FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE               99-155


      Disclosure Documents Indicate All Broker Dealers and
          Non-Bank Transfer Agents Ready for Year 2000

     Washington, DC, November 19, 1999 -- Last summer the
Securities and Exchange Commission set a target date of August
31, 1999 for broker-dealers and non-bank transfer agents to
achieve Year 2000 compliance for their mission-critical systems.
Brokers and non-bank transfer agents that were not ready by that
date were required to notify the SEC, and certify and demonstrate
how they would achieve Year 2000 compliance no later than
November 15, 1999.  As of August 31, 23 broker-dealers and one
non-bank transfer agent notified the SEC that their mission-
critical systems were not fully ready.  Of those 24 firms, all
have since certified that they have achieved Y2K compliance.
Most of the firms filed during September or October, with a
handful delaying their final readiness statements until near the
November 15 deadline.

     The Y2K rule is just one of several tools the SEC is using
to monitor broker-dealers and non-bank transfer agents for Y2K
compliance.  "We believe that the notice and certification
provisions of the rule have yielded useful and positive
information," said Bob Colby, Deputy Director of the SEC's
Division of Market Regulation.  "We are still looking closely at
the certifications filed under the rule to confirm their
accuracy; should we learn at any time that a broker-dealer is not
ready for Year 2000, that firm will be referred to our Division
of Enforcement for appropriate action."

     The SEC's Y2K program has sought to encourage regulated
entities to achieve Y2K compliance with a reasonable margin of
time to spare before the century date change.  Through the Y2K
rule, the SEC's disclosure and examination programs, and close
coordination with the exchanges and the NASD -- which directly
monitor the Y2K readiness of their members on an ongoing basis --
the SEC has gathered a tremendous amount of information on the
Y2K status of broker-dealers and non-bank transfer agents.
"Based on the information we have collected to date, we have full
confidence that the broker-dealer community is ready for Year
2000," stated Mr. Colby.
                                
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