pensive than a print-based medium, and is instantaneous. The Web also allows inter-
active information dissemination in a manner not possible in print.^38 Securities trad-
ing using the Internet has increased the demand for Web-based business and financial
reporting. Individual investors increasingly use the Web as an important information
source, and to trade and make investment decisions.
Securities regulators recognize the importance of technology in providing in-
vestors timely access to company information. For many years, the London Stock
Exchange has made press releases filed by listed companies publicly available
through its Regulatory News Service. Recently, many other stock exchanges have
adopted similar practices. For example, media announcements released by listed
companies now are published on the Web sites of Euronext (formerly the Paris, Brus-
sels and Amsterdam stock exchanges), the Italian Exchange and the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange.
The U.S. SEC recently issued new rules designed to encourage the dissemination
of information electronically, with the goal of increasing investor access to timely
company information. Generally, “accelerated filers” are now required to disclose in
their Forms 10-K the company’s Internet Web site address, if it has one; whether the
company makes its periodic and current reports available, free of charge, on its Web
site as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are electronically filed with
or furnished to the Commission; and if the company does not make its filing avail-
able on its Web site, the reasons it does not do so and whether it will voluntarily pro-
vide electronic or paper copies of its filings free of charge upon request.^39
Regulatory initiatives designed to increase investor access to information pub-
lished on listed companies’ websites are underway in non-U.S. jurisdictions, as well.
The European Commission recently began to consider rules on basic ways that in-
formation must be made available, such as on the listed companies’ Web sites.^40
(b) eXtensible Business Reporting Language. One important development that will
greatly facilitate Web-based reporting is eXtensible Business Reporting Language
(XBRL). XBRL is a new medium that allows computer applications—including ERP
systems, financial reporting applications and even spreadsheet programs—to “under-
stand” and “re-use” business information in a common yet robust manner. XBRL is
the technology that will eliminate much of the ambiguity that is prevalent in business
information.^41
13 • 38 CORPORATE FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: A GLOBAL ASSESSMENT(^38) See International Accounting Standards Committee, Business Reporting on the Internet, A Discus-
sion Paper Issued by the IASC Staff. London: November 1999, 103 pages; Mike Willis, Corporate Com-
munications for the 21st Century: How E-Business is Redefining the Business Information Supply Chain.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, October 2000; and Samual A. DiPiazza, Jr. and Robert G. Eccles, Building
Public Trust: The Future of Corporate Reporting, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002.
(^39) See U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Final Rule: Acceleration of Periodic Report Filing
Dates and Disclosure Concerning Website Access to Reports, Release No. 34-46464, September 11, 2002
(www.sec.gov/rules/final/33-8128.htm), and Thacher, Proffitt, and Wood, Corporate and Financial Insti-
tutions Bulletin, SEC Accelerates Filing Deadlines for Annual and Quarterly Report, September 19,
- An “accelerated filer” is a domestic company reporting with the SEC that has a public float of at
least $75 million that has been subject to the Exchange Act’s reporting requirements for at least 12 cal-
endar months and that previously has filed at least one annual report.
(^40) For discussion, refer to the Commission’s Europa Web site at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/inter-
nal_market/en/finances/mobil/transparency/htm, and the European Commission Internal Market DG’s
“Seeking Common Ground on Market Information Requirements,”Single Market News, June 2002.
(^41) See Ramin and Prather (2002), Ramin (2000); and Zarowin and Harding (2000).