Washington, DC, October 15, 2008 – XBRL US, the nonprofit consortium for XML business reporting standards in the U.S. marketplace, today announced that Donald F. Donahue, Chairman and CEO of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) would join its Board of Directors. DTCC is also becoming a member of the XBRL US consortium. Mr. Donahue is a 20-year veteran of DTCC and The Depository Trust Company (DTC), and previously served as DTCC’s Chief Operating Officer, head of Customer Marketing and Development and DTC’s Chief Information Officer, among other roles.
DTCC subsidiaries provide clearing, settlement and information services for equities, corporate and municipal bonds, government and mortgage-backed securities, money market instruments, as well as over-the-counter derivatives. In 2007, DTCC settled more than $1.86 quadrillion in securities transactions. XBRL US is responsible for the development of the collection of business and financial terms (taxonomies) for US GAAP reporting, developed under contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Its mission is to develop these collections of terms for private and public sector business reporting applications and to promote the use of the XBRL standard.
“Don’s strategic vision and vast experience in the securities marketplace will be a tremendous asset to XBRL US,” said Alfred R. Berkeley, Chairman, Pipeline Financial Systems LLC and Chair, XBRL US Board, “The expansion of the XBRL US work program into reference data is a logical next step to making XML-based information for business information reporting ubiquitous.”
The use of structured XBRL data for corporate actions can enable the direct flow of electronically- tagged corporate action announcement information to all parties, thereby improving the efficiency, timeliness and accuracy of the communication between issuers and investors. XBRL US and DTCC are in the process of developing a prototype collection of terms (taxonomy) for use with corporate actions data.
“Structured data is a concept that has been long awaited and that will dramatically improve the efficiency of securities transactions and tracking,” said Mr. Donahue. “As members of XBRL US, DTCC will provide the subject matter expertise to the development of data standards – usable by issuers as well as market professionals – that will be more accurate, better defined and easier to process. We are excited about the opportunity to make a significant contribution on the flow of information in the capital markets.”
Mark Bolgiano, President and CEO, XBRL US recently presented on XBRL and corporate actions at the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) conference, Sibos 2008 in Vienna, Austria, on September 16, 2008. Sibos is one of the largest financial services industry events, attracting over 7,000 participants and covering all sectors of the financial community.
XBRL US is hosting a press conference today (10/15/08) from 2:30 pm -3:30 pm EDT at the 18th XBRL International Conference, Reagan Building and International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. This session will cover XBRL US development initiatives including corporate actions. David Hands, Director, Product Management, DTCC Solutions will be available for questions related to the corporate actions prototype taxonomy and to Mr. Donahue’s appointment to the XBRL US Board of Directors. To get a complimentary media pass, reporters can come directly to registration at the conference. Alternatively, conference call dial in access will be available at (866) 835 – 8906 (US toll free) or (703) 639 – 1413.
About XBRL
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the financial 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 500 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 US GAAP and common reporting practices under a contract with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The XBRL US GAAP Taxonomies are available for public comment at http://usgaap.xbrl.us.
About DTCC
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), through its subsidiaries, provides clearance, settlement and information services for equities, corporate and municipal bonds, government and mortgage-backed securities, money market instruments and over-the-counter derivatives. In addition, DTCC is a leading processor of mutual funds and insurance transactions, linking funds and carriers with financial firms and third parties who market these products. DTCC’s depository provides custody and asset servicing for more than 3.5 million securities issues from the United States and 110 other countries and territories, valued at $40 trillion. Last year, DTCC settled more than $1.8 quadrillion in securities transactions. DTCC has operating facilities in multiple locations in the United States and overseas. For more information on DTCC, visit www.dtcc.com.
Source: XBRL US, Inc
Contact: Michelle Savage, Vice President, Communication, XBRL US, Inc., michelle.savage@xbrl.us, 917-747-1714
