It's 2007 and the world of business regulation is in the throes of its own tsunami of unforseen events and unpredictable consequences. In response to massive corporate accounting scandals, a new information management environment has emerged: An environment that expects optimum information transparency, especially in financial reporting.

New non-proprietary standards like eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) and IFRS, for formatting financial data and structuring financial reports, are sweeping the globe.

Businesses are adapting to an operating environment increasingly focused on improved corporate governance and better risk management through compliance with new regulatory controls such as Sarbanes-Oxley and Basel II. And investors continue to press for higher quality information about business performance to support and justify their investments.

In the midst of all this, regulators must still keep up with the constantly shifting sands of a global market in which a housing crisis in one country can spark a run on a bank in another. The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) recently experienced this when mortgage repossessions in the USA caused the first run on a British bank in over 150 years, putting the FSA in the glare of the media spotlight. Now more than ever, effective regulation depends on an electronic information supply chain to deliver timely, accurate data in digital formats to facilitate faster and more comprehensive information delivery and analysis.

But regulators around the world are rising to the challenge of this changing environment.

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