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Locke, Joanne; Lymer, Andrew and Lowe, Alan (2009). Digital reporting options for Europe: a socio-technical analysis of interactive data from the perspective of non-professional investors. ICAEW, London.
URL: http://www.icaew.com/~/media/Files/Technical/Resea...
Abstract
On 17 December 2008 the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted in favour of phasing in the mandatory submission of digital reporting using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). The SEC’s interactive data project is the most significant adoption of XBRL for financial reporting purposes to date because of the proportion of the world’s capital markets affected and because the SEC has a mandate to disseminate reports for the benefit of all investors. It means that within the next few years there will be free access to large numbers of tagged company reports for a significant portion of the world’s capital market. The SEC’s stated motivation in the interactive data project is to protect non-professional investors (Cox, 2007), who as a group are often claimed to be a focus for capital market regulators and accounting standard setters.
This Briefing reports the findings of a detailed analysis of the social and technical factors that were important in the development of the SEC’s interactive data project and assesses the prospects for a similar development in Europe. We have used the perspective of non-professional investors in a wide-ranging, multi-method study. As well as qualitative analysis using interviews and focus groups, an experiment was conducted to compare the use of PDF and interactive data in investment decision making. The study contributes to an understanding of non-professional investors as stakeholders in the interactive data project and any similar potential development in Europe.
Locke, Joanne; Lymer, Andrew and Lowe, Alan (2009). Digital reporting options for Europe: a socio-technical analysis of interactive data from the perspective of non-professional investors. ICAEW, London.
URL: http://www.icaew.com/~/media/Files/Technical/Resea...
Abstract
On 17 December 2008 the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted in favour of phasing in the mandatory submission of digital reporting using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL). The SEC’s interactive data project is the most significant adoption of XBRL for financial reporting purposes to date because of the proportion of the world’s capital markets affected and because the SEC has a mandate to disseminate reports for the benefit of all investors. It means that within the next few years there will be free access to large numbers of tagged company reports for a significant portion of the world’s capital market. The SEC’s stated motivation in the interactive data project is to protect non-professional investors (Cox, 2007), who as a group are often claimed to be a focus for capital market regulators and accounting standard setters.
This Briefing reports the findings of a detailed analysis of the social and technical factors that were important in the development of the SEC’s interactive data project and assesses the prospects for a similar development in Europe. We have used the perspective of non-professional investors in a wide-ranging, multi-method study. As well as qualitative analysis using interviews and focus groups, an experiment was conducted to compare the use of PDF and interactive data in investment decision making. The study contributes to an understanding of non-professional investors as stakeholders in the interactive data project and any similar potential development in Europe.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2009 |