Category: Asia Pacific

MIL-OSI: Planisware – Q1 2025 revenue

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Q1 2025 revenue: € 47.5 million; +16.0%

Revenue up +14.3% in constant currencies, in line with FY planned trajectory
Strong commercial dynamic despite still elongated sales cycles
Growing pipeline fueled by high demand for advanced solutions providing visibility and agility
2025 objectives confirmed:
- Mid-to-high teens revenue growth in constant currencies
- c. 35% adjusted EBITDA margin¹
- Cash Conversion Rate^*of c. 80%

Paris, France, April 29, 2025 – Planisware, a leading B2B provider of SaaS in the rapidly growing Project Economy market, announces today its Q1 2025 revenue. Up by +16.0% in current currencies Revenue amounted to € 47.5 million, mainly led by the continued success of the Group’s market-leading SaaS platform. In constant currencies, revenue growth reached +14.3% (€+5.9 million), in line with the planned trajectory to achieve a mid-to-high teens revenue growth in 2025. Recurring revenue amounted to € 43.9 million (92% of total revenue) and was up by +16.2% in constant currencies.

Loïc Sautour, CEO of Planisware, commented: “Although we are not directly impacted by tariffs, we are still observing elongated customers’ decision-making process. So we continue to leverage the close connection with our existing customers, but also to initiate commercial relationships with new clients. This approach enabled Planisware to deliver a robust revenue growth in Q1 2025, in line with the planned trajectory for the year.

Facing a significant level of macroeconomic uncertainties, our clients and prospects express greater needs for advanced solutions to manage their portfolio of strategic projects and gain better visibility and agility to navigate in this challenging environment.

In this context, we confirm our mid-to-high teens revenue growth objective for the year while staying vigilant to potential further deterioration in the global economy, particularly in the short term. We also remain disciplined on resources allocation to maintain a strong profitability and best-in-class cash conversion rate while ensuring we keep investing in our long-term growth.”

Q1 2025 revenue by revenue stream

In € million	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	*Variation* *YoY*	*Variation* *in cc**
Recurring revenue	43.9	37.2	*+18.0%*	*+16.2%*
SaaS & Hosting	22.7	18.9	+20.4%	+18.5%
Evolutive support	13.2	10.8	+21.8%	+20.0%
Subscription support	3.0	2.8	+6.7%	+4.1%
Maintenance	4.9	4.6	+6.4%	+5.2%
Non-recurring revenue	3.6	3.8	*-3.3%*	*-4.4%*
Perpetual licenses	0.8	1.1	-24.1%	-25.4%
Implementation & others non-recurring	2.8	2.7	+5.5%	+4.4%
Total revenue	47.5	40.9	*+16.0%*	*+14.3%*

* Revenue evolution in constant currencies, i.e. at Q1 2024 average exchange rates

Reaching € 47.5 million in Q1 2025, revenue was up by +16.0% in current currencies and +14.3% in constant currencies. The exchange rates effect was almost fully related to the appreciation of the US dollar versus the euro. In order to reflect the underlying performance of the Company independently from exchange rate fluctuations, the following analysis refers to revenue evolution in constant currencies, applying Q1 2024 average exchange rates to Q1 2025 revenue figures, unless expressly stated otherwise.

Recurring revenue

Representing 92% of Q1 2025 total revenue, up by c. 150 basis points versus 91% in Q1 2024, recurring revenue reached € 43.9 million, up by +16.2%.

Revenue growth was led by +17.8% growth of Planisware’s SaaS model (i.e. SaaS & Hosting, Annual licenses, and Evolutive & Subscription support), of which SaaS & Hosting revenue was up by +18.5% thanks to contracts secured with new customers as well as continued expansion within the installed base. Revenue of support activities (Evolutive & Subscription support), intrinsically related to Planisware’s SaaS offering, grew by +16.7%.

Maintenance revenue was up by +5.2% in the context of the Group’s shift from its prior Perpetual license model to a SaaS model and reflecting the strong demand for licenses in the start of 2024 from customers with specific on-premises needs, in particular in the defense industry.

Non-recurring revenue

Non-recurring revenue was down by -4.4% in Q1 2025, with a contrasted trend of Perpetual licenses down by -25.4% and Implementation up by +4.4%.

Implementation activity was high in Q1 2025 with the start of several large SaaS contracts signed end of 2024, leading to +4.4% revenue growth. On the other hand, the Group sold several Perpetual licenses extensions and upgrades to customers with specific on-premises needs but posted a revenue decline by €-0.3 million compared to Q1 2024 which represented a particularly high comparative basis.

Commercial dynamic

In Q1 2025, despite sales cycles remaining longer than a year before, clients and prospects expressed greater needs for advanced solutions to manage their portfolio of strategic projects and gain better visibility and agility to navigate in the current uncertain environment. Planisware continued to support its existing customers in adapting and reorganizing themselves to a rapidly changing environment, while maintaining or enhancing their operational efficiency. As a result, key clients such as Philips or Boston Scientific expanded their usage of Planisware’s solutions and support practices. This was particularly the case in the automotive industry with clients such as Fox Factory in the US in PD&I, Continental in Germany, as well as Forvia in France.

The relevance of Planisware’s multi-specialist approach has been demonstrated in many sectors, from retail in Australia with Coles or the pharmaceutical industry in Japan with Takeda, to automotive in the USA and Sweden with Dana and HADV Group, which now uses Orchestra to manage its product development portfolio.

2025 objectives confirmed

Taking into account its strong commercial pipeline and acknowledging a high level of uncertainties that may drive further elongation of sales cycles and delays in the start of new contracts, Planisware confirms its 2025 objectives:

Mid-to-high teens revenue growth in constant currencies
c. 35% adjusted EBITDA margin^*
Cash Conversion Rate^* of c. 80%

Appendices

Investors & Analysts conference call

Planisware’s management team will host an international conference call on April 29, 2025 at 8:00am CET to details Q1 2025 performance and key achievements, by means of a presentation followed by a Q&A session. The webcast and its subsequent replay will be available on planisware.com.

Upcoming event

June 19, 2025: Annual General Meeting of shareholders
July 31, 2025: H1 2025 results publication
October 21, 2025: Q3 2025 revenue publication

Contact

About Planisware

Planisware is a leading business-to-business (“B2B”) provider of Software-as-a-Service (“SaaS”) in the rapidly growing Project Economy. Planisware’s mission is to provide solutions that help organizations transform how they strategize, plan and deliver their projects, project portfolios, programs and products.

With circa 750 employees across 16 offices, Planisware operates at significant scale serving around 600 organizational clients in a wide range of verticals and functions across more than 30 countries worldwide. Planisware’s clients include large international companies, medium-sized businesses and public sector entities.

Planisware is listed on the regulated market of Euronext Paris (Compartment A, ISIN code FR001400PFU4, ticker symbol “PLNW”).

For more information, visit: https://planisware.com/ and connect with Planisware on LinkedIn.

Disclaimer

Forward-looking statements

This document contains statements regarding the prospects and growth strategies of Planisware. These statements are sometimes identified by the use of the future or conditional tense, or by the use of forward-looking terms such as “considers”, “envisages”, “believes”, “aims”, “expects”, “intends”, “should”, “anticipates”, “estimates”, “thinks”, “wishes” and “might”, or, if applicable, the negative form of such terms and similar expressions or similar terminology. Such information is not historical in nature and should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future performance. Such information is based on data, assumptions, and estimates that Planisware considers reasonable. Such information is subject to change or modification based on uncertainties in the economic, financial, competitive or regulatory environments.

This information includes statements relating to Planisware’s intentions, estimates and targets with respect to its markets, strategies, growth, results of operations, financial situation and liquidity. Planisware’s forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this document. Absent any applicable legal or regulatory requirements, Planisware expressly disclaims any obligation to release any updates to any forward-looking statements contained in this document to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances, on which any forward-looking statement contained in this document is based. Planisware operates in a competitive and rapidly evolving environment; it is therefore unable to anticipate all risks, uncertainties or other factors that may affect its business, their potential impact on its business or the extent to which the occurrence of a risk or combination of risks could have significantly different results from those set out in any forward-looking statements, it being noted that such forward-looking statements do not constitute a guarantee of actual results.

Rounded figures

Certain numerical figures and data presented in this document (including financial data presented in millions or thousands and certain percentages) have been subject to rounding adjustments and, as a result, the corresponding totals in this document may vary slightly from the actual arithmetic totals of such information.

Variation in constant currencies

Variation in constant currencies represent figures based on constant exchange rates using as a base those used in the prior year. As a result, such figures may vary slightly from actual results based on current exchange rates.

Non-IFRS measures

This document includes certain unaudited measures and ratios of the Group’s financial or non-financial performance (the “non-IFRS measures”), such as “recurring revenue”, “non-recurring revenue”, “gross margin”, “Adjusted EBITDA”, “Adjusted EBITDA margin”, “Adjusted Free Cash Flow”, and “cash conversion rate”. Non-IFRS financial information may exclude certain items contained in the nearest IFRS financial measure or include certain non-IFRS components. Readers should not consider items which are not recognized measurements under IFRS as alternatives to the applicable measurements under IFRS. These measures have limitations as analytical tools and readers should not treat them as substitutes for IFRS measures. In particular, readers should not consider such measurements of the Group’s financial performance or liquidity as an alternative to profit for the period, operating income or other performance measures derived in accordance with IFRS or as an alternative to cash flow from (used in) operating activities as a measurement of the Group’s liquidity. Other companies with activities similar to or different from those of the Group could calculate non-IFRS measures differently from the calculations adopted by the Group.

Non-IFRS measures included in this document are defined as follows:

Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as Current operating profit including share of profit of equity-accounted investees, plus amortization and depreciation as well as impairment of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment, plus either non-recurring items or non-operating items.
Adjusted EBITDA margin is the ratio of Adjusted EBITDA to total revenue.
Adjusted FCF (Free Cash Flow) is calculated as cash flows from operating activities, plus IPO costs paid, if any, less other financial income and expenses classified as operating activities in the cash-flow statement, and less net cash relating to capital expenditures.
Cash Conversion Rate is defined as Adjusted FCF divided by Adjusted EBITDA.

1 Non-IFRS measure. Non-IFRS measures included in this document are defined in the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Attachment

Planisware – Q1 2025 revenue – PR

The MIL Network –

April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI: Amundi: Results for the First quarter of 2025 – Record inflows at +€31bn

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Amundi: Results for the First quarter of 2025

Record inflows at +€31bn

Record inflows		Assets under management¹at an all-time high of €2.25tn at end of March 2025, +6% year-on-year Highest quarterly net inflows since 2021, at +€31bn in Q1 +€37bn in medium- to long-term assets excluding JVs, new quarterly record Positive inflows in active management (+€6bn) Strong ETF net inflows and gain of a big ESG equity index mandate with The People’s Pension (UK): +€21bn

Strong growth in profit before tax		Profit before tax²of €458m, up +11% Q1/Q1, driven by: revenue growth (+11%) positive jaws effect improved cost-income ratio to 52.4%² Adjusted net income²^,³ close to €350m excluding impact of exceptional tax surcharge⁴ in France (-€46m)

Confirmed strategic pillars success		Strong inflows in growth areas: Third-party distribution +€8bn Asia +€8bn ETF +€10bn Amundi Technology: strong organic growth, integration of aixigo and revenues up +46% Q1/Q1

Paris, 29 April 2025

Amundi’s Board of Directors met on 28 April 2025 chaired by Philippe Brassac, and approved the financial statements for the first quarter of 2025.

Valérie Baudson, Chief Executive Officer, said: “After a record year in 2024, Amundi continued this momentum in the first quarter of 2025. Quarterly net inflows are at their highest since 2021: our clients, whether they are individuals or institutions, have entrusted us with +€31bn more to manage. In particular, we won a major mandate from one of the UK’s largest pension funds in the fast-growing market for Defined Contribution pension plans.

The business continues to reflect the relevance of our main growth pillars: net inflows were dynamic with Third-Party Distributors, in Asia and on ETFs, and Amundi Technology continues its sustained growth.

The three transactions signed in 2024 reinforce this solid organic growth: Alpha Associates and aixigo have already contributed positively to the quarter’s results, the partnership with Victory Capital, closed on 1 April, now allows us to offer more US strategies while creating value for our shareholders.

Amundi’s diversified model and agility allow us to effectively support our clients in all market environments and provide them with long-term growth opportunities. We continue to invest, redeploy our resources and optimise our cost base to adapt our platform, meet the changing needs of clients and develop new services for them. »

* * * * *

Highlights

Continued organic growth thanks to confirmed successes in the strategic pillars

2025 is the last year of implementation of the 2025 Ambitions plan, which sets a number of strategic pillars to accelerate the diversification of the Group’s growth drivers and exploit development opportunities. After a year 2024 during which several objectives were achieved a year ahead of schedule, the first quarter confirmed the momentum:

Third-Party Distribution recorded assets under management up over +15% year-on-year and net inflows over 12 months of +€33bn, of which +€8bn⁵ in the first quarter of 2025, mainly in MLT assets⁶, (+€7.6bn); net inflows this quarter were driven by ETFs and active management, diversified by geographical areas and positive in almost all countries in terms of MLT assets⁶, particularly in Asia (+€1.7bn); it is also diversified by types of client, with a confirmed commercial momentum with digital platforms, which account for c.25% of net inflows; it should be noted that a Workshop presenting the Third-Party Distribution business line will be held on Thursday 19 June in London, with the entire division’s management team;

Asia: assets under management were up +9% year-on-year despite the fall in the US dollar and the Indian rupee, to reach €462bn; net inflows for the quarter reached +€8bn, mainly from direct distribution (+€5bn compared to +€3bn for JVs), and is balanced between major client segments in direct distribution and JVs; it is also diversified by countries: Korea (+€3bn) thanks to the JV, China with the two JVs and institutional clients, Hong Kong (+€1.6bn) and Singapore (+€1.4bn) thanks to institutional and third-party distributors;
ETFs raised +€10bn this quarter, thanks to the success of US equity underlying strategies at the beginning of the quarter, and then in March with the success of the Stoxx Europe 600 ETF, which collected +€1.3bn in one month and exceeded €10bn in assets under management; innovative products were launched, with the ETF invested in short-duration eurozone sovereign green bonds, capitalising on the success of its long-duration big brother, which reached €3bn in assets under management;
Amundi Technology continues to grow: its revenues increased by +46% Q1/Q1, driven in equal parts by the integration of aixigo and strong organic growth; the business line has signed a partnership with Murex to offer in ALTO the functionalities of this company’s integrated OTC derivatives management and valuation platform, MX.3, which has more than 60,000 users in 65 countries; the partnership includes cross-selling and joint business development agreements.

After the end of the first quarter

On 1 April, the partnership with Victory Capital, was closed and Amundi received 17.6 million shares, i.e. 21.2%⁷ of Victory Capital’s capital. In accordance with the Contribution Agreement and the completion of the remaining adjustments, we expect Amundi’s stake in Victory Capital to reach 26.1%⁷ in the next few months. This investment will be consolidated using the equity method and will start contributing to the Group’s results from the second quarter.
It should be noted that as of 8 April, after the drop in the equities and bond markets and at the trough of European equity markets since the end of the first quarter (Stoxx 600 -9%), the Group’s assets under management excluding JVs⁸ were down by just below -3% compared to 31 March 2025; as of 25 March, they had recovered to less than -2% vs. end March.
After the success of Ambitions 2025, a new three-year strategic plan will be presented in the fourth quarter.

Focus on operations in the UK

The winning of a large mandate with a pension fund illustrates the strong development of Amundi’s operations in the United Kingdom. Amundi has management and marketing/sales teams there and is experiencing strong growth in its business:

London is one of Amundi’s 6 global investment hubs, with €49bn under management for the entire Group, in charge of all emerging markets strategies as well as global and GBP fixed income strategies;
The distribution platform for local clients represents €66bn under management, balanced between institutional and third-party distribution; the commercial platform is complemented by Amundi Technology sales teams to serve British clients.

