SUBJECT: YEAR 2000 ACATS-FUND/SERV TESTING

National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) will require its broker/dealer firm participants to conduct Year 2000 Testing for the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS) in July 1999. Accommodations to test the ACATS-Fund/SERV interface will be available for funds and firms. Funds are strongly encouraged to test this functionality.

ACATS Testing Schedule

In order to fully test ACATS functionality, the ACATS testing cycle will be provided over a six-day period. ACATS Year 2000 testing is scheduled as follows:

Funds can potentially receive registrations on any day of the test, but to test Year 2000 dates, the fund should, at minimum, acknowledge a registration that will settle a transfer on January 3, 2000. Please refer to the test scripts described on the next page for details.

Input and Output Cycles

Testing of the ACATS-Fund/SERV Y2K system will be in the same NSCC Y2K compliant testing environment as all the other industry Y2K tests (i.e. in the SIAC "K" box). Funds will receive ACATS Transfer Registration files (Record type 018) at approximately 5pm Eastern Time (ET) under normal testing conditions. Although this may typically be on the AutoRoute 363-98 file, it can be on any AutoRoute 361 or 363 file. Transfer Acknowledgment/Rejection (Record type 019) must be received by 1pm ET the next day for items to be processed in that day's cycle. Reminders will be sent to the fund on the 362 file at 3:15pm ET for items that were not acknowledged or rejected.

Information on the status of the test output will be posted on the SIA Bulletin board. (Please refer to access instructions on next page). This will inform funds and firms when files were sent out, or if there were any delays to the schedule.

Following are the specific input and output files used in the ACATS-FUND/SERV test.

Testing Partners and Scripts

Funds and firms must contact one another to set up a partnering arrangement. The Y2K industry test partnering agreement may be used if that is acceptable to all parties. Account numbers and CUSIPS must be agreed upon between partners, and funds must ensure that those numbers are set up for the test.

NSCC and the SIA Customer Account Transfer Division have developed proposed test scripts which participants can use as guidelines for their Year 2000 ACATS testing. Test scripts for the ACATS-Fund/SERV portions of the test have also been developed. These test scripts are available on the NSCC ACATS Web site acats.nscc.com, the SIA Customer Account Transfer Division Web site and the NSCC’s Year 2000 testing Web site www.y2000.org under the Y2000 ACATS Participant Testing Guide section.

Participant Testing Profile

Before initiating ACATS-Fund/SERV Year 2000 testing, funds must contact NSCC’s Participant Testing Group (PTG) at (212) 412-8505 and obtain a Participant Testing profile form. This form lists all applicable fund test ACATS-Fund/SERV input and output files with NSCC. In order for a participant to receive any NSCC input and output files during the ACATS testing period, participants must complete this profile and return it to the PTG seven business days prior to the scheduled test date. Funds will not receive any ACATS-Fund/SERV Y2K test files if this profile is not completed.

Point-to-Point Tests

In addition to the six-day ACATS test, NSCC will make available ACATS point-to-point tests on three dates in June, Saturday June 12,1999, Saturday June 19, 1999 and Tuesday June 29, 1999. Point-to-point testing validates a participant's ability to process application files to and from NSCC using Year 2000 dates. The system should be set to January 3, 2000 for the point-to-point test. Funds that have participated in the industry Y2K testing do not need to conduct a point-to-point test. Call PTG at (212) 412-8505 if you are unsure of your requirement to conduct a point-to-point test.

Access to SIA Bulletin Board (also known as Test Day News)

1. Login to the private area of www.siay2k.com

2. Click on the "Test Day News" link in the frame on the left-hand side of the screen. A "View" link will be displayed below the "Test Day News" link.

3. A new window labeled "SIA Messages" will appear on your screen.

4. Monitor this window for the latest information.

Please note that the participant or service bureau/provider must have an ID and password to enter the private site. All funds, brokers dealers and service providers who have participated in the Y2K Industry test have previously received an ID and password. If a firm does not already have a password and ID, they must contact the SIA Y2K testing department at 1 - (888) Y2K-4SIA and request a password and ID.

For More Information

Any questions pertaining to this Important Notice can be directed to NSCC’s Mutual Fund Hotline at (212) 412-8893, your account manager, or the undersigned at (212) 412-8843. Additionally, questions regarding this notice can be directed to NSCC by sending e-mail to Y2000@nscc.com. To initiate testing, or for any testing related questions, please contact the NSCC Participant Test Group (PTG) at (212) 412-8505. Details on testing connectivity, participant test profile or point-to-point testing can be found on NSCC’s Year 2000 testing Web site www.y2000.org under the Y2000 Participant Testing Guide section.

Barbara Simon
Director, Mutual Fund Marketing