European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) Chooses XBRL as Uniform Format for Solvency II Insurance Reporting Across Europe

Belgium Continues Expansion of XBRL to Include XBRL for Banking, Tax and Business Registries

BRUSSELS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hundreds of executives from 38 countries convened in Brussels, Belgium this week during XBRL22 to discuss the continued global expansion of XBRL. One of the significant announcements made during the conference was in the area of insurance - the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) has chosen XBRL as the Uniform Format for Solvency II insurance reporting across Europe, as announced by Gilles Maguet, Secretary-General of XBRL Europe, the regional body for XBRL jurisdictions in the European Union.

"In the last year, we have seen continued uptake of XBRL as the business information standard in key sectors, including taxation," said Anthony Fragnito, CPA, CEO of XBRL International. "The EIOPA mandate for XBRL in the pension and insurance sector is a critical step toward the transparency and process improvement benefits of XBRL to insurance and risk management, and expands the XBRL footprint across the financial services and capital markets sectors."

EIOPA is part of a European System of Financial Supervisors that comprises three European Supervisory Authorities, one for the banking sector, one for the securities sector and one for the insurance and occupational pensions sector, as well as the European Systemic Risk Board.

In related XBRL22 news, Pierre Wunsch, Head of Cabinet for Belgian Minister of Finance Didier Reynders, reported that the Belgian National Bank has achieved significant cost reductions, process improvements and lower administrative burden through XBRL. "The 35% reduction in Belgium's SME filing fees and more than $17.3 million savings in administrative burden show clearly that XBRL has a measurable positive impact on the bottom line," added Fragnito. "China, Australia, and the Netherlands have also experiencing similar results, generating significant savings through the use of XBRL across ministries and agencies. We anticipate more governments will adopt XBRL as a way to achieve the same results."

The Belgian government is currently using XBRL for banking, tax and business registries. The EIOPA mandate will pave the way for the insurance sector in Belgium to integrate XBRL for the mandatory reporting.

"Belgium's efforts to use XBRL across several agencies continue the trend among governments to leverage XBRL as a cost savings and administrative burden reduction tool," added Maguet.

XBRL International also announced that XBRL Switzerland is now a full voting XBRL jurisdiction. "The Swiss XBRL jurisdiction will play a key role in bringing XBRL to the banking and insurance powerhouse," added Maguet.

XBRL22 attendees experienced the launch of XBRL International’s quarterly magazine, iBR Magazine. To subscribe, please email subscribe@

The organization will host its next global conference, XBRL23, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, from October 25-27, 2011.