Thursday, November 15, 2007

Merrill Corporation Releases Results of Recent Study on the SEC’s XBRL Voluntary Filers

St. Paul, Minn. – Merrill Corporation, a leading provider of technology-enabled services for the legal, financial, real estate and other corporate markets, today announced the release of its latest research report, “Financial Reporting the XBRL Way: Lessons from the Voluntary Filers.”

This research report provides a window into the inner workings of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) programs for a cross section of companies, including numerous Fortune 100 firms, who are currently participating in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s XBRL Voluntary Filing Program (VFP). This Merrill sponsored research report, available for download on the XBRL Spotlight page at http://www.merrillcorp.com/, provides useful intelligence to companies that may be considering the adoption of XBRL.

“XBRL is becoming the financial reporting standard with SEC encouragement and may even be mandated by the SEC by the end of 2008,” said Gary Purnhagen, Vice President of Strategic Planning, Merrill Corporation. “In the current environment of a pending SEC mandate on XBRL, valuable experiences learned from the voluntary filers are an important asset to companies just beginning the path to XBRL tagging.”

The Merrill report, based on an extensive survey of voluntary filers, delves into their experiences and addresses key issues including: why they joined the VFP, how they got started, what options are available, what’s involved in adopting XBRL and many other essential XBRL topics. The survey was conducted between June 8 and August 22, 2007, via e-mail and telephone interviews by Sandpiper Partners LLC and was sponsored by Merrill Corporation. As of October 17, 2007, the survey respondents had a market cap of $1.8 trillion.

About Merrill Corporation

Founded in 1968 and headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., Merrill Corporation (http://www.merrillcorp.com/) is a leading provider of outsourcing solutions for complex business communication and information management. Merrill's services include document and data management, litigation support, branded communication programs, fulfillment, imaging and printing. Merrill targets markets including the legal, financial services, insurance and real estate industries. With more than 6,300 people in over 70 domestic and 15 international locations, Merrill empowers the communications of the world’s leading companies.

About Merrill Transaction and Compliance Services

Through a broad range of tools and services, Merrill Corporation streamlines document composition, filing, printing, distribution and electronic access services to support the transaction and regulatory compliance activities of our clients such as securities offerings, reorganizations, mergers and acquisitions, Securities and Exchange Commission filings and other regulatory filings. Merrill is a registered, third-party service provider that offers public companies expert EDGARization and XBRL filing services. We compose, edit, electronically file, manage and distribute data in printed or electronic format. Merrill DataSite is an online virtual deal room (VDR) solution that eliminates the need for paper data rooms. DataSite is accessible from any Web browser and offers electronic document integration, robust audits and enhanced reporting, dedicated professional service 24/7/365 and rapid implementation of the deal room within 72 hours.

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