Interactive data, also known as eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), holds the promise of transforming the static, text-only documents companies furnish with the SEC into dynamic financial reports that can be quickly and easily accessed and analyzed by millions of users.

The growing number of participants was boosted by the addition of three new companies: General Electric Company; PepsiCo, Inc.; and Banco Itaú Holding Financeira S.A.

The now 20 firms that have joined the initiative thus far will receive expedited reviews of their SEC registration statements and annual reports. For their part, the companies will furnish the financial data in their periodic reports to the SEC using the XBRL data-tagging format informally known as interactive data.

The arrangement will last for at least one year, during which the firms will provide feedback to the SEC on their experience with interactive data.

Interactive data permits individual investors and analysts to quickly search for individual items of information from financial reports, such as net income, executive compensation, or mutual fund expenses. It also enables them to download selected information directly into financial software. In the near future, it is hoped that popular Internet applications will permit automatic, real-time delivery of SEC financial data direct to anyone's desktop.

SEC to hold roundtable on XBRL

In another recent development in the move to interactive data, the SEC announced that it will conduct the first in a series of interactive data roundtable discussions at the Commission's headquarters in Washington, D.C., on Monday, June 12, 2006. Topics will include discussions of what information is most helpful to investors, how to accelerate the use of new software that permits the dissemination of interactive financial data, and how to best design the SEC's disclosure requirements to take maximum advantage of the potential of interactive data.

The June 12 roundtable will begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. The roundtable will also be Webcast at www.sec.gov. Additional details on the program agenda and panelists will be announced as the date approaches.

And on Tuesday, May 30, also in Washington, D.C., representatives of the SEC, including Chairman Christopher Cox, will participate in a conference at the American Enterprise Institute entitled "The SEC's Interactive Data Revolution: Improved Disclosure for Investors, Less Expensive Reporting for Companies." The chairman will deliver the keynote address. Details on this program are available on the AEI website at http://aei.org/events.