Citi's Global Transaction Services and XBRL US, the nonprofit consortium for XBRL business reporting standards in the U.S. market, announced today that Alan Smith, Managing Director, Citi Securities and Fund Services (SFS), is joining the board of directors of XBRL US.
In his current role at Citi, Mr. Smith is responsible for Citi's Agency and Trust and Depositary Receipts businesses. Since joining Citi in 1984, Mr. Smith has established an extensive track record for growing Citi products ranging from US Consumer Bank credit products to Depositary Receipts Services. In his 27-year tenure at Citi, Mr. Smith has been instrumental in developing several key innovations including Exchange Traded Services, Global Depositary Receipts, Ready Credit and Telephone Bill Payments. Mr. Smith joined SFS in 1990 and has been responsible for various businesses across its Issuer, Intermediary and Investor segments.
The XBRL US board of directors provides oversight to XBRL US, which has developed XBRL taxonomies for corporate reporting by public companies, mutual funds and credit rating agencies. XBRL US is currently developing an XBRL taxonomy for the reporting of corporate actions information as part of the Issuer to Investor: Corporate Actions initiative, a program to promote the use of standards to improve communication between issuers and investors.
In conjunction with this initiative, Citi is working with XBRL US on a pilot program to research the costs and benefits of using XBRL in the corporate actions processing of dividend payment announcements for American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The pilot program will help determine the feasibility of moving to XBRL processing and its impact on downstream consumption of XBRL data.
"Citi is joining the XBRL US board of directors as part of its commitment to standardizing financial information and enabling straight-through-processing," said Alan Smith of Citi, "We believe that XBRL will help our clients reduce costs and improve accuracy in their own systems. I look forward to working with XBRL US and the board on strategies to use XBRL to improve information flow in the capital markets."
Mr. Smith joins a board of directors that includes:
Alfred R. Berkeley, Chairman, Pipeline Trading LLP
Mark Bolgiano, Director, Enterprise Architecture & Strategy, Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute
Charles Callan, Senior Vice President, Broadridge Financial Solutions
Chris Church, Chief Executive Americas, and Global Head of Securities, SWIFT
Donald F. Donahue, CEO, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation.
Raymond Lewis, Partner, Deloitte
Randy Fletchall, Vice Chair, AABS Professional Practice & Risk Management, Ernst & Young LLP
Taylor Hawes, GM and CFO, Intellectual Property & Licensing, Microsoft Corporation
Barry Melancon, President and CEO, AICPA, and Chairman of the Board, XBRL US
Philip Moyer, Advisor to the Board, Edgar Online
Jennifer Neglia, Director, PwC
Terri Polley, President, Financial Accounting Foundation (FAF)
Sam Ranzilla, National Managing Partner, Audit Quality & Professional Practice, KPMG
Michael Schlanger, Vice President, Business Development and Strategy of Merrill Corporation
"Alan's experience in the capital markets will add greatly to the combined expertise of the board. His advice and Citi's involvement in areas such as proxy and corporate actions will be instrumental in moving XBRL forward," said Barry Melancon, President and CEO, AICPA and Chair, XBRL US.