Processing securities-related information

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for improving clarity of disclosure materials provided to investors, by enabling securities issuers, intermediaries and/or other entities to create and disseminate clear and concise summary-level information on individual securities to investors to enable informed investment decisions. The information may include a summary version of the full statutory prospectus (a “summary prospectus”). A summary prospectus may include a concise, “plain English” synopsis and/or representation of certain information contained in the full statutory prospectus, such as a security's investment objectives and strategies, costs, risks and/or other information.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method of processing a body of data, the method comprising:
 (A) locating, within the body of data, one or more data elements each having at least one attribute within a predefined set of attributes;   (B) inserting one or more markers into the body of data to indicate the presence of the data element(s) located in (A);   (C) using the markers inserted in (B), generating a representation of the body of data; and   (D) outputting the representation of the body of data to a user.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act (D) comprises making the representation of the body of data available in online form, including uniform resource locators (URL) corresponding the markers. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act (D) comprises making the representation of the body of data available in online format, including at least one data element located in (A) and a link to detailed information regarding the at least one data element. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the link is to a location within the body of data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the body of data comprises a table of contents. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the body of data comprises a portion which provides information regarding the at least one data element, and wherein the location is proximate to the portion. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act (C) comprises generating the representation of the body of data to include the one or more data elements arranged in a predefined sequence. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the predefined sequence is established by a third-party authority. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the act (C) comprises generating a representation of the body of data which includes one or more third-party elements associated with an entity. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
       (E) storing the representation of the body of data in a repository. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented system to process a body of data, the system comprising:
 a computer non-transitory memory storing instructions that when executed by a processor of the system cause the system to:   (A) locate, within the body of data, one or more data elements each having at least one attribute within a predefined set of attributes;   (B) insert one or more markers into the body of data to indicate the presence of the data element(s) located in (A);   (C) using the markers inserted in (B), generate a representation of the body of data; and   (D) output the representation of the body of data to a user.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the act (D) comprises making the representation of the body of data available in online form, including uniform resource locators (URL) corresponding the markers. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the act (D) comprises making the representation of the body of data available in online format, including at least one data element located in (A) and a link to detailed information regarding the at least one data element. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the link is to a location within the body of data. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the body of data comprises a table of contents. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the body of data comprises a portion which provides information regarding the at least one data element, and wherein the location is proximate to the portion. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the act (C) comprises generating the representation of the body of data to include the one or more data elements arranged in a predefined sequence. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 17 , wherein the predefined sequence is established by a third-party authority. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the act (C) comprises generating a representation of the body of data which includes one or more third-party elements associated with an entity. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to (E) store the representation of the body of data in a repository.