The Research Information EXchange Mark-up Language (RIXML) Consortium has become a provisional XBRL jurisdiction.

The step was approved by the RIXML.org Consortium Steering Committee and the XBRL International Steering Committee (ISC). The XBRL Provisional Jurisdictional status was provided in recognition of the RIXML.org efforts and to streamline the business reporting supply chain and expand collaboration efforts with the XBRL community members.

The Provisional Jurisdiction status follows the RIXML.org and XBRL International June 2nd, 2007 announcement of their joint 'Memorandum of Understanding' outlining their intent for mutual collaboration and cooperation. Both RIXML.org and XBRL International have created mutual working groups to focus on: the interoperability of their respective standards and the relevant operational and governance synergies.

“RIXML.org is excited to partner with the XBRL International organization, and we look forward to developing many applications that will address the strengths and standards put forth by both groups. This joint effort will allow us both to focus on the Financial Services community and provide tools that are geared to this portion of the marketplace,” said Michael Skutinsky, Executive Director, RIXML.org.

"XBRL International is fortunate to have RIXML.org join as a Provisional Jurisdiction, bringing their sell-side and buy-side membership to our market collaboration efforts. This significantly enhances our end-user consumer input across stakeholders in the business reporting supply chain," added Michael Ohata, XBRL International Steering Committee Chairman.

RIXLM.org is a consortium of buy-side, sell-side, and vendor firms that has established an open standard for investment and financial research. This unified system makes it easier and more efficient to categorize, aggregate, compare, sort and distribute research information. The RIXML.org Executive Director is Michael Skutinsky Jr., who may be contacted via Skutinsky@rixml.org.

XBRL International is a consortium of business reporting supply chain participants who have collaborated on the creation and market adoption of the extensible business reporting language. XBRL is a language for the electronic communication of business and financial data. The Chairman of XBRL International is Michael Ohata who can be contacted via ISCChair@xbrl.org.

For RIXML.org member firms, the above alliance is a “win/win” situation. As XBRL becomes more and more prevalent in the financial services sector, RIXML applications can utilize and support the need for information reporting. The XBRL organization now can partner with an established financial services standards consortium and both groups can work together to address financial services company issues and applications. This alliance is another reason why your firm should consider membership in the RIXML.org consortium!

Mike Skutinsky Jr. is Executive Director of RIXML.org. He can be reached at Skutinsky@rixml.org.

This post will be a brief, high-level entry about RIXML (Research Information eXchange Markup Language) and XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language). While both groups have similar DNA in their structure and objectives, there are distinctive differences and focuses within both organizations. I will assume that anyone reading this blog understands the XBRL organization and technology, so I will focus mainly on RIXML the Organization as well as RIXML the Technology.

RIXML.org was founded over seven years ago as a consortium of sell-side, buy-side, and associate (vendor) firms that today account for 23 fee-paying members. While our schema is an “open source” product and can be used by anyone free of charge, the RIXML.org members are the ones who make the decisions and participate in the design of the schema. RIXML was created to address the tagging, distribution, and retrieval of the investment research product – nothing more and nothing less. We have stayed true to our initial purpose, and today RIXML represents the “standard” for tagging the investment research product.

The use of XML technology is prevalent throughout the financial services industry:
• RIXML (Research Information eXchange Markup Language)
• XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language)
• MDDL (Market Data Description Language)
• FIXML (Financial Information eXchange Markup Language)
• NewsML (NEWS Markup Language)
• FpML (Financial Products Markup Language)

Each technology addresses a specific part of the financial services mosaic and seems to exist well within its own environment. For this initial entry I will focus on RIXML and XBRL only.

A simple analogy would be this: Picture the gift you get for your birthday. The “present” in the box would be XBRL data (financial data); the box itself, the wrapping paper, ribbon, bow, and To/From card would be RIXML (research tags). They are separate and distinct, but both serve to deliver and define elements of the research product.

RIXML and XBRL Collaboration Both organizations have strong points and structures that the other can benefit from. RIXML.org has recently become a provisional jurisdiction in the XBRL International (XII) organization, and we look forward to a long and prosperous partnership. RIXML now will have a more global footprint, access to a bigger and stronger support structure, and exposure to a fantastic standards group. XII will now have access to Wall Street firms, the ability to work the XBRL standard into the world of the research analyst, and the capacity to further advance the use of the XBRL product through the pipeline to the ultimate end-user/consumer.

I look forward to expanding on these themes in another entry in the very near future.

Visit us on the Integrity Research Blog site!! RIXML.org is reaching out to the world of “Bloggers” and will be appearing is a series of advertisements and articles directed to RIXML, the Consortium and the Technology. If you are a research professional we are sure that you are familiar with the site maintained by Michael Mayhew and Sanford Bragg, Co-CEO’s Integrity Research. We welcome your opinions and comments via the site!! You must sign-up for the Blog site (no charge, no spam) to receive the notices. Instructions are in the lower left side of the webpage.

There are some very interesting things going on in the world of research these days. As CSA’s and CCA’s become a way of life, both the Sell-side and Buy-side are trying to figure out how to best utilize these new tools. The Vendor community, which is responsible for the distribution of the research product, is being tasked to provide better reporting tools to the creators and the consumers of the research product. In fact, a major consortium has been formed to address this issue – the Research Entitlements Consortium (http://www.researchentitlements.net/). I will address this effort in more detail in future newsletters.

Efforts like RIXML are making more and more sense since they allow the data to be tagged and retrieved with the granularity necessary to address the payment issue for research. In my opinion, CSA’s and CCA’s are going to be a driving factor in supporting the use of RIXML for research tagging purposes. Comments?? Send them to Skutinsky@rixml.org

SIFMA Research Management Conference, September 28, 2007, New York Marriott Marquis, New York City
RIXML.org will be sponsoring the Morning General Session. Stop by our table and learn more about RIXML.org and the benefits of membership and adoption of the standard.

2007 RIXML.org Appearances (since last Newsletter)

15th International XBRL Conference June 4-6, 2007 in Munich, Germany
RIXML will be participating in either a Panel discussion, or, individual presentation addressing the synergies of RIXML and XBRL applications. (RIXML.org representative, Andrew Ling, UBS)

SIFMA Technology Management Conference & Exhibit June 19th – 21st in New York City
RIXML.org will have representatives on hand at the annual SIFMA Technology Management Conference & Exhibit taking place June 19th – 21st. We will be at booth #3000 (the Jordan & Jordan location).

Mike Skutinsky
Executive Director
RIXML
Tel: 212-655-2948
Cell:732-604-9094
skutinsky@rixml.org