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Europe is transitioning to the EMU Euro on January 1, 2002. You will need to take action to respond to changes in currency disbursements and currency deposits. Please take the time to read the following information carefully. The transition of the National Currency Units (NCU) to the EMU Euro will impact your ability to process foreign currency checks deposited on a Credit Voucher or issue Foreign Currency Drafts in the NCU currencies after the conversion date. Keep in mind that these changes also apply to any checks in these currencies deposited directly into lockbox accounts or checking accounts so you may elect to include a warning message in your billing statements. Beginning January 1, 2002, the following NCUs will no longer be available: Austrian Schilling, Belgian Franc, Deutsche Mark, Finnish Markka, French Franc, Greek Drachma, Irish Pound, Italian Lira , Netherlands Guilder, Portuguese Escudo, and the Spanish Peseta. These currencies will be transitioned to the EMU Euro (EUR). Cash Management will begin disbursing foreign currency drafts using the EUR effective December 1, 2001. During the transition the European Commission has established a fixed conversion rate between NCUs and the EUR. The conversion table is as follows:
ATS-Austrian
Schilling ATS / 13.7603 = EUREUR x 13.7603 = ATS You can be assured that the EUR is a completely acceptable alternative to NCUs. For example, if a payment is requested in NCU or the beneficiary maintains an NCU account, an EUR equivalent payment may be sent without any loss or inconvenience to the beneficiary. Items
disbursed by Harvard University:No NCU cheques will be issued
by Cash Management after the December 1, 2001 deadline.
NCU cheques
issued to a vendor by Harvard University prior to December 1st,
will be accepted for clearing by Citibank until February 15,
2002. After this date, any uncleared cheques will be processed
on a collection basis, subject to the validity period of the
cheque. This means higher charges per item and significant processing
delays. It is also important to note that the beneficiaries
may incur additional charges if they deposit an NCU cheques
after January 1, 2002. Items
deposited on behalf of Harvard University:
For items
deposited through Cash Receipts on a Credit Voucher, the banks
will continue to accept NCUs until February 14, 2002. The items
deposited must be dated prior to January 1, 2002. These items
will be processed by the banks as a provisional credit or a
clean collection. Beginning February 15, 2002 the banks will only clear NCU denominated checks on a clean collection and reasonable efforts basis, according to the final deadline established by each EMU country. We will no longer receive provisional credit for these currencies. The banks will not accept NCU currency checks dated January 1, 2002 or later.
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