Asia – Page 1014 – NewzIntel.com

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Alice Mak meets youths

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Secretary for Home & Youth Affairs Alice Mak today attended a dialogue event for Youth Link members, at which she outlined to more than 80 young people the key initiatives on youth development that were included in the latest Policy Address.

Miss Mak also shared that the second edition of the Youth Development Summit will take place in the second half of 2025. She encouraged young people to participate in the summit and seize the opportunity to interact with youths from the Mainland and overseas.

Highlighting that Youth Link currently has over 10,000 members, Miss Mak said the Home & Youth Affairs Bureau will continue to engage young people on a regular basis through dialogue sessions and other activities.

She also invited the youths at the event to provide suggestions for the use of, and facilities to be provided at, a new interactive space that will be established at Youth Square in Chai Wan.

Launched by the bureau in September 2023, Youth Link aims to connect participants in various government youth programmes and offer them opportunities to develop their talents, while building their levels of interaction and trust with the Government.

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurates the International Workshop on Use of Modern Technology in Survey-ReSurvey of Urban Land Records in New Delhi today

Source: Government of India (2)

Union Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurates the International Workshop on Use of Modern Technology in Survey-ReSurvey of Urban Land Records in New Delhi today

Digitally updated and transparent land records facilitate optimization of the land resources and sharing of information with various agencies for assisting in policy and planning: Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan

We will benefit from the presence of experts from around the world and the knowledge they present will help us apply modern technologies in land management: Union Minister

The department has approved the National Geo-Spatial Knowledge Based Land Survey of Urban Habitations pilot project for creation of land records in urban areas: Shri Chouhan

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 5:19PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister for Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan inaugurated the International Workshop on the use of “Modern Technologies in Survey-Resurvey for Urban Land Records” at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi today through video conferencing. Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in his keynote address as the Chief Guest reaffirmed the commitment of Govt. of India in boosting digitization and maintenance of land records under the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP). Highlighting the importance of the quality land records, Minister stated that digitally updated and transparent land records facilitate optimization of the land resources and sharing of information with various agencies for assisting in policy and planning. He elaborated that for a robust property record and tax administration, seamless access to land records is crucial to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public service delivery through various schemes of the Centre and States. Minister emphasized the need for close coordination in the Central and State Governments and requested the Department of Land Resources and State Governments to work in close coordination.

He also discussed the steps taken by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in creating urban land records and informed that drone flying has been completed in 34 towns and Orthorectified Imagery (ORI) production is complete in 12 towns. He expressed his happiness on the pilot programme called the “National geospatial Knowledge-based land Survey of urban Habitations (NAKSHA)” of the Department of Land Resources with a view to create Land Records in Urban Areas. The Pilot project will be started in more than 100 cities/towns in all the States / UTs and it is expected to be completed in one year’s time. This will be followed by full-fledged survey which would cover the entire urban area in the country within a period of 5 years. Shri Chouhan added that he is happy to report that aerial photography with 3D imagery is a powerful tool for urban planning. Considering the rainfall and flood situation at the local level, it is very important to develop better drainage and flood management. Aerial photography with accurate GPS coordinates will help in accelerating the speed of land survey, which will ultimately be useful in property tax assessment, better transport system, planning of drainage and flood management and preparation of master plans for our urban areas.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that he is happy to inform that his department is making tireless efforts in this direction. He wanted to consult with experts from other countries on creation and reconciliation of land records and this two-day conference is an effort to discuss and understand global best practices in the use of new and emerging technologies in this regard. He is sure that the distinguished participants will put forth their views which will be discussed in detail during the sessions. He requests the representatives of the State Governments present here to actively participate in the discussions, because only with the cooperation of the States will we be able to integrate modern technologies in urban land administration and improve efficiency and transparency in land management systems. We will benefit from the presence of experts from around the world and the knowledge they present will help us apply modern technologies in land management.

Union minister extended his best wishes for successful organization of this event and he hope that the information gained from the workshop will help the government in formulating policies to further strengthen the urban local bodies.

Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, Shri Manoj Joshi said that this international workshop has been organized and along with this we have started a pilot program to conduct surveys in urban areas. For this, Survey of India is our technical partner so that drone flying can be done in all the cities. From the images obtained from drone flying, the revenue and urban departments of the states will prepare urban land records, master plans and drainage records of cities. The objective of this workshop is that foreign experts in land records can take advantage of the experts in software. States which have done the land record survey work. They will be able to share information with each other. We will be able to complete this work of land records in one year.

In the inaugural session, Shri Kunal Satyarthi, Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Govt. of India welcomed the participants and set the agenda of the workshop. Shri Abedelrazq Khalil, World Bank’s Practice Manager for Urban and Land, South Asia Infrastructure Department highlighted the importance of land records in Urban area. Shri Vivek Bharadwaj, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. of India shared experience of SVAMITVA Scheme and stressed the urgent need for digital land records for urban area too.

The first session of the Workshop on International Best Practices in Establishing and Maintaining Urban Digital Land Record was chaired by Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Land Resources and moderated by Mr. Klaus Deininger, Lead Economist, World Bank. This session had global participation from the land registration/survey departments of South Korea, Spain, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, USA, Germany. The importance of registration laws, land surveying, aerial mapping and the integration and implementation of GIS was discussed extensively, during this session.

The workshop is a unique gathering of the stakeholders from the Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, Revenue and Urban Development Secretaries of 34 States/UTs, the Municipal Commissioners, international experts, Municipal officers /CEOs of around 120 Urban Local Bodies which are taking part in the Pilot programme National Geospatial Knowledge based Survey of habitations (NAKSHA) for Modernization of Urban Land records and industry &technology partners from India and abroad.

Further, a Technology Exhibition on survey and resurvey featuring more than 30 Technology Companies from India as well as abroad was inaugurated by Shri Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Govt. of India.

*****

SS

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Read this release in: Hindi

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI: FinTech360’s Unified Communication Hub Redefines Forex Broker Efficiency

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Hong Kong, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With over a decade of expertise in the forex industry, FinTech360.com continues to set new benchmarks in B2B fintech solutions. Known for its innovation, FinTech360 has launched its cutting-edge Communication Hub, a revolutionary platform that transforms communication for forex brokers by providing a streamlined, centralized solution. This cloud-based CRM system improves interaction efficiency across various channels, including email, live chat, SMS, and messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, making it an essential tool for brokers seeking to enhance their operational performance.

FinTech360.com is positioning itself as the ultimate work management platform for the forex market, integrating essential tools for collaboration, communication, and productivity—all while ensuring the highest level of security and regulatory compliance.

A Secure and Trusted Partner for Forex Brokers

FinTech360’s Communication Hub offers forex brokers seamless control over multiple communication channels, from messaging apps to push notifications, all managed within a centralized dashboard. The platform enables easy tracking of client data, inquiries, and interactions, allowing brokers to provide better customer service in one secure location.

“The launch of the Communication Hub aligns with the digital transformation in the forex industry. FinTech360 is at the forefront of this shift, helping businesses consolidate their operations for smoother, more secure communications,” said Aaron Bitter, CEO of FinTech360. “As we continue to innovate, we’re proud to serve as a trusted partner to forex brokers worldwide.”

Security remains at the core of FinTech360’s offering. The Communication Hub safeguards client privacy by implementing an encrypted “click-to-email” feature, ensuring brokers can interact with customers without risking data breaches.

Key Features of the Communication Hub for Forex Brokers

Multichannel Communication: Manage emails, live chats, WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, and push notifications from a single user interface.
Unified Dashboard: All communication is streamlined in one place, helping brokers optimize customer interactions.
Advanced Security: Protects customer contact information through encryption and secure communication triggers.
Cost-Efficient Operations: By consolidating all communication efforts, the hub improves efficiency and reduces costs.
Centralized CRM: Brokers can manage client communication from one central platform, improving back-office operations.

Expanding FinTech360’s CRM Capabilities

Beyond communication, FinTech360 offers an omnichannel CRM solution, giving forex brokers comprehensive control over all back-office operations. From KYC and AML compliance to handling payments through its payment gateway, FinTech360 allows brokers to accept payments globally via its network of over 250 providers.

FinTech360’s Verification Center also plays a crucial role in assisting brokers with regulatory compliance, enabling seamless adherence to KYC, AML, and forex market regulations such as CySEC, ASIC, and the FSCA.

