Digitisation is the order of the day. Just as there was a wave of transformation during the late 20th century from paper-based filing to electronic filing in PDF or HTML among various regulators, there is now another wave of change from a plain electronic format to an interactive standard.
While there has been increased focus on XBRL within the United States over recent months, in part due to the SEC’s recent announcement that iXBRL will be used by operating companies and mutual funds going forward, it’s also worth taking a step back to see just how prevalent XBRL is across the globe.