November, 2023 Newsletter

November 2023

XBRL US GovFin 2023 Conference session videos now available. Hear the discussions with regulators from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Regulatory Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; standards organizations including the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), and the Global LEI Foundation; and municipal reporting experts from Funkhouser & Associates, Tenbar Capital and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

XBRL US Regulatory Modernization Working Group (RMWG) commented on SEC Rule Proposal for EDGAR Next. The working group submitted a comment letter in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed rule, EDGAR Filer Access and Account Management, also known as “EDGAR Next”. The letter addressed questions posed in the SEC proposal and raised specific concerns about: 1) the need for additional API functionality to keep administrators and users apprised and to limit loss of information when tokens expire; 2) complex protocols introduced by EDGAR Next that could create barriers to timely submission; and, 3) the need for training and transition timing appropriate for registrants and application developers to make the transition.

XBRL US commented on the SEC rule proposal for Registration for Index-Linked Annuities; Amendments to Form N-4 for Index-Linked and Variable Annuities. The proposal calls for amendments to align disclosures of registered index-linked annuities (RILA) with those of variable annuities, and to require the reporting of such data in structured, machine-readable format. XBRL US supported the proposal in the comment letter, noting that the amendments would improve the ability to compare RILA annuities to variable annuities and would be beneficial to investors.

SEC published a new rule proposal, Volume-Based Exchange Transaction Pricing for NMS Stocks. The rule would require exchanges to provide monthly disclosures in EDGAR in Inline XBRL.The Commission stated in the rule that this “…would further heighten transparency around exchange fee tier structures by facilitating more efficient retrieval, comparison, aggregation, and other analysis of fee tiers data on specific exchanges as well as across different exchanges and time periods. The use of Inline XBRL tags for proprietary volume-based pricing disclosures would thus make the disclosures more easily accessible to, and usable by, the Commission, exchange members, and the public, which in turn should allow for more efficient review of the impact of volume-based exchange transaction pricing.“

Get data from the XBRL API in your browser. Any logged in visitor has access to near-real-time standardized data from the sources we currently monitor (SEC, FERC and ESEF). We’ve posted a couple of sample report and fact queries to the Data Community page so you can help colleagues get a taste of the potential across and within these commingled sources, and any valid query works as well.

Request XBRL API provisioning with an organizational email address for a 10-day trial of full access to evaluate the depth and breadth of data in your favorite programming language or spreadsheet application.

Live Support – Anyone can use this Google Meet link on Mondays between 3:30 and 4:30 PM ET to get help from XBRL US Staff with the XBRL API, our resources, etc. Need a different time? Schedule an appointment online.

XBRL US Events

Webinar: FDTA Impact on Municipal Bond Investors, January 17, 2024 at 3PM ET

The Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) calls for disclosures from municipal bond issuers to be made available to investors and other data users in machine-readable, structured format. Attend this 60-minute discussion with municipal bond investors for their views on what data they use, what kind of issuers they follow, and how access to digitized municipal bond issuer data could change how they work. Learn about their thoughts on the technology impact of data standards, machine-learning, and artificial intelligence on the municipal marketplace.

Speakers:

• Barnet Sherman, Senior Managing Partner, Tenbar Capital
• Jamie Richardson, Managing Director of Research, Municipals, Fidelity Investments
• Justin Land, CEO, AG Analytics LLC

Register to attend this FREE webinar.

Webinar Replay: Government Reporting & the FDTA – Florida, Michigan, Utah

Hear the Financial Administrator in the Florida Department of Financial Services explain the status of their XBRL program. Learn from the Deputy State Auditor in Utah about the importance of government financial data and their interest in obtaining standardized machine-readable data. Find out from the Fiscal Health Project Lead at the University of Michigan about the Michigan program to explore machine-readable data for local governments and why better, more timely data is so important for public policy.

Watch the replay.

XBRL US White Papers and Blogs

Blog Post: SEC Can Look to States for Municipal Finance Standardization Ideas

Marc Joffe, Senior Policy Analyst at The Cato Institute, notes that the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) promises to provide municipal bond investors with standardized financial data for counties, cities, and special districts that issue debt securities. While some municipal market leaders have expressed concerns about the ability of local governments to comply, they can rest assured by looking at state-level reporting systems: local governments in eighteen states are already providing fielded financial statement data to a state auditor, controller, or treasurer.

Read the post.

Upcoming XBRL US Steering Committee and Other Member Meetings

The Data Quality Committee met Thursday, October 5: Get information about the Committee and upcoming meetings: https://xbrl.us/dqc.

The Domain Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, December 5, at 3 PM ET. https://xbrl.us/events/dsc-231205 – all XBRL US Members are invited to attend

The Communications Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, December 19, at 3 PM ET. https://xbrl.us/events/csc-231219 – all XBRL US Members are invited to attend

The Regulatory Modernization Working Group will meet Tuesday, December 12, at 3 PM ET. (membership@xbrl.us for details)

The Standard Government Reporting Working Group will meet Tuesday, October 24, at 12:30 PM ET. (membership@xbrl.us for details)

The XBRL Technical Advisory Committee (XTAC) will meet Wednesday, December 6, at 4 PM ET. (membership@xbrl.us for details)

The Academic Subcommittee will meet Tuesday, December 12 at 10 AM ET. (membership@xbrl.us for details)

XBRL US Members are encouraged to attend and get involved.

XBRL US Members are committed to engaging and collaborating with other members, contributing to the standard through involvement of their teams, and striving to build awareness and educate the market. Members of XBRL US represent the full range of the business reporting supply chain.

Not yet an XBRL US member? Maybe it’s time to consider joining XBRL US for yourself ($55 – $500 per year) or your organization (fees vary, starting at $575 annually). Find out more about the benefits of membership and how to become involved by visiting https://xbrl.us/benefits.