The Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) promises to change the way municipal bond issuers prepare financials and other continuing disclosures. While the content of financials and disclosures will remain the same, the FDTA calls for data to be submitted in structured, machine-readable format. This 1 ½ day workshop will address the implications for stakeholders: governments, municipal analysts and portfolio managers, data and analytics tool providers, and regulators.
Day 1 will focus on the needs of governments as issuers and obligors, and the organizations that support their disclosures, from the accounting and legal profession, to software providers.
Day 2 will consider the practical application of data standards to government reporting, addressing how digital data standards (taxonomies) are developed, and how data can be collected and disseminated by regulators. Both days will include brainstorming sessions among attendees to discuss and gather input about how to handle challenges that are unique to government entities and government reporting.
Seating is Limited – REGISTER TODAY
| Agenda – Day One | |
| 12:00 – 12:10 PM | Opening Remarks
Stephanie Leiser, Lecturer in Public Policy, University of Michigan; Chair, XBRL US Standard Government Reporting Working Group |
| 12:10 – 12:45 PM | Keynote Presentation: TBD |
| 12:45 – 1:05 PM | What will the SEC propose in its rule for municipal securities?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will prepare a rule proposal addressing FDTA requirements related to transparency in the municipal securities market and will give stakeholders the opportunity to comment. Like other proposals, it is likely to include: types of entities covered, potential for a phase in, timing, disclosure document requirements, and estimated costs. Attend this session to review potential proposal topics which will provide the framework for discussions throughout the day and a half conference. Speaker: Campbell Pryde, President, and CEO, XBRL US |
| 1:05 – 1:50 PM | Large Government Issuer Panel
Large government entities which may be general purpose or special districts, are more likely to have resources and staffing than small entities, but their financials may be more complex, and demands on their team may be greater. This session will present views from several large government reporting entities on how they work today, and how the FDTA could impact them in future. Find out about the challenges, and the potential benefits they expect. Speakers:
Moderated by Cornelia Chebinou, Washington Director, National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers (NASACT) |
| 1:50 – 2:35 PM | Small Government Issuer Panel
Resource and staffing constraints are often challenges for small reporting entities. Small governments are more likely to be special districts, or entities that may have a bond issue once every five years, if that. Attend this session for an inside look at the challenges they face today, and a discussion of the pros and cons of structured data standards and the possibility of greater transparency they bring. |
| 2:35 – 3:20 PM | Professional Services Panel
Accounting and legal firms have an important role in helping governments issue securities and manage ongoing disclosure requirements. Learn how these firms work with governments today and what they view as the potential wins and difficulties in transitioning to machine-readable financials and other disclosures. Will their role change? What can they do to make it easier for governments? Speakers:
|
| 3:20 – 3:35 PM | Break |
| 3:35 – 4:30 PM | Breakout Session – Managing Stakeholder Priorities
Attendees will break into groups for brainstorming and discussion about how to balance the needs of different types of government entities and other municipal market players. Individual group findings will be collected and presented to all attendees. |
| 4:30 – 5:00 PM | Software to Support Data Standardization
Data standards that are open, nonproprietary and widely used are most effective at supporting technology standardization particularly those adopted by regulators. The ability to use data standards through open-source and commercial tools is just as critical to ensure low cost, innovation and standards that adapt to change over time. This session will address the importance of a competitive marketplace of tools. |
| 5:00 – 6:00 PM | Networking Reception |
| Agenda – Day Two | |
| 8:30 – 9:15 AM | Conversation with the Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC) Office of Municipal Securities, and the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
Join an open discussion about the implications of the FDTA on municipal bond issuers and other market participants. Speakers:
|
| 9:15 – 10:00 AM | Case Study: Data Standards Development for Public Companies
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), as the accounting standard setter for public companies, is responsible for maintaining and developing the US GAAP Taxonomy which is used by 6000 companies every quarter when preparing their financial statements. This session will address how the taxonomy was developed, how it is updated to adapt to changes in accounting standards, and how companies transition each quarter. The FASB Chief of Taxonomy Development will address how a single set of standards was able to accommodate different kinds of businesses, and the reporting of company-specific terms. Speakers:
|
| 10:00 – 10:15 AM | Break |
| 10:15 – 10:45 AM | Getting Started: Government Reporting Data Standards
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) sets accounting standards for states and local governments. GASB is developing a GAAP taxonomy to assist in the implementation of electronic financial reporting for governments. Attend this session to learn about the unique challenges in developing standards for the municipal marketplace to support GAAP financial reporting including government wide financial statements, combining schedules, notes to financial statements (disclosures), required supplementary information. Additional discussions are planned about handling different types of governments, the need for entity specific information, as well as changes in accounting standards over time. Speaker: Paulina Haro, Senior Project Manager, Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Moderated by Christine Kuglin, JD, CPA, LLM, Daniels College of Business, University of Denver |
| 10:45 – 11:45 | Investor and Analyst Panel
Portfolio managers, municipal analysts, and credit rating agencies will address the challenges with the current state of reporting, and how access to information about municipalities could change with implementation, and the implications for municipal market participants. Speakers:
|
| 11:45 – 12:45 PM | Case Study: Regulatory Data Collection and Dissemination
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) collects thousands of structured, machine-readable financials from public companies and investment management companies every year. The reporting entities they oversee use taxonomies built by accounting standard setters like the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), and taxonomies the SEC builds themselves. This session will explore the process of data collection and dissemination at the SEC and will address questions such as: How do the SEC make XBRL data available to the public? How does the SEC work with the FASB which is responsible for the taxonomy used by public companies? How are taxonomies built internally by the Commission for reporting information outside of the financial statements? How do vendors interface with the SEC and with the SEC Electronic Data Gathering and Retrieval (EDGAR) System to support the disclosure process? Insights gleaned during this session could help inform the process that government may begin following in future. Speakers:
|
| 12:45 – 1:45 PM | Lunch |
| 1:45 – 2:45 PM | Navigating Municipal Bond Data in EMMA
The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) launched its Electronic Municipal Markets Access (EMMA) system in 2008. The freely available EMMA website contains comprehensive data and documents about municipal bonds that portfolio managers, analysts, and researchers use every day to find critical, market-moving information about securities under consideration or in which they invest. The passage of the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) offers a unique opportunity for the EMMA system to leverage structured, machine-readable municipal bond issuance data, improving the efficiency with which stakeholders can find and quickly consume data. This session will address who uses EMMA and how, the challenges they encounter and how access to more easily identified, machine-structured could change the usability of the EMMA system. Speakers:
|
| 2:45 – 3:00 PM | Break |
| 3:00 – 4:00 PM | Breakouts – Technology Discussion
Attendees will break into groups for discussion about how to leverage data standards and technology to address the needs of issuers and data users, efficiently and effectively. How can AI be used? How can the taxonomy be structured to address all stakeholder needs? What are the transition challenges faced by issuers? Attendees will reconvene to present their findings. |
| 4:00 – 5:00 PM | Grants Reporting Efficiency and Transparency (GREAT) Act
Requirements under the GREAT Act intersect with those of the FDTA for nonprofit and government entities. The FDTA apppears to be moving forward towards implementation much faster than the GREAT Act, which was signed into law in 2019. What is the status of the GREAT Act today, and how might it unfold in future, particularly with FDTA up ahead. |