The €21bn equity index mandate for The People’s Pension, one of the leading Master Trusts (multi-employer pension funds) in the Defined Contribution pension plan market, was won thanks to the depth and consistency of Amundi’s responsible investment methodology, applied in this case to an index management solution. It amplifies the strong commercial momentum in this Master Trust market segment, as Amundi is now a close partner of the two largest players.

Activity

Capital markets still up Q1/Q1, decline in the dollar and Indian rupee

In the first quarter of 2025, both equities⁹and bond¹⁰markets continued to rise. Year-on-year, they gained +13% and +3% respectively in average. The market effect is therefore positive on the Group’s assets under management and revenues compared to the first quarter of 2024.

The Indian rupee and the US dollar were both down -4% quarter-on-quarter, and -3% year-on-year for the Indian rupee while the US dollar is stable over the same period. The foreign exchange effect, which was neutral year-on-year, was therefore negative by around -1% on Amundi’s end-of-period assets under management in the first quarter.

European fund management market in slow recovery

Investor risk aversion persists in the European fund management market. In the first quarter of 2025, net inflows in open-ended funds¹¹ continued their slow recovery compared to the beginning of 2024, at +€221bn in the first quarter, down slightly compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 (+€232bn) due to lower net inflows from money market funds (+€60bn). Active management continued its recovery, with +€70bn net inflows, and its rebalancing compared to passive management (+€91bn, of which +€82bn in ETFs). As in previous quarters, net flows were positive thanks to fixed income, and grew only as a result of lower outflows in equities and multi-assets.

Highest quarterly net inflows for MLT assets⁶in Q1

Assets under management¹as at 31 March 2025 increased by +6.2% year-on-year, to reach the new record of €2,247bn. Over 12 months, in addition to market appreciation, they benefited from a high level of net inflows, at +€70bn, higher than the market & forex effect of +€53bn. The increase in assets under management also benefited from the integration of Alpha Associates since the beginning of April 2024 (+€7.9bn).

In the first quarter of 2025, the forex effect was negative by -€26bn due to the fall of the US dollar and the Indian rupee against the euro. It was very slightly offset by a small positive market effect (+€2bn). The strong net inflows in the quarter were much higher than this negative forex effect.

The first quarter net inflows totalled +€31bn, the highest level for a quarter since 2021, of which +€37bn in MLT assets⁶ excluding JVs, an all-time record.

These net inflows benefited from the gain of the mandate of The People’s Pension (+€21bn). The rest of the MLT net inflows⁶ (+€16bn) comes from passive management, in particular ETFs (+€10bn) and active management (+€6bn). As in previous quarters, the latter was driven by fixed income strategies (+€11bn), in all client segments.
The three main client segments contributed to net inflows of +€31bn:

the Retail segment, at +€6bn, thanks to Third-Party Distributors (+€8bn); net inflows were slightly positive at Amundi BOC WM while risk aversion continued to affect net inflows from Partner Networks: slightly positive in France (+€0.2bn) and negative in International business (-€3bn), due in particular to multi-asset strategies: -€2bn;
The Institutional segment, at +€22bn, of which +€33bn in MLT assets⁶, benefited from The People’s Pension mandate and a good level of net inflows, particularly bonds, in all sub-segments except the seasonal effect for Corporates and Employee Savings;
Finally JVs (+€3bn) benefited from dynamic net inflows in NH-Amundi (South Korea, +€3bn), while SBI FM (India, -€1bn) recorded outflows linked to end-of-fiscal-year operations and client caution after the correction in local equities markets since October 2024, even though net flows remained positive in the retail segment; ABC-CA (China) net inflows confirmed the stabilisation of the local market, and were positive by +€1bn excluding discontinued Channel Business operations, mainly driven by treasury products.

Treasury products posted outflows of -€8.7bn, mainly due to particularly strong seasonal outflows from Corporates in the first quarter of this year (-€11.6bn) and to a lesser extent from arbitrages by CA & SG insurers (-€1.6bn) in favour of products with longer durations. All other client segments posted slightly positive net inflows in treasury products, reflecting the wait-and-see attitude in the face of volatility in risky assets markets.

First quarter 2025 results

Sharp increase in profit before tax²+11% Q1/Q1 thanks to top line growth

Adjusted data²

Profit before tax²reached €458m, up +10.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

It includes contributions from Alpha Associates as well as aixigo, acquisitions of which were finalised in early April and early November 2024 respectively, and were therefore not included in the first quarter 2024. Their cumulative contribution to the profit before tax² in the first quarter reached +€4m, i.e. +1pp of Q1/Q1 growth.

The growth in profit before tax² was mainly due to the increase in revenues.

Adjusted net revenue² amounted to €912m, up +10.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024, +9% at constant scope, driven by all sources of revenues:

net management fees increased by +7.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024, to €824m, which reflects the good level of activity, the increase in average assets under management excluding JVs (+8.8% over the same period), but also the negative product mix effect on revenue margins;
performance fees (€23m), which are traditionally more moderate in the first quarter due to the lower number of fund anniversaries during this period, nevertheless rose by +30.7% compared to the first quarter of 2024; they reflect the good performance of Amundi’s investment management, with c.70% of assets under management ranked in the first or second quartiles according to Morningstar¹² over 1, 3 or 5 years, and 244 Amundi funds rated 4 or 5 stars by Morningstar¹² as at 31 March;
Amundi Technology’s revenues, at €26m, continued to grow steadily (+46.2% compared to the first quarter of 2024), amplified this quarter by the consolidation of aixigo (+€4m); excluding aixigo, these revenues were up +21.2% organically;
finally, the Financial and other revenues² amounted to €39m, up sharply compared to the first quarter of 2024 thanks to capital gains on the private equity portfolio in seed money and a positive mark-to-market from equity holdings, despite the impact of the fall in short-term rates in the euro zone.

The increase in adjusted²operating expenses, €478m, is +8.8% compared to the first quarter of 2024, +6% at constant scope. It remains lower than that of revenues, thus generating a positive jaws effect of nearly 3 percentage points excluding the scope effect related to the acquisition of Alpha Associates and aixigo, reflecting the Group’s operational efficiency.

In addition to the scope effect, this increase is mainly due to:

investments in the development initiatives of the 2025 Ambitions plan, including technology, third-party distribution and Asia;
provisioning for individual variable remuneration, in line with the growth in results.

The cost-income ratio at 52.4% on an adjusted data basis², improved compared to the same quarter last year and is in line with the Ambitions 2025 target (<53%).

The adjusted²gross operating income (GOI) amounted to €434m, up +12.9% compared to the first quarter of 2024, +11.8% at constant scope, reflecting revenue growth.

Share of net income of equity-accounted companies¹³, at €28m, down slightly compared to the first quarter of 2024, reflects the decline in net financial income of the main contributing entity, the Indian JV SBI FM. The decline in the Indian equities markets resulted in negative mark-to-market in the JV’s financial income, which nevertheless continues to benefit from strong growth in its activity with management fees up of over +20% Q1/Q1.

The adjusted²corporate tax expense for the first quarter of 2025 reached -€155m, a very strong increase – +60.8% – compared to the first quarter of 2024.

In France, in accordance with the Finance law for 2025, an exceptional tax contribution must be booked in fiscal year 2025. It is calculated on the average of the profits made in France in 2024 and 2025. This exceptional contribution is estimated¹⁴ to -€72m for the year as a whole, but it will not be accounted for on a straight-line basis over the quarters. It amounted to -€46m in the first quarter of 2025, with the rest spread over the next three quarters. Excluding this exceptional contribution, the adjusted² tax expense would have been -€109m and the adjusted² effective tax rate would be equivalent to that of the first quarter of 2024.

Adjusted²net income amounts to €303m. Excluding the exceptional tax contribution, it would have been close to €350m, up +10% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

The adjusted²net earnings per share in the first quarter of 2025 was €1.48, including -€0.22 related to the exceptional tax contribution in France. Excluding this exceptional tax contribution, adjusted² earnings per share would therefore have been €1.70, up +9.6% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

Accounting data in the first quarter of 2025

Accounting net income, Group share amounted to €283m. It includes the exceptional tax contribution in France of -€46m.

As in other quarters, accounting net income includes non-cash charges related to the acquisitions of Alpha Associates and aixigo and the amortisation of intangible assets related to distribution agreements and client contracts (including the corresponding new charges related to Alpha Associates), for a total of -€14m after tax. Integration costs related to the partnership with Victory Capital, closed on 1 April 2025, were also recorded in the first quarter, for a total of -€5m after tax. Furthermore, amortisation of intangible fixed assets adjustments after the integration of aixigo was also recognised in operating expenses -€1m after tax (See the details of all these elements in p. 11).

Accounting net earnings per share in the first quarter of 2025 was €1.38, including the exceptional tax contribution in France.

A solid financial structure, €1.2bn in surplus capital

Tangible net assets¹⁵ amounted to €4.8bn as at 31 March 2025, up +€0.3bn or +7% compared to the end of 2024, in line with the quarter’s net income.

The CET1 solvency ratio stood at 15.5%¹⁶ as at 31 March 2025.

As indicated at the time of signing in July 2024, the partnership with Victory Capital will have no material effect on the ratio.

The capital surplus at the end of the first quarter amounted to €1.2bn, taking into account the dividend to be paid for 2024, the net income for the first quarter and the related dividend provision.

Future investments and operational efficiency

This quarter, Amundi demonstrated its ability to:

Be agile and accompany its clients in different market contexts, thanks to its wide range of high-performing investment management expertise and product innovation;
Develop services to offer technological or investment management solutions to players in the entire savings value chain;
Offer a full range of Responsible Investment solutions, in order to adapt to all client demands;
Develop in Europe including in the United Kingdom;
Invest and accelerate on the growth pillars of its strategic plan: Asia, third-party distribution, ETFs, technology, services.

To finance future investments and accelerate the reallocation of our resources towards our growth drivers, we set ourselves a cost optimisation target of €30 to €40m, to be achieved as from 2026.

* * * * *

APPENDICES

Adjusted income statement²of the first quarter of 2025

(M€)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	% var. Q1/Q1

Net revenue – Adjusted	912	824	+10.7%
Net management fees	824	766	+7.7%
Performance fees	23	18	+30.7%
Technology	26	18	+46.2%
Financial income and other income – Adjusted	39	23	+68.5%
Operating expenses – Adjusted	(478)	(439)	+8.8%
Cost/income ratio – Adjusted (%)	52.4%	53,3%	-0.9pp
Gross operating income – Adjusted	434	385	+12.9%
Cost of risk & others	(4)	(0)	NS
Share of net income of equity-accounted companies	28	29	-3.7%
Income before tax – Adjusted	458	413	+10.7%
Corporate tax – Adjusted	(155)	(97)	+60.8%
Of which exceptional tax contribution in France	(46)	–	NS
Non-controlling interests	1	1	+14.3%
Net income Group share – Adjusted	303	318	-4.5%
Amortisation of intangible assets, after tax	(14)	(15)	-7.4%
Amortisation of aixigo PPA, after tax	(1)	–	–
Integration costs, after tax	(5)	–	–
Net income Group share	283	303	-6.6%
Earnings per share (€)	1.38	1.48	-7.0%
Earnings per share – Adjusted (€)	1.48	1.55	-4.9%

Change in assets under management from the end of 2021 to the end of March 2025¹⁷

(€bn)	*Assets under management*	*Net* *inflows*	*Market and forex effect*	*Scope* *Effect*			*Change in AuM* *vs. prior quarter*
As of 31/12/2021	2,064					+14%¹⁸
Q1 2022		+3.2	-46.4		–
As of 31/03/2022	2,021					-2.1%
Q2 2022		+1.8	-97.7		–
As of 30/06/2022	1,925					-4.8%
Q3 2022		-12.9	-16.3		–
As of 30/09/2022	1,895					-1.6%
Q4 2022		+15.0	-6.2		–
As of 31/12/2022	1,904					+0.5%
Q1 2023		-11.1	+40.9		–
As of 31/03/2023	1,934					+1.6%
Q2 2023		+3.7	+23.8		–
As of 31/06/2023	1,961					+1.4%
Q3 2023		+13.7	-1.7		–
As of 30/09/2023	1,973					+0.6%
Q4 2023		+19.5	+63.8		-20
As of 31/12/2023	2,037					+3.2%
Q1 2024		+16.6	+62.9		–
As of 31/03/2024	2,116					+3.9%
Q2 2024		+15.5	+16.6		+8
30/06/2024	2,156					+1.9%
Q3 2024		+2.9	+32.5		–
30/09/2024	2,192					+1.6%
Q4 2024		+20.5	+28.2		–
31/12/2024	2,240					+2.2%
Q1 2025		+31.1	-24.0		–
31/03/2025	2,247					+0.3%

Total year-on-year between 31 March 2024 and 31 March 2025: +6.2%

Net inflows +€70.0bn
Market effect +€63.8bn
Forex effect -€10.5bn
Scope effects +€7.9bn
(Alpha Associates’ first consolidation in Q2 2024, the acquisition of aixigo has no effect on assets under management)

Details of assets under management and net inflows by client segments¹⁹

(€bn)	AuM 31.03.2025	AuM 31.03.2024	% change /31.03.2024	Inflows Q1 2025	Inflows Q1 2024
French Networks	139	137	+1.3%	+0.2	+1.5
International networks	162	165	-1.6%	-2.7	-2.0
Of which Amundi BOC WM	2	3	-21.2%	+0.3	-0.2
Third-Party Distributors	398	345	+15.6%	+8.3	+7.0
Retail	700	647	+8.2%	+5.8	+6.5
Institutional & Sovereigns (*)	550	511	+7.5%	+30.1	+9.7
Corporates	111	108	+2.1%	-10.3	-4.2
Employee savings plans	95	90	+6.0%	-0.9	-0.9
CA & SG Insurers	430	427	+0.7%	+3.6	+1.0
Institutional	1,186	1,137	+4.3%	+22.4	+5.6
JVs	362	332	+8.9%	+2.9	+4.5
Total	2,247	2,116	+6.2%	+31.1	+16.6

(*) Including funds of funds

Details of assets under management and net inflows by asset classes¹⁹

(€bn)	AuM 31.03.2025	AuM 31.03.2024	% change /31.03.2024	Inflows Q1 2025	Inflows Q1 2024
Equities	564	505	+11.7%	+26.4	-2.6
Multi-assets	271	280	-3.1%	-1.0	-7.6
Bonds	759	700	+8.4%	+14.3	+13.9
Real, alternative, and structured products	111	107	+4.2%	-2.8	-0.3
MLT ASSETS excl. JVs	1,705	1,591	+7.2%	+36.9	+3.4
Treasury products excl. JVs	180	193	-6.5%	-8.7	+8.7
TOTAL excluding JVs	1,885	1,784	+5.7%	+28.2	+12.1
JVs	362	332	+8.9%	+2.9	+4.5
TOTAL	2,247	2,116	+6.2%	+31.1	+16.6
*Of which MLT assets*	*2,034*	*1,892*	*+7.5%*	*+39.7*	*+7.7*
*Of which Treasury products*	*213*	*224*	*-5.1%*	*-8.6*	*+8.9*

Details of assets under management and net inflows by type of management and asset classes¹⁹

(€bn)	AuM 31.03.2025		AuM 31.03.2024	% change /31.03.2024	Inflows Q1 2025	Inflows Q1 2024
Active management		1,149	1,117	+2.9%	+6.3	+1.3
Equities		204	209	-2.1%	-3.9	-2.8
Multi-assets		260	270	-3.6%	-1.0	-8.0
Bonds		685	639	+7.3%	+11.2	+12.0
Structured products		42	41	+3.7%	-2.0	+0.6
Passive management		445	368	+21.0%	+33.4	+2.5
ETFs & ETC		272	227	+19.8%	+10.4	+5.0
Index & Smart beta		173	140	+23.0%	+23.0	-2.5
Real and Alternative Assets		69	66	+4.5%	-0.7	-0.9
Real assets		65	61	+5.8%	-0.6	-0.2
Alternative		4	4	-12.8%	-0.1	-0.7
TOTAL MLT assets excluding JVs		1,705	1,591	+7.2%	+36.9	+3.4
Treasury products excl. JVs		180	193	-6.5%	-8.7	+8.7
TOTAL excluding JVs		1,885	1,784	+5.7%	+28.2	+12.1
JVs		362	332	+8.9%	+2.9	+4.5
TOTAL		2,247	2,116	+6.2%	+31.1	+16.6

Details of assets under management and net inflows by geographic area¹⁹

(€bn)	AuM 31.03.2025	AuM 31.03.2024	% change /31.03.2024	Inflows Q1 2025	Inflows Q1 2024
France	1,001	978	+2.3%	+0.5	+10.0
Italy	198	208	-4.6%	-1.9	-1.1
Europe excluding France & Italy	456	391	+16.6%	+23.7	+4.0
Asia	462	423	+9.3%	+7.8	+6.8
Rest of the world	130	116	+11.7%	+1.0	-3.0
TOTAL	2,247	2,116	+6.2%	+31.1	+16.6
*TOTAL outside France*	1,246	1,138	+9.5%	+30.6	+6.6

Methodological appendix – APM

Accounting and adjusted data

Accounting data – They include

amortisation of intangible assets, recorded as other revenues, and from Q2 2024, other non-cash charges spread according to the schedule of payments of the price adjustment until the end of 2029; these expenses are recognised as deductions from net revenues, in financial expenses.
integration costs related to the transaction with Victory Capital and PPA amortisation related to the acquisition of aixigo recorded in the fourth quarter as operating expenses. No such costs were recorded in the first nine months of 2024.