FinTech360 CRM Features for Forex Brokers:

Website CMS and Client Area: Create a custom website reflecting your brand, enhancing the user experience.
Verification Center: Keep up with KYC and AML regulations while monitoring and optimizing sales calls.
Sales-Focused CRM: Simplify your workflow with automated lead splitting and detailed sales tracking, improving client management.
Communication Hub: Use multiple channels to engage with clients and track interactions in real-time.
Affiliate Manager: Optimize your affiliate marketing efforts through real-time traffic monitoring and management tools.
Full Suite Cashier: Process payments with over 300 integrated PSPs and APMs, supported by advanced risk management features.
Web Trading Platform and Apps: Deliver seamless trading experiences with FinTech360’s web and mobile apps, integrated with MT4/MT5 for top-tier security.
Business Intelligence (BI) Reports: Track every aspect of your business, from traffic to customer interactions, ensuring data-driven decisions.

For more information about FinTech360 and its latest cross-device trading solutions, visit FinTech360.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.

The MIL Network –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI: Powell Max Limited Announces Change of Chief Financial Officer

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

HONG KONG, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Powell Max Limited (Nasdaq: PMAX) (the “Company” or “Powell Max”), a financial communications services provider headquartered in Hong Kong, today announced the resignation of Mr. Chun Ho Lam (“Mr. Lam”) as the Chief Financial Officer of the Company due to personal reasons. The Company thanks Mr. Lam for his contributions during his tenure of office.

The Company has appointed Ms. Kam Lai Kwok (“Ms. Kwok”) as the new Chief Financial Officer.

Ms. Kwok is an associate of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (formerly known as the Hong Kong Society of Accountants) since January 1997 and has over 30 years of experience in public accounting and financial management. She also has extensive managerial experience in financial communications and financial printing industry for over 20 years. Prior to her joining of the Company, Ms. Kwok served as an executive director of a Hong Kong listed company principally engaged in financial communications and financial printing services and as a financial controller of its operating subsidiary for over 8 years.

About Powell Max Limited

Powell Max Limited is a financial communications services provider headquartered in Hong Kong. The Company engages in the provision of financial communications services that support capital market compliance and transaction needs for corporate clients and their advisors in Hong Kong. Its financial communications services cover a full range of financial printing, corporate reporting, communications and language support services from inception to completion, including typesetting, proofreading, translation, design, printing, electronic reporting, newspaper placement and distribution. The Company’s clients consist of domestic and international companies listed in Hong Kong, together with companies who are seeking to list in Hong Kong, as well as their advisors.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Words such as “will,” future,” “expects,” “believes,” and “intends,” or similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to inherent uncertainties in predicting future results and conditions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

Company Info:

Powell Max Limited

Investor Relations

ir@janfp.com

(852) 2158 2888

The MIL Network –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI: RBB Bancorp Reports Third Quarter 2024 Earnings and Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.16 Per Common Share

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — RBB Bancorp (NASDAQ:RBB) and its subsidiaries, Royal Business Bank (the “Bank”) and RBB Asset Management Company (“RAM”), collectively referred to herein as “the Company,” announced financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2024.

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights

Net income totaled $7.0 million, or $ 0.39 diluted earnings per share
Return on average assets of 0.72%, compared to 0.76% for the quarter ended June 30, 2024
Net interest margin of 2.68% compared to 2.67% for the quarter ended June 30, 2024
Repurchased 508,275 shares of common stock for $11.0 million during the quarter ended September 30, 2024, and completed the authorized program
Book value and tangible book value per share(1) increased to $28.81 and $24.64 at September 30, 2024, up from $28.12 and $24.06 at June 30, 2024

The Company reported net income of $7.0 million, or $ 0.39 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, compared to net income of $7.2 million, or $ 0.39 diluted earnings per share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

“Loans increased at a 6% annualized rate in the third quarter as our work to expand lending and deposit relationships began to deliver results,” said David Morris, Chief Executive Officer of RBB Bancorp. “Net interest margin increased slightly, and we are optimistic that it will continue to expand from here. We continue to work through our non-performing loans and believe we will be able to resolve the majority of them by mid-2025.”

“The team has done an excellent job building on the Bank’s reputation as one of the premier Asian-centric financial institutions,” said Christina Kao, Chair of the Board of Directors. “Returning the Bank to growth has been a priority for the Board of Directors as we believe it will enhance long-term shareholder value.”

