As an exception, the Board of Eesti Pank has decided to
give the credit institutions the right to settle payments
within three days in the days preceding the turn of the year.
The normal settlement cycle of two days may be extended by
one day for payment orders accepted on 30 December 1999 and
also on 31 December 1999.
The decision by the Board of Eesti Pank took into
consideration an application addressed to Eesti Pank by the
Estonian Banking Association in the name of all the credit
institutions that asked for arrangements that would make it
possible for the banks to use the last day of the year for
the creation of supplementary backups of systems and data (in
addition to what is required normally), for the compilation
of year-end status reports and other similar measures.
Secondly, it was taken into account that in order to level
off the Year 2000 risks, the European Central Bank has
decided to close down the payment system administered by it
on 31 December 1999 and recommended that special regimes and
procedures be introduced for banking operations. Following
this recommendation, the majority of the European Union
member states have declared 31 December 1999 a non-banking
day or transferred the due date of the settlement of the
contractual obligations of economic agents from 31 December
1999 to 3 January 2000.
The analysis preceding the decision by the Board of Eesti
Pank had shown that, considering the exact circumstances in
Estonia, an approach based on the extension of the due dates
of settlement would be the best option for central bank to
choose to grant the feasibility of the special measures the
Estonian Banking Association had wished to introduce.
Eesti Pank hopes that the decision taken ensures that
there will be sufficient time for all the extra procedures to
be implemented to guarantee the preparedness for the Year
2000. The central bank is convinced that the upcoming
somewhat exceptional turn of the year will not create
significant problems for Estonian banking. The systematic
preparations that have been going on for several years have
guaranteed a high level of preparedness of the Estonian
banking for the year 2000.
Eesti Pank hopes all bank clients to be understanding
about the extension of the settlement due dates and leave
ample time for settling payments at the end of the year. More
information on the preparedness of the Estonian banking for
the year 2000 can be obtained via the Eesti Pank public Web
site.
