IRIS recently participated in the 6th XBRL Asia Roundtable Update and the India National XBRL Conference held in Mumbai, India on January 21st and 22nd respectively. Attended by participants from various partner countries, the 2-day event saw regulators, corporates, members of the accounting & banking communities, and XBRL solution providers come together and discuss ideas for accelerating XBRL adoption in Asia.
XBRL Asia Roundtable Update: January 21
The XBRL Asia Roundtable, held on day 1, was attended by delegates from India, Japan, Korea, Jordan, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Indonesia, apart from XII representatives. The opening remarks by XBRL Asia, CEO, Mr. Yoshiaki Wada were followed by a talk by Mr. John Turner, CEO, XII on the future of structured data.
Figure 1: XII CEO, John Turner speaking at the 6th XBRL Asia Roundtable Conference held on January 21, 2016, in Mumbai, India
Mr. Turner, a huge proponent of structured data, spoke of repositioning XBRL by shifting focus from compliance to business performance. He also said that while China is leading the way with smart enterprises of tomorrow adopting XBRL, the main reason why the standard might not be taking off quicker is possible that processes from the 20th century are constraining technologies of the 21st. He emphasized that the time had come to move from static to smart structured documents.
Michal Piechocki of the Business Reporting – Advisory Group, shared updates from XBRL in Europe, opining that trust is key for the proliferation of XBRL. There were several updates from the XBRL Standards Board and Best Practices Board (BPB) of XII on implementations in member countries.
Members from participating countries shared updates about XBRL implementations such as the initiation of the Environmental Reporting Pilot in Japan, the new Malaysian XBRL platform, and the implementation of XBRL in the Taiwanese and Indonesian Stock Exchanges. The group also discussed common areas of concern in XBRL implementations and their possible solutions – overall, a very engaging and productive day.
The India National XBRL Conference: January 22nd, Mumbai
Figure 2: India National XBRL Conference held on January 22, 2016, in Mumbai, India
The India National XBRL Conference, organized by XBRL India (facilitated by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India [ICAI]) & Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and hosted by the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was held at the historic BSE International Convention Hall, Mumbai. The conference was attended by over 250 attendees and aptly themed “XBRL – Today versus Tomorrow”. The Chief Guest at the event, Mr. Kirit Somaiya; a Chartered Accountant and Member of the Indian Parliament, spoke about how XBRL could catapult us into a smart tomorrow driven by structured data. This message was further underscored by John Turner of XBRL International stating XBRL standards can help the government’s digital agenda.
Over the day, speakers from the RBI, the BSE, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) presented key XBRL implementations in India, ranging from the Indian Corporate Electronic Reporting System (ICERS) project at BSE, Corporate Filing and Dissemination System (CFDS ) at SEBI, the Online Returns Filing System (ORFS) at RBI and the XBRL Implementation at the MCA. While these were the regulators’ perspectives on structured data, ICICI Bank also presented the filer’s point of view by sharing the benefits they have experienced filing in XBRL.
The most interesting and unusual application of XBRL for non-financial reporting was possibly the one shared by the Anti-Terrorism Squad where Inspector Usha Suryavanshi spoke of how XBRL was being used for crime data management.
During the day’s conference, there was also a small ceremony held at the Reserve Bank of India where XBRL International awarded the RBI for their XBRL implementation.
Figure 3: Reserve Bank of India’s Dy. Governor, Mr. Gandhi was awarded by XBRL International for RBI’s XBRL implementation.
After some informative sessions on XBRL and corporate reporting, Mr. Yoshiaki Wada provided a global perspective on the future of corporate reporting. The final presentation of the day was made by Mr. S. Swaminathan, of IRIS on the consumption of XBRL data by showcasing tools for financial analysis, governance, and automated content generation among others – a fitting end in keeping with the conference theme.
All in all, the 2 days brought together some great minds and fresh ideas in the world of XBRL. We think the informative sessions, interesting discussions,, and even the engaging conversations on the sidelines, helped everyone take a step closer to the smart world of structured data.