(1) Reconciliations of the non–U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures included at the end of this press release.

Net Interest Income and Net Interest Margin

Net interest income was $24.5 million for the third quarter of 2024, compared to $24.0 million for the second quarter of 2024. The $580,000 increase was due to an increase in interest income of $1.5 million offset by an increase in interest expense of $959,000. The increase in interest income was due mostly to higher interest income on loans held for investment (“HFI”) of $2.0 million, partially offset by lower interest income on investment securities of $504,000. The increase in loan interest income was mostly due to higher average loans HFI of $54.4 million combined with a 9 basis point increase in the HFI loan yield. The decrease in investment income was attributed to lower average balances and a lower portfolio yield as proceeds from maturing short-term commercial paper were invested into loans and interest-earning cash. The increase in interest expense was due to higher average interest-bearing deposits of $42.3 million in the third quarter of 2024.

Net interest margin (“NIM”) was 2.68% for the third quarter of 2024, an increase of 1 basis point from 2.67% for the second quarter of 2024. The increase was due to a 5 basis point increase in the yield on average interest-earning assets, partially offset by a 3 basis point increase in the overall cost of funds. The yield on average interest-earning assets increased to 5.94% for the third quarter of 2024 from 5.89% for the second quarter of 2024 due mainly to a 9 basis point increase in the yield on average loans HFI to 6.13% for the third quarter of 2024. The increase in the loan yield was largely attributed to nonaccrual loan activity in the current and prior quarter, including both the recapture of interest income for fully paid off nonaccrual loans and reversals of interest income for loans migrating to nonaccrual status. Such activity increased the third quarter loan yield by 1 basis point and decreased the second quarter loan yield by 7 basis points. Average loans represented 84% of average interest-earning assets in the third quarter of 2024, unchanged from the second quarter of 2024.

The overall cost of funds increased to 3.57% in the third quarter of 2024 from 3.54% in the second quarter of 2024 due to a higher average cost of interest-bearing deposits in the third quarter of 2024 as compared to the second quarter of 2024. The overall funding mix remained relatively unchanged from the second quarter of 2024 as the ratio of average noninterest-bearing deposits to average total funding sources remained relatively unchanged at 16% for the third and second quarters of 2024. The all-in spot rate for total deposits was 3.53% at September 30, 2024.

Provision for Credit Losses

The Company recorded a provision for credit losses of $3.3 million for the third quarter of 2024 compared to $557,000 for the second quarter of 2024. The third quarter provision took into consideration factors including changes in the loan portfolio mix, higher specific reserves, the outlook for economic conditions and market interest rates, and credit quality metrics, including higher nonperforming, special mention and substandard loans at the end of the third quarter of 2024 as compared to the end of the second quarter of 2024.

Noninterest Income

Noninterest income for the third quarter of 2024 was $5.7 million, an increase of $2.3 million from $3.5 million for the second quarter of 2024. This increase was mostly due to a $2.8 million recovery of a fully charged off loan, which had been acquired in a bank acquisition (included in other income), partially offset by lower net gain on other real estate owned (“OREO”) of $292,000.

Noninterest Expense

Noninterest expense for the third quarter of 2024 was $17.4 million, an increase of $297,000 from $17.1 million for the second quarter of 2024. This increase was due to higher salaries and employee benefits expense of $475,000 due in part to higher loan production and higher other expenses of $304,000 due to higher loan related expense. These increases were partially offset by lower insurance and regulatory assessments of $323,000 and lower legal and professional expenses of $302,000, the latter being due to reimbursed legal costs from nonaccrual loan payoffs. The annualized noninterest expenses to average assets ratio was 1.78% for the third quarter of 2024, down from 1.79% for the second quarter of 2024. The efficiency ratio was 57.51% for the third quarter of 2024, down from 62.38% for the second quarter of 2024 due mostly to higher noninterest income.

Income Taxes

The effective tax rate was 26.9% for the third quarter of 2024 and 25.9% for the second quarter of 2024. The effective tax rate for 2024 is estimated to range between 26.0% and 28.0%.

