FAQ

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Coverage

  • What coverage is included on WVB and what are the selection
    criteria?
    WVB covers all listed companies and issuers from around the world,
    irrespective of location or size.

    WVB covers all banks from around the world.

    WVB also has substantial coverage of private company information
    from a number of countries in Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia,
    Vietnam, India, and many more.

  • Can a client request an update or a new company to be added to the
    WVB database?
    WVB has always taken the approach of working closely with its
    client base. Additions or updates to the WVB database can be
    requested via our internal customer support website, Redmine. We
    treat these requests as top priority and if the client sends us
    the annual report, we aim to deliver within 24 hours of receipt.
    In cases where more companies are requested, a mutually acceptable
    timeline will be agreed upon.
  • How much history is available for companies on WVB?
    WVB database history goes back to 1984. US and Canadian companies
    have history dating back to the late 1990s. When a new company is
    added to the database WVB tries to go back a minimum of four
    years, with the obvious exception of a newly created company.
  • Does WVB provide information on inactive or dead companies?
    Yes, WVB keeps all inactive companies in the Master Database. When
    a company has become inactive, the appropriate Status Type code is
    added to the Company Status section. The choices of codes are
    “Active” and “Inactive”.
  • How can I determine if a company is inactive?
    If the reason for the inactive status is known, then the
    appropriate code is added in the Company Status section, field
    Status Code. WVB will only mark a company as Inactive when it
    receives evidence of that fact.

Timeliness

  • How long does it take WVB to update a company?
    WVB has adopted a “fast track method” since 1999 as well as a
    pro-active collection method. Annual reports, once received, are
    classified by ranking (Priority 1,2,3).

    Priority 1 entities – majority are usually updated within 1
    working day from Date of Release.

    Priority 2 entities – majority are usually updated within 1
    working day from Date of Release.

    Priority 3 entities (Non-priority entities) – majority are
    usually updated within 15 working days from Date of Release.

    Only in cases of bulk releases, it may take a longer time than
    usual. WVB works closely with our clients. In case a client has
    a list of companies that are top priority for them and they are
    not included in P1 for WVB, we will update it right after the
    Priority 1 entities are completed.

  • How does WVB prioritize updates when a large number of companies’
    reports are accumulated?
    WVB classifies listed entities according to market capitalization
    twice a year (mid & year-end).

    Priority 1 entities – Top 10,000 listed entities by market
    capitalization.
    Priority 2 entities – Newly listed entities with market
    capitalization of Top10,000 entities.
    Priority 3 entities – Rest of the listed entities.
    For private entities – total assets will be use instead.

  • How soon after the fiscal year end of a company can I expect to
    see the annual data on WVB?
    WVB updates preliminary reports which are unaudited financial
    statements which are released earlier than the audited financial
    statements.
    Depending on the filing requirements of respective countries, we
    find that majority of the preliminary reports are available 1-2
    months after year end and audited financial statements 3-4 months
    after year end.

Data Sourcing

  • What are the sources of WVB Data?
    Our primary information source is the financial reports filed by
    the companies themselves. The full audited annual financial
    accounts are the final source of all the data and are generally
    marked with the code C or N. For USA and Canadian companies, the
    source of information is the 10-K, 20-F or 40-F Report filed with
    the SEC and SEDAR, instead of the company annual report. For the
    fast update method of update, sources are press releases either
    directly from the company or from PR Newswire, Business Wire, RNS,
    Huggin, BIT, Company News, IR Asia, and others.
  • How does WVB collect the company annual reports?
    WVB obtains the annual reports either directly from the company,
    company websites, SEC or similar websites or stock exchange of the
    respective country.
  • How does WVB deal with missing annual reports?

    For annual reports that we fail to source via the internet,
    email, or fax, our last resort is to engage the local data
    collectors to help us. However, in most cases (90%) we can
    obtain the annual reports either directly from the company or
    the SEC or Stock Exchange of the respective country.

    1. WVB will gather these companies and send an email or fax
    directly to the companies for the annual reports.
    Simultaneously, we may write to the SEC or Stock Exchange. If
    there’s no response after 3-4 weeks, we will follow up by
    resending email/fax. Still no response after 3-4 weeks, for
    those countries in which we have data collectors, we’ll engage
    them to collect these annual reports. Otherwise, we will leave
    this company and revisit it the following year.
    2. At the same time, we will indicate under the Company Detail
    section in our database as follows:
    Date Report Requested: MM/DD/YYYY (indicates the last contact
    date) Report Requested Flag : F = Fax; E = Email; L = Letter
    Company Status Code: e,g, 10 = Other (No SEC Filings, ETC)
    Inactive; 11 = Delisted. Active; 02 =Acquisition or Merger,
    Inactive; 02 = Bankruptcy, Inactive, etc.

