1. Our Client:
Global Investment Bank -with over 700 offices in 28 countries
Net revenues were $19.1 billion, and profits $3.0 billion ( 2002)

2. The “XML-based standard for identifying and better communicating the complex financial information in corporate business reports.”
(source:

3. XBRL.ORG:
A non-profit consortium of over 170 leading companies, associations, and government agencies around the world.

4. The Taxonomy Six Files: 1 XML Schema document:
Meta-data for financial report line items
5 XLink LinkBase documents:
References, Presentation, Labels, Calculation, Definition

5. The
Instance Document
An XML file containing XBRL elements representing financial facts using tags from one or more taxonomies. Examples include:
Annual financial statements
Quarterly earnings reports
Ledger transactions

6. Motivation:
Morgan Stanley is interested in promoting the XBRL standard as a means for corporations to file business reports because this would result in increased financial reporting transparency and benefits to the individual investor.

7. To encourage collaborative XBRL development, WEBXBRL is a client-server validation/repository application.
To encourage reuse of the code, WEBXBRL uses open-platform and open-source technologies.

8. Architecture:

9. Architectural Benefits:
Customized Display (XSLT)
Zero Vendor Tie-In (Open Source)
Platform Independence (JAVA)
3rd Party Product Insulation (Component Interface)
Online & Batch Mode Processing (XML Output)

10. Release 1.0:
Taxonomy/Instance Document Repository
Taxonomy/Instance Document Validation
Taxonomy/Instance Document Viewers

11. Issues & Challenges:
XBRL as an Evolving Standard (Will Likely Require Ongoing Code Modification)
Adoption of Emerging Technology (Need for Stringent System Testing Procedures)
Management of Open Source Technical Support

12. Future Direction:
Taxonomy/Instance Document Editor with Version Control
Taxonomy Publishing Function
Refined Viewer Display
Firm/Industry Specific Statistical Calculation