The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued a request for information (RFI) to help identify ways to receive, store, view and analyse interactive financial data.
Since February, the SEC has been testing financial data tagging technology through a voluntary programme that allows registrants to file periodic and investment company reports using XBRL. The request for information solicits further information and ideas from the technology marketplace on how best to develop tools that will make interactive financial data a reality.
Although the Commission staff implemented a set of initial tools in conjunction with the launch of the voluntary programme, further refinements are needed to help accelerate the broader adoption of the standard among issuers and investors.
SEC Chairman Christopher Cox comments: "The use of interactive data, if widely adopted, may dramatically enhance the usefulness of reported financial information. Consumers of the data may be able to use it more easily and effectively. Potentially, computer-tagged data could provide real-time operational information for business managers. And its instant availability would dramatically streamline and accelerate the collection and reporting of that same financial information to the Commission and the public."