October 2020 Newsletter

October, 2020
SEC Commissioner Allison Herren Lee, and PwC Vice Chair Wes Bricker will provide keynote addresses at the XBRL US Investor Forum 2020, November 17-18, 2020. Commissioner Lee has been an outspoken advocate for transparency and greater accountability to help small business, increase diversity and improve access to information for investors. Wes Bricker, who is not only PwC Vice Chair but also Chair of the XBRL International Board of Directors, recently noted, “This globally important standard (XBRL) helps promote an information environment that can lead to better decision making.” Don’t miss hearing them live at this free two-day event. Register now: http://xbrl.us/forum.

Sustainability reporting gains awareness and interest in the United States as more companies produce sustainability reports to meet investor demand. Yet there are still multiple ESG reporting standards, limiting comparability. The IFRS Foundation published a Sustainability Reporting Consultation paper to address the increasing demand for sustainability information and to explore a potential way forward. Comment letters are due December 31, 2020.

Separately, the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) announced plans to build an XBRL Taxonomy for sustainability reporting following the SASB standard.

The newly formed XBRL US Regulatory Modernization Working Group (RMWG) made recommendations to the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the SEC proposal Filing Fee Disclosures and Payments Modernization in a letter to SEC Chief Operating Officer Ken Johnson. The working group recommended specifics related to a pilot program and improved communication between vendors, issuers, and the Commission. On October 23, the working group met with the Commission to discuss the proposal and initiate an ongoing dialogue.

XBRL US, working with the RMWG, also prepared and submitted a comment letter to the SEC in response to their proposal on Administration of the EDGAR System. Key recommendations made include allowing vendors access to a testing environment prior to new rule implementations, and EFM updates.

SEC finalized amendments on Regulation S-K Items 101, 103, and 105, but chose not to mandate XBRL formatting. These items cover the description of business, legal proceedings, and risk factor disclosures. The proposal goal is to improve the readability of disclosure documents and discourage repetition and disclosure of information that is not material. Despite the goal of the amendments to improve readability, and several comment letters advocating for the use of XBRL, the final amendment noted that “…the submission format of Items 101, 103, and 105 disclosures is outside the scope of this rulemaking.”

SEC proposed structured data disclosures for alternative trading systems (ATS). An ATS is a trading system for securities that meets the definition of exchange but is not required to register with the Commission as a national securities exchange. The proposed rule would require filers to submit forms ATS-G, ATS, and ATS-R in a custom XML schema, however the rule poses the question as to whether the files should be formatted in Inline XBRL to render the data both human- and machine-readable. The proposal notes that this would involve numerical detailed tagging of quantitative disclosures and text block tagging for narrative disclosures.

The municipal marketplace is poised to modernize its market systems. Standardization is the most logical way forward. In a recent Forbes article, “A Technology Solution for Muni Bond Disclosure”, author Barnet Sherman stated, “…The new chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), Joel Black, wrote that during his tenure, one theme will be change – specifically, technological change.” Separately, Mr. Sherman stated that the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) Board of Directors “…approved $10 million of reserves for a multi-year strategic investment to modernize its market transparency systems to leverage the power of the cloud… With its standardized taxonomy with well-defined and consistent terms, XBRL frames corporate market disclosure, providing readily available structured data. With digital data, the world of analytics bursts wide open. Suddenly the $3.9 trillion muni market doesn’t seem so big.”

While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused delays in the work of the XBRL US Standard Government Reporting working group, pilot programs in California and Illinois continue to move ahead. And Florida has completed the taxonomy that will support their XBRL mandate.

Upcoming and Recent XBRL US Webinars & Meetings

Webinar: Data Quality Rulesets 13 & 14, December 3, at 1PM ET Attend this free, 50-minute webinar for a review of the 13th approved ruleset and the 14th proposed ruleset published by the XBRL US Data Quality Committee (DQC). Ruleset 14 contains six new rules for IFRS filers; ruleset 13 contains three rules for US GAAP filers.

Speakers:

• David Shaw, XBRL Supervising Project Manager, Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)
• Joan Berg, Director of XBRL Services at Toppan Merrill, and Chair, XBRL US Data Quality Committee
• Campbell Pryde, President and CEO, XBRL US

Register: https://xbrl.us/events/20201203/

Archive Webinar: Standards for Regulators – Defining the Data Model Find out from the FERC why they chose XBRL and how they transitioned from an existing regulatory data collection process to a standards based approach. Learn what regulators need to consider as they begin building the optimal data model to establish successful standards that will reduce costs supply chain-wide, speed up data access, and boost the quality of data produced. Join the speakers:

• Joe Luczka, Director, KPMG LLP
• Robb Hudson, Energy Industry Analyst, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
• Scott Theis, President and CEO, Novaworks LLC

Watch the replay: https://xbrl.us/events/20201028/

Archive: Machine-Readable Data through the XBRL Standard

Learn how an XBRL Taxonomy can improve efficiencies in the preparation, collection and analysis of financial data, and find out how the FDIC uses data standards today. Speakers:

• Jaret Klekota, Global Assurance Standards, Methodology and Implementation Resident, Global Professional Practice, Ernst & Young LLP
• Mark Montoya, Senior Business Analyst, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)

Watch the replay: https://xbrl.us/events/2000916/

Upcoming XBRL US Steering Committee and Other Member Meetings

• The Domain Steering Committee will meet Thursday, November 5, at 3 PM EDT.
• The Communications Steering Committee will meet Tuesday, December 15, at 3 PM EDT.
• The Regulatory Modernization Working Group will meet Tuesday, November 10, at 3 PM EDT.
• The Earnings Subcommittee will meet Thursday, November 5, at 2 PM EDT.

XBRL US Members are encouraged to attend and get involved. Email membership@xbrl.us for details.

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/ year) or your organization (fees vary). Find out more about the benefits of membership and how to become involved by visiting https://xbrl.us/benefits.