XBRL US National Conference to Feature Keynotes from Citi, PIMCO, Columbia University, FAF/FASB and NIEM

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The XBRL US National Conference:  The Path to Transparency, to be held November 9-10, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA, will feature educational sessions and practical training that can be applied immediately by public company financial executives, investors and securities processing professionals.  The conference will also include keynote presentations from senior-level experts in the XBRL, financial reporting and securities arenas, including:

• Trevor S. Harris, The Arthur J. Samberg Professor of Professional Practice, Co-Director, Center for Excellence in Accounting and Security Analysis, Columbia Business School
• Cynthia Meyn, Senior Vice President, PIMCO
• Alan Smith, Chief Operating Officer, Citi Securities and Fund Services
• Teresa S. Polley, President, Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF)
• Donna Roy, Acting Executive Director – Information Sharing, Executive Director – National Information Exchange Model (NIEM), Applied Technology, Office of the CIO, U.S. Department of Homeland Security

"XBRL is the key to democratizing transparency," said Trevor Harris of Columbia University. "With company financials in XBRL format, corporate data, regardless of company size, will be within easy reach of all investors, both individual and institutional."

Conference sessions will provide a candid assessment of implementations underway including US GAAP XBRL reporting with over 1,440 companies reporting today.  Public company financial executives, investor relations officers, corporate secretaries, securities lawyers, investors and analysts are encouraged to attend to hear public company case studies and lessons learned from the audit firms, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board). 

"XBRL Essentials" programs are geared towards financial executives and will provide training and common-sense advice on the XBRL process including tagging of face financials and footnotes, validation, as well as a look ahead to assurance and the 2011 FASB taxonomy release.

Banks, custodians, broker/dealers, software providers, and data intermediaries will learn how XBRL can reduce costs and streamline processing to improve accuracy and timeliness in the corporate actions and proxy reporting domains.  Panel sessions for this audience will cover a review of the business case for XBRL in corporate actions processing as well as results of a pilot program to prove out the costs and benefits of processing and distributing dividend announcement information in XBRL format.  Attendees can also participate in a brainstorming session geared to uncover the next key area for XBRL in securities processing.

To register, visit http://conference.xbrl.us.

Media representatives should contact Lynne Hasluck ([email protected]) or Michelle Savage ([email protected]) for complimentary media passes.

About XBRL US

XBRL US is the non-profit consortium for XML business reporting standards in the U.S. and it represents the business information supply chain.  Its mission is to support the implementation of XML business reporting standards through the development of taxonomies for use by U.S. public and private sectors, with a goal of interoperability between sectors, and by promoting XBRL adoption through marketplace collaboration.  XBRL US has developed taxonomies for U.S. GAAP, credit rating and mutual fund reporting under contract with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. XBRL US Labs, the research and development arm of XBRL US, leverages the XBRL US platform, methodologies and people to address the quality of taxonomies and the harmonization of XBRL with other XML standards.  For more information, go to www.xbrl.us.

SOURCE XBRL US