Beginning Friday, July 31, 1998, NSCC has pre-formatted test files and reports available for participants to utilize for their internal testing of the redesigned ACATS system. Please refer to NSCC Important Notice A4773 dated May 26, 1998, which provides details regarding these files and reports. Participants, who have already contacted the ACATS Participant Testing Group (PTG) at (212) 383-4891 and established network connectivity set-up procedures for test output, will be contacted to receive their respective test files and reports they have been set up to receive. Participants, who have not contacted PTG, should do so as soon as possible so appropriate set-up procedures can be established. Participants are strongly encouraged to test output files prior to the full system participant test scheduled for later this year. Please refer to NSCC Important Notice A4792 dated June 30, 1998 for the revised testing and implementation dates.

The test output depicts four (4) days of activity with each day containing two (2) cycles. Refer to Important Notice A4773 regarding the structure of the files and reports. The following two tables indicate the test files and reports which are available. In addition, the corresponding production output times are summarized for these files when the system is implemented.

All files and reports documented in the Important Notice A4773 are available at this time, except for Interface Reject files (Autoroute Test Product 02990721 & 02990727), Settling Organization Reject Report (Autoroute Test Product 02990763) and Settling Org. Rec & Del Instructions (Autoroute Test Product 02990764). These will be available at a later date.

 Participants requesting test machine readable output files (fixed or variable) will receive one or more of the following files based on their requests.

Participants requesting test report files will receive one or more of the following reports based on their requests.

* NOTE: Previous published time was 6:00 pm. However, since these reports also reflect the updated status at the end of day (same as the ACATS Position MRO file), these reports will be available at 8:00 pm.

In order to aid participants in identifying the various test cases, which are contained on the test output, please refer to attached Exhibit A. Please note that all the test cases involve test broker 1100 either as receiver or deliverer. The attached matrix summarizes the transactions which are included in the output and indicates the status change over the four day period. In addition, please refer to the Comments column, which highlights some key processes which specific test cases are addressing.

After participants have successfully received their transmission of test output, all questions specific to the redesigned ACATS System should be faxed to SIAC’s Enterprise Services Center at (212) 383 -1298. Please refer to attached Exhibit B, which is a sample form to be used to submit all questions. Participants should complete Sections I & II. In Section I, please enter a Participant Inquiry Tracking Number, which should be comprised of your NSCC Clearing Number and a unique number. NSCC will use this number to facilitate follow-up communication with the participants. Please attach appropriate documentation, such as copies of the specific report, and indicate at the top of the form how many pages are attached. Once the question is received, it will be forwarded to the appropriate staff for resolution and the participant will be contacted in a timely matter with a response.

Since June 23rd, participants have been able to submit test input files to NSCC for format testing. NSCC has received test files and several participants have successfully tested all three record types (TI, AT, FR). Participants who have not contacted ACATS PTG to set up connectivity procedures or transmitted input test files for format verification should do so as soon as possible.

All ACATS Redesign Important Notices, file layouts and a copy of the attached sample form are available on NSCC’s ACATS Website at http://acats.nscc.com. In addition, the ACATS Website contains Frequently Asked Questions and various technical documents. Any questions pertaining to this notice should be directed to the undersigned at (212) 412-8686 or E-Mail at emeringolo@nscc.com. Additionally, general ACATS questions can be directed to NSCC’s Participant Services Department at (212) 412-8432. General Mutual Fund questions regarding ACATS Fund/SERV can be directed to the Mutual Fund Hotline at (212) 412-8893.

Edlyn Meringolo
Vice President
Product Development

EXHIBIT A
(available as an Excel 5.0 or an Adobe PDF download)

EXHIBIT B

(available on the ACATS Website at http://acats.nscc.com)

(212) 383-1298 (FAX)