IDEA replaces EDGAR
Jinfo Blog

20th August 2008

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In its continued improvements to the way researchers and investors access corporate information, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) http://www.sec.gov is replacing EDGAR with IDEA. IDEA is an acronym for Interactive Data Electronic Applications and, according to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, the new system is not a new name for EDGAR, but ‘is a fundamental change in the way the SEC collects, manages and distributes information’ http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2008/2008-179.htm. Interactive filings will be available through IDEA later this year and will run in parallel with EDGAR for about three years, before finally replacing it, according to a Reuters news story http://digbig.com/4xjde. However the original SEC announcement suggests that users will have access to EDGAR for the indefinite future, as IDEA-like features will be grafted onto the EDGAR. The EDGAR database will continue to be available as an archive of past filings. EDGAR was created in the 1980s and the decision to replace it marks a transition in SEC’s role from a document and form collection agency to one that considers the needs of researchers and investors by improving financial disclosure. IDEA uses XBRL (extensible business reporting language) to apply digital tags (similar in function to bar codes) to each piece of financial data. The use of this technology makes it easier for users to find financial data items for individual company research or for comparative analyses of a number of companies. The SEC suggests that it will be easier to find the data on the Internet, to download them into spreadsheets, and to create databases. The agency also expects that new Web-based services and products will be developed as a result. In May rules were proposed that US companies would have to provide financial information in XBRL early in 2009. Similar proposals were made for mutual fund companies to comply by the end of the same year. In June the SEC announced its “21st Century Disclosure Initiative”, led by Dr. William D. Lutz FIND IN VIP, which will consider how new technology can be used to collect and distribute information, including a revision of disclosure requirements. Chairman Cox is widely recognised as an advocate for the use of technology in improving access to company filings held by the SEC (see our previous articles in VIP 56 July 2008). The announcement about IDEA was made on August 19th and the SEC website already carries the IDEA logo.

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