A new function on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Web site will allow investors to compare what 500 of the largest U.S. companies pay their top executives.

The Executive Compensation Reader, launched Dec. 21, is intended to build on the SEC’s 2006 pay disclosure rules, the agency said in a press release on the day of the launch.

“Through its new [disclosure] rules and the power of interactive data, the SEC has transformed the landscape of compensation disclosure,” SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said in the press release.

The initiative is part of a larger move by Cox to encourage the use of “XBRL” business reporting computer language on the SEC Web site.

To create the new tool, executive compensation figures from 500 companies that have filed online proxy statements with the agency were “tagged” in XBRL to make them easily searchable. XBRL tags include links to footnotes in the compensation disclosure and analysis, as well as company explanations of the rationale behind pay decisions.

The search function provides for a look at total annual pay as well as dollar amounts for salary, bonuses, stocks, options, and perks. Investors can also compile a list of companies and then use the online tool to generate a table or bar graph for comparison purposes.