Transcript Slide 1

SEC Staff Briefing:
The Roll-out of Interactive Data Reporting
for US-listed Public Companies
David M. Blaszkowsky,
Director, Office of Interactive Disclosure
XBRL Canada Conference
Toronto
5 November 2009
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Disclaimer
As a matter of policy, the Securities and
Exchange Commission disclaims
responsibility for the private statements
of SEC employees. The views I am
expressing today are solely my own, and
do not reflect the views of the
Commission, the Commissioners, or of
any employees other than myself.
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Interactive Data / XBRL:
“News From the Front”
Mandate started 15 June – How is it working?
 First Reporting period in XBRL went well
>500 filings, >10 percent are Phase II/III “early” filers
 First detail-tagged, first 10K submissions
 Includes Canadian, other foreign private issuers
Companies can tag successfully
 Modest cost, modest time
 Learning curve: Most frequent problems are the most basic,
easiest
 “Best practices” starting
 Benefits of a large, comprehensive taxonomy
“User-side” awakening
 Investor applications emerging
 Investor interest increasing
Concerns about detailed footnote tagging
Staff are reviewing XBRL exhibits for technical quality, tag choice, etc.
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“Interactive Data” Add Structure and
Meaning to Filed Financial Disclosures
B-S
“Taxonomy”
Label:
Net Sales
Tag:
NetSales
Metadata: - Currency
- Year
- Amount
- Scenario
- Value
P&L
US-GAAP:
List of Tags
Mapping
Tagging
Flows
OR: an “Extension”
Footnotes
Footnotes (Block, Detailed)
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Why is Interactive Data Important for
Company Information?
Filers/Corporations
 Process improvements and
savings
 Easier/Faster compliance
 Better communication,
visibility to investors
 Especially
caps
for mid/small-
Buy-side
 “Faster, cheaper, better”
 As-reported, and complete
 No introduced errors
 More useful, more functionality
 Higher analysis/analyst
productivity
 Improved comparability
Improved Market Efficiency
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Public Company Reporting Using
Interactive Data
 What will be required
 Who and when
 Important additional features
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What Will Be Required
 Content:

Primary financial statements (IS, BS, etc.)
 Footnotes
 Financial statement schedules.
 Certain company identifier information (“DEI”)
 Forms
 Periodic Reports (10Q, 10K, 20F, 40F)
 Transition Reports
 Reports on Forms 8-K and 6-K with revised audited versions of
financial statements
 Securities Act registration statements (S-1, S-3, S-4, S-11, F-1, F-3,
F-4, F-9, F-10)
 Not IPOs
 Interactive data requirements are provided as an exhibit
 “Disclosure Neutrality”
 Posting to the Filer’s website, if it has one, same business day, for at
least 12 months
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Phase-in Schedule
What?
Who?
Year 1
Year 2
Filer Group
Domestic/Foreign Large
Accelerated Filers Using US GAAP
• Public Float >$5 billion
• All other Large/Accelerated
Filers
All other Filers in US GAAP
(including smaller reporting
companies)
All Issuers using IFRS as
published by the IASB
• Face Financials: All
facts
• Footnotes: Block tag
each footnote
• Schedules: Block tag
each schedule
• All from first year
• Footnotes:
• Each significant
accounting policy
• Block tag each table
• Tag each amount
• Schedules: Tag each
amount
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Phase-in Schedule
When?
Who?
Filer Group
Year 1
Year 2
Begin with the first 10Q (or annual, for 20F/40F filers)
for periods ending after 15 June
Domestic/Foreign Large
Accelerated Filers Using US GAAP
• Public Float >$5 billion
2009
2010
• All other Large/Accelerated
Filers
2010
2011
All other Filers in US GAAP
(including smaller reporting
companies)
2011
2012
All foreign private issuers using
IFRS as published by the IASB
2011
2012
30 day grace period, from the filing date of the related report,
for the initial submission (by amendment) of interactive data exhibit
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Data reliability and non-compliance
 Data in the interactive data file submitted will be subject to a limited
liability
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Subject to specified anti-fraud provisions except in connection
with a failure to comply with the tagging requirements that occurs
despite a good faith attempt to comply and is corrected promptly
after the filer becomes aware of the failure
 Limited liability provision phase-out:
 Over a two-year period for each company.
 Provision would terminate completely on October 31, 2014.
 Interactive data files will be excluded from the officer certification
requirements under the Exchange Act rules
 No requirement of auditor assurance on their interactive data exhibits
 Filers that do not provide or post required interactive data on the date
required will be deemed not current with their Exchange Act reports
“Curable” by providing/posting the interactive data file
 SEC Interactive Data Previewer, and automated validations are helpful
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Thank You! Part 1…
Contact Information for Questions
 [email protected]
 202-551-4144
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Feedback and Findings
From Filings to Date
Extensions
 Check to ensure against unnecessary extensions

Recheck the taxonomy to make sure that a tag doesn’t
already exist
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Don’t create a new tag if a standard tag exists
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Tag choices could be questioned by staff or by the
marketplace
 If extending, include definition for monetary elements, and
describe whether it has debit/credit attribute
 Negative values vs. negated labels: understand the element
and its definition
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Taxonomy designed so that most elements have a positive
value
 Tags versus labels…
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Feedback and Findings
From Filings to Date(2)
 Labels: Make sure the labels match those of the traditional
(HTML) document exactly
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“Sales” vs. “Turnover”: Same tag, different label
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Labels can be extended without creating a new tag
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Use the pre-viewer to compare and check!
 Rendering aesthetics vs. tagging integrity
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XBRL is dependent on the integrity of the tags
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Focus on the accuracy of the tags, not the visual
appearance of the rendering
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Make sure element labels match line item captions
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Some differences cannot be avoided, e.g. indenting, fonts,
underlining, total/subtotal captions, brackets (on SSE)
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Feedback and Findings
From Filings to Date(3)
 Management review is prudent
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Senior management should have an opportunity to review
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Even if tagging is outsourced, they are still your financials
and tags
 Remember: Voluntary Filing Program is closed for most public
filers
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Public companies can only submit required filings

VFP only open for Article 6 and for mutual funds
 FPIs: IFRS filings cannot be provided yet
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Feedback and Findings
From Filings to Date(4)
Finally –
 Looking to make the Interactive Data roll-out effective and
smooth
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Check regularly for SEC staff comments and FAQs

Look for additional public information seminars
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Archive of 10 June 2009 event
http://www.connectlive.com/events/secinteractivedata061009/
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Reprise for the next phase of filers, and for footnotes
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Communicating with companies: web, phone, podcasts,
other media as appropriate
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Best practices will emerge
 Above all: Start early! Whether for phase 2 , or for footnotes!
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Thank You!
Contact Information for Questions
 [email protected]
 202-551-4144
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