Balance Sheet

At September 30, 2024, total assets were $4.0 billion, a $122.3 million increase compared to June 30, 2024, and a $78.9 million decrease compared to September 30, 2023.

Loan and Securities Portfolio

Loans HFI totaled $3.1 billion as of September 30, 2024, an increase of $44.2 million compared to June 30, 2024 and a $29.1 million decrease compared to September 30, 2023. The increase from June 30, 2024 was primarily due to a $62.5 million increase in commercial real estate (“CRE”) loans, a $5.6 million increase in single-family residential (“SFR”) mortgages and a $2.2 million increase in commercial and industrial (“C&I”) loans, partially offset by a $22.3 million decrease in construction and land development (“C&D”) loans and a $2.2 million decrease in Small Business Administration (“SBA”) loans. The loan to deposit ratio was 98.6% at September 30, 2024, compared to 99.4% at June 30, 2024 and 97.6% at September 30, 2023.

As of September 30, 2024, available-for-sale securities totaled $305.7 million, a decrease of $19.9 million from June 30, 2024. As of September 30, 2024, net unrealized losses totaled $23.2 million, a $6.9 million decrease due to decreases in market interest rates, when compared to net unrealized losses as of June 30, 2024.

Deposits

Total deposits were $3.1 billion as of September 30, 2024, a $68.6 million increase compared to June 30, 2024 and a $61.9 million decrease compared to September 30, 2023. The increase during the third quarter of 2024 was due to an increase in interest-bearing deposits, while noninterest-bearing deposits remained relatively stable at $543.6 million as of September 30, 2024 compared to $543.0 million as of June 30, 2024. The increase in interest-bearing deposits included an increase in time deposits of $49.6 million and an increase in non-maturity deposits of $18.3 million. The increase in time deposits included a $26.6 million increase in wholesale deposits (brokered deposits, collateralized State of California certificates of deposit and deposits acquired through internet listing services). Wholesale deposits totaled $147.3 million at September 30, 2024, and $120.7 million at June 30, 2024. Noninterest-bearing deposits represented 17.6% of total deposits at September 30, 2024 compared to 18.0% at June 30, 2024.

Credit Quality

Nonperforming assets totaled $60.7 million, or 1.52% of total assets, at September 30, 2024, compared to $54.6 million, or 1.41% of total assets, at June 30, 2024. The $6.1 million increase in nonperforming assets was mostly due to two loans that migrated to nonaccrual totaling $13.3 million and consisted of a C&D loan and a CRE loan, offset by $6.1 million in payoffs with no losses and $1.2 million in partial charge-offs of nonaccrual loans.

Special mention loans totaled $77.5 million, or 2.51% of total loans, at September 30, 2024, compared to $19.5 million, or 0.64% of total loans, at June 30, 2024. The $58.0 million increase was primarily due to one $43.6 million C&D loan for a completed hotel construction project, CRE loans totaling $25.2 million and C&I loans totaling $1.2 million. The increase was partially offset by one $11.7 million C&D loan, which migrated from special mention to substandard during the third quarter of 2024. All special mention loans, including the $11.7 million C&D loan which migrated to substandard rating, are all paying current.

Substandard loans totaled $79.8 million, or 2.58% of total loans, at September 30, 2024, compared to $63.1 million, or 2.07% of total loans, at June 30, 2024. The $16.8 million increase was primarily due to downgrades of two C&D loans totaling $21.7 million and one $3.3 million CRE loan, offset by loan payoffs of $6.7 million and charge-offs of $1.2 million. Of the substandard loans at September 30, 2024, there are $19.2 million which are paying current.

30-89 day delinquent loans, excluding nonperforming loans, decreased $645,000 to $10.6 million as of September 30, 2024, compared to $11.3 million as of June 30, 2024. The decrease in past due loans was mostly due to 12 loans totaling $4.7 million that returned to current status and other decreases totaling $784,000, partially offset by new delinquent loans totaling $4.9 million, of which $4.1 million were 30 days past due.

As of September 30, 2024, the allowance for credit losses totaled $44.5 million and was comprised of an allowance for loan losses of $43.7 million and a reserve for unfunded commitments of $779,000 (included in “Accrued interest and other liabilities”). This compares to the allowance for credit losses of $42.4 million comprised of an allowance for loan losses of $41.7 million and a