SEC Hosts International Roundtable On Interactive Data

by Philip Morton, Investors Offshore.com

09 June 2008

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced last Wednesday the list of panelists scheduled to participate in the International Roundtable on Interactive Data for Public Financial Reporting scheduled for 10th June.

The Roundtable follows the issuance on 30th May of a proposed rule on Interactive Data to Improve Financial Reporting.

Financial reporting in interactive data format relies on computer “tags” that function like bar codes to identify each item on an income statement or balance sheet.

With every number individually labelled, investors, analysts, financial journalists and others can easily use the information within spreadsheets and analytical software.

The ease of producing analysis is expected to generate many free and low-cost new services to investors on the Internet once most companies’ financial information is reported this way.

A number of countries already require public companies to provide their financial reports in interactive data. Others, including the United States, are proposing to require it. Still others are currently considering it.

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed on 14th May, 2008, to require US reporting companies to provide their financial statements and footnotes in interactive data starting, for large companies, with reporting periods ending on or after 15th December, 2008.

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Chairman Christopher Cox will open the Roundtable, the SEC announced ahead of its Monday launch.

Proposed topics to be discussed at the Roundtable were to include the experience in countries that have already adopted interactive data; the views of countries currently considering adopting interactive data; and the perspectives from analysts and users of financial information about how best to take advantage of the capabilities of interactive data.

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