The aggregate amounts of these items are as follows for the different periods under review:

Q1 2024: -€20m before tax and -€15m after tax
Q4 2024: -€38m before tax and -€28m after tax
Q1 2025: -€29m pre-tax and -€20m after tax

Adjusted data – In order to present an income statement that is closer to economic reality, the following adjustments have been made: restatement of the amortisation of distribution agreements with Bawag, UniCredit and Banco Sabadell, intangible assets representing the client contracts of Lyxor and, since the second quarter of 2024, Alpha Associates, as well as other non-cash charges related to the acquisition of Alpha Associates; these amortisations and non-cash expenses are recognised as a deduction from net revenues; restatement of the amortisation of a technology asset related to the acquisition of aixigo recognised in operating expenses. The integration costs for the transaction with Victory Capital are also restated.

Acquisition of Alpha Associates

In accordance with IFRS 3, recognition on Amundi’s balance sheet as at 01/04/2024 of:

a goodwill of €288m;
an intangible asset of €50m, representing client contracts, amortised on a straight-line basis until the end of 2030;
a liability representing the conditional price adjustment not yet paid, for €160m before tax, including an actuarial discount of -€30m, which will be amortized over 6 years.

In the Group’s income statement, the following is recorded:

amortisation of intangible assets for a full-year charge of -€7.6m (-€6.1m after tax);
other non-cash expenses spread according to the schedule of payments of the price adjustment until the end of 2029; these expenses are recognised as deductions from net revenues, in financial expenses.

In Q1 2025, amortisation of intangible assets was -€1.9m before tax and non-cash expenses were -€1.5m before tax (i.e. -€2.5m after tax).

Acquisition of aixigo

In accordance with IFRS 3, recognition on Amundi’s balance sheet at the date of acquisition of:

goodwill of €121m;
a technological asset of €36m representative of the goodwill attributed to aixigo’s software solutions, amortised on a straight-line basis over 5 years;

The full-year amortisation expense of the technology asset was -€7.2m (-€4.8m after tax); in Q1 2025 the amortisation expense was -€1.8m (-€1.2m after tax); it is recognised in operating expenses.

Alternative Performance Measures²⁰

In order to present an income statement that is closer to economic reality, Amundi publishes adjusted data that are calculated in accordance with the methodological appendix presented above.

The adjusted data can be reconciled with the accounting data as follows:

= accounting data

= adjusted data

(M€)	Q1 2025	Q1 2024	Q4 2024


Net revenue (a)	892	804	901
– Amortisation of intangible assets before tax	(18)	(20)	(22)
– Other non-cash expenses related to Alpha Associates	(1)	0	(1)
Net revenue – Adjusted (b)	912	824	924

Operating expenses (c)	(486)	(439)	(496)
– Integration costs before tax	(7)	0	(13)
– Amortisation of aixigo-related PPA before tax	(2)	0	(1)
Operating expenses – Adjusted (d)	(478)	(439)	(482)

Gross Operating Income (e)=(a)+(c)	406	364	405
Gross operating income – Adjusted (f)=(b)+(d)	434	385	443
Cost/income ratio (%) -(c)/(a)	54.5%	54.6%	55.1%
Cost/income ratio – Adjusted (%) -(d)/(b)	52.4%	53.3%	52.1%
Cost of risk & other (g)	(4)	(0)	(3)
Share of net income of equity-accounted companies (h)	28	29	29
Profit before tax (i)=(e)+(g)+(h)	429	393	431
Profit before tax – Adjusted (j)=(f)+(g)+(h)	458	413	469
Corporate tax (k)	(147)	(91)	(83)
Corporate tax – Adjusted (l)	(155)	(97)	(93)
Non-controlling interests (m)	1	1	1
Net income Group share (n)=(i)+(k)+(m)	283	303	349
Net income Group share – Adjusted (o)=(j)+(l)+(m)	303	318	377

Earnings per share (€)	1.38	1.48	1.70
Earnings per share – Adjusted (€)	1.48	1.55	1.84

Shareholding

	31 March 2025		31 December 2024		31 March 2024
*(units)*	Number of shares	% of capital	Number of shares	% of capital	Number of shares	% of capital
Crédit Agricole Group	141,057,399	68.67%	141,057,399	68.67%	141,057,399	68.93%
Employees	4,128,079	2.01%	4,272,132	2.08%	2,869,026	1.40%
Treasury shares	1,961,141	0.95%	1,992,485	0.97%	1,259,079	0.62%
Free float	58,272,643	28.37%	58,097,246	28.28%	59,462,130	29.06%

Number of shares at the end of the period	205,419,262	100.0%	205,419,262	100.0%	204,647,634	100.0%
Average number of shares since the beginning of the year	205,419,262	–	204,776,239	–	204,647,634	–
Average number of shares quarter-to-date	205,419,262	–	205,159,257	–	204,647,634	–

Average number of shares pro rata temporis.

The average number of shares increased by +0.1% between Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, and by +0.4% between Q1 2024 and Q1 2025.
A capital increase reserved for employees was recorded on 31 October 2024. 771,628 shares were created (approximately 0.4% of the share capital before the transaction).
Amundi announced on 7 October 2024 a buyback programme of up to 1 million shares (i.e. ~0.5% of the share capital before the transaction) to cover performance shares plans. It was finalised on November 27, 2024.

Financial communication calendar

Workshop to presenting the Third-Party Distribution business line – Thursday 19 June in London
General Shareholders’ Meeting – Tuesday 27 May 2025
Q2 and H1 2025 earnings release – Tuesday 29 July 2025
Q3 and 9-month 2025 earnings release – Tuesday 28 October 2025
New strategic three-year plan – in the fourth quarter 2025

2024 dividend schedule: €4.25 per share

Ex dividend date: Monday 10 June 2025
Payment: from Wednesday 12 June 2025

About Amundi

Amundi, the leading European asset manager, ranking among the top 10 global players²¹, offers its 100 million clients – retail, institutional and corporate – a complete range of savings and investment solutions in active and passive management, in traditional or real assets. This offering is enhanced with IT tools and services to cover the entire savings value chain. A subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group and listed on the stock exchange, Amundi currently manages more than €2.2 trillion of assets²².

With its six international investment hubs²³, financial and extra-financial research capabilities and long-standing commitment to responsible investment, Amundi is a key player in the asset management landscape.

Amundi clients benefit from the expertise and advice of 5,700 employees in 35 countries.

Amundi, a trusted partner, working every day in the interest of its clients and society.

www.amundi.com

Press contacts:
Natacha Andermahr
Tel. +33 1 76 37 86 05
natacha.andermahr@amundi.com

Corentin Henry
Tel. +33 1 76 32 26 96
corentin.henry@amundi.com

Investor contacts:
Cyril Meilland, CFA
Tel. +33 1 76 32 62 67
cyril.meilland@amundi.com

Thomas Lapeyre
Tel. +33 1 76 33 70 54
thomas.lapeyre@amundi.com

Annabelle Wiriath

Tel. + 33 1 76 32 43 92

annabelle.wiriath@amundi.com

DISCLAIMER

This document does not constitute an offer or invitation to sell or purchase, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase or subscribe for, any securities of Amundi in the United States of America or in France. Securities may not be offered, subscribed or sold in the United States of America absent registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), except pursuant to an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements thereof. The securities of Amundi have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act and Amundi does not intend to make a public offer of its securities in the United States of America or in France.

This document may contain forward looking statements concerning Amundi’s financial position and results. The data provided do not constitute a profit “forecast” or “estimate” as defined in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/980.

These forward looking statements include projections and financial estimates based on scenarios that employ a number of economic assumptions in a given competitive and regulatory context, assumptions regarding plans, objectives and expectations in connection with future events, transactions, products and services, and assumptions in terms of future performance and synergies. By their very nature, they are therefore subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could lead to their non-fulfilment. Consequently, no assurance can be given that these forward looking statement will come to fruition, and Amundi’s actual financial position and results may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward looking statements.

Amundi undertakes no obligation to publicly revise or update any forward looking statements provided as at the date of this document. Risks that may affect Amundi’s financial position and results are further detailed in the “Risk Factors” section of our Universal Registration Document filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers. The reader should take all these uncertainties and risks into consideration before forming their own opinion.

The figures presented were prepared in accordance with applicable prudential regulations and IFRS guidelines, as adopted by the European Union and applicable at that date. The financial information set out herein do not constitute a set of financial statements for an interim period as defined by IAS 34 “Interim Financial Reporting” and has not been audited.

Unless otherwise specified, sources for rankings and market positions are internal. The information contained in this document, to the extent that it relates to parties other than Amundi or comes from external sources, has not been verified by a supervisory authority or, more generally, subject to independent verification, and no representation or warranty has been expressed as to, nor should any reliance be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, correctness or completeness of the information or opinions contained herein. Neither Amundi nor its representatives can be held liable for any decision made, negligence or loss that may result from the use of this document or its contents, or anything related to them, or any document or information to which this document may refer.

The sum of values set out in the tables and analyses may differ slightly from the total reported due to rounding.

¹        Assets under management and net inflows including assets under advisory, marketed assets and funds of funds, and taking into account 100% of assets under management and net inflows from Asian JVs; for Wafa Gestion in Morocco, assets under management and net inflows are reported in proportion to Amundi’s share in the capital of the JV.
²        Adjusted data: see p. 11
³        Net income Group share
⁴        Total tax expense in Q1 2025 of -€155m, of which the exceptional tax contribution (surcharge) in France booked in Q1 for -€46m; the total amount of the exceptional contribution estimated to be paid in fiscal year 2025 is estimated at -€72m; Q1 2025 adjusted net income including this surcharge was €303m.
⁵        The inflows presented in this section are not cumulative, as they may overlap in part, for example an ETF sold to a third-party distributor in Asia.
⁶        Medium to Long-Term Assets, excluding JVs
⁷        4.9% voting rights
⁸        Adjusted for the deconsolidation of Amundi US assets distributed to US clients
⁹        Composite Index for equities: 50% MSCI World + 50% Eurostoxx 600
¹⁰        Bloomberg Euro Aggregate for Fixed Income Markets
¹¹        Source: Morningstar FundFile, ETFGI. European & cross-border open-ended funds (excluding mandates and dedicated funds). Data as of end–March 2024.
¹²        Source: Morningstar Direct, Broadridge FundFile – Open-ended funds and ETFs, global fund scope, March 2025; as a percentage of the assets under management of the funds in question; the number of Amundi’s open-ended funds rated by Morningstar was 1071 at the end of March 2025. © 2025 Morningstar, all rights reserved
¹³        Reflecting Amundi’s share of the net income of minority JVs in India (SBI FM), China (ABC-CA), South Korea (NH-Amundi) and Morocco (Wafa Gestion),
¹⁴        Under the assumption that FY 2025 taxable profit in France will be equivalent to that of 2024, before adjusting the average for actual FY 2025 results
¹⁵        Shareholder’s equity excluding goodwill and other intangible assets
¹⁶        According to the new definition of the ratio resulting from the CRR3 regulation (Capital Requirements Regulation 3) of the European Union; ratio calculated excluding Q1 accounting net income
¹⁷        Assets under management and net inflows including assets under advisory, marketed assets and funds of funds, and taking into account 100% of assets under management and net inflows from Asian JVs; for Wafa Gestion in Morocco, assets under management and net inflows are reported in proportion to Amundi’s share in the capital of the JV.
¹⁸        Lyxor, integrated as of 31/12/2021; sale of Lyxor Inc. in Q4-23
¹⁹        Assets under management and net inflows including assets under advisory, marketed assets and funds of funds, and taking into account 100% of assets under management and net inflows from Asian JVs; for Wafa Gestion in Morocco, assets under management and net inflows are reported in proportion to Amundi’s share in the capital of the JV; as of 01/01/2024, reclassification of short-term bond strategies (€30bn of assets under management) as Bonds ; previously classified as Treasury products until that date; assets under management up to this date have not been reclassified in this table
²⁰        See also the section 4.3 of the 2024 Universal Registration Document filed with the AMF on 16 April 2025 under number D25-0272
²¹Source: IPE “Top 500 Asset Managers” published in June 2024 based on assets under management as of 31/12/2023
²²Amundi data as at 31/03/2025
²³Paris, London, Dublin, Milan, Tokyo and San Antonio (via our strategic partnership with Victory Capital)

Attachment

Amundi_PR_Q1 2025_EN_vdef

The MIL Network –

April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Falling leaves much softer than falling rocks

Source: New Zealand Transport Agency

With the leaves falling in Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes Districts, the autumn rockfall scaling programme at the Nevis Bluff, on SH6 between Cromwell and Queenstown, will get underway shortly, says NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).

The rock scaling occurs every autumn and spring with abseilers, suspended on ropes, inspecting the rocky face and removing loosened rocks that are hazardous to highway users many metres below.

Sensor installation on Arch Column, part of the Nevis Bluff, spring of 2024.

Wayo Carson, one of the most experienced rock scalers working on the Nevis Bluff, doing an extensometer measurement in 2021 (An extensometer provides an accurate measuring tape in millimetres to 4 decimal places).

“People should be ready for delays up to about ten minutes and allow some extra travel time for journeys between Cromwell and Queenstown,” says Peter Standring, NZTA Maintenance and Contract Manager in Central Otago.

The work is scheduled to take place over three weeks from Monday, 5 May, through to Friday, 23 May, 8 am to 5 pm weekdays, subject to weather conditions.

“We know these delays can be frustrating, but we’re asking people to be patient and to understand that they are necessary to ensure their safety, which is our number one concern,” says Mr Standring.

Abseilers working over the rocky schist faces aim to release rock, loosened by the ongoing erosion, in a controlled way when there is no traffic on the highway.

This work is part of NZTA’s ongoing monitoring and management programme for the Nevis Bluff, which is continuously monitoring movement and changes on the geologically complex bluff.

The Nevis Bluff is about half-way between Cromwell and Queenstown – 25 minutes from Cromwell, 35 minutes from Queenstown.

Work on the cycle trail, currently under construction, will be paused for a few days while the abseilers are overhead.

NZTA thanks everyone for their patience and for taking care while this important safety work is completed leading into the busy winter period.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Govt spending decision signals crisis and cuts

Source: Council of Trade Unions – CTU

The decision to nearly halve the amount of new investment being made in the next Budget signals that this Government doesn’t care about the users of public services, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney.

“$1.3bn in operating allowance isn’t enough to pay for cost pressures in health alone ($1.55bn). There is no money for cost pressures in education and other public services, or proposed defence spending. This is a Budget that will be built on cuts to essential services,” said Renney.

“The fact that this announcement has come only three weeks away from Budget suggests that there is no agreement around the cabinet table about what government should be doing.

