The paper, titled XBRL: What’s in it for Internal Auditors, provides internal auditors an overview of XBRL, approaches to implementation, and an overview of how internal auditors can be involved in the adoption of the reporting format.

“Through the survey, we found internal auditors were minimally involved in the actual process of generating XBRL filings, even in those companies that are already using XBRL, either voluntarily or through the mandate,” explained Lily Bi, CIA, CISA, CGEIT, director of technology practices with The Institute of Internal Auditors. “But internal auditors need to be able to contribute to, and provide assurance on, the process of generating XBRL filings as they do with any other corporate reporting process.”

The paper also explains the U.S. Security Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) XBRL filing requirements, as well as information for executives making crucial decisions today on how to comply with the SEC’s interactive data mandate over the course of the next several years. Filing financial statements in XBRL format has become a regulatory mandate for many companies across the globe.

A Guide for Investors gives an overview of the basic aspects of eXtensible Business Reporting Language and describes for investment professionals the benefits and challenges as the industry moves toward full adoption of XBRL reporting.

We are delighted to see how quickly the mainstream media is catching on to XBRL, calling for its use by the government. A March 11 Congressional hearing attracted a lot of attention when US XBRL organization president Mark Bolgiano explained how XBRL could produce consistent, comparable reporting on the existing pool of securitized assets for public access, and could also help regulators track the disbursement and use of TARP funds. Read the full XBRL US press release.

In fact, the idea of using XBRL to track loans is catching on so fast that within days of the hearing where many legislators firsts heard of XBRL, we came across a financial blog accusing the “inept” Obama administration of inaction in having not already implemented it!

Implementation could begin quickly. Just how XBRL can be used to separate good loans from bad is described in a white paper by EDGAR Online CEO Philip Moyer. Called Bringing Transparency to the Mortgage-backed Securities Market, the paper was a key resource for the XBRL US testimony and it is also attracting mainstream interest. The white paper is open for public comment.

We agree with the premise of the Wall Street Journal article by Crovitz, who argues that while XBRL solves the technical problem, the political problem is Washington’s focus on increasing regulatory powers instead of increasing transparency: “…markets are too complex for even the most powerful regulators to dictate. Better transparency is the surest way to make markets more efficient and less volatile. Market wisdom results when more people access better information.” Read the full Wall Street Journal article.
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It’s a timely feature for anyone following the China mark right now. The platform serves small and medium investors, and allows viewers to find financial indicators in an easy and quick way through the platform’s functions like information query, analysis and comparison, graph display and file download. Comparison and display of historical financial indicators of the same company or a certain financial indicator in a number of companies are also available.

The good news is that it’s free. The bad news is that you have to understand Chinese. The best news is that you can get XBRL data feeds in English from both the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) and the larger Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) from EDGAR Online and, using EDGAR Pro or I-Metrix, you can perform far greater analysis.

For anyone following the volatile China market, we recommend this white paper on How to Invest in China that explains how China’s business data is gathered, aggregated and resold to investors and analysts, and what opportunities actually exist for investors outside of China.

Written by EDGAR Online President and CEO Philip Moyer, the position paper shows exactly how standardization in XBRL can benefit industry and government leaders working to alleviate the current financial crisis.

The industry is awash in a sea of incomparable data,” writes Moyer, “but we don’t need to invent another reporting standard to solve this problem.” Download the full text.

“The technology and information necessary to make the data reporting standards a reality in this market already exists and can be implemented for a relatively low overall cost by most market participants. Every member of the MBS supply chain is bearing the cost of broken information standards already. The market needs digital transparency to unlock the great cash flows frozen in the MBS market. Standardized information can shine a bright light on what is wrong and more importantly, on all that is right with the re-securitization market.”

The paper is addressed to those industry leaders, regulators, legislators, and investors, who want to define transparency-and restore trust. The paper was a key resource for the XBRL US in its testimony March 11 before the Domestic Policy Subcommittee hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. The hearing, on the Treasury Department’s oversight of the use of funds by financial institutions under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), addressed data collection procedures to monitor the use of funds and the ability of the Treasury to detect and prevent waste and misuse of funds.

XBRL US invites comments to and participation in the solution offered to fix the broken information ecosystem that is plaguing the MBS market.

In a presentation to the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute, Professor Siegel, of the University of Pennsylvania, adds the increase in life expectancy to the decrease in workers and comes up short. Even massive immigration wouldn’t be enough to create the necessary ratio between workers and retirees. The solutions to funding retirement over the next 50 years, he says, are either to raise the retirement age or to encourage globalization and allow the youthful workers of developing countries to buy retirees’ assets.

The later choice would involve a massive transfer of capital ownership to the developing world and a healthy global economy, he says. Siegel concludes that “keeping the world open to trade is critical not only for developing countries but also for the well-being of the developed world.” See the full report.