SEC March 19 XBRL Panel To Focus On Issuers, Investors

March 8, 2007

FEI Summary

On March 8, 2007, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced it will hold a public roundtable on March 19 on: “Creating Interactive Data to Serve Investors.”  

Issuers

·         John White, Director of the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance, will discuss the creation of interactive financial reports by public companies

·         The roundtable will feature a panel discussion on the benefits, including potential cost savings, of preparing financial reports using interactive data written in a computer language called XBRL.

·         Panelists will include executives at public companies currently providing investors with interactive data on a test basis as part of the SEC's voluntary filing program.

Investors

·         SEC Chairman Christopher Cox will give opening remarks at the roundtable. In announcing the program, Cox said: "This looks to be an exciting event, with plenty of show-and-tell illustrations of the latest software tools for investors.”

·         Vanguard Group Chairman and CEO John J. Brennan will be the keynote speaker, and is  expected to discuss how the new interactive data will allow investors to easily gather and compare mutual fund risk and return information, including costs and performance that might otherwise be buried deep within disclosure documents.

Event will be Webcast

·         The SEC’s March 19 roundtable on XBRL will be webcast.

·         The link to the live webcast will be available here: http://www.sec.gov/news/otherwebcasts.shtml

Prepared March 8, 2007 by Edith Orenstein eorenstein@FinancialExecutives.org Director of Technical Policy Analysis, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not represent FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.