“We now know that we are looking at a Budget where departments will be asked to make further rounds of deep cuts – just after cuts at Budget 2024.

“The Minister of Finance is blaming borrowing for the need to make cuts. At the last Budget the government borrowed $12bn to pay for tax giveaways, including to landlords and tobacco companies.

“This decision to cut investment is a choice. When child poverty rises, as it currently is, it’s a choice to not increase support. When we can’t support people losing their job, that’s a choice. This Government’s choices are now very clear.

“We implore the Government to rethink this decision. It doesn’t help solve the public investment gap that already exists. It doesn’t help tackle unmet need in health and education. It’s time for a better approach, and to rebuild our public services,” said Renney.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: The Internation Monetary Fund (IMF) to Hold the Inaugural Annual Economic Research Conference on Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, April 28, 2025/APO Group/ —

Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department and Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Economic Counsellor and Director of the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a statement today:

“Global shocks are adding to regional factors resulting in exceptionally uncertain economic environment for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) economies. Conflicts, trade tensions, volatile commodity prices, changing climate conditions, energy transitions, rapid technological advances are altering the economic landscape of the region, posing severe challenges but also presenting opportunities for bold reforms that safeguard macroeconomic stability, build resilience, and raise living standards for all. Economic research is essential to provide reliable analysis and develop workable and innovative policy responses.

“In this context, we are pleased to announce that the IMF will organize an annual Economic Research Conference on MENA, partnering with leading universities in the region. The aim is to establish a forum for dialogue on pressing economic issues, promote policy-oriented academic research tailored to the needs and unique challenges of the region. It will also provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and insights for academics, researchers, and policymakers in the MENA region and worldwide.

“The inaugural conference, Steering Macroeconomic and Structural Policies in A Shifting Global Economic Landscape, will be co-organized with Onsi Sawiris School of Business at The American University in Cairo and take place in Cairo on May 18-19, 2025. It will feature presentations and panel discussions by leading economists and policymakers. The conference details and agenda are available here.

“The IMF is a long-standing partner to countries in the MENA region in the quest for more inclusive and resilient growth. The IMF-MENA Annual Research Conference is another step forward to further strengthen that partnership and engagement with the region and its people.”

MIL OSI Africa –

April 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: The government plans to regulate carbon capture technologies – but who will be the regulating agency?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Barry Barton, Professor of Law, University of Waikato

The Icelandic company Carbfix has developed a technology to store carbon dioxide. Shutterstock/Oksana Bali

Newly released documents add more detail to the government’s plans for a regulatory framework to enable carbon capture and storage.

But they show indecision on two key matters – the legal framework and the agency that would be in charge.

The plan relates primarily to conventional carbon capture and storage technologies, which remove carbon dioxide from an industrial gas flow and dispose of it deep underground.

It also covers some methods of carbon dioxide removal, an emerging but as yet commercially untested suite of technologies such as enhanced rock weathering, bio-energy capture and direct air capture.

The latter technologies are not predicated on fossil fuel consumption and could operate in many different situations.

Neither kind of carbon removal is a simple answer to the climate challenge and the priority remains on cutting emissions. But we need to have regulatory frameworks in place for both reduction and removal technologies of all kinds, and soon.

Earning credits from emissions trading

Both types of technologies will benefit from the government’s decision to allow companies to get credits in the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for the disposal of carbon dioxide from any source. Credits will not be tied to any one technology, according to the released policy discussion documents.

It’s also a positive development that an operator can get credits as a separate removal activity, not merely as a reduction of an existing emissions liability (although official advice was initially against separate credits). This allows for diversity in the players and the systems for removals.

The government has decided it will assume liability for any carbon dioxide leaks from geological storage, but only after verification that fluids in the subsurface are behaving as expected after closure, and no sooner than 15 years after closure.

Leaks this long after injection are unlikely, but we nevertheless need strong regulation, financial assurance to guarantee remedial action and clear liability rules.

Companies will be able to earn credits for the permanent disposal of carbon dioxide.
Shutterstock/VectorMine

The government also states ETS credits will only be available for removals that can be recognised internationally against New Zealand’s commitments to cut emissions. This would apply only to geological storage but not deep-ocean deposition or rock weathering.

But that’s not quite right. The general international rules already allow the inclusion in a national greenhouse gas inventory of removals from any process. Detailed methodologies for carbon dioxide removal are likely to become available within the next few years.

With change underway, New Zealand’s new regime should allow a wide range of removal methods to receive credits.

A new regulatory regime

The documents acknowledge that New Zealand needs a broader regulatory regime, beyond the ETS, to cover the entire process of carbon dioxide removal. The suitability of a disposal site must be verified, a detailed geological characterisation is required and the project design and operation need to be approved.

Approval is also required for closure and post-closure plans, and systematic monitoring. Monitoring is everything; it must be accurate and verifiable but also cost effective. The operator will have to pay for monitoring for decades after site closure.

In agreeing on these features, the government is following the examples of many countries overseas, including Australia, Canada, the UK and the EU.

However, it is intriguing that the government hasn’t decided where this new regime should sit in the statute book, and who should manage it. Much of the apparently relevant text in the documents has been redacted.

Given that carbon dioxide would be stored underground, the Crown Minerals Act is one possibility. But this legislation is all about extraction, not disposal. Although the New Zealand petroleum and minerals unit at the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment has expertise in regulating subsurface operations, it focuses largely on oil and gas, not on innovative climate projects.

The Resource Management Act certainly provides a regulatory approval regime, but it is awaiting reform and would need much more than the currently proposed changes to deal with carbon capture and storage or removal properly. So would legislation covering activities within New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone.

Indeed each act would require a whole new part to be added, with its own principles and procedures. There is a lot to be said for a standalone new act, in a form that would fit with the emerging Natural Environment Act that will replace the Resource Management Act.

The new legislation and regulation regime could be administered by the Environmental Protection Authority, which is already involved in Resource Management Act call-ins and fast-track approvals, the legislation covering the exclusive economic zone and the ETS.

One can only guess there might be tensions between contending factions in government. What we should ask for is a legislative and institutional arrangement that allows carbon capture and storage or removal technologies to evolve and grow without being a mere offshoot of the oil and gas industry or any other existing sector.

As part of our efforts to reduce emissions, we must make sure all kinds of removal technologies are available that truly suit New Zealand.

Barry Barton is part of the project “Derisking Carbon Dioxide Removal at Megatonne Scale in Aotearoa” which is funded by the MBIE’s Endeavour Fund. In the past, he has received funding from MBIE and the gas industry for research on CCS legal issues.
He is a director of the Environmental Defence Society.

– ref. The government plans to regulate carbon capture technologies – but who will be the regulating agency? – https://theconversation.com/the-government-plans-to-regulate-carbon-capture-technologies-but-who-will-be-the-regulating-agency-254696

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI China: China, Russia should strengthen coordination within BRICS: Chinese FM

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

RIO DE JANEIRO, April 28 — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that China and Russia, as founding members of BRICS, should strengthen coordination within the framework and deepen unity and cooperation among developing countries and emerging economies.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Wang said the two countries should work together to continuously implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and deliver tangible results across various fields of cooperation.

For his part, Lavrov said Russia is willing to work with China to support each other in hosting commemorative events for the 80th anniversary of the victories of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War and the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and in deepening practical cooperation across various fields.

MIL OSI China News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Simeon Brown hid Dunedin Hospital downgrade

Source: New Zealand Labour Party

Simeon Brown needs to come clean to the people of Dunedin about why he hid plans to downgrade their new hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.

The Otago Daily Times today revealed then-Health Minister Dr Shane Reti was told on January 23 this year that the number of ICU beds would be reduced on opening from 30 to 20.

“Simeon Brown then took over as Health Minister and swooped into Dunedin a week later trying to act the hero on the hospital. But he failed to share this important information about downgrading the number of ICU beds,” Labour acting health spokesperson Peeni Henare said.

“While attempting to patch up the mess National had made of Dunedin Hospital he hid the fact a third of its planned intensive care beds had been cut.

“That is hugely disingenuous. I can see why locals, including the former head of the emergency department, are angry,” Peeni Henare said.

This follows reporting by Stuff at the weekend that New Zealand is nationally 500 hospital beds short.

“Simeon Brown continues to claim everything is going to be okay despite announcing a health infrastructure plan without a cent of actual funding attached, and stopping hospitals from hiring the workforce they need under the guise of saving money,” Peeni Henare said.

“National’s track record is to scale back and delay hospital builds as it has done with Nelson and Dunedin hospitals, which will cost New Zealanders more in the long run. Simeon Brown is content kicking the can down the road while people’s health suffers,” Peeni Henare said.

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MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: New appointments to Eden Park Trust Board

Source: New Zealand Government

Two new members have been appointed to the board of Eden Park Trust, Sport and Recreation Minister Mark Mitchell says.
“Marama Royal MNZM (Ngāti Whātua) and Hon Simon Bridges (Ngāti Maniapoto) will be bringing their extensive governance experience and passion for the Auckland region to support the leadership of New Zealand’s largest stadium.
“I am confident that these appointments will add fresh perspectives and expertise to help lead Eden Park through the current conversations about the park’s future.
“Marama Royal MNZM is Chair of the Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei Trust Board and has extensive governance experience. She is an esteemed and experienced iwi leader who will bring significant governance experience, strong networks and deep understanding of the whenua to the role.
“Hon Simon Bridges is well known for his political experience where he served in several Cabinet positions, and more recently for his role as CEO of Auckland Business Chamber. His experience in both political and commercial settings offer unique perspective, skillset, and networks that would enable the board to thrive.
“I have also reappointed Kereyn Smith CNZM and Bill Birnie CNZM as members of the board to continue their steadfast commitment to the future of Eden Park.
“These appointments and reappointments will ensure strong leadership and a commitment to the future success of New Zealand’s iconic stadium,” says Mr Mitchell.
“I also acknowledge outgoing members, Victoria Toon and Renata Blair, whose terms ended in February. They have been influential in supporting relationships with residents, iwi and commercial entities, and I thank them for their services to the board over the years.”

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Education and Experience – Local student interns welcomed at Porirua City

Source: Porirua City Council

A group of young people from Porirua colleges are getting a taste of the workplace this term as part of the Mahi Rangatahi programme run by Porirua City.

Now in its fourth year, the Mahi Rangatahi programme provides real-world work experience for young people in Porirua, including developing a CV, applying for a job, having an interview – as well as the hands-on experience of their chosen role.

With term 2 beginning this week, a group of 12 students from three Porirua schools were welcomed by their new mentors.

More schools are now involved with the programme, with a student from Te Kura Māori o Porirua joining Mahi Rangatahi for the first time. Students from Mana and Aotea colleges are also getting a taste of the workplace.

This year’s group of students are experiencing work in a range of teams at Council, including Emergency Management, Communications & Marketing, Arena Fitness, Pātaka Art + Museum, Economic Development, Strategic Partnerships, and Business Technology Support.

Mahi Rangatahi was introduced as a pilot programme in 2022 following feedback to Council from local schools on what would be most beneficial to help their students understand different career pathway options.

“The programme develops each year as we receive feedback from the students about what they’ve thought of their experience working at Council,” says Porirua Mayor Anita Baker.

“It’s more than just work experience – the students go through an interview process and after their internship wraps up, their manager provides them with a reference to help them into future roles.”

For students or others thinking about potential career pathways, the Porirua Careers Expo is back for 2025, this year happening on Tuesday 13 May, 9.30am-4.30pm at Te Rauparaha Arena.

Porirua Careers Expo: https://poriruacity.govt.nz/business/events-and-training/porirua-careers-expo/

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Business – Fonterra plans to close Canpac site

Source: Fonterra

Fonterra has today announced that it plans to close its canning and packaging facility in Hamilton at the end of July.

The closure of the Canpac site, which blends and packages milk powders, follows the Co-operative’s decision to focus on higher value ingredients such as advanced proteins and medical nutrition.

Fonterra’s Chief Operating Officer, Anna Palairet, says low product volumes and increasing complexities in production has created challenging economic conditions for the facility.

“It’s been a tough day for all the team at the site. Making decisions like this is never easy.

“Our strategy is about creating end-to-end value and growing total returns for our farmer shareholders. We believe the best way to achieve this is to focus on our strengths and scale in ingredients and foodservice, and we are prioritising our investment on the parts of our operations that are better suited to this.”

“We are committed to supporting our employees as we work through the next steps,” says Ms Palairet.

Around 120 people currently work at the site. The Co-op will now work through a consultation process including exploring potential redeployment opportunities before operations are planned to come to an end on 31 July 2025.

The site currently packs up to 4000 metric ton of powders per year, less than one per cent of the Co-op’s total product volume.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Health – Government focus on physician associates a distraction from real issues

Source: GenPro

New workforce regulations in the future are a distraction from what’s needed now to fix the crisis in primary healthcare, says the General Practice Owners Association (GenPro).

“Planned regulation of small numbers of physician associates is welcome but will do absolutely nothing for reducing waiting times for people wanting to see a GP this week,” said Dr Angus Chambers, Chair of GenPro.

“Physician associates can be valued health workers, and we congratulate them on gaining recognition of their skills and service, but they’ll be first to agree they’re not a substitute in a face-to-face consultation with a family doctor.

“Packing these regulations with other minor changes to prescribing rights to suggest that the government is demonstrating a commitment to providing high quality care.is misleading.

“The biggest change the government can make to improve health care is to immediately invest in general practice to retain the GPs we have now and to make it more attractive for GPs to come to New Zealand. And it needs to overhaul the out-of-date funding model which is driving general practices out of business or restrict hours and service,” Dr Chambers says.

“A better funding model which reflected actual health needs of people, and true costs of running a general practice, in 2025 would be more effective at cutting waiting times and taking pressure off emergency departments.

“GenPro appreciates that government finances are restricted but general practice receives just five percent of the $30 billion health budget, which is significantly less than in other developed countries.

“Meanwhile GenPro is surprised that the government signed off on a new regulated profession in the midst of a consultation on whether it would be a good idea.

“Clearly the Ministry of Health’s Putting Patients First: Modernising health workforce regulation risks being seen as a Clayton’s consultation. GenPro will present its views but decisions taken in recent days suggest that the government has already made up its mind on what the future workforce looks like, packaging it as a panacea, and releasing it on a slow news day, when it is actually just tinkering around the edges and avoiding the big calls which need to be made.”

“It is ironic that the Ministry wants to put patients first, but the Minister doesn’t want to wait to hear from them,” Dr Chambers says.

GenPro members are owners and providers of general practices and urgent care centres throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. For more information visit www.genpro.org.nz

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Governance – Joint committee will help public access to Waitākere, Outdoor Access Commission says

Source: Herenga ā Nuku – the Outdoor Access Commission

Auckland councillors’ proposal for tangata whenua to be part of a committee overseeing the Waitākere Ranges will support public access to the area, according to Herenga ā Nuku, the Outdoor Access Commission.

“Based on our expertise negotiating public outdoor access, we believe the joint committee proposed in the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Deed of Acknowledgement can play a vital coordination and communication role in shaping long-term public access in the area”, Herenga ā Nuku acting chief executive Phil Culling says.

The background to the comment is that in 2008, the Waitākere Ranges Heritage Area Act said the nationally significant area required protection. This would involve a Deed of Acknowledgement that the Auckland Council, the Crown and nominated iwi would enter into.

Auckland council is now proposing to create that deed, with consultation on the proposal closing yesterday [April 28].

Under the proposal, a joint committee would be created with equal representation from Auckland Council, the Crown, represented by the Department of Conservation, and tangata whenua – specifically, Te Kawerau ā Maki. Ngāti Whātua is also named in the Act as tangata whenua. Their ability to be part of the Deed will be kept open and discussions are ongoing.

The proposed Deed applies only to public land owned or managed by the Crown or the council within the heritage area. It does not apply to private land or water and will not replace existing governance structures.

Aucklanders need sustainable public access to the Waitākere Ranges, and that requires a strong framework for authentic dialogue, Culling says.

“It is the largest publicly accessible outdoor space near New Zealand’s biggest city. Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa, the Outdoor Access Commission, believes that achieving free, certain, enduring, and practical outdoor public access relies on talking and listening to each other in an ongoing dialogue.”

Many community groups and individuals currently struggle to understand who is managing outdoor public access in the Waitākere Ranges, Culling adds.

“The joint committee could create and implement a long-term strategic plan for the Heritage Area. But, more importantly, it would have the authority and respect to coordinate all the people with an interest in the Waitākere Ranges, improve communication, and increase collaboration.”

“We also support the joint committee’s advocacy role, championing the Waitākere Ranges and raising awareness of their national significance and their significance for tangata whenua. This shared understanding is key to providing long-term recreation and public access.”

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: How do the Coalition and Labor plans on housing differ – and what have they ignored?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney

Any doubts that Australia’s growing housing challenges would be a major focus of the federal election campaign have been dispelled over recent weeks.

Both major parties announced strikingly ambitious housing initiatives as campaign centrepiece offers. So how do they compare?

What’s the Coalition offering?

The Coalition had already pledged several significant housing initiatives, should it form government. Among those, the biggest ticket item is the $5 billion program for enabling infrastructure to “unlock up to 500,000 new homes”.

In the absence of underpinning detail, both the wording of this pledge and its alleged potential impact have generated some scepticism.

Also announced well ahead of the campaign was the Coalition’s plan to allow first home buyers to draw down on their superannuation. They could withdraw up to $50,000 to help fund mortgage deposits.

This proposal has attracted some qualified support. But it’s been rejected by most of Australia’s top economists. This reflects concerns the measure could prove highly inflationary. It also risks a net loss for scheme participants if devalued retirement savings outweigh the benefit of accelerated access to home ownership.

Likewise, the Coalition’s newly unveiled plan to allow mortgage interests for first home buyers to be tax-deductible has been fiercely criticised for its likely inflationary and regressive effects.

Such arrangements are novel in Australia, but exist in some other countries. These include the Netherlands, where their impact has been recently described as damaging to both housing affordability and public finances.

What’s Labor offering?

Labor’s two new offers are to enable access to a mortgage with only a 5% deposit, and its $10 billion “Build to Sell” program.

As a demand-side instrument, the first of these could have some inflationary impact. But given the modest nature of the assistance provided, and that it only expands the existing Home Guarantee Scheme from its current maximum annual quota of 50,000 to an expected take-up of around 80,000, this is likely to be limited.

The Build to Sell plan would see collaboration with state and territory governments to commission 100,000 new homes in eight years. These would be for first home buyers only and, likely, for cost-price sale.

In further details of the plan, released just days out from polling day, Labor says the plan would be progressed partly via $2 billion in concessional loans to the states.

The whole build-to-sell idea revives the practice of the 1950s and 1960s where, in addition to constructing public housing for rent, state governments commissioned homes for sale. This contributed to the rapid rise in home ownership during that period.

As a supply-side measure, the new plan builds on the 2022 National Housing Accord. The accord aims to expand overall housing industry output to 1.2 million new homes in the five years to 2029.

Much about the Build to Sell plan has yet to be revealed. But from what we know, it looks like a bold initiative in challenging conventional modern thinking about the proper limits of direct state involvement in supplying a commodity largely provided through the market.

By expanding overall housing production, it could help in slightly moderating prices market-wide, as well as benefiting the homebuyers directly involved.

One-eyed agendas

When it comes to helping first home buyers, both parties have put forth some ambitious new propositions. But social housing and homelessness pledges have been glaringly absent from their proposals.

Neither Labor nor the Coalition has announced any significant new initiative to relieve rental stress at the lower end of the housing market, affecting millions of Australians. Measures that might, at least indirectly, help stem the rising tide of homelessness that now sees more than 10,000 newly homeless people being taken on by support agencies every month.

Given its numerous initiatives to increase assistance to low-income and otherwise disadvantaged renters already enacted since 2022, Labor has a somewhat stronger excuse here.

But while Albanese government measures, such as increased rent assistance, have eased the situation for some hard-pressed tenants, many other measures will only start to help in the next term of parliament.

That’s especially true for the Housing Australia Future Fund and all of Labor’s other post-2022 federal programs to expand social and affordable housing construction. Pledged commitments during the current parliament should add 55,000 new social and affordable homes to the national portfolio.

In combination with the Build to Sell initiative, this would see state-commissioned or otherwise funded housing construction perhaps equating to as much as 10% of all home-building later this decade. While short of the 16% achieved in the 1945-70 period, that would be a giant increase over the 1-2% typically recorded during the 2010s.

Read more:
Homelessness – the other housing crisis politicians aren’t talking about

Even so, social and affordable housing investment so far pledged by Labor is limited in relation to demand. It’s estimated 640,000 households have an unmet need for social or affordable housing.

The Coalition says if it wins the election, it would abolish the housing future fund. When asked how he would replace it, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor declared it unnecessary because “there’s billions of dollars that [already] goes to the states for social housing”.

While narrowly true, this is also disingenuous. The relatively modest funds referenced here – paid annually under the National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness – are entirely swallowed up in balancing the operating budgets of state public housing authorities.

With public housing systems otherwise mired deep in deficits, it’s been decades since this funding stream has been sufficient to generate any new housing supply.

In this respect, the Coalition’s 2025 housing pitch foreshadows a resumption of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison stance: nine years of federal subsidy drought for new social and affordable housing.

What else is missing?

Many have also criticised the recent major party offers as ignoring the overdue need for fundamental housing tax reform.

That’s true for Labor. But the Coalition’s pitch on mortgage interest would, in fact, amount to a major property tax reset.

Unfortunately, though, this so-called “negative gearing for first home buyers” would pile yet another damaging “market distortion” on top of all our existing property ownership tax breaks.

These concessions have, over decades, contributed to today’s housing affordability problem, as their value is capitalised into higher prices.

As observed by researcher Peter Mares, this new Coalition foray only goes to shine an even brighter light on the rational case to confront that problem head-on.

Hal Pawson receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and Crisis UK. He is a part-time unpaid advisor to Senator David Pocock.

– ref. How do the Coalition and Labor plans on housing differ – and what have they ignored? – https://theconversation.com/how-do-the-coalition-and-labor-plans-on-housing-differ-and-what-have-they-ignored-253337

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Submissions: Amnesty International warns of global human rights crisis as ‘Trump effect’ accelerates destructive trends
Source: Amnesty International

Annual report highlights the creep of authoritarian practices and vicious clampdowns on dissent around the world

President Trump’s first 100 days intensify 2024’s global regressions and deep-rooted trends

Global failures in addressing inequalities, climate collapse, and tech transformations imperil future generations

The rise of authoritarian practices and annihilation of international law are not inevitable: people do and will resist attacks on human rights; governments can deliver international justice and must continue to do so.

The Trump administration’s anti-rights campaign is turbocharging harmful trends already present, gutting international human rights protections and endangering billions across the planet, Amnesty International warned today upon launching its annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights.

This “Trump effect” has compounded the damage done by other world leaders throughout 2024, eating away at decades of painstaking work to build up and advance universal human rights for all and accelerating humanity’s plunge into a brutal new era characterized by intermingling authoritarian practices and corporate greed, Amnesty International said in its assessment of the situation in 150 countries.

“Year after year, we have warned of the dangers of human rights backsliding. But events of the past 12 months – not least Israel’s livestreamed but unheeded genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – have laid bare just how hellish the world can be for so many when the most powerful states jettison international law and disregard multilateral institutions. At this historical juncture, when authoritarian laws and practices are multiplying the world over in the interests of very few, governments and civil society must work with urgency to lead humanity back to safer ground,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

The State of the World’s Human Rights documents vicious, widespread clampdowns on dissent, catastrophic escalations of armed conflict, inadequate efforts to address climate collapse, and a growing backlash globally against the rights of migrants, refugees, women, girls and LGBTI people. Each of these faces further deterioration in a turbulent 2025 unless a global about-turn is achieved.

“One hundred days into his second term, President Trump has shown only utter contempt for universal human rights. His government has swiftly and deliberately targeted vital US and international institutions and initiatives that were designed to make ours a safer and fairer world. His all-out assault on the very concepts of multilateralism, asylum, racial and gender justice, global health and life-saving climate action is exacerbating the significant damage those principles and institutions have already sustained and is further emboldening other anti-rights leaders and movements to join his onslaught,” Agnès Callamard added.

“But let us be clear: this sickness runs much deeper than the actions of President Trump. For years now, we’ve witnessed a creeping spread of authoritarian practices among states the world over, fostered by aspiring and elected leaders willingly acting as engines of destruction. As they drag us into a new age of turmoil and cruelty, all who believe in freedom and equality must steel ourselves to counter increasingly extreme attacks on international law and universal human rights.”

The proliferation of authoritarian laws, policies and practices targeting freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly that Amnesty International documented in 2024 was central to the global backlash against human rights. Governments across the world sought to evade accountability, entrench their power and instil fear by banning media outlets, by disbanding or suspending NGOs and political parties, by imprisoning critics on baseless charges of “terrorism” or “extremism”, and by criminalizing human rights defenders, climate activists, Gaza solidarity protesters and other dissenters.

Security forces in several countries used mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and often excessive – sometimes lethal – force to suppress civil disobedience. Bangladeshi authorities issued “shoot-on-sight” orders against student protests, resulting in almost 1,000 deaths, while security forces in Mozambique unleashed the worst crackdown on protests in years following disputed elections, leaving at least 277 people dead.

Türkiye imposed blanket bans on protests and continues to use unlawful and indiscriminate force against peaceful demonstrators, but people power prevailed in South Korea when president Yoon Suk Yeol suspended certain human rights and declared martial law, only to be removed from office and see those measures overturned after massive public protests.

Armed conflicts highlight repeated failures

As conflicts multiplied or escalated, state forces and armed groups acted brazenly, committing war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law that devastated the lives of millions.

Amnesty International documented Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a landmark reportand its system of apartheid and unlawful occupation in the West Bank turned increasingly violent. Meanwhile, Russia killed more Ukrainian civilians in 2024 than it did the year before, continuing to target civilian infrastructure and subjecting detainees to torture and enforced disappearance.

Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces inflicted widespread sexual violence on women and girls, in what amounts to war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, while the number of people internally displaced by Sudan’s two-year civil war rose to 11 million – more than anywhere else on earth. Yet that conflict elicited near-total global indifference – aside from cynical actors exploiting opportunities to breach the Darfur arms embargo.

The Rohingya continued to face racist attacks in Myanmar, causing many to flee their homes in Rakhine state. The Trump administration’s massive foreign aid cuts have since aggravated the situation, causing the closure of hospitals in refugee camps in neighbouring Thailand, exposing fleeing human rights defenders to risk of deportation and imperilling programmes helping people survive the conflict.

The initial suspension of US foreign aid also impacted health services and support for children forcibly separated from their families at detention camps in Syria, and the abrupt cuts have shut down lifesaving programmes in Yemen, including malnutrition treatment for children, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, safe shelters for survivors of gender-based violence, and healthcare for children suffering from cholera and other illnesses.

“Amnesty International has long warned of double standards undermining the rules-based order. The impact of that to-date unfettered backsliding plumbed new depths in 2024, from Gaza to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Having paved the way for this mess by failing to universally uphold the rule of law, the international community must now shoulder the responsibility,” said Agnès Callamard.

“The cost of these failures is gargantuan, namely the loss of vital protections built to safeguard humanity after the horrors of the Holocaust and World War Two. Despite its many imperfections, obliteration of the multilateral system is no answer. It must be strengthened and reimagined. Yet, having seen it sustain further damage in 2024, today the Trump administration appears intent on taking a chainsaw to the remnants of multilateral cooperation in order to reshape our world through a transactional doctrine steeped in greed, callous self-interest and dominance of the few.”

Governments are abandoning future generations

The State of the World’s Human Rights presents stark evidence that the world is condemning future generations to an ever-harsher existence thanks to collective failures to tackle the climate crisis, reverse ever-deepening inequalities and restrain corporate power.

COP29 was a catastrophe, with a record number of fossil fuel lobbyists inhibiting progress on a fair phase-out, while the wealthiest countries bullied lower-income nations into accepting derisory climate financing agreements. President Trump’s reckless decision to abandon the Paris Agreement and his “drill, baby drill” refrain have only compounded these failings and could encourage others to follow suit.

“2024 was the hottest year on record and the first to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The floods that devastated South Asia and Europe, the droughts that ravaged Southern Africa, the fires that razed swathes of Amazon rainforest and the hurricanes that wreaked havoc in the USA laid bare the immense human cost of global heating, even at its current levels. With a 3°C rise projected this century, richer nations know they’re not immune from increasingly extreme unnatural disasters – as the recent California wildfires drove home – but will they act?” said Agnès Callamard.

In 2024, extreme poverty and inequality within and between states continued to deepen due to widespread inflation, poor corporate regulation, pervasive tax abuse and rising national debts. Yet many governments and political movements used racist and xenophobic rhetoric to scapegoat migrants and refugees for crime and economic stagnation. Meanwhile, the number and wealth of billionaires grew, even as the World Bank warned of “a lost decade” in global poverty reduction.

The future looks far bleaker for many women, girls and LGBTI people, amid intensifying attacks on gender equality and identity. The Taliban imposed even-more-draconian restrictions on women’s public existence in Afghanistan, while Iranian authorities intensified their brutal crackdown on women and girls who defy compulsory veiling. Groups of women searching for missing loved ones in Mexico and Colombia faced all manner of threats and attacks.

Malawi, Mali and Uganda took steps to criminalize or uphold bans on same-sex relations between consenting adults, while Georgia and Bulgaria followed Russia’s lead in clamping down on supposed “LGBTI propaganda”. The Trump administration is bolstering the global backlash against gender justice by dismantling efforts to tackle discrimination, relentlessly attacking transgender rights, and ending funding for health, education and other programmes that supported women and girls all over the world.

Governments are further harming present and future generations by failing to adequately regulate new technologies, abusing surveillance tools and entrenching discrimination and inequalities through increased use of artificial intelligence.

Tech firms have long facilitated discriminatory and authoritarian practices, but President Trump has exacerbated this trend, encouraging social media companies to roll back protections – including Meta’s removal of third-party fact-checking – and double down on a business model that enables the spread of hateful and violent content. The alignment between the Trump administration and tech billionaires also risks opening the door to an era of rampant corruption, disinformation, impunity and corporate capture of state power.

“From seating tech billionaires in prime position at his inauguration to granting the world’s richest man unprecedented access to the US government apparatus, it appears that President Trump will let his self-serving and corporate allies run amok, without the slightest regard for human rights or even the rule of law,” said Agnès Callamard.

Vital efforts to uphold international justice

Despite mounting opposition from powerful states – compounded this year by the Trump administration’s shameless sanctions against the ICC prosecutor – international justice and multilateral bodies have continued to push for accountability at the highest levels, with governments from the Global South leading several significant initiatives.

The ICC issued arrest warrants against senior state officials and leaders of armed groups in Israel, Gaza, Libya, Myanmar and Russia. The UN took an important step towards negotiating a much-needed treaty on crimes against humanity and the Philippines followed suit by arresting former president Rodrigo Duterte last month under an ICC warrant for the crime against humanity of murder.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued three sets of provisional measure orders in the case South Africa brought against Israel under the Genocide Convention and issued an advisory opinion declaring that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful. The UN General Assembly also passed a resolution calling on Israel to end its occupation, and in January 2025 eight states from the Global South formed the Hague Group, a collective committed to preventing arms transfers to Israel and holding it accountable for violations of international law.

“We applaud the efforts of nations like South Africa and international justice bodies to push back against powerful states hellbent on undermining international law. In so challenging impunity, those nations and bodies set examples for the whole world to follow. The mounting attacks we’ve witnessed on the ICC in recent months suggest this is emerging as a major battlefield of 2025. All governments must do everything in their power to support international justice, hold perpetrators accountable, and protect the ICC and its staff from sanctions,” said Agnès Callamard.

