NEW YORK, March 24, 2008 – SWIFT, the financial messaging provider for more than 8,500 institutions, and XBRL US, the nonprofit consortium for XML business reporting standards in the U.S. marketplace, announced today that Chris Church, SWIFT CEO of Americas and Global Head of Securities, is joining the board of directors for XBRL US.
The board of directors provides oversight to XBRL US, which is responsible for developing the dictionary of reporting elements in XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) format, used by the business information supply chain to prepare, publish, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. SWIFT will play a key role in providing technical and business expertise for standards development and extending the reach of XBRL standards formats through the entire SWIFT community.
“SWIFT is joining the board of directors for XBRL US to reaffirm its commitment to work with the industry to define standards, shape market practice and develop solutions to issues of mutual interest,” said Mr. Church. “The work XBRL US does in facilitating the reporting of public company filings, combined with SWIFT’s expertise and presence in the financial sector, will substantially increase automation in activities such as corporate actions, financial disclosure filings and accounting reports,” Mr. Church added.
“SWIFT’s presence on our board of directors will enhance the overall adoption of XBRL in the U.S. and globally with the co-operative’s 8,500 institutions worldwide,” said Mark Bolgiano, President and CEO, XBRL US. “The appointment of Chris Church furthers our commitment to work on the use of structured data in the capital markets. Chris’s experience in this area will serve us well as we develop new tools and dictionaries of terms for XBRL reporting.”
Mr. Church brings more than 20 years of experience in the financial services sector to the XBRL US board of directors. He joined SWIFT in August 2008 as Chief Executive Americas and Global Head of Securities from BT Global Financial Services, where he served as Managing Director of Radianz Services for approximately two years. Mr. Church was part of the executive team that founded Radianz in 2000, taking on the role of Head of Global Sales & Marketing, until its acquisition by BT in 2005. Previously, Mr. Church held senior positions at Reuters in both London and the U.S.
“DTCC views XBRL as a critical component of ensuring that key industry data can be processed ‘straight through’ from issuer to ultimate investor,” said Donald F. Donahue, Chairman and CEO, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and XBRL US board member. “SWIFT’s participation on the XBRL US board will help further this goal by promoting the integration of XBRL with the industry’s standard communications protocols, making financial transactions more efficient.”
SWIFT members are looking to conduct a full range of financial transactions across a common market infrastructure and communications platform,” said Theodore Rothschild, Executive Director Global Market Infrastructures, J.P. Morgan Treasury and Securities Services. “By working with XBRL in the U.S., SWIFT is taking a tremendous step towards these goals, ultimately driving down the cost of securities processing and increasing the ROI of our existing market infrastructure investments. DTCC and SWIFT working together to integrate XBRL is an even more powerful combination of forces. Mr. Church joins a board of directors that includes:
- Alfred R. Berkeley, Chairman and CEO, Pipeline Trading Systems, Chair, XBRL US
- Donald F. Donahue, Chairman and CEO, DTCC
- Barry Melancon, President and CEO, AICPA
- Randy Fletchall, Vice Chair, AABS Professional Practice & Risk Management, Ernst & Young LLP
- Taylor Hawes, Controller, Global Platforms and Operations, Microsoft Corporation
- Sunir Kapoor, President and CEO, UBmatrix
- Phillip Moyer, President and CEO, Edgar Online
- Mike Starr, Chief Operating Officer, Grant Thornton International
- Sam Ranzilla, Partner-in-Charge, Professional Practice, KPMG
- David Sharpe, Partner, National Professional Services Group, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Michael Schlanger, Vice President, Business Development and Strategy of Merrill Corporation
- Charles Callan, Senior Vice President of Broadridge Financial Solutions
- Mohamoud Jibrell, Chief Technology Officer of The Ford Foundation
- Raymond Lewis, Partner, Deloitte
XBRL US is responsible for developing the US GAAP Taxonomies under a contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The 2009 Release of the taxonomies is now available for public review at www.xbrl.us/usgaappublicreview.
About SWIFT
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect over 8,500 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in more than 200 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.
About XBRL
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe business and financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the information supply chain by utilizing a standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish in a variety of formats, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. XBRL International is a non-profit consortium of approximately 550 organizations worldwide working together to build the XBRL language and promote and support its adoption. XBRL International is responsible for the technical XBRL specification and each country-specific jurisdiction works to facilitate the development and adoption of local XBRL taxonomies, or dictionaries, consistent with accounting, regulatory, and market standards and practices.
About XBRL US
XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XML business reporting standards in the United States and is a jurisdiction of XBRL International. It represents the business information supply chain, including accounting firms, software companies, financial databases, financial printers and government agencies. Its mission is to support the implementation of XML business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies relevant for use by US public and private sectors, working with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting adoption of these taxonomies through the collaboration of all business reporting supply chain participants. XBRL US has developed taxonomies to support U.S. GAAP and common reporting practices under a contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies are available for review at http://xbrl.us/usgaappublicreview/Pages/default.aspx.
Source: XBRL US, Inc.
Links: www.xbrl.us
Contacts
XBRL US, Inc.
Michelle Savage, Vice President, Communication
917-747-1714
michelle.savage@xbrl.us
