Title: Capital Markets Authority Participates in the Annual Conference of XBRL International of 2016 “Data Amplified”

Kuwait, November 13, 2016 – The Capital Markets Authority has participated in the annual conference of XBRL International of 2016, which was held in Singapore from 8 to 10 of November 2016. It was attended by a number of representatives of authorities and government organizations and corporations from around the world. The events of the conference included an overview of the programs and efforts taken in different parts of the world for applying the XBRL as a digital standard that supports the disclosure process and the exchange of information among various entities and economic activity’s parties, in addition to the users of the information and financial statements, in order to improve the efficiency of the disclosure process and transparency in the financial markets.

CMA is a direct member in XBRL International. It was keen to play a vital role in the conference through presenting Kuwait’s experience in implementing the electronic disclosure using XBRL while being a frontier market. It highlighted its efforts as an active member in this field, and emphasized on implementing such system in order to enhance transparency in financial markets by providing a regulatory and supervisory system that supports a competitive investment environment in the State of Kuwait based on the principles of fairness, transparency and integrity in accordance with best international practice. Moreover, the CMA aims to promote its role in international participations. The overview presented included a brief about the CMA, its current experience in implementing the electronic disclosure using XBRL in different areas such as corporate governance and project management, the strategic planning it needs, the progress accomplished, the factors that should be taken into consideration in this type of projects, and identification of the elements necessary for successful implementation.

The participating delegation from the CMA included Dr. Mohammad Al Ramadhan – CMA’s official representative at the organization and head of the steering committee for the implementation of XBRL, Mrs. Diaa Al Khawari – Manager of Disclosure Section at the CMA and member of the Steering Committee, and Mr. Abdullah Al Terkait - Chief Financial Analyst at the CMA and Project Manager for the implementation of XBRL.

It is worth mentioning that the CMA has already commenced executing the XBRL project. It is considered a main strategic project which would enable the CMA to achieve its goals and practice its regulatory role in a comprehensive manner that creates a well-established infrastructure for the financial markets in Kuwait. Further, this step is part of the efforts that aim to promote transactions and enhance the disclosure and transparency in the Kuwaiti market. This would achieve fairness, transparency and integrity, and eliminate the conflict of interest and manipulation of inside information. With this achieved, the CMA became the first regulatory body in Kuwait to join the XBRL International.

XBRL is a digital reporting language developed to support disclosure and exchange of information among different entities and parties of the economic activity, and users of information and financial statements. It is known for the flexibility it provides when dealing with information and data. It Is based on the use of uniform format for financial relations which provides the reader with an understandable material readable by computers.       

Clarification to Editors
The Capital Markets Authority was established pursuant to Law No. 7/2010, approved by the Kuwaiti Parliament in February 2010, and amended by Law No. 108/2014. Pursuant to the Law, the Authority shall regulate and supervise the securities activities, achieve transparency and fairness, observe listed companies’ execution of Corporate Governance Regulations, and protect investors from unfair practices which violate the Authority's Law.
Furthermore, the Law's provisions stipulate the supervision of mergers, acquisitions, and disclosure operations. The Authority also aims to provide awareness programs related to securities activities.
For more information, kindly contact:
Public Relations & Media Office

Tel: 22903062
Fax: 22903505
Email: pr-media@cma.gov.kw