In January 2009, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted rules requiring foreign private issuers preparing their financial statements using International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board, to provide their financial statements to the SEC and on their corporate websites, if any, in interactive data format using eXtensible Business Reporting Language ("XBRL"). XBRL is a computer language that companies use to tag, or code, the data in their financial statements. Investors and other data users can use the codes to more easily access, analyze and compare financial information across reporting periods and companies.
On March 1, 2017, the SEC published an IFRS taxonomy on its website so that foreign private issuers that prepare their financial statements using IFRS and are subject to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T could immediately begin submitting their financial statements in XBRL using an IFRS taxonomy. All foreign private issuers that prepare their financial statements using IFRS and are subject to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T must submit their financial statements in XBRL using an IFRS taxonomy specified on the SEC's website as of their first annual report on Form 20-F or 40-F for a fiscal period ending on or after December 15, 2017.
In December 2017, the IFRS Foundation published a preparer's guide for companies using the IFRS taxonomy, which explains how to tag information in financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS. Click here to view the guide, which helps companies understand the IFRS taxonomy content.
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