WVB Database Queries

Currency
  • What currency is used to update the WVB data?

    In the WVB Master Database, the currency used is the reporting
    currency that the reporting company uses in that specific fiscal
    year. Each fiscal year contains in its fiscal header the ISO
    currency code. WVB Master maintains the original currency and
    does not re-calculate the previous year’s accounts. Be aware
    that this is not the case in the WVB Analyst Database. The last
    reporting currency is used, and all historical amounts are
    translated to the new reporting currency.

  • If a country changes or revaluates its currency, what does WVB do?

    WVB will add Restated (CR) Report Type to the comparative
    statement if we found its Currency has been changed.

Reporting Issues
  • How do I know if the company accounts are consolidated or
    unconsolidated in a particular year?

    WVB shows consolidated company account data when it is
    disclosed. WVB indicates this in the financial data header
    with a code.

  • What is the company itself has no subsidiaries, would its
    accounts be categorized as consolidated or unconsolidated?

    This is common in particular with trust companies. They have
    no subsidiaries; merely the company itself. The financial
    accounts of such companies are considered fully consolidated,
    and flagged as report type C. In addition, we also have
    another flag in the Period Descriptor field, CONSOL = J to
    indicate that it is a single entity without any subsidiaries.

  • Does WVB carry both the original published data and/or restated
    financial data?

    WVB carries both originally as-reported data and subsequent
    as-restated data in WVB Master Product only. Restated data is
    indicated by the code “CR” and the year of publication.

  • What happens to previous years accounting reclassifications?

    Companies often will re-classify items for presentation
    purposes from year to year. WVB will not modify the previous
    year’s records. If there are material changes to the previous
    year’s reported figures due to mergers, acquisitions,
    disposals or accounting changes, then WVB will add a new
    record to reflect these changes. Reclassified data is
    indicated by the code “CA” and the year of publication.

  • Does WVB provide any information on the valuation methods by the
    company itself?

    Yes. The Period Descriptor fields describe many of the
    valuation methods used by the company itself, as disclosed in
    the notes to the annual accounts.

Company Business Description
  • Does WVB provide the company description in native languages
    other than English?

    WVB provides at least two company descriptions of activities
    in English: a short company description (generally not
    exceeding three lines) and a long company description
    (depending on the company-provided description and history).
    In addition, WVB provides generally a company description in
    the local language. The languages are French, German, Italian,
    Portuguese, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic etc.

  • Does WVB provide local language labels for the data items
    themselves?

    Yes. WVB has a dictionary that contains a translation of each
    financial data field in the database.

  • Where does WVB obtain the company description?

    The preferred source is the company annual report activity
    description or the company website. In those cases where none
    is available from the company, the local WVB data staff
    creates it.

  • What is the depth of WVB’s company business description?

    In addition to providing the company’s business activities,
    WVB strives to capture the company’s corporate developments
    such as history, listing, name change, merger & acquisitions,
    divestments, closure of business divisions, etc. WVB can also
    collect specific information such as chairman statements,
    directors, company future outlook and auditors report upon
    customer’s request, if provided.

Industry Classification & Segmental Information
  • How are WVB industry classifications determined?

    WVB carries SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes and
    the FTA (Financial Times Actuaries Codes) for each company.
    The assignment is determined by the contribution of the
    business segments to net sales. Company may have multiple
    codes each with an importance ranking attached. When a company
    changes industry activity, this will be indicated within the
    record with a “from date” and “to date”. In addition, WVB
    developed its own Industrial Classification Codes with a
    similar structure as the SIC codes. These codes are used to
    classify the business segment result breakdown. Further, we
    have added classification of industry activities by NACE (from
    the French ‘Nomenclature statistique des Activites economiques
    dans la Communaute Europeenne’-Statistical classification of
    economic activities in the European Community), NAICS (North
    American Industry Classification System) and ISIC (
    International Standard of Industrial Classification) as well
    as some country specific SIC codes such as UK SIC (UK Standard
    Industrial Classification).

  • Does WVB have more accurate and in-depth industry
    classifications?