“Despite daunting challenges, the destruction of human rights is far from inevitable. History abounds with examples of brave people overcoming authoritarian practices. In 2024 the people of several nations rejected anti-rights leaders at the ballot box while millions around the world raised their voices against injustice. So it’s clear: no matter who stands in our way, we must – and we will – continue to resist the reckless regimes of power and profit that seek to strip people of their human rights. Our vast, unshakeable movement will be forever united in our common belief in the inherent dignity and human rights of everyone on this planet.”
MIL OSI – Submitted News –
April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: Money Market Operations as on April 28, 2025

Source: Reserve Bank of India


(Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)

	Volume (One Leg)	Weighted Average Rate	Range
A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV)	6,09,110.25	5.77	0.01-6.30
I. Call Money	15,719.99	5.87	4.95-5.95
II. Triparty Repo	4,01,754.30	5.75	5.70-5.85
III. Market Repo	1,89,873.96	5.82	0.01-6.30
IV. Repo in Corporate Bond	1,762.00	5.99	5.95-6.00
B. Term Segment
I. Notice Money**	788.85	5.93	5.25-6.05
II. Term Money^@@	1,120.00	–	6.15-6.50
III. Triparty Repo	9,188.00	5.90	5.80-6.00
IV. Market Repo	195.04	6.25	6.25-6.25
V. Repo in Corporate Bond	0.00	–	–

	Auction Date	Tenor (Days)	Maturity Date	Amount	Current Rate / Cut off Rate
C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
I. Today’s Operations
1. Fixed Rate
2. Variable Rate^&
(I) Main Operation
(a) Repo
(b) Reverse Repo
(II) Fine Tuning Operations
(a) Repo	Mon, 28/04/2025	1	Tue, 29/04/2025	4,998.00	6.01
(b) Reverse Repo
(III) Long Term Operations^{^}
(a) Repo
(b) Reverse Repo
3. MSF^#	Mon, 28/04/2025	1	Tue, 29/04/2025	3,190.00	6.25
4. SDF^Δ#	Mon, 28/04/2025	1	Tue, 29/04/2025	1,32,959.00	5.75
5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*				-1,24,771.00
II. Outstanding Operations
1. Fixed Rate
2. Variable Rate^&
(I) Main Operation
(a) Repo
(b) Reverse Repo
(II) Fine Tuning Operations
(a) Repo
(b) Reverse Repo
(III) Long Term Operations^{^}
(a) Repo	Thu, 17/04/2025	43	Fri, 30/05/2025	25,731.00	6.01
(b) Reverse Repo
3. MSF^#
4. SDF^Δ#
D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI^$				8,701.02
E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*				34,432.02
F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*				-90,338.98
G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
(i) Cash balances with RBI as on		April 28, 2025		9,36,260.05
(ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending		May 02, 2025		9,51,938.00
H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on^¥		April 28, 2025		4,998.00
I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on		April 04, 2025		2,36,088.00
^@ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
– Not Applicable / No Transaction.
** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
^@@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
^$ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
^& As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
^Δ As per the Press Release No. 2022-2023/41 dated April 08, 2022.
* Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.
^¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
^# As per the Press Release No. 2023-2024/1548 dated December 27, 2023.
^{^} As per the Press Release No. 2025-2026/91 dated April 11, 2025.
Ajit Prasad Deputy General Manager (Communications)
Press Release: 2025-2026/199

MIL OSI Economics –

April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Appeal to witness who made Mangakino driving complaint

Source: New Zealand Police (District News)

Please attribute to Sergeant Shane McNally, Taupo Serious Crash Unit:

Police need to urgently speak with a caller who made a driving complaint before a fatal crash near Mangakino last week.

The female caller was following a black Toyota RAV4 along State Highway 47 towards Turangi, at approximately 2.45pm on Monday 21 April.

She has made a report to Police about this vehicle cutting corners and crossing the centre line.

This RAV4 has shortly afterwards been involved in a fatal crash on Waipapa Road, north of Mangakino.

The driver of this vehicle has since pleaded guilty to careless driving causing death, and the 64-year-old man is due to be sentenced in the Auckland District Court on 6 May.

Police would like to speak further to the female who made the driving complaint to get more information, as their phone number appears to be a “roaming number” which does not connect when called back.

It is believed the female and another male in the car were travelling from Whanganui towards Turangi at the time.

If this was you, or you know who this pair are, please contact Police online at 105.police.govt.nz, clicking “Update Report” or by calling 105 and quoting file number 250421/4930.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: ER Report: A Roundup of Significant Articles on EveningReport.nz for April 29, 2025

ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 29, 2025.

Why are political parties allowed to send spam texts? And how can we make them stop?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tegan Cohen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Ti Wi / Unsplash Another election, another wave of unsolicited political texts. Over this campaign, our digital mailboxes have been stuffed with a slew of political appeals and promises, many from the new party

The Oscars have rolled out the red carpet for generative AI. And surprisingly, viewers don’t seem to mind
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Crosby, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Macquarie University The Oscars have entered the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Last week the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explicitly said, for the first time, films using generative AI tools will not be disqualified from the awards.

Echidna ancestors lived watery lifestyles like platypuses 100 million years ago – new study
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sue Hand, Professor Emeritus, Palaeontology, UNSW Sydney Mary_May/Shutterstock As the world’s only surviving egg-laying mammals, Australasia’s platypus and four echidna species are among the most extraordinary animals on Earth. They are also very different from each other. The platypus is well adapted for a semi-aquatic lifestyle, spending

‘Do something about it before it gets worse’: young people want government action on gambling reform
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hannah Pitt, Senior Research Fellow – Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University David P. Smith/Shutterstock Do something about it before it gets worse. This was a response from a 16-year-old boy in one of our recent studies when asked what he would say to the prime minister

‘I’m always afraid for the future of my family’: why it’s too hard for some refugees to reunite with loved ones
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mary Anne Kenny, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University When refugees flee their home country due to war, violence, conflict or persecution, they are often forced to leave behind their families. For more than 30,000 people who have sought asylum in Australia since arriving more than

Major survey finds most people use AI regularly at work – but almost half admit to doing so inappropriately
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Gillespie, Professor of Management; Chair in Trust, Melbourne Business School Matheus Bertelli/Pexels Have you ever used ChatGPT to draft a work email? Perhaps to summarise a report, research a topic or analyse data in a spreadsheet? If so, you certainly aren’t alone. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools

1 billion years ago, a meteorite struck Scotland and influenced life on Earth
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Kirkland, Professor of Geochronology, Curtin University Stoer Head lighthouse, Scotland. William Gale/Shutterstock We’ve discovered that a meteorite struck northwest Scotland 1 billion years ago, 200 million years later than previously thought. Our results are published today in the journal Geology. This impact now aligns with some

Arsenic is everywhere – but new detection methods could help save lives
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena Wajrak, Senior Lecturer in Chemistry, Edith Cowan University Arsenic is a nasty poison that once reigned as the ultimate weapon of deception. In the 18th century, it was the poison of choice for those wanting to kill their enemies and spouses, favoured for its undetectable nature

Forming new habits can take longer than you think. Here are 8 tips to help you stick with them
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Singh, Research Fellow, Allied Health & Human Performance, University of South Australia SarahMcEwan/Shutterstock If you’ve ever tried to build a new habit – whether that’s exercising more, eating healthier, or going to bed earlier – you may have heard the popular claim that it only takes

‘Complaining is career suicide’: the hidden mental health crisis turning our screen industry upside down
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Hegedus, Associate Professor, Griffith Film School, Griffith University Shutterstock The Australian screen industry is often associated with fun, creativity and perhaps even glamour. But our new Pressure Point Report reveals a more troubling reality: a pervasive mental health crisis, which could see the screen industry lose

New survey shows business outlook is weakening and uncertainty rising as the trade war bites
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Simon, Adjunct Fellow in Economics, Macquarie University Vivid Brands/Shutterstock Uncertainty is everywhere these days. There is even uncertainty about the uncertainty. The Reserve Bank of Australia, for example, noted in the minutes from its April 1 meeting: The most significant development in the period leading up

How ICE is becoming a secret police force under the Trump administration
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Morgenbesser, Associate Professor, School of Government and International Relations, Griffith University Secret police are a quintessential feature of authoritarian regimes. From Azerbaijan’s State Security Service to Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Organisation, these agencies typically target political opponents and dissidents through covert surveillance, imprisonment and physical violence. In

Democracy on display or a public eyesore? The case for cracking down on election corflutes
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer in Marketing, Research School of Management, Australian National University In my time researching political advertising, one common communication method that often generates complaints is the proliferation of campaign corflutes. Politicians love them. Not so, many members of the general public. People are so fed

Here’s how to make your backyard safer and cooler next summer
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pui Kwan Cheung, Research Fellow in Urban Microclimates, The University of Melbourne Varavin88, Shutterstock Our backyards should be safe and inviting spaces all year round, including during the summer months. But the choices we make about garden design and maintenance, such as whether to have artificial turf

Five ways to make cities more resilient to climate change
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul O’Hare, Lecturer in Human Geography and Urban Development, Manchester Metropolitan University John_T/Shutterstock Climate breakdown poses immense threats to global economies, societies and ecosystems. Adapting to these impacts is urgent. But many cities and countries remain chronically unprepared in what the UN calls an “adaptation gap”. Building

Politics with Michelle Grattan: pollster Kos Samaras on how voters are leaving the major parties behind
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra As we enter the final days of campaigning, Labor leads with its nose in front on most polls, but the devil is in the detail of particular seats. To help get a read on what the voters are feeling at

Vanuatu communities growing climate resilience in wake of Cyclone Lola
Communities in Vanuatu are learning to grow climate resilient crops, 18 months after Cyclone Lola devastated the country. The category 5 storm struck in October 2023, generating wind speeds of up to 215 kmph, which destroyed homes, schools, plantations, and left at least four people dead. It was all the worse for following twin cyclones

Election Diary: Labor to slash more consultant costs and increase visa charges to pay for fresh election commitments
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government has dug out last-minute savings of more than A$7 billion, to ensure its election commitments are more than offset in every year of the forward estimates. Its costings, released Monday, include savings of $6.4 billion from further reducing

Big and small spending included in Labor costings, but off-budget items yet to be revealed
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra The federal budget will be stronger than suggested in last month’s budget, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers who released Labor’s costings on Monday. Many of the policies included in the costings were already detailed in either the 2025 Budget

How much do election promises cost? And why have we had to wait so long to see the costings?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Bartos, Professor of Economics, University of Canberra With the May 3 federal election less than a week away, voters have only just received Labor’s costings and are yet to hear from the Coalition. At the 2022 election, the costings were not released for nearly two months

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff Demand Answers on Politicization of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)

Padilla, Schiff Demand Answers on Politicization of DOJ’s Civil Rights Division

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, demanded answers from the Department of Justice (DOJ) concerning the Trump Administration’s efforts to dismantle the Department’s Civil Rights Division. The Senators separately called for Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, to immediately hold an oversight hearing with Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco-based lawyer leading the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, on its politicization.
In their letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz, the Senators expressed deep concerns about several directives issued by the Trump Administration that could jeopardize the Division’s work to enforce and protect the Constitutional and statutory civil rights of the American people. The Senators also requested an immediate briefing for the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on the Constitution regarding changes to the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division since January 20, 2025.
“According to public reporting, at least five of the Division’s sections have received directives via email to employees which change long-standing Division enforcement objectives. The five sections are meant to protect voting rights, prevent discrimination by federal funding recipients, investigate illegal bias in housing, prohibit discrimination in education, and defend the rights of those with disabilities. The directives have not been shared publicly,” wrote the Senators. “Based on the reporting, these directives may well be inconsistent with Congress’s intent in enacting the landmark civil rights legislation that is enforced by the Division.”
The Senators also sounded the alarm on reports that Division leadership no longer includes any career officials, transferring enforcement oversight responsibilities traditionally managed by career Deputy Assistant Attorneys General to political appointees. The restructuring of the Division also included the reassigning or departures of career supervisors.
“These losses mirror a similar pattern across the Department of Justice, including the removal of career officials from the Office of Professional Responsibility and the firing of the Pardon Attorney,” continued the Senators. “The Division relies on the abilities and knowledge of its career staff to carry out the great responsibility of enforcing the nation’s civil rights laws without regard to politics.”
“Finally, we have also heard alarming reports that you authorized a second voluntary buyout for Division employees immediately before issuing the previously mentioned directives. Taken together, these measures appear to be an attempt to cajole career officials at the Division to leave voluntarily in order to fundamentally transform its work,” concluded the Senators.
U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, led the letter. In addition to Padilla and Schiff, the letter was also signed by Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee nomination hearing earlier this year, Senator Padilla criticized Harmeet Dhillon for her alarming track record of restricting the right to vote, spreading disinformation about the 2020 election, and perpetuating discriminatory laws.
Full text of the letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, and DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz is available here.
Full text of the letter to Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Chairman Schmitt is available here.

MIL OSI USA News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Padilla, Schiff Push Trump Administration to Reconsider Student Visa Revocations

