New XML-based standard now being used in financial statements. (technology).

XBRL International, a 140-member consortium of leading companies (including founding member AICPA, which started the XBRL movement) developing XML-based business reporting standards, has announced that more organizations are using its eXtensible Business Reporting Language (visit www.XBRL.org). Preparers and users of financial information can now exchange XBRL across all software and technologies to provide greater efficiencies in the global capital markets.

Deutsche Bank, one of the world's largest financial services institutions, has begun using XBRL to process loan information and streamline its credit analysis process. Deutsche Bank's adoption of XBRL follows closely on the announcement by Bank of America that it has begun to pilot XBRL for the same purpose in the United States.

The Australia Prudential Regulation Authority recently became the first banking regulator in the world to use XBRL to monitor the financial well being of 12,000 Australian super funds, insurers and banks required to report to APRA on a regular basis. APRA is sharing this data with the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Reserve Bank of Australia for benchmarking and trend analysis. In the U.S., the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation recently announced its desire to use XBRL for regulatory reporting in the near future.

In other adoption news, Reuters and Microsoft announced that they have published their financial statements using XBRL. By publishing financial statements in XBRL, Reuters and Microsoft provide easier access to their company's financial data and more efficient analysis capabilities to investors, analysts, accountants, regulators and others in the financial information supply chain. Furthermore, General Electric has announced that its Corporate Tax Department will use XBRL to simplify and speed its tax reporting processes. Use of the technology will enable GE to more efficiently coordinate and consolidate financial information from its global subsidiaries.