XBRL-Enabled News Release Will Facilitate Broad Investor Adoption of Interactive Data Format Says Cathy Baron Tamraz, Business Wire CEO, at SEC-Sponsored Roundtable Held Monday



    "The XBRL-enabled press release, delivered
    simultaneously and in real-time via a multi-channel distribution
    platform, will facilitate the broad adoption of interactive data as
    the investment community realizes the multiple benefits of the new
    financial reporting format," said Cathy Baron Tamraz, president and
    chief executive officer of Business Wire, at a SEC-sponsored
    roundtable discussion held Monday at the agency's headquarters.
    Tamraz was one of a dozen panelists invited by the SEC to
    participate in the Monday afternoon session, which focused on
    "Exchange and Analysis of Information via Interactive Data." A webcast
    of the entire full-day conference is available at:
    http://www.connectlive.com/events/secxbrl/
    The panelists included a cross-section of participants in the
    financial disclosure chain, including issuers, analysts, academics,
    and investors. The consensus view: XBRL will dramatically enhance
    financial analysis, and will result in considerable cost-savings,
    improved workflow, better data accuracy, and greater corporate
    transparency.
    The simplest, most direct route for institutional and retail
    investors to appreciate the advantages of interactive data is via an
    XBRL-enabled news release, Tamraz noted, emphasizing that the press
    release remains at the core of the disclosure process.
    Tamraz said that Business Wire was fully supportive of the
    Commission's efforts, and was actively promoting XBRL to its members.
    She pointed to the recent launch of EarningsDirect, which enables
    corporate issuers to effortlessly convert fundamental financial data
    into XBRL.
    Business Wire's patented IP-based news distribution platform,
    "NX", proactively disseminates the interactive EarningsDirect document
    to the global media and financial community, including market-moving
    news services, financial information providers, online services, and
    portals.
    To help its members make the transition to XBRL, Business Wire is
    providing its EarningsDirect Level 1 product free to members who
    transmit their earnings during the second and third quarters of 2006.

    About Business Wire

    Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, was founded in 1961
    by chairman Lorry I. Lokey, veteran journalist and public relations
    executive.
    The company's multi-channel delivery network, with access to some
    60 international and national news agencies, financial information
    providers and Web-based news services throughout North America,
    Europe, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, provides
    real-time, simultaneous access to key audiences -- the news media,
    trade publications, institutional and individual investors,
    business-to-business decision-makers and consumers.
    Business Wire electronically disseminates some 1,000 full-text
    news releases daily to the media, the Internet, online services and
    databases, and the global investment community in 150 countries in 45
    languages. Business Wire has 24 U.S. offices, Paris, Frankfurt,
    London, Brussels, Tokyo and Sydney offices, and reciprocal offices
    throughout the world.