SPeRS 2.0 Released

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - Nov 29, 2011) - The Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures version 2.0 was unveiled at the Annual Meeting of the Electronic Signatures and Records Association (ESRA) in Washington, D.C., earlier this month. This new version of SPeRS (SPeRS 2.0) reflects current e-commerce business practices and updates applicable electronic record and signature case law and federal regulatory developments since SPeRS was originally published in 2003. The update also examines nationwide developments in the evolving area of electronic notarization laws.

SPeRS is a technology-neutral set of guidelines and strategies for industry use in designing and implementing systems for electronic transactions under the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) and state adoptions of the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). SPeRS 2.0 updates the groundbreaking guidance contained in SPeRS 1.0, developed by a broad cross-section of leading financial service companies and trade associations (list of participants: www.spers.org).

John Taggart, Chair of the SPeRS Drafting Committee, said, "This resource gives design teams, vendors, and business users a common base upon which to build electronic platforms and documents. At the same time, it will provide consumers and other users with a 'common experience' across many online transactions. It will increase user comfort with electronic records and signatures."

SPeRS has been adopted by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), and by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a technical standard approved by ANSI's Accredited Standards Committee, X9: ANS X9.103-2004 (Motor Vehicle Retail Sale and Lease Electronic Contracting).

Margo Tank, a partner at the law firm of BuckleySandler LLP, and who serves as Co-Reporter for the SPeRS, commented that, "The release of SPeRS 2.0 is very timely as companies race to deploy technology to remain viable in a competitive marketplace. SPeRS remains the 'must-have' resource for companies implementing electronic transactions."

SPeRS is available for purchase via Laura Schoen at +1-202-349-8067.

About ESRA (www.esignrecords.org): The Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA) mission is to be a centralized educational resource for its members and the public with respect to legal, regulatory and operational issues related to the use and acceptance of electronic signatures and records.

About BuckleySandler LLP (www.buckleysandler.com): With over 150 lawyers in Washington, DC, Los Angeles, and New York, BuckleySandler provides best-in-class legal counsel to meet the challenges of its financial services industry and other corporate and individual clients across the full-range of government enforcement actions, complex and class action litigation, and transactional, regulatory, and public policy issues. The Firm represents many of the nation's leading financial services institutions. "The best at what they do in the country." (Chambers USA).