XBRL US Announces XBRL and Corporate Actions Conference, NY City, December 10, 2012

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- XBRL US announced today, plans for a ½ day conference on XBRL and Corporate Actions to be held on December 10, 2012 in New York City, which will be co-sponsored by the Asset Managers Forum of SIFMA (Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association).  Topics covered will include results from a corporate actions pilot program and from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implementation of XBRL for regulatory reporting.  The conference will end with an open discussion addressing the need for XBRL in corporate actions processing. The event will be free to attendees but registration is required (http://xbrl.us/CorpActionsForum).

The conference is part of the Issuer to Investor: Corporate Actions initiative established by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), SWIFT and XBRL US. Bringing XBRL into the process is expected to improve data quality, and reduce cost and time in corporate actions processing through greater automation. Since the program was introduced, an XBRL taxonomy for corporate actions events has been developed based on the ISO 20022 corporate actions standard, covering events ranging from dividends to complex merger announcements. 

Separately, a pilot program has been established to create XBRL-formatted corporate actions announcements from Depositary Receipts (DRs), for downstream processing by stock exchanges, brokerage firms and investors.  XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a technology standard that makes business information computer-readable and more easily consumed. DRs are negotiable U.S. securities issued by depositary banks that represent a non-U.S. company's publicly traded equity. Corporate messages about DRs, such as dividend announcements, are sent from depositary banks to stock exchanges, investors and other intermediaries. These messages are often communicated as text, which requires re-keying by the various recipients, lengthening the process and raising the chance of inaccuracy.  BNY Mellon, Citi and JP Morgan are all involved in the pilot creating DR messages which are then conveyed to downstream consumers like the DTCC and Globetax.

"The XBRL standard makes perfect sense for corporate actions processing," said Alan Smith, Managing Director, Securities and Fund Services, Citigroup, "The results from this pilot program prove that implementing XBRL is not a costly endeavor, and can mean significant reductions in processing costs and greater accuracy and timeliness."

During the conference, speakers representing the corporate actions supply chain and other stakeholders to the process will join the event from organizations including BNY Mellon, Citi, DTCC, FINRA, GlobeTax, J.P. Morgan, Thomson Reuters, and XBRL US.

Specifics about the program:

When:  3:00 pm to 6:00 pm ET, followed by a cocktail reception until 7:30 pm

Where:  388 Greenwich Street, Soho & Greenwich Rooms

How:  Learn more and register at http://xbrl.us/corpactionsforum

About Asset Managers Forum

The Asset Managers Forum (AMF) is the leading industry group representing the buy-side operations community. AMF is organized under the umbrella of the SIFMA Asset Management Group. Dedicated to facilitating collaboration among the buy-side operations community, AMF brings together subject matter experts to discuss and develop practical solutions to highly topical operational challenges. The AMF's mission is to provide thought leadership and guidance on pertinent industry issues and to create a premier venue for operations professionals to develop and share best practices in order to drive industry change. 

About XBRL US

XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XBRL business reporting standards in the U.S. and it represents the business information supply chain. Its mission is to support the implementation of XBRL business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies for use by U.S. public and private sectors, with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting XBRL adoption through marketplace collaboration. XBRL US has developed taxonomies for U.S. GAAP, credit rating and mutual fund reporting under contract with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and has developed a taxonomy for corporate actions. Learn more at http://xbrl.us

Links:

XBRL US web site: http://xbrl.us
XBRL and Corporate Actions Forum:  http://xbrl.us/corpactionsforum

SOURCE XBRL US