For IROs, XBRL errors a wake-up call
WITH financial data providers increasingly using XBRL filings in the numbers they deliver to Wall Street, poor corporate reporting controls are threatening company reputations and raising the specter of investors making trading decisions based on faulty figures.
WebFilings causes a stir with easy-to-use financial reporting tool
A NEW company is causing a stir in investor relations and corporate reporting circles with its financial reporting software that makes it a snap for companies to confidently create multiple disclosure documents that automatically update when figures are changed in a single spreadsheet.
Ex-SEC leaders challenge Cox's interactive data initiative
TWO influential US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alumni have raised concerns that broadening the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) to non-financial information will increase disclosure costs, raise difficult legal liability issues, and create burdens on companies that are “formidable in the extreme.” Former SEC commissioner and Stanford Law School professor Joseph Grundfest, [...]
SEC's new guidance for websites and blogs posted
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published its 47-page interpretive release that explains how companies can use their websites and blogs to meet its requirements for public disclosure under Regulation FD. Here’s a Scribd version of the complete release, which can also be downloaded in PDF from the SEC’s website. See my initial [...]
SEC to rule soon on websites for Reg. FD
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to address within the next three months whether companies can meet their obligations under Regulation FD by posting information on their corporate websites and in RSS feeds, according SEC Chairman Chris Cox. The issue is among three areas that the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Improvements to [...]
Lack of earnings call archives attracts attention
A lack of earnings conference call archives on companies’ investor relations websites has attracted attention from an SEC committee, but it is not suggesting regulatory action. Indeed, a lack of archives might be a useful indicator for investors.
XBRL group assesses SEC rule impact
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission’s plan to make eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) mandatory starting next year will have few immediate benefits for companies and investors, the body charged with promoting the technology has said. XBRL US says in a sobering white paper published on Friday that while companies won’t have much difficulty meeting [...]
SEC proposes rule to make XBRL mandatory
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is proposing a rule for all companies to file their annual and quarterly reports in eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) on a staged basis over the next three years. Under the proposal, the 500 largest companies — including foreign firms that use US GAAP — will begin filing [...]
SEC to mandate XBRL. Yes, panic.
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will meet on Monday (April 21) to consider making XBRL mandatory, probably starting with large companies next year. It’s not a surprising development by any stretch, but it is a momentous one. The big question is who will be first in line to be required to use XBRL. [...]
Associations put online IR in spotlight
THE North American investor relations associations appear to be putting web-based disclosure on the front burner as the Internet moves to center stage and securities regulators increasingly rely on corporate websites to deliver information to investors. Earlier this week, Jeff Morgan, the new President and CEO of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), called to [...]
How to fix e-proxy
A WEEK ago, I called the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) notice-and-access process for delivering annual meeting materials on the web “one gigantic flop from an investor protection perspective.” I think it’s worth beating that drum a little louder in light of the latest statistics from Broadridge Financial Solutions showing a sharp drop in [...]
SEC adds free news feeds to EDGAR
IN A move that portends dramatic changes in how disclosures are disseminated online, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has added news feeds for every issuer and reporting person who files with the commission’s EDGAR database. The development is potentially bad news for news release distributors such as Business Wire, owned by Berkshire Hathaway, [...]
SEC releases Financial Explorer for XBRL
THE US Securities and Exchange Commission is hoping to boost private sector development of XBRL tools for investors with the launch of a new graphic-rich interactive data viewer. The Financial Explorer application will be released under an open-source license to enable developers to create tools for investors to read and analyze company financial reports tagged [...]
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