Bangladesh takes first steps towards iXBRL adoption
Last week, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) brought together regulators, auditors, exchanges and company leaders to chart the path towards digital financial reporting with Inline XBRL (iXBRL). The well-attended meeting concluded with strong consensus that Bangladesh must move towards structured, machine-readable reporting to strengthen investor confidence and regulatory oversight.
The Commission confirmed that an iXBRL Taxonomy Committee will be established to adapt International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) for local use. A phased implementation is planned, with an initial pilot of dual filing (PDF and iXBRL) with the country’s top 15 to 20 listed companies, expanding to the top 100 companies and mutual funds, and finally extending to banks, insurers, and brokers in partnership with their regulators. Ultimately, BSEC aims to build a national digital reporting platform, effectively a Bangladeshi EDGAR or EDINET, to enable cross-agency data sharing and transparency.
Commissioner MD Saifuddin, CFA underlined the ambition: “This is not about one regulator or one professional body — it is about building an ecosystem for the country. The project must be forward-looking, not regressive, and the benefits will cut across all stakeholders.”
Currently, most corporate reports in Bangladesh are filed as static PDFs or spreadsheets, making analysis difficult and duplicative.
This marks an important moment for Bangladesh. As the Commissioner observes, by embracing iXBRL the country can leapfrog into global best practice, strengthen its capital markets, and create a trusted financial ecosystem for the future. At XBRL International, we see Bangladesh building solid foundation for success, for example in its commitment to a carefully phased approach and to collaboration and communication among stakeholders.
Read the full post by BSEC Commissioner MD Saifuddin, CFA, on LinkedIn.
