Recent Theoretical Developments in B -> X_s l^+ l^- Decays

We present a concise review of the theoretical status of the rare semileptonic B -> X_s l^+ l^- decays in the standard model. Particular attention is thereby devoted to the recent theoretical progress concerning, on the one hand the next-to-next-to-leading order QCD calculation and, on the other hand the analysis of phenomenological important subleading electroweak effects.