Compliance Newsflashes: SEC Pilot Program Gets 17 Test Subjects, and more

SEC Pilot Program to Use 'Interactive Data' in Financial Reports Get 17 Guinea Pigs

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has convinced 17 companies to participate in a new pilot program to use interactive data in their financial statement filings—compared to nine under an initiative launched last year. The companies will help the agency explore how new Internet-based reporting technologies can improve the financial reporting process for investors, financial intermediaries, the SEC and the companies themselves.

The pilot program will simultaneously enable the participant companies to determine the benefits of using interactive data, provide feedback to the Commission, and enable investors and analysts to assess new techniques for analyzing interactive data reports submitted to the SEC in the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format.

"We're very excited about advances in financial reporting using Internet technologies, and very pleased at the range of industries represented by our volunteer test group. As pioneers in the use of interactive data and XBRL, their leadership will help shape how these technologies will be employed," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, in a release.

The 17 members of the 2006 test group are: 3M Company, Altria Group, Brazilian Petroleum Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, The Dow Chemical Company, Gol Intelligent Airlines, Infosys Technologies Limited, Microsoft Corporation, Mobile Reach International, Net Servicos De Comunicacao SA, Old Mutual Capital, Pfizer, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, South Financial Group, United Technologies Corporation, Xerox Corporation, and XM Satellite Radio Holdings.

For participants in the test group, the Commission has guaranteed expedited reviews of registration statements and annual reports.

BISYS and Feith Systems Partner for Regulatory Compliance and Records Management

BISYS Regulatory Consulting Services, part of BISYS Group, and Feith Systems and Software have partnered to provide broker-dealer and advisory firms with a regulatory compliance and records management solution.

To complement BISYS' regulatory guidance, Feith Systems will provide access to its Legal and Compliance Workbench as well as its Litigation Support and e-Discovery Platform. The Workbench creates a composite operational dashboard that integrates analytical data and related documents that can then be used as a point of oversight and collaboration for compliance teams. It provides case file management, audit trails and transaction histories.

Feith's Litigation Support and e-Discovery Platform is designed to take the dependency off of the IT and legal departments to locate, retrieve and investigate the enterprise message and content archives.

"Our partnership with Feith is one way that BISYS strives to address our clients' needs to ensure proper retention, management and disposal of email communications," commented George Evans, executive vice president of business development for BISYS, in a release.

CipherTrust Launches Free Resource for Prevention and Detection of Phishing and Brand Spoofing

Continuing its initiative to restore trust in messaging communications and prevent phishing attacks, CipherTrust launched PhishRegistry.org, a free online resource where legitimate organizations may register their Web sites and receive notifications of online fraud attempts. The site is intended to help safeguard organizations and end users by detecting phishing scams that fraudulently use a company's name.

PhishRegistry.org monitors the content of legitimate Web sites and alerts companies when attempts to duplicate their Web sites are detected. Legitimate organizations can use these alerts to actively inform customers of phishing attacks and to assist with other efforts to combat fraud. Users are also able to register their own Web sites, as well as other legitimate Web sites that they may use such as financial institutions, to help ensure their sensitive information is protected.

"Online fraud is a race between the bad guys, who rush to post false sites to snare unsuspecting users, and the good guys—legitimate businesses protecting their brand and their customers, " said Dr. Paul Judge, chief technology officer at CipherTrust, in a release. "Think of PhishRegistry.org as a 'neighborhood watch' that dramatically speeds the pace at which organizations are notified of phishing attempts—a significant advantage in the race to ensure trust in the Internet and in online communications."