Electronic Disclosure and Financial Knowledge Management

In this paper we report the benefits of using eXtended Markup Language (XML) to support financial knowledge management, which include indexing, organizing, association generation, cross-referencing, and retrieval of financial information to support the generation of knowledge. The current searching engines cannot provide sufficient performance, such as, recall, precision, extensibility, etc, to support users of financial information. XML is able to partially solve such problem by providing tags to create structures. XML provides a vendor-neutral approach to structure and organize contents. XML authors are allowed to create arbitrary tags to describe the format or structure of data, rather than restricted to a specific number of tags given in the specification of HTML. A prototype of XML-based ELectronic Financial Filing System (ELFFS-XML) has been developed to illustrate how to apply XML to model and add value to traditional HTML-based financial information by cross-linking related information from different data sources, which is an important step in moving from traditional information management to knowledge management. We compared the functionality of XML-based ELFFS with the original HTML-based ELFFS and SEDAR, an electronic filing system used in Canada, and recommended some directions for future development of similar electronic filing systems

From unstructured HTML to structured XML: how XML supports financial knowledge management on internet.

by Yuen Lok-tin.Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-95).Abstracts in English and Chinese.ABSTRACT --- p.I摘要 --- p.IIIACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.VTABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.VILIST OF FIGURES --- p.VIIILIST OF TABLES --- p.IXChapter 1 --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1Chapter 1.2 --- Objectives --- p.2Chapter 1.3 --- Organization --- p.4Chapter 2 --- LITERATURE REVIEW & THEORETICAL FOUNDATION --- p.6Chapter 2.1 --- "Data, Information and Knowledge" --- p.6Chapter 2.2 --- Knowledge Management --- p.7Chapter 2.3 --- Information Transparency and Efficiency --- p.10Chapter 2.3.1 --- Transparency --- p.11Chapter 2.3.2 --- Efficiency --- p.13Chapter 2.4 --- extensible markup language (XML) --- p.14Chapter 3 --- DIGITAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND ISSUES --- p.16Chapter 3.1 --- Managing Financial Information on the Internet --- p.17Chapter 3.2 --- Existing Electronic Financial Filing Systems --- p.20Chapter 3.3 --- Financial Document Disclosure Model --- p.21Chapter 3.4 --- Interaction Between Information Producers and Consumers --- p.23Chapter 3.5 --- Gluing All Together --- p.26Chapter 4 --- IDEAL ELECTRONIC FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE SYSTEM --- p.27Chapter 4.1 --- Structure and Representation of Knowledge --- p.28Chapter 4.2 --- Content Creation --- p.33Chapter 5 --- PROPOSED APPROACH --- p.36Chapter 5.1 --- Preliminary XML Data Dictionary --- p.36Chapter 5.2 --- Creation of XML Tags --- p.40Chapter 5.2.1 --- Statistical Information Retrieval --- p.41Chapter 5.2.2 --- Accounting and Auditing Practice --- p.43Chapter 5.2.3 --- Investors´ةFeedback --- p.44Chapter 5.3 --- Value-Added Services --- p.45Chapter 6 --- DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ELFFS-XML --- p.49Chapter 6.1 --- Stages of ELFFS-XML --- p.49Chapter 6.1.1 --- Information Creation --- p.49Chapter 6.1.2 --- Information Collection/Storage --- p.50Chapter 6.1.3 --- Knowledge Generation --- p.51Chapter 6.1.4 --- Knowledge Dissemination/Presentation --- p.52Chapter 6.1.5 --- Feedback --- p.52Chapter 6.2 --- Components of ELFFS-XML --- p.53Chapter 6.2.1 --- Data Source Abstraction Layer --- p.55Chapter 6.2.2 --- Storage Abstraction Layer --- p.57Chapter 6.2.3 --- Logic Layer --- p.61Chapter 6.2.4 --- Presentation Layer --- p.63Chapter 7 --- EVALUATING ELFFS-XML --- p.66Chapter 7.1 --- Comparison with Other Financial Information Disclosure Systems --- p.66Chapter 7.2 --- Users' Evaluation --- p.70Chapter 7.3 --- Systems Efficiency --- p.71Chapter 7.4 --- XML Tag Generation Approach Performance Evaluation --- p.73Chapter 8 --- CONCLUSION AND FUTURE RESEARCH --- p.78APPENDIX I SURVEY ON INVESTMENT PATTERN --- p.80APPENDIX II CORE ELFFS-XML DTD --- p.84APPENDIX III PERFORMANCE RELATED XML TAGS --- p.86BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.8

