Firms understand that they must manage not only business risks flowing from operational issues but also inherent reputational and legal risks. The century date change provided other benefits as well. In preparing for Y2K, financial institutions modernized and incorporated security products and procedures into their information systems. They also updated and tested contingency plans and backup facilities.
We found that because of the staff training and industry testing that occurred around the century date change, employees of financial institutions and within our own agencies were still relatively well-informed about contingency procedures and arrangements, and followed them. Though not perfect, these plans worked well.