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*****For immediate use March 19, 2003
NEC To Provide SMBC with Japan's First XBRL-Based Online Financial System for Global e-Trade Services
TOKYO, March 19, 2003 - NEC Corporation (NEC) (NASDAQ: NIPNY, FTSE: 6701q.l, TSE: 6701) announced today that it will deliver Japan's first online XBRL -based (Note 1) foreign exchange trade system to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC). The new system called "Global e-Trade Service" was developed by NEC and will increase speed and efficiency of foreign exchange trade-related financial services offered by SMBC by digitalizing all documents and business processes, including the issuing of letters of credit (L/C) and bills of lading (B/L). The "Global e-Trade Service" solution developed for use by global trading companies, international banks and shipping companies will be introduced in March 2003.
Based on NEC's core mission-critical system solutions that realize highly reliable systems in an open environment, the "Global e-Trade Service" system enables SMBC to provide online trading and financial services such as electronic management of export Letters of Credit (L/C), electronic acceptance service for Bill-of-Exchange (BE), and remittance information. Furthermore, because the "Global e-Trade Service" is based on XBRL, the system can be easily integrated with other SMBC systems and those of its customers. It will also allow direct connectivity with SWIFT (Note 2), bolero.net (Note 3), and other global standard messaging and settlement networks.
"The 'Global e-Trade Service' will help us provide our customers with the best possible service ," said Atsushi Suzuki, Head of the Digital ID Planning Group Electronic Commerce Banking Dept. at SMBC. "This system is based totally on XBRL, which means our customer's systems can use a globally standardized document format to do their trade-related activities much more easily, with more reliability and cost effectively."
The system's platform is based on the NX7000 Series (NEC's Unix platform server, supplied by HP as the hp9000 on an OEM basis) and the iStorage S Series (SAN based storage system), and consists of Oracle9i databases (Note 4), BEA's WebLogic servers (Note 5) and other advanced software/hardware products. NEC used its industry leading expertise on system integration to integrate these products while ensuring a highly reliable system. Another highlight of this system is its ability to accept and automatically convert documents created by Microsoft Word/ Excel (Note 6) into XBRL. As the key component to realize this function, NEC adopted a Universal Converter (Note 7) developed by Universal Business Matrix, LLC (UBmatrix) (Note 8).
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the International Accounting Standards (IAS) are jointly working on a New Capital Accord and New Accounting Rules, which are designed to replace the current accord. This accord will have significant and far-reaching implications for the financial services industry. Major changes, mainly focusing on the disclosure process, will need to be implemented by medium and large sized banks, securities firms and corporations. XBRL is expected to reduce implementation costs by streamlining the disclosure process. The opportunity for XBRL to get involved with BIS and IAS has already been highlighted by the XBRL international consortiums.
In line with these changes, NEC is aiming to strengthen its system integration businesses worldwide, leveraging XBRL technology especially concentrating on IR and the disclosure process. XBRL solutions will be offered by NEC in the US through Niteo Partners (Note 9), NEC's wholly-owned system integration company. NEC is also targeting the growing market for mission-critical systems with open platforms which enables our customers and their service providers to offer reliable, flexible, and standards-based operating platforms for their online financial products.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY, FTSE: 6701q.l, TSE: 6701) is one of the world's leading providers of broadband and mobile Internet solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as a Global Fortune 500(R) company and one of the world's top patent-producing companies, the NEC group delivers tailored solutions in the core technologies and services required in a networked world, ranging from advanced semiconductor solutions, to large-scale mission critical systems, systems integration, and broadband and mobile technologies. The NEC group employs more than 140,000 people worldwide and had net sales of approximately $39 billion in the fiscal year ended March 2002. For additional information, please visit the NEC home page at http://www.nec.com.
About Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Group offers a broad range of financial services centered on banking. The Group is also engaged in the leasing, securities, credit card, investment, mortgage securitization, venture capital and other credit related businesses.
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| (Note 1) |
XBRL (Extensible Business Reporting Language) brings the publication, exchange, and analysis of complex financial information in corporate business reports into the dynamic and interactive realm of the internet. XBRL provides a common platform for critical business reporting processes and improves the reliability and ease of communicating financial data among users internal and external to the reporting enterprise. XBRL is an XML-based, royalty-free, and open standard being developed by a consortium of over 170 companies and agencies, delivering benefits to investors, accountants, regulators, executives, business and financial analysts, and information providers. |
| (Note 2) |
SWIFT is the industry-owned cooperative supplying secure messaging services and interface software to 7,000 financial institutions in 198 countries. SWIFT provides messaging services to banks, broker/dealers and investment managers, as well as to market infrastructures in payments, treasury, securities and trade. These services help customers reduce costs, improve automation and manage risk. |
| (Note 3) |
Launched at the end of September 1999 by the logistics and banking communities, bolero.net is a global initiative to move trade onto the Internet. The Bolero System provides secure electronic transmission of business data and documents along the entire trade chain from front-end order processing and management to back-end trade document exchange. |
| (Note 4) |
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. |
| (Note 5) |
WebLogic is a trademark of BEA Systems, Inc. |
| (Note 6) |
Microsoft Word/ Excel is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. |
| (Note 7) |
Universal Converter is a trademark of Ubmatrix |
| (Note 8) |
UBmatrix is the leading developer of a new breed of software solutions for automating data exchange and analysis. Ubmatrix has XBRL-based software solutions for various industries, including Corporations, Government Agencies, Bankers, International Traders, Accountants, Insurance, Utilities and Health Care. Its flagship product, the Universal Business Matrix Studio(TM) provides the right solution at the right time for automating business processes, and provides significant savings in time and cost, while reducing risk |
| (Note 9) |
Niteo Partners, a consulting and solutions firm and an NEC Company, leverages Internet technologies to deliver strategic and measurable value for Global 2000 companies. |
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