Corporate governance and the protection of investors: A comparative and critical perspective on the legal responses to the ultimate concern and on potential developments

This paper, after reviewing the mechanisms for the direct and indirect protection of minority shareholders in the US, France, Germany and the UK, assesses these machanisms in light of a "subjective" aspect of minority shareholders protection (protection of weaker shareholders vs. stronger shareholders and/or management) and in light of an "objective" aspect of minority shareholders protection (conditions for the long-term success of the company) that can both be extrapolated from the OECD Principles. In this assessment, the paper, after evidencing the factors pushing towards formal convergence both within the EC and at the wider international level, and the need for functional convergence, calls into discussion the usefulness itself of international comparisons based on the formal rules in place in one jurisdiction commonly used as a yardstick, and suggests that a new minority shareholders protection index could be identified, taking into consideration both the subjective aspect and the objective aspect of investors protection

Changing patterns of corporate disclosure in continental Europe : the example of Germany

This article presents a structural overview of corporate disclosure in Germany against the background of a rapidly evolving European market. Professor Baums first makes the theoretical case for mandatory disclosure and outlines the standard, regulatory elements of market transparency. He then turns to German law and illustrates both how it attempts to meet the principle, theoretical demands of disclosure and how it should be improved. The article also presents in some detail the actual channels of corporate disclosure used in Germany and the manner in which German law now fits into the overall development of the broader, European Community scheme, as well as the contemplated changes and improvements both at the national and the supranational level

Issues concerning web-based business reporting: an analysis of the views of interested parties

Rapid developments in information and communications technology have led organisations in many countries to consider the impact of the Internet on the delivery and dissemination of business information. This paper reports the findings of a UK study into the views of various user groups, preparers and auditors regarding specific proposals for change and newly emerging practices. Over 500 individuals from six groups responded to a questionnaire study, representing an overall response rate of 33%. Views were elicited regarding: (i) the desirability of different kinds of additional information that could be provided electronically, (ii) the usefulness of different navigation and search aids, and (iii) the portability of information under different formats.It is found that users favour many of the expansions of scope made possible by the web. A range of navigation aids, search aids and file formats are found by all groups to be at least fairly useful, especially global navigation aids. Preferences regarding file formats vary across the groups. Paired group comparisons show that, while expert and non-expert users hold similar views in relation to many issues, users' and preparers' views differ considerably. Auditors' views generally fall in between those of users and preparers. Cyert and Ijiri's (1974) framework is used to rationalise the observed conflicts and congruences of interest, underpinning clear pointers for policy-makers

Government panel on corporate governance : summary of recommendations

The institutionalization and internationalization of shareholdings, the globalization of capital markets and the rapid development of information technologies have placed our corporate law system under increasing pressure to adapt to the ever changing requirements of the market. For this reason, in May 2000, the German government called together a group of industrialists, representatives of shareholder associations and institutional investors, trade unionists, politicians and scholars to form an expert Panel with the task of reviewing the German corporate governance system. This Government Panel on Corporate Governance prepared a questionnaire on key issues in the field, and solicited responses and input from numerous national and international experts and institutions. In July 2001, the Commission presented its 320 page report (available at www.ottoschmidt. de/corporate_governance.htm) to the German Chancellor. The Report made nearly 150 recommendations for amendments or changes to existing provisions of German law and also set forth proposals on how the German corporate governance system should be further developed in order to maintain a normative framework that is suitable and attractive not only for companies, but also for domestic and foreign investors. In order that the Panel s proposals may receive careful consideration from a diverse audience, it seems very useful to keep a wider public informed of the Panel s recommendations. Therefore, also on behalf of the Panel, I very much appreciate that the international law firm Shearman & Sterling has taken the initiative to have the summary of the Panel s recommendations translated into English

The future of corporate reporting: a review article

Significant changes in the corporate external reporting environment have led to proposals for fundamental changes in corporate reporting practices. Recent influential reports by major organisations have suggested that a variety of new information types be reported, in particular forward-looking, non-financial and soft information. This paper presents a review and synthesis of these reports and provides a framework for classifying and describing suggested information types. The existence of academic antecedents for certain current proposals are identified and the ambiguous relationship between research and practice is explored. The implications for future academic research are discussed and a research agenda is introduced