Quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission recently have revealed that banks are spending more than they anticipated on Year 2000 related problems as the deadline draws near. According to the Wall Street Journal, which has been scouring the reports, Citigroup Inc, the largest US bank, now says it expects to spend $950m on Y2K, 5.6% up on the estimates its filed with the SEC three months ago. Chase Manhattan Corp’s estimate has gone up 24% to $158m from its previous estimate of $127m. Wells Fargo & Co will spend $325m, a 3.2% increase. The combined bill for the top 15 US banks has now risen 3.2% to $3.51bn, up from $3.42bn three months ago. Part of the cost rises are due to public awareness campaigns aimed at stopping panicking customers from withdrawing all their money at the end of the year. Regulators have said that 99% of the testing work has now been completed at financial institutions.
