Report sets out path for US financial data standardisation
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has published a new report evaluating the implementation of data standards under the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA), offering a detailed look at both the promise and the practicalities of standardised regulatory reporting across the federal government.
The report examines implementation of the FDTA, which requires US financial regulators to establish common data standards for regulatory reporting. Significant potential benefits are identified: standardised data and improved interoperability between agencies could sharpen regulatory oversight, enable more timely identification of compliance concerns, and reduce the reporting burden on filers by making it more efficient to submit financial reports across multiple agencies.
GAO notes that implementation remains in the early stages, with regulators still finalising a joint rule first proposed in August 2024. Once approved, individual agencies will issue their own rules applying the standards to their reporting frameworks.
Implementation will not be without challenges. Agencies will need to modernise legacy systems and manage the costs of data governance and interagency coordination, while reporting entities face their own costs in adapting processes and systems to new requirements.
Practitioners interviewed for the report suggested the FDTA could place the US on a path toward a mechanism similar to Standard Business Reporting (SBR), a government-wide reporting framework already established in countries including the Netherlands and Australia.
The GAO’s analysis represents a significant endorsement of standardised digital reporting infrastructure, which will play a growing role in regulatory modernisation efforts across the US.
Read the report and highlights here.