    Yes, for each company financial year. When the company
    provides it, a detailed breakdown is available based on Sales,
    Profit, Assets, Depreciation, Capital Expenditure, Research
    and Development and number of Employees, is collected. To
    provide a more accurate and timely addition to industrial
    activities, WVB maintain its own industrial classification
    codes.

  • Does WVB provide in-depth geographical breakdowns?

    Like for the in-depth industry classification, WVB collects a
    detailed breakdown based on Sales, Profit, Assets,
    Depreciation, Capital Expenditure, Research and Development
    and number of Employees. Companies may report based upon Sales
    Location and or Manufacturing Location. WVB collects both.

    For banks, WVB collects an additional detailed breakdown for
    Net Interest Income and other significant items applicable for
    banks such as financial instruments and credit exposure, etc.

Scenarios
  • How does WVB handle company name changes?

    WVB maintains a table of Company Alias Names. Each company has
    two names: the Legal Name and the Product Name. The Legal Name
    is the complete legal name of the company (e.g., Banque
    Stellantis France SA; International Business Machines
    Corporation). The Product Name is a truncated name that allows
    a more logical alphabetical ranking (e.g., Banque Stellantis
    France; International Business Machines ). Each name has an
    Alias Name Type code. The table also provides other
    information, such as:

    • • Alias Names (e.g., I.B.M.; I. B. M. IBM)
    • • Company Local Registration Number
    • Name used on the stock exchange if different from the
      Product Name
    • • Ticker and the Stock Exchange it is listed on
    • • Previous Legal Name

    Each record shows an Effective from Date. When a name change
    takes place, the new Legal Name is created, and the Previous
    Legal Name label and the Effective Through Date are updated.

  • How does WVB handle companies with local company names?

    In addition to the two company names, the Legal Name and the
    Product Name, we will capture Native Name and sometimes,
    English Name. The English name is available for countries like
    Russia, Vietnam etc.

  • How can I determine that a company has changed the industry?

    When there’s a change in Industry, WVB will change a few
    sections in the database for example Industrial coding – SIC
    (Standard Industry Code), FTA (Financial Times Code), NACE,
    NAICS, and ISIC. WVB will also revise the company’s business
    profile in Product Note 5.

  • How does WVB adjust for IPO’s and spin-offs?

    In the case of spin-offs and IPO’s, WVB creates a new company
    with a new WVB number. Out of the prospectus, all relevant and
    pertinent information will be entered into the database. The
    financial data header record will show the type of account it
    is, generally “PR” for pro-forma accounts. The parent company,
    if they so disclose, will have restated accounts generally
    reflecting these events and are entered into the database with
    the code “CR”.

  • What if there is an error in the reported balances of the
    company accounts?

    If there is indeed a material error in summation in the
    report, WVB statisticians act as follows:

    • 1 .If an error is pointed out, corrections are made quickly
      as long as this is justified with the financial reports.
    • 2 .Contact the respective companies’ investor relations
      officer or chief financial officer for further clarification
      on the error found.
    • 3 .Provide a supporting explanation for the balancing figure
      under Product Note 2 dated with the corresponding fiscal
      year.
    • 4 .Once the company replies, correction is made and noted in
      the same note.
  • What if there is a duplicate WVB ID of the same company?

    In rare cases when this happens, WVB verifies the duplicate
    entry by their accounts, ISIN codes, etc. The company with
    less financial years updated would be deactivated from the
    database whilst the company with more financial years updated
    would be maintained.

Miscellaneous

  • Does WVB perform internal quality control validations?


    a. During the data input

    The WVB input software was specially designed to capture
    as-reported data in all its details. The approach was taken to
    use as much as possible accounting templates that resemble the
    local accounting presentation as much as possible. Also, the
    details that are generally disclosed in footnotes have been
    brought forward so that mathematical validation is easier to
    accomplish. The same is true with the negative or positive
    signs. WVB does not by purpose assign these functions to the
    data label. A number of internal calculations are performed
    during the data input and when all data has been entered
    additional calculations and validity are carried out by the
    system. No company can be approved for product if, per
    definition, the total assets and liabilities & shareholder’s
    equity do not match. Similar links exist between the P&L
    account and the business and geographic segment data, but with
    an overwrite capability, in case where required.

    b. After the company has been entered


    Independent of these, a second set of data validation is
    carried out on a weekly basis. This set of validation is to
    assure that data items have not been omitted, where previously
    available. Also a test is conducted to assure that the
    currency magnitude is within a tolerable range.

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