See also:

2004 RRSP Contribution Period Edit

Important Change to RESP Beneficiary Indicator Edit

Update: Empty Settlement Instruction Files

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

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By Dominic Ionadi

ESG Standards Version 15 was published on November 24, 2003 after a one-month industry comment period (the draft version was published on October 14, 2003). It is important to review the "What's New" section for specific information about standards changes.

ESG V15 will be implemented on October 12, 2004 and will be the only standards release next year. Any questions regarding the standards should be sent to the Electronic Standards Group (ESG) by e-mail to esg@fundserv.com.

Testing Information

The scope of changes being introduced in ESG V15 requires all FundSERV customers with unique back office systems to participate in formal testing.

Thorough testing of the Transaction Forwarding System (TFS), File Forwarding System (FFS) and Net Settlement Reporting (NSR) with "live" business partners will be part of a standard test script defined by the FundSERV testing department. Fund companies are also requested to complete regression testing of all standard fixed-length file types.

There are six two-week cycles available for end-to-end testing. The first cycle begins on June 21, 2004, with the final cycle ending on September 10, 2004. Each of the cycles will be configured to have an equal number of distributors and fund companies. During the cycles, participating companies will be monitored to ensure that they can meet the prescribed testing requirements. Customers that are successful will obtain signoff from FundSERV at the end of their cycle and their status will be posted on the technical Web site.

The ESG V15 testing environment continues to be available for all customers during the formal cycles and until implementation, regardless of when their scheduled testing cycle begins and ends.

The testing calendar is available on the technical Web site. For more information, or to sign up for a particular cycle, please send your request to testing@fundserv.com.

Connectivity Testing

Changes to network communication protocols require all customers accessing FundSERV through a direct router connection to undergo a connectivity test prior to commencing their regular ESG V15 testing. The interactive interface uses WebsphereMQ (formerly IBM MQ Series), a messaging middleware package that allows data transmission between applications across a TCP/IP network. These tests are scheduled to take place in February 2004.

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