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
Senators to DHS, State Department, ICE: “Students who have entered through our legal immigration system and followed the law remain unsure of what, if any, steps they may take to maintain their status and safeguard themselves from immigration enforcement”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla, Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, and Adam Schiff (both D-Calif.), joined 34 Democrats in pressing the Trump Administration to reconsider recent decisions to revoke student visas. In their letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Todd Lyons, the Senators urged the Administration to undo unlawful student visa revocations, citing a recent reversal of some student record terminations.
“We recently learned that your agencies have been revoking student visas and terminating Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records across the country. These actions to end student status reflected an unannounced change in policy and were inconsistent with existing laws, regulations, policies, and agency guidance governing the maintenance and termination of student status—that is why we welcomed the news late last week that in response to litigation around the country, ICE has reversed these SEVIS terminations,” wrote the Senators. “We now urge you to undo other actions to end student status that are inconsistent with such laws, regulations, and agency guidance and ensure that all future actions to end student status fully comply with the law.”
The Senators continued by highlighting the lack of reasoning provided in many of these visa revocations after the Office of Student Exchange and Visitor Programs (SEVP) within ICE terminated at least 4,736 student visa holders’ SEVIS records.
“[S]tudents across the country—who by all accounts appear to have followed all of the applicable laws and agency guidance—have reported visa revocations with no clear explanation as to the basis to terminate status,” continued the Senators. “By DHS’s own admission, the statute and regulations do not provide SEVP the authority to terminate nonimmigrant status by terminating a SEVIS record. Your decision to reverse such terminations is therefore prudent and required by law.”
The Senators outlined the Trump Administration’s apparent violation of federal law in revoking these visas, emphasizing that the Administration may not have given legally required notice when terminating or revoking some students’ statuses. Many students were not given any information on possible reinstatement after they lost their student status when their SEVIS records were terminated. Some students received emails about their visa revocations along with self-deportation directions without the ability to appeal, and others were only informed that they lost their status after masked federal agents arrested them.
The Senators concluded by appealing to the Administration to reconsider these visa revocations and warning them to adhere to federal law, before making a series of immigration requests.
“Students who have entered through our legal immigration system and followed the law remain unsure of what, if any, steps they may take to maintain their status and safeguard themselves from immigration enforcement,” concluded the Senators. “While we are relieved that ICE has reversed these SEVIS terminations, we now urge you to undo other actions to end student status that are inconsistent with such laws, regulations, and agency guidance. Finally, we understand that you are contemplating additional actions to end student status. Any such changes must be consistent with applicable statutes, including requirements for notice with respect to changes that would deprive a student of their status and ability to live and study in the United States and place them at risk of detention.”
The letter was led by U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition to Padilla and Schiff, the letter was also signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark Warner (D-Va.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
In 2021, Senator Padilla led a group of 23 Senators in calling on the State Department to address the backlog of visas for international students. Padilla also chaired a hearing entitled “Strengthening our Workforce and Economy through Higher Education and Immigration” in 2022, highlighting the challenges undocumented students and international students face in seeking higher education and obtaining jobs in the United States.
Full text of the letter is available here and below:
Dear Secretary Noem, Secretary Rubio, and Acting Director Lyons: We recently learned that your agencies have been revoking student visas and terminating Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records across the country. These actions to end student status reflected an unannounced change in policy and were inconsistent with existing laws, regulations, policies, and agency guidance governing the maintenance and termination of student status—that is why we welcomed the news late last week that in response to litigation around the country, ICE has reversed these SEVIS terminations. We now urge you to undo other actions to end student status that are inconsistent with such laws, regulations, and agency guidance and ensure that all future actions to end student status fully comply with the law.
Foreign students must navigate a complicated mix of agencies to maintain their status. Under current regulations and policy, students who enter into the United States on an F-1 student visa or J-1 exchange visitor visa are admitted to the United States for “duration of status.” This essentially means that F-1 and J-1 visa holders may be in good standing as long as they comply with the terms and conditions of their status, even if their visa has expired. Students who enter on an M-1 visa for vocational education are admitted for a fixed time period to complete their course of study. The Office of Student Exchange and Visitor Programs (SEVP), within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), works with universities and program administrators to determine whether F-1 and M-1 students are meeting requirements for their visas and terminate SEVIS records as appropriate under SEVP regulations. The Department of State (DOS) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administers the J-1 exchange visitor visa, but their records are maintained by SEVIS. Existing regulations and agency guidance inform students and other visa holders of how they might lose their student status, including that they cannot be convicted of serious crimes, cannot work unless authorized by DHS, and must be completing the education or program related to their visa. However, students across the country—who by all accounts appear to have followed all of the applicable laws and agency guidance—have reported visa revocations with no clear explanation as to the basis to terminate status. SEVP has completed at least 4,736 total terminations of student visa holders’ SEVIS records. By DHS’s own admission, the statute and regulations do not provide SEVP the authority to terminate nonimmigrant status by terminating a SEVIS record. Your decision to reverse such terminations is therefore prudent and required by law.
Current laws, regulations, and agency guidance also require notice to be provided when a student’s status is being terminated or revoked. Here, it is not clear that students were provided the notice required by law. Many students were notified by universities that they have lost their student status when their SEVIS records have been terminated, without being provided any information about potential reinstatement. Some students received emails that their visas were revoked and were directed to self-deport, with no clear information as to the basis for their revocation or means by which they can appeal the revocation. Some students only learned about losing status when arrested by masked federal agents. These reports suggest that students were not given notice of the termination of their status in a manner consistent with existing laws, regulations, and agency guidance.
Once a student’s visa is revoked, although their status is not automatically terminated, removal proceedings may be initiated against them, allowing them to be detained at the discretion of DHS. Similarly, when a student’s SEVIS record is terminated, the student is no longer in an authorized period of stay in the United States, and students and their universities cannot regularly maintain student records in SEVIS, as is required to maintain student status. In addition, upon SEVIS record termination, the student must depart the United States or take other action to restore legal status, and DHS “may investigate to confirm the departure of the student.”
Students who have entered through our legal immigration system and followed the law remain unsure of what, if any, steps they may take to maintain their status and safeguard themselves from immigration enforcement. While we are relieved that ICE has reversed these SEVIS terminations, we now urge you to undo other actions to end student status that are inconsistent with such laws, regulations, and agency guidance. Finally, we understand that you are contemplating additional actions to end student status. Any such changes must be consistent with applicable statutes, including requirements for notice with respect to changes that would deprive a student of their status and ability to live and study in the United States and place them at risk of detention.
We also request information to better understand how your departments are implementing any new, unannounced policies with respect to identifying students for status revocation. Please provide the following information by May 12, 2025:
1. Any guidance issued by DOS and/or DHS governing the revocations of nonimmigrant visas, issued from January 20, 2025 to date.
2. Any guidance issued by DOS and/or DHS governing how nonimmigrants are to be notified of visa revocations, issued from January 20, 2025 to date.
3. Any guidance issued by DOS and/or DHS governing the terminations of SEVIS records, issued from January 20, 2025 to April 25, 2025.
4. Any guidance issued by DOS and/or DHS governing how student visa holders are to be notified of SEVIS terminations, issued from January 20, 2025 to April 25, 2025.
5. Any guidance issued by DOS, DHS, and/or the Department of Justice governing the initiation of removal proceedings or immigration enforcement against student visa holders and other nonimmigrants, issued from January 20, 2025 to date.
6. Any guidance issued by DOS and/or DHS regarding the use of artificial intelligence to search national databases, criminal records, and social media to identify nonimmigrants for visa revocation or to otherwise end status, issued from January 20, 2025 to date.
7. The total number of student visas (F-1, M-1, or J-1 visas) that have been revoked since January 20, 2025 to date, disaggregated by:
a. Student’s country of origin;
b. Consulate or embassy that issued the visa;
c. Visa category/Optional Practical Training (OPT);
d. Date of revocation;
e. University of study;
f. Type of degree or field of study;
g. Notice provided;
h. Legal basis for revocation;
i. Any grace period to allow students to make travel or other arrangements; and
j. Whether the student’s SEVIS record was also terminated.
8. The total number of SEVIS record terminations that have been issued since January 20, 2025 to April 25, 2025, disaggregated by—
a. Student’s country of origin;
b. Visa category/Optional Practical Training (OPT);
c. Date of revocation;
d. University of study;
e. Type of degree or field of study;
f. Whether the termination was initiated by the university or by DHS;
g. Basis for termination;
h. Notice provided;
i. Any grace period to allow students to make travel or other arrangements; and
j. Whether the student’s visa was revoked.
9. The number of student visa holders on F-1, M-1, J-1 nonimmigrant status issued Form I862, Notice to Appear, initiating removal proceedings.
Thank you for your prompt attention to this critical matter.
Sincerely,

MIL OSI USA News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: False plates, real discovery

Source: New Zealand Police (National News)

A firearm and ammunition have been seized after a vehicle was detected travelling through Manurewa with false plates.

A van had been travelling along Rowandale Avenue at around midnight.

Counties Manukau Central Area Prevention Manager Inspector Warrick Adkin says the vehicle raised suspicions of frontline staff.

“Their suspicions were raised further as the van’s registration details were not stored in the database,” he says.

“A traffic stop was carried out and it was quickly established the vehicle was bearing false plates and was actually stolen from Takanini last week.”

The driver and passenger were both placed under arrest.

“Further information was provided to the staff that there was ammunition in the vehicle, and a further search was invoked,” Inspector Adkin says.

Officers located shotgun cartridges as well as a cutdown shotgun concealed inside, which were seized.

The 38-year-old driver has been charged with unlawful possession of a shotgun, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawfully taking a motor vehicle.

He is appearing in the Manukau District Court today.

“It’s a great result from our staff who remain vigilant and continue to work to make our community a safer place,” Inspector Adkin says.

ENDS.

Jarred Williamson/NZ Police

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Govt cuts will cost jobs, health, and homes

Source: New Zealand Labour Party

Nicola Willis announced that funding for almost every Government department will be frozen in this year’s budget, costing jobs, making access to public services harder, and fuelling an exodus of nurses, teachers, and other public servants.

“Nicola Willis’s slash-and-burn budget is dangerous and reckless,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

“This Government is hanging out a very clear sign that there’s no hope here. They may as well book tickets to Australia for nurses, teachers, police officers, and other public servants who are already struggling, and who will now find it untenable to stay in New Zealand.

“This Government had no problem doling out billions to landlords and the tobacco lobby, but when it comes to what Kiwis care most about—jobs, health, and homes—it’s just one cut after another.

“But the biggest cuts are to investments in our future. In last year’s budget the Government set aside $1.4 billion from Budget 25 just to keep the lights on in our health system. Today’s announcement leaves nothing for new investments, meaning any so-called ‘new’ spending will be funded by cuts elsewhere.

“Last year we saw $12 billion in borrowing for tax cuts, First Home Grants scrapped and $1.5 billion cut from public house building and maintenance, while they froze hiring for frontline health roles and thousands of Kiwis lost their jobs. Every dollar they promise now comes at the cost of something else, and Kiwis deserve to know what’s on the chopping block.

“This is about the Government’s choices. New Zealanders depend on their public services for jobs, good quality healthcare, and access to an affordable home with a good school down the road. Their budget chooses short-term savings at the expense of long-term prosperity, and it’s New Zealanders who will pay the price,” Barbara Edmonds said.

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MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Why are political parties allowed to send spam texts? And how can we make them stop?

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tegan Cohen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology

Ti Wi / Unsplash

Another election, another wave of unsolicited political texts. Over this campaign, our digital mailboxes have been stuffed with a slew of political appeals and promises, many from the new party Trumpet of Patriots (backed by Clive Palmer, a veteran of the mass text campaign).

The practice isn’t new, and it’s totally legal under current laws. It’s also non-partisan. Campaigns of all stripes have partaken. Behold, the Liberal Party’s last-minute SMS to voters about asylum seekers before the 2022 federal election, or Labor’s controversial “Mediscare” text before the 2016 poll. Despite multiple cycles of criticism, these tactics remain a persistent feature of Australian election campaigns.

A recent proposal to update decades-old rules could help change things – if a government would put it into practice.

What does the law say about political spam?

Several laws regulate spam and data collection in Australia.

First, there is the Spam Act. This legislation requires that organisations obtain our consent before sending us marketing emails, SMSs and instant messages. The unsubscribe links you see at the bottom of spam emails? Those are mandated by the Spam Act.

Second, the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) Act. This Act establishes a “do not call” register, managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which individuals can join to opt out of telemarketing calls.

Finally, there is the Privacy Act, which governs how organisations collect, use and disclose our personal information. Among other things, the Privacy Act requires that organisations tell us when and why they are collecting our personal information, and the purposes for which they intend to use it. It restricts organisations from re-purposing personal information collected for a particular purpose, unless an exception applies.

This trio of laws was designed to offer relief from unsolicited, unwanted direct marketing. It does not, however, stop the deluge of political spam at election time due to broad political exemptions sewn into the legislation decades ago.

The Spam Act and DNCR Act apply to marketing for goods and services but not election policies and promises, while the Privacy Act contains a carve-out for political parties, representatives and their contractors.

The upshot is that their campaigns are free to spam and target voters at will. Their only obligation is to disclose who authorised the message.

How do political campaigns get our information?

Secrecy about the nature and extent of campaign data operations, enabled by the exemptions, makes it difficult to pinpoint precisely where a campaign might have obtained your data from.

There are, however, a number of ways political campaigns can acquire our information.

One source is the electoral roll (though not for phone numbers, as the Australian Electoral Commission often points out). Incumbent candidates might build on this with information they obtain through contact with constituents which, thanks to the exemptions, they’re allowed to re-purpose for campaigning at election time.

Another source is data brokers – firms which harvest, analyse and sell large quantities of data and profiles.

We know the major parties have long maintained voter databases to support their targeting efforts, which have become increasingly sophisticated over the years.

Other outfits might take more haphazard approaches – former MP Craig Kelly, for example, claimed to use software to randomly generate numbers for his texting campaign in 2021.

What can be done?

Unwanted campaign texts are not only irritating to some. They can be misleading.

This year, there have been reports of “push polling” texts (pseudo surveys meant to persuade rather than gauge voter options) in the marginal seat of Kooyong. The AEC has warned about misleading postal vote applications being issued by parties via SMS.

This election campaign has seen a flood of texts from Trumpet of Patriots among others.
The Conversation, CC BY-SA

Generative AI is hastening the ability to produce misleading content, cheaply and at scale, which can be quickly pushed out across an array of online social and instant messaging services.

In short, annoying texts are just one visible symptom of a wider vulnerability created by the political exemptions.

The basic argument for the political exemptions is to facilitate freedom of political communication, which is protected by the Constitution. As the High Court has said, that freedom is necessary to support informed electoral choice. It does not, however, guarantee speakers a captive audience.

In 2022, the Attorney-General’s Department proposed narrowing the political exemptions, as part of a suite of updates to the Privacy Act. Per the proposal, parties and representatives would need to be more transparent about their data operations, provide voters with an option to unsubscribe from targeted ads, refrain from targeting voters based on “sensitive information”, and handle data in a “fair and reasonable” manner.

The changes would be an overdue but welcome step, recognising the essential role of voter privacy in a functioning democratic system.

Unfortunately, the government has not committed to taking up the proposal.

A bipartisan lack of support is likely the biggest obstacle, even as the gap created by the political exemptions widens, and its rationale becomes flimsier, with each election cycle.

Tegan Cohen has received funding from the Australian Research Council (FT210100263). She has volunteered for not-for-profit groups and parties, including the Wilderness Society and the Australian Greens.

– ref. Why are political parties allowed to send spam texts? And how can we make them stop? – https://theconversation.com/why-are-political-parties-allowed-to-send-spam-texts-and-how-can-we-make-them-stop-255413

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Australias External Position and the Evolution of the FX Markets

Source: Airservices Australia

Introduction

I would like to thank Bloomberg for hosting this event. Today I will discuss Australia’s evolving external position and the development of foreign exchange (FX) markets. I will emphasise the growing footprint of superannuation funds in Australia’s capital flows and the importance of these and other ‘buy-side’ firms of adopting best practices in FX markets.

Australia’s capital account and FX markets since the float

The removal of capital account restrictions and the floating of the Australian dollar in 1983 reshaped our economy. Free capital movement facilitated large increases in foreign investment in Australia and allowed Australian households and firms to diversify their portfolios by investing overseas. Deep, well-functioning FX markets that developed following the float helped banks, businesses and fund managers to manage their foreign exposures.

Australia’s integration into global capital markets saw two distinct trends in our net investment position with the rest of the world (Graph 1). First, in the decades after the float, Australia’s high investment rate was associated with rising foreign debt. This saw net foreign liabilities rise substantially to around 50 per cent of GDP. Second, over more recent years, outbound investment has grown as a share of GDP as Australia’s saving rate rose and domestic investment declined. This accumulation of foreign assets has contributed to an extraordinary decline in Australia’s net foreign liabilities to levels last seen prior to 1983.

The rise in external debt and the internationalisation of FX markets in the 1980s

While foreign ownership of Australian assets was already common in some sectors, the full opening of the capital account allowed for much more foreign investment in Australia. The growth in debt held by overseas creditors was particularly noticeable in domestic banking and resource sectors.

The increase in cross-border investment was accompanied by a rise in FX transactions. Prior to the float, spot transactions by local commercial banks dominated FX transactions. While the Australian dollar spot market grew strongly, the 1980s also saw the establishment of FX swap markets. These instruments, which allowed market participants to better hedge their foreign currency exposures, quickly became the most traded in Australian dollar markets (Graph 2). The deepening of FX markets locally was also supported by the Australian Government’s steps to broaden foreign banks’ participation in Australia’s markets.

The growth of currency markets enabled non-financial corporations to make use of hedges in support of their trade flows and foreign-currency borrowing. This hedging was in part a response to post-float currency volatility and high-profile losses by unhedged borrowers. Over the 1980s, both the share of firms hedging and the average share of currency exposures hedged increased significantly.

By the mid-1990s, the internationalisation of the Australian dollar and its capital markets was well advanced. Trading in Australian dollar FX derivatives had risen to $75 billion per day, with about 60 per cent undertaken offshore. Also, foreign entities were issuing debt in Australian dollars in the ‘Kangaroo bond market’. This issuance grew steadily over the 2000s, supported by cross-currency basis swaps, another FX derivative but with longer tenors that enabled better hedging of long-lived foreign currency borrowings.

Rising demand for Australian dollar assets from international investors enabled Australian businesses to issue debt in Australian dollars. At the same time, Australian banks and businesses issuing in large offshore markets could hedge their foreign currency-denominated debt back into Australian dollars at a modest cost. Both developments greatly reduced the vulnerability of Australian debtors to Australian dollar depreciation.

The growth in Australian dollar FX markets since the float has been remarkable: it is the sixth most traded currency, even though Australia ranks 13th in economic size. This demonstrates the importance to Australia of FX markets in support of foreign trade and investment. But it also reflects the attractive correlations of the Australian economy (and hence the Australian dollar) with economic developments in Asia, coupled with strong institutional settings in Australia, including the free movement of capital.

The increasing role of superannuation funds in Australia’s FX markets

Another key facet of Australia’s external position has been the substantial growth of the net foreign equity position. Australians have steadily accumulated more foreign equity holdings than foreigners have accumulated in Australian equity. Indeed, since 2013 we have had a positive net equity asset position (Graph 3).

The rise in net equity assets of late has occurred while Australia has been running a current account deficit, creating an unusual situation. Inflows of new liabilities rose with the banks returning to offshore debt markets as the RBA’s Term Funding Facility came to an end. However, a further rise in foreign equity holdings offset this, so net liabilities still declined. Much of the rise in net foreign equities reflects valuation effects from the Australian dollar’s depreciation and rising overseas equity values (Graph 4). Even so, new equity accumulation continues, driven by investment from Australia’s superannuation funds.

The growth of superannuation funds since 1993 and their rising offshore investments have significantly shaped Australia’s balance of payments. Super funds’ offshore asset allocation has increased from nearly one-third in 2013 to about half in 2024 (Graph 5). As a result, super funds now account for a substantial share of Australia’s capital outflows.

Purchases of foreign currency assets by superannuation funds expose them to exchange rate fluctuations. Many funds shield their members by partially hedging the foreign exchange rate risk associated with offshore assets via, for example, FX swaps. Given the large increase in super funds’ offshore assets, the extent of foreign currency assets hedged has more than quadrupled since 2013. This has made the super funds natural counterparties to domestic banks, which are hedging their FX exposures arising from issuing debt offshore in foreign currency terms.

The Foreign Exchange Global Code

This discussion highlights the increasing role of superannuation funds and their asset managers in FX markets. For FX markets to meet participants’ needs, it is important that they all observe common standards promoting fair and transparent markets. The Foreign Exchange Global Code (Code) fulfills that function.

With the advent of the Code in 2017, buy-side participants like super funds can have greater confidence in market functioning and the behaviour of their sell-side counterparties. But this is a two-way street: both sell-side and buy-side firms should adhere to the Code’s standards. Moreover, one way for fund managers to demonstrate that they are meeting their fiduciary duties is to adhere to the Code. Encouraging more buy-side participants to sign up is a focus of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee (GFXC).

To this end, the GFXC has worked hard to explain the process of signing up to the Code. We have emphasised that adoptees can concentrate on those aspects of the Code that are material to their activities, thereby greatly reducing the burden for buy-side firms.

I will end by acknowledging the sharp rise in volatility in FX markets in early April as markets incorporated announcements about the US administration’s tariffs and the subsequent ebb and flow of related news. The Australian dollar fluctuated within a range of US4 cents, experiencing its largest daily decline of 4.5 per cent against the US dollar outside of the global financial crisis. Also, measures of volatility from FX options increased to levels observed during the pandemic and liquidity deteriorated noticeably. While markets have been more settled of late, such episodes serve as a reminder of the importance of the Code. It enhances trust between market participants and offers standardised and predictable ways of doing business. Hence, the role the Code plays in proper market functioning is even more crucial during periods of great uncertainty when markets are adjusting to significant economic news.

MIL OSI News –

April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Supporting fintechs to boost competition

Source: New Zealand Government

A pilot programme that will help financial technology (fintech) firms shake up competition in the financial and banking sectors is now underway, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson.

“Our Government is focused on improving competition in the areas that matter most to Kiwis. The financial and banking sectors are among the most crucial to our everyday lives and our economic growth – however, they are often criticised as being among the most regulated and, some say, least competitive,” says Mr Simpson.

“We have heard these concerns from the industry and have taken them seriously. I am pleased that the Financial Markets Authority has now announced the six firms that will take part in its pilot ‘regulatory sandbox’ programme, which was announced late last year.

“The sandbox is a testing ground where fintechs can experiment with new products and services in a controlled environment, ensuring they comply with regulations, before doing a full commercial launch.

“The benefits of this programme reach all corners of our economy. For consumers, it opens the door wide for new and innovative solutions that will challenge traditional banks and boost competition, providing more choices about how people manage their money, investments, and day-to-day transactions.

“For fintechs, it means having the freedom and guidance to develop new products and services that will not only benefit customers but also help them supercharge New Zealand’s economic growth. I expect the sandbox will enable firms to save time, reduce costs, and bring innovative products to market sooner.

“Fintechs are exactly the kind of high-value companies that we want to see thrive in New Zealand, but regulatory barriers have prevented them from competing on a level playing field. That’s why our Government is identifying and removing these barriers to support a thriving, scalable fintech industry in New Zealand.

“Our Government also recognises the potential of fintechs to disrupt New Zealand’s financial services sector, increasing competition and choice for Kiwis. With open banking now on track to be operational in New Zealand by the end of the year, this is another action we are taking to help further unlock that potential.

“I look forward to seeing how the firms make use of the sandbox. I encourage them to be bold and push the boundaries as they develop innovative solutions that will bring more choice and better services to consumers.”

Notes to editors:

The firms taking part in the pilot are:

Fintech firm	Details
ECDD Holdings Limited	ECDD Holdings Limited (part of the exchange service Easy Crypto) intends to launch a yield bearing NZD-backed stablecoin and to generate revenue from interest earned on money held on trust in interest-bearing accounts.
Emerge Group Limited	Emerge is a digital banking alternative offering products like debit cards, current accounts, and in-app expense tracking. Customer funds are currently held in trust with a partner bank but Emerge aims to transition to higher yielding options such as government bonds.
Homeshare	Homeshare offers investors the chance to own a fractionalised share of a property. This offering would be tokenised and made available via an online platform.
IndigiShare	IndigiShare aims to improve access to capital for Māori entrepreneurs and small businesses. It seeks to offer Te Whare Manaaki (a koha loan platform), as a way to lower barriers to entry for indigenous businesses and enable community entrepreneurship.
Invest in Farming Co-op	IIF (Invest in Farming) is an Australian-based cooperative that connects investors to farming by digitising ownership of livestock, aquaculture, horticulture, and agriculture. It allows investors to own a share of agricultural assets, where investment returns are unlocked on the sale of the stock or crop.
Tandym Limited	A group investment platform enabling people to form groups and build wealth together in a social and engaging way – while removing administrative burden.

For further details on the regulatory sandbox and the firms participating in the pilot, please visit: https://www.fma.govt.nz/business/focus-areas/innovation/.

It is anticipated the firms will operate within the terms of the sandbox for a period of between 12 and 24 months. Following the pilot, the Financial Markets Authority will make a decision on whether to make the programme permanent.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025

MIL-OSI New Zealand: Government Cuts – Govt spending decision signals crisis and cuts – CTU

Source: CTU

The decision to nearly halve the amount of new investment being made in the next Budget signals that this Government doesn’t care about the users of public services, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney.

“$1.3bn in operating allowance isn’t enough to pay for cost pressures in health alone ($1.55bn). There is no money for cost pressures in education and other public services, or proposed defence spending. This is a Budget that will be built on cuts to essential services,” said Renney.

“The fact that this announcement has come only three weeks away from Budget suggests that there is no agreement around the cabinet table about what government should be doing.

“We now know that we are looking at a Budget where departments will be asked to make further rounds of deep cuts – just after cuts at Budget 2024.

“The Minister of Finance is blaming borrowing for the need to make cuts. At the last Budget the government borrowed $12bn to pay for tax giveaways, including to landlords and tobacco companies.

“This decision to cut investment is a choice. When child poverty rises, as it currently is, it’s a choice to not increase support. When we can’t support people losing their job, that’s a choice. This Government’s choices are now very clear.

“We implore the Government to rethink this decision. It doesn’t help solve the public investment gap that already exists. It doesn’t help tackle unmet need in health and education. It’s time for a better approach, and to rebuild our public services,” said Renney.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Government Cuts – Cuts to public services will be opposed: austerity does not work – PSA

Source: PSA

Finance Minister Nicola Willis today has made it clear that austerity is on the horizon for health and other public services with little new money being made available in next month’s Budget.

In today’s pre-Budget speech the Finance Minister announced that the operating allowance, which funds new operating spending, will be halved to $1.3 billion.

“This is an irresponsible recipe for failure in health and public services which are already in desperate need of additional investment after reckless cuts and the failure to invest,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association for Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“Budget 2025 should be about investing in the services New Zealanders need, particularly health with rising costs of care and an ageing population.

“But this government remains hell bent on its reckless ideological crusade to downsize our public health system regardless of the consequences.

“It made a clear choice in last year’s Budget to cut taxes and now the chickens are coming home to roost with the Government’s finances more constrained than they should be.

“Nicola Willis talks about ‘limited fiscal means’ forcing cuts to the operating allowance – well, she is the author of those, and it is a choice that she made.

“The PSA will strongly resist any further threats to the jobs of public service or health workers.”

“This is a recipe for austerity which history tells us does not work, it just creates more misery, and New Zealanders will pay that price from this approach.

“Budget 2025 will be a sad indictment of the Government’s economic management.”

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health and community groups.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI New Zealand: Northland Regional Council News 29/04/25

Source: Northland Regional Council

Climate Resilient Communities Fund open for applications

Northland Regional Council is inviting applications to the Climate Resilient Communities Fund.

The fund aims to build community resilience to the effects of climate change by focusing on local needs and community-led solutions. Council has $600,000 to invest in projects that meet the funding criteria, and eligible groups can apply for between $5,000 and $40,000 plus GST.

Applications must be for projects in Te Taitokerau and from a legal community entity, such as hapū or iwi groups, community or neighbourhood groups, education providers, social enterprises and not-for-profit businesses.

The fund will support projects focusing on: Food resilience (Te Kai); Water resilience (Te Wai); Energy resilience (Te Ngao); Nature-based resilience (Te Taiao); Planning for resilience (Ngā mahi Whakamahere).

Applications close 3 June 2025.

For more information and to apply, visit www.nrc.govt.nz/climateresiliencefunding

Free open day event at award-winning, sustainable Northland farm

Anyone interested in sustainable farming is invited to attend the Rob and Mandy Pye – Mangere Falls Farm, Ballance Farm Northland Regional Supreme Winner Open Day in Kōkopu (Whangarei) on May 7.

The special free event hosted by New Zealand Farm Environmental Trust will include an overview from Rob and Mandy Pye about striking a balance between profitability, environmental stewardship and farm efficiency, a farm tour, presentations from Alison Whiteford (B+LNZ), Northland Regional Council, Kaipara Moana Remediation and Silver Fern Farms, followed by lunch.

Anyone wishing to attend must ensure all vehicles and footwear are clean (to comply with biosecurity requirements), with 4WDs required to take part in the farm tour (carpooling is recommended where possible).

For catering purposes, please send your RSVP to Ellie Ball at: northland@bfea.org.nz

The event will be held from 10am and finish with a lunch at 1pm at Mangere Falls Farm, 638 Knight Road, Kōkopu, Whangarei.

MIL OSI New Zealand News –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Business Leaders Call for Urgent Return to a Predictable Trading Environment Toronto, Canada | 29 April 2025 APEC Business Advisory Council

Source: APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

Senior business leaders from around the APEC region expressed concern at the recent rapid shifts in the global trade and financial landscape during the second APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Meeting of 2025.

ABAC members underscored that the region’s businesses were struggling to navigate the cascading effects of new tariffs, including disrupted supply chains, rising costs, eroding business confidence and destabilized financial markets. The April 2025 World Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund predicts that over the next two years, global GDP will be 0.8 percentage points lower than had been forecast in January 2025.

A highly uncertain operating environment undermines planning, investment and innovation. This constrains growth and our region’s ability to tackle serious challenges including climate change, ageing societies and digitalization.

Call for Leadership and Unity

ABAC is urging APEC Trade Ministers, who meet next month in Jeju, Korea, to make clear their commitment to APEC’s founding goals of free and open trade, and to the fundamental principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

ABAC believes that predictability and non-discrimination are key to restoring business confidence. ABAC is calling for all APEC economies to act in a way that is fully consistent with the WTO rulebook. Ministers should also work together to strengthen and reform the WTO, including restoring a fully functioning dispute settlement system.

APEC needs to accelerate progress on early deliverables under the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific agenda. Digital transformation would have a multiplier effect: key priorities include advancing digital trade interoperability, sustainable and responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) and establishing a Centre of Excellence for Paperless Trade to build momentum towards universal digital trade facilitation.

ABAC is calling on APEC to do more to shore up the resilience of supply chains. An open and stable maritime order based on the rule of law is critical. So are policies that support resilient healthcare supply chains. For even greater health security in the context of an ageing population and other demographic shifts, we also need to get the right policy settings in place to unlock opportunities in innovative medical technologies like genomics and AI.

ABAC urges APEC to do much more to embrace the green economic transition, noting that this is now urgent. Key actions include closing critical financing gaps for the energy transition and establishing a Greener Trade Framework.

ABAC is also making a strong business case for dismantling structural impediments to full economic participation, citing compelling real-world studies on the business and broader economic benefits of closing gender pay gaps, improving access to venture capital for women entrepreneurs and helping small businesses to transition to the formal economy.

“We welcome the opportunity to discuss our concerns and collaborate on solutions at the upcoming APEC Ministers’ meeting in May,” said ABAC Chair H.S. Cho. “The choices made today will determine our region’s economic trajectory for generations to come.”

“Our message to APEC is clear: business is ready to lead, but we need Ministers to match our ambition with action. The future of our shared prosperity depends on it,” the ABAC Chair concluded.

The Chair thanked ABAC Canada for the excellent arrangements and for organizing important side events on digital technology. He expressed deep gratitude to the Canadian government for their strong support in hosting the meeting.

ABAC will reconvene in July in Hai Phong, Viet Nam, as it continues to finalize its recommendations to achieve APEC’s goals, for presentation to APEC Leaders during their meetings in October in Korea.

For further information, please contact:

Hyungkon Park (Mr), ABAC Executive Director 2025 at +82 2 6050 3686 and [email protected]

Antonio Basilio (Mr), Director of the ABAC Secretariat at +63 917 849 3351 and [email protected]

MIL OSI Economics –

April 29, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: NAB joins trial to help customers reduce energy bills
Source: Premier of Victoria
From this week, selected NAB customers applying to refinance or top up their mortgage will be invited to take part in a new Australian Government led energy rating trial for existing homes.

Customers will receive an assessment of their home’s energy performance, giving them a starting point to make improvements that can help reduce energy bills over time.

NAB Chief Climate Officer Jacqui Fox

The trial is part of the Australian Government’s expansion of the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) to existing homes. It is designed to help homeowners identify cost-effective upgrades to improve their home’s comfort and reduce energy usage.

NAB Chief Climate Officer Jacqui Fox said NAB is proud to support the NatHERS for existing homes trial, working alongside the Australian Government, Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, and property valuers.

“Cost of living pressures are still looming large for so many people which is why we’re thinking creatively about how to help Australians save money,” Ms Fox said.

“Energy bills can be one of those variable bills that consumers scrutinise to work out how they can reduce them over time.

“Knowing where to start when upgrading your home is often the hardest part.

“This initiative will help simplify the process by providing participants with practical recommendations such as improving insulation, installing energy efficient appliances, solar, batteries, window coverings, and draught proofing.”

How the trial works:
- The trial will test the tools and processes used to assess the energy efficiency of existing homes, ahead of a national rollout later this year.
- Each assessment will take place at the same time as a property valuation and will take around 30-60 minutes.
- Participants will receive a trial energy rating certificate, plus recommendations on how to improve their home’s efficiency.
- Around 800 NAB customer’s properties will be assessed as part of the trial
- For more information on the trial, visit: https://www.nathers.gov.au/Trials
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For all media enquiries, please contact the NAB Media Line on 03 7035 5015

MIL OSI News –
April 29, 2025

Category: Asia Pacific

Earning credits from emissions trading

A new regulatory regime

Source: Porirua City Council

Source: Herenga ā Nuku – the Outdoor Access Commission

What’s the Coalition offering?

What’s Labor offering?

One-eyed agendas

What else is missing?

What does the law say about political spam?

How do political campaigns get our information?

What can be done?

Introduction

Australia’s capital account and FX markets since the float

The rise in external debt and the internationalisation of FX markets in the 1980s

The increasing role of superannuation funds in Australia’s FX markets

The Foreign Exchange Global Code

Source: PSA

Source: Northland Regional Council

Topics

Media Enquiries