Open XBRL in the US is a Vital Transparency Measure
We thought it would be helpful to identify what is going on in the United States with political proposals to restrict XBRL filing by certain public companies. To be clear, here at XBRL International we think that stepping back in time from digital reporting to a paper paradigm would be a shortsighted and significantly retrograde step.
Hudson Hollister of the Data Transparency Coalition
However, on 16 September 2014, the US House of Representatives passed legislation called H.R. 5405 seeking to limit the reporting obligations of smaller US public companies. Globally, the trend towards open data and transparency is very positive and for a variety of reasons this particular legislation is unlikely to advance. That said, XII and our members are always working to ensure that the drive towards structured data is uninterrupted, so on 17 September we sat down with Hudson Hollister, Executive Director of the DTC, the Data Transparency Coalition, to discuss what’s happening and why it matters.
Importantly we also hear why, as things stand, this Bill is unlikely to get any further.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this short podcast Hudson covers a lot of ground, including:
- What HR5405 is and how it came about.
- The background to this political measure to “reduce burden” on smaller listed companies in the United States
- The steps being taken by XBRL US and the DTC to educate policy makers
- The DTC’s strong recommendation that the SEC now act to inform both the markets and issuers about the importance of structured data for regulation and for market transparency.
Listen in to this important issue!
