Selected Companies are Required to File Statements in XBRL format

Final version of the MCA XBRL Validation Tool (for Financial Statements based upon new Schedule VI of the Companies Act, 1956) has been released. XBRL filings of financial statements for accounting year commencing on or after 01.04.2011 have been enabled on MCA website with effect from 14.10.2012. Stakeholders are also advised to refer to the ‘Filing Manual’ available on the XBRL portal for filing the financial statements in XBRL format.

Many organizations have been looking to the internet to bring the long-heralded promises of “better, faster, cheaper” data to organizational decision-making, and specifically to business and financial reporting. An emerging technology standard, eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), promises to web-enable the financial reporting process for both preparers and consumers.

Instead of treating financial information as a block of text, XBRL provides a computer-readable tag to identify each individual item of data. By attaching identifying tags to individual pieces of data, a business reporting document becomes “intelligent” data, allowing the exchange of business reporting data by encoding the information in a meaningful way.

Computer applications can use the XBRL data to recognize the information in an XBRL document - selecting, analyzing, storing, and exchanging it with other computers and present it in a variety of ways for users. As companies review their business reporting disclosure controls and procedures and begin to comply with new filing requirements, XBRL is becoming the chosen tool to help facilitate and restore confidence in business reporting and in turn, to communicate accurately the value of the company.

XBRL is:

·         An open technology standard for reporting and analyzing business and financial information

·         Software agnostic, or independent

·         Accounting framework neutral

XBRL is not:

·         A standardized chart of accounts

·         A way to require the reporting of specific information

·         A transaction level activity (although it can summarize general ledger transactions)

For more information, see our publication Addressing XBRL.

In recent years, XBRL has seen rapid expansion as an enabling technology around the world. XBRL is a “network innovation” which requires concerted action from a number of different stakeholders to be widely adopted. For this reason, its development has been, and continues to be, facilitated through the voluntary and collaborative efforts of key stakeholders — currently driven principally by local government and regulatory agencies, the most notable of which is US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) which is requiring filings in this standardized electronic format.

We hope this site will add to the public dialogue now taking place about the merits of XBRL and about the promise of XBRL specifically. To that end, we have outlined the ways we think you can benefit from adopting XBRL now for your key business-reporting processes and provided a road map that can move you toward these ends.

On 30 January 2009, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a final rule for the mandatory use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) in reporting financial information to the SEC. 

Source: http://www.ey.com/GL/en/Services

http://www.mca.gov.in/Ministry/pdf/General_Circular_34_2012.pdf

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The 21st century is characterized by unprecedented challenges and opportunities, arising from globalization, the desire for inclusive development and the imperatives of climate change. Indian business, which  is  today  viewed  globally  as  a  responsible  component  of  the ascendancy of India, is poised now to take on a leadership role in the challenges of our times. It is recognized the world over that integrating social, environmental and ethical responsibilities into the governance of businesses ensures their long term success, competitiveness and sustainability. This approach also reaffirms the view that businesses are an integral part of society, and have a critical and active role to play in the sustenance and improvement of healthy ecosystems, in fostering social  inclusiveness  and  equity,  and  in  upholding  the  essentials  of ethical  practices  and  good  governance.  This  also  makes  business sense  as  companies  with  effective  CSR,  have  image  of  socially responsible companies, achieve sustainable growth in their operations in the long run and their products and services are preferred by the customers.

Indian entrepreneurs and business enterprises have a long tradition of working within the values that have defined our nation's character for millennia. India's ancient wisdom, which is still relevant today, inspires people  to  work  for  the  larger  objective  of  the  well-being  of  all stakeholders.  These  sound  and  all-encompassing  values  are  even more  relevant  in  current  times,  as  organizations  grapple  with  the challenges of modern-day enterprise, the aspirations of stakeholders and of citizens eager to be active participants in economic growth and development.

CSR is not philanthropy and CSR activities are purely voluntary- what companies will like to do beyond any statutory requirement or obligation. To provide companies with guidance in dealing with the abovementioned  expectations,  while  working  closely  within  the framework  of  national  aspirations  and  policies,  following  Voluntary Guidelines for Corporate Social Responsibility have been developed.

While  the  guidelines  have  been  prepared  for  the  Indian  context, enterprises  that  have  a  trans-national  presence  would  benefit  from using these guidelines for their overseas operations as well. Since the guidelines are voluntary and not prepared in the nature of a prescriptive road-map, they are not intended for regulatory or contractual use. While it is expected that more and more companies would make sincere efforts to consider compliance with these Guidelines, there may be genuine reasons for some companies in not being able to adopt them completely. In such a case, it is expected that such companies may inform their stakeholders about the guidelines which the companies have not been able to follow either fully or partially. It is hoped that “India Inc.” would respond to these Guidelines with keen interest.

After  considering the experience of adoption of these guidelines by Indian Corporate Sector and consideration of relevant feedback and other  related  issues,  the  Government  may  initiate  the  exercise  for review of these Guidelines for further improvement after one year.

Source: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY VOLUNTARY GUIDELINES 2009, MCA, Govt. of India

India ranks 7th in corporate governance in Asia-Pacific

India has been ranked in the seventh place in terms of corporate governance score in Asia Pacific region, says a report by global brokerage firm CLSA.

According to the CLSA Corporate Governance Watch 2012 list, produced in collaboration with the Asian Corporate Governance Association, India's corporate governance score has improved by 3 percentage points but ranking has remained the same.

"This is not due to a lack of awareness by the regulators, but rather a piecemeal approach to reform and a lame duck government unable to do anything meaningful given infighting among its allies," ACGA Research Director Sharmila Gopinath said in the report.

Among the market rankings, Singapore was at the top in 2012 followed by Hong Kong and Thailand in the second and third position respectively. In the fourth position there is a tie between Japan and Malaysia, the report said.

Others in the top include Taiwan at the 6th place, followed by India (7th), Korea (8th), China (9th), Philippines (10th) and Indonesia (11th).

The report which analysed as many as 864 listed companies across Asia-Pacific markets, including Japanese and Australian firms, said that Infosys was the only Indian company that was featured in the top 20 corporate governance large caps.

Moreover, there were just five Indian companies which got featured in the top 50 league table. Besides, Infosys the other four include HUL, Wipro, Titan Industries and Yes Bank.

"Despite efforts made by the corporate sector and individual regulators to raise corporate governance standards, these mostly fail to address core governance issues such as accounting standards, the regulation of auditors and obstacles to voting for investors who are unable to attend company meetings," Gopinath added.

The report, entitled "Tremors and cracks", noted that cracks in Asian corporate governance have become more apparent with corporate scores slipping since the previous CG Watch report was issued in 2010.

Investors have faced issues ranging from relatively minor corporate transgressions to growing concerns about the reliability of financial statements and, at the extreme, outright fraud.

"Corporate governance is largely about checks and balance," CLSA Head of Asia Research Amar Gill said in a statement, adding that "Investors will need to swerve and get a tighter grip when dealing with the cracks in governance and the tremors in Asian investing." 

Source: http://profit.ndtv.com/news

Silicon Valley lawyers are highest paid

When it comes to lawyer pay, no one beats Silicon Valley.

A survey by legal recruiting firm Major Lindsey & Africa shows that average partner compensation for attorneys in Silicon Valley is $1.2 million annually, beating all other major legal centers in the country, including New York, Washington D.C., Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

The survey did not explain why Silicon Valley attorneys are tops in partner pay. But it likely has a great deal to do with the fact that corporate law and intellectual property law — both high compensation practices — are quite prevalent in the region.

Silicon Valley partners are earning — on average — much more than their counterparts in New York, where partners ranked second in the survey. New York partners earned on average slightly more than $1 million.

San Francisco partners came in seventh in the survey, collecting an average of $723,000.

The lowest ranking city for law firm partners in the survey was Philadelphia, where they were collecting $478,000 on average.

Eric Young covers law, government and the business of sports for the San Francisco Business Times.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco