Computer glitch halts floor trading on Frankfurt stock exchange

Date: 24 Feb 2000 16:02

FRANKFURT, Feb 24 (AFP) - Floor trading on the Frankfurt stock exchange was interrupted for 20 minutes on Thursday afternoon owing to a computer fault, said a spokesman for Deutsche Boerse, the company which operates the exchange.

Trading was halted from 1:35 pm (1235 GMT) until 1:55 pm (1255 GMT) and all exchanges throughout the country were affected, the spokesman said.

However, trading on the electronic Xetra system, on which most share trading is conducted in Germany, was not affected, he said.

Moves currently are under way to abolish floor, or open outcry, trading completely in Germany and replace it with electronic trading.

Legal questions have prevented an agreement on the matter.

Source: Agefi.com archives - Financial News, Switzerland

http://www.agefi.com/agefi/agefi.asp?l=EN&area=1

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 26, 2000

Answers

I pasted the following German article into Alta Vista's translator. Assuming that this refers to early Y2k problems found in the German stock market, I hope you can make sense of it. Any German-speaking folks out there?.....

English translation:

C't Computer Magazine - Heise Online, Germany

Message of 04.01.2000 (January 4, 2000)

Y2K: Bug with really sighted

In markets the real-chained slammed shut a Year-2000-Bug. A c't reader was not astonished badly, when he studied the cash voucher of a branch in Moers: The date was correct, but the value added tax became falsely output-wise with 15 per cent. The entrepreneurial group (real and all purchase) acknowledged opposite c't that this error was to due to Year-2000-Updates. When bringing new programs in into the checkouts inadvertently a false table was spread. The error was noticed on Monday tomorrow before loading opening, one could not react however any longer in time. An enterprise spokeswoman could not determine this afternoon yet whether the breakdown is eliminated in all that zirka 20 branches concerned. It pointed out however that it concerns a purely optical problem, is internally thus correctly counted.

Customers, about vat-deduction-entitle manufacturing ones, would get on request naturally corrected vouchers (ps/c't)

German text of this article: Meldung vom 04.01.2000

Y2K: Bug bei real gesichtet

In Mdrkten der real-Kette hat ein Jahr-2000-Fehler zugeschlagen. Ein c't-Leser staunte nicht schlecht, als er den Kassenbeleg einer Filiale in Moers studierte: Das Datum stimmte, aber die Mehrwertsteuer wurde mit 15 Prozent falsch ausgeweisen. Die Unternehmensgruppe (real und allkauf) bestdtigte gegen|ber c't, dass dieser Fehler auf Jahr-2000-Updates zur|ckzuf|hren sei. Beim Einspielen neuer Programme in die Kassen sei versehentlich eine falsche Tabelle verbreitet worden.

Der Fehler sei zwar am Montag morgen vor Ladenvffnung bemerkt worden, man habe aber nicht mehr rechtzeitig reagieren kvnnen. Eine Unternehmenssprecherin konnte heute Nachmittag noch nicht ermitteln, ob die Panne in allen der zirka 20 betroffenen Filialen beseitigt ist. Sie wies aber darauf hin, dass es sich um ein rein optisches Problem handle, intern also korrekt gerechnet werde.

Kunden, etwa vorsteuerabzugsberechtige Gewerbetreibende, bekdmen auf Anfrage nat|rlich berichtigte Belege. (ps/c't)

http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/ps-04.01.00-001/

-- Lee Maloney (leemaloney@hotmail.com), February 26, 2000.