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AGREEMENT
BETWEEN TRANSALLIANCE,
L.P.
AND THE FEDERAL BANKING AGENCIES
WHEREAS, TransAlliance,

L.P., Bellevue, Washington (“TransAlliance”)

is a

regional third party electronic funds transfer service provider providing services, including
mission-critical

ATM and point-of-sale

services, card production

and other credit and

debit card and transaction switching and routing services (collectively, “mission-critical
services”) to banks, bank holding companies, savings associations,
(collectively, “financial institutions”),

credit unions

and other customers;

WHEREAS, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation,
the Comptroller

the National Credit Union Administration,

the Office of

of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “federal

banking agencies”) jointly examine the data processing services provided to financial
institutions by TransAlliance under the provisions of the Bank Service Company Act
(“BSCA”), 12 U.S.C. $ 1867(c) and (d), and the Examination Parity and Year 2000
Readiness for Financial Institutions

Act (“Examination Parity Act”), 12 U.S.C.

5 1464(d)(7) and 6 1786a;
WHEREAS,

the federal banking agencies are authorized to enter into this

Agreement with TransAlliance pursuant to the BSCA, the Examination Parity Act, and
section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”), 12 U.S.C. 4 1818;
WHEREAS, based on the results of the most recent Year 2000 review of
TransAlliance, the federal banking agencies and the State of Washington, Department

of

Financial Institutions (the “state banking agency”) are of the opinion that this Agreement is

necessary to protect the interests of TransAlliance’s financial institution customers and that
TransAlliance meet the milestone dates and other provisions set forth in the
Year 2000 readiness guidelines issued by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination
Council (“FFIEC”) for the review, renovation, testing, remediation, management,

and

contingency planning of mission-critical systems;
WHEREAS,

the federal banking agencies are entering into this Agreement to

ensure that the hardware and software used by TransAlliance to deliver mission-critical
services to its financial institution customers (collectively, the “System”) are Year 2000
ready, to ensure that the Year 2000 testing service provided by TransAlliance (the
“Testing Service”) adequately enables its financial institution customers to test rnissioncritical services with TransAlliance, and to ensure that TransAlliance’s financial institution
customers that are supervised and/or insured by the federal banking agencies and the state
banking agency are promptly notified in the event the System is not Year 2000 ready; and
WHEREAS,
constituted

on Mav 12. 1999, the management board of TransAlliance,

at a duly

meeting, without admitting or denying the findings or opinions of the federal

banking agencies set forth above, adopted a resolution authorizing and directing James D.
Benson, President and Chief Executive OfIicer, to execute this Agreement on behalf of
TransAlliance and to consent to each and every provision of this Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE,

TransAlliance and the federal banking agencies agree as

follows:
1. (a) TransAlliance shall take such actions as are necessary to provide the
Testing Service in such a manner as to enable Year 2000 testing to be successfully
completed by each of its financial institution customers by June 30, 1999, and to

implement a Year 2000 ready System by June 30, 1999. These actions shall include, but
are not limited to:
(i) for each financial institution customer using the Release 6 interface for
connectivity to the System, individual testing is enabled in a fully integrated and forward
dated testing environment

for transaction, file creation, report generation, submission, and

transmission processes, as described in the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s Year
2000 Phase II Review, dated March 16, 1999 (the “Phase II Review”); and
(ii) for financial institution customers using Release 3 or IS0 SW33
interfaces for connectivity to the System, proxy testing is enabled in a fully integrated and
forward dated testing environment
submission, and transmission

for transaction, file creation, report generation,

processes, as described in the Phase II Review.

(b) For the purposes of this Agreement, “Year 2000 ready” means that the
System accurately processes, calculates, compares, sequences date and time data from,
into, or between the 20ti and 2 1” centuries, and the years 1999 and 2000, and with regard
to leap year calculations.

2. In the event that by June 30, 1999 (i) TransAlliance fails to provide the Testing
Service described in paragraph 1 hereof or (ii) the System is not Year 2000 ready by
June 30, 1999 for use by each TransAlliance financial institution customer that has tested
in the manner described in paragraph 1 hereof, TransAlliance must:
(a) by that date, notifjr, in writing, the federal banking agencies and the state
banking agency, and each affected financial institution customer of such an event; and

(b) promptly thereafter provide, at the written request of any affected financial
institution customer, a release of the customer’s contractual obligations to and with
TransAlliance for mission-critical
damages of TransAlliance,

services, and the waiver of any termination fees,

attorneys’ fees, indemnity, or any other penalty or legal

impediment arising pursuant to such contractual obligations (but not any of the other
contractual rights of TransAlliance existing as of the effective date of such release, such as
fees for services rendered under such contracts prior to termination);

and, to the extent

that any affected financial institution makes the above request, TransAlliance shall fully
cooperate with and provide transition assistance to that customer, including transferring
customer data records to another service provider on a prompt and timely basis.

3. (a) Nothing in this Agreement is intended to, nor shall have the effect of,
preventing, precluding, or in any way inhibiting any financial institution customer Corn at
any time exercising any rights it may have under the terms of its contract(s) with
TransAlliance, including, but not limited to, the exercise of any termination or cancellation
provisions of such contract(s).
(b) Nothing in this Agreement is intended to, nor shall have the effect of,
preventing, precluding or in any way inhibiting TransAlliance from at any time raising or
otherwise exercising any defense against claims raised by customers, except as provided in
paragraph 2 hereof.

4. Within 15 days of the effective date of this Agreement, TransAlliance shall
submit to the federal banking agencies and the state banking agency, for their review and

4

comment, a project plan (the “Plan”) addressing TransAlliance’s

proposed actions to

comply with this Agreement by June 30, 1999. At a minimum, the Plan must address
scheduling and successful completion of testing, any subsequent software or hardware
changes, contingency
implementation

planning, customer awareness, management

oversight, and

of a Year 2000 ready System. The Plan must provide for retention of a

qualified Year 2000 project manager and for sufficient human and financial resources to
implement the Plan. The Plan must set forth the time frames for commencement

and

completion of each phase of the Plan, and follow and incorporate the criteria contained in
the Interagency

Guidelines Establishing Year 2000 Standards for Safety and Soundness,

published at 63 Federal Register 55480-55489 (October 15, 1998). TransAlliance must
promptly implement and adhere to the Plan, including time frames.

5. Within 15 days of the effective date of this Agreement, TransAlliance shall
provide to the federal banking agencies, the state banking agency, and each financial
institution customer using the System a written report fully describing its efforts to test
and implement a Year 2000 ready System, along with a copy of this Agreement.

6. From the effective date of this Agreement, TransAlliance shall provide biweekly
written reports to the federal banking agencies and the state banking agency of its efforts
to test and implement a Year 2000 ready System.
7. By June 30, 1999, TransAlliance shall prepare and submit a written Year 2000
business resumption contingency plan to mitigate operational risks that may be caused by
failures of TransAlliance’s core business processes, including customer service. The plan,

which shall be submitted to the federal and state banking agencies’ representative

set forth

in paragraph 8 hereof and be acceptable to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco,
shall, at a minimum, address, consider, and include the following:
(a) primary objectives, including, but not limited to, minimizing disruptions of
service to financial institution customers and the timely resumption of operations;
(b) specific recovery steps for each core business function and product;
(c) a method of validating the plan for effectiveness and viability; and
(d) a requirement for the periodic update of the plan as needs and
circumstances

require.

8. Communications

regarding this Agreement shall be sent to (a) James D.

Benson, Presdient and Chief Executive Officer, on behalf of TransAlliance, and
(b) Harold Blum, Director, Banking Supervision and Regulation Department,
Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 101 Market Street, San Francisco, California

Federal
94105, on

behalf of the federal banking agencies and the state banking agency.

9. Each provision of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect unless
or until amended by mutual consent of the parties to the Agreement, or stayed, modified,
terminated, or suspended in writing by joint agreement of the federal banking agencies.

10. This Agreement shall become effective as of the date it is executed by all of
the federal banking agencies.

11. This Agreement is a “written agreement” for the purposes of 12 U.S.C.
5 18 18 and $ 1786(s)(l)(A),

and TransAlliance waives the right to chihenge the validity

of the Agreement under these statutes or any other provision of law.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, TransAlliance and the federal banking agencies, acting
through their duly authorized representatives,

have executed this Agreement.

edit Union Administration

Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System

Ofice of the Comptroller

of the Currency

Secretary of the Board
for Bank Supervision

Office of Thrift Supervision

Deputy Director

Division of Supervision

Date:

5/17/99

Date:

7

Fb7b9

In concurrence with the foregoing Agreement Between TransAlliance,
Banking Agencies:

State of Washington
Department of Financial Institutions

Date:

/‘7/,

1993

L.P. And The Federal