Trading Restrictions on Stocks in Brittian Due To Y2K

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Millennium bug limits City dealing

Paul Farrelly, City Editor Sunday December 12, 1999

Top city institutions have placed unprecedented restrictions on stock exchange dealing from this weekend due to millennium bug fears.

The strict controls may leave private speculators badly burned as the market experiences record swings in share prices in thin trading. Last week City regulators warned private investors of the dangers of rushing into fashionable sectors such as telecoms and the Internet. Speculation by ordinary punters, plus a rush to get deals out of the way before New Year's Eve, has led to record dealing in the past month.

This week, however, the City's biggest players - including Prudential, Mer cury and Schroders - will wind down trading before Christmas. Institutions fear trading partners will be hit by computer breakdown, playing havoc with payments.

Those that continue dealing will, in the main, do only 'necessary' trades with the approval of chief investment officers or with a list of approved counter-parties.

'Institutions are packing up for Christmas. No one wants to be a hero before Y2K,' said one fund manager. 'But private investors are still dealing like dervishes. That's quite scary.'

Another chief fund manager said: 'There is colossal potential for speculators to come unstuck. There could be a very nasty setback in the new year.'

-- Helium (Heliumavid@yahoo.com), December 12, 1999

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No hint here though. We are happy campers.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), December 12, 1999.

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