and to make their own event management arrangements to monitor operations during the rollover to 9 September. Banks should also have contingency plans in place to prepare for the unlikely occurrence of Year 2000 problems, including any that might arise in the transition to 9 September."

"While the date change to 9 September is not expected to be a problem, it provides a good opportunity for practising our Year 2000 monitoring mechanisms in a live situation. We believe that the experience gained during this exercise will be useful to us in addressing other Year 2000 issues, including the transition to the millennium," said the HKMA spokesperson.

Hong Kong Monetary Authority

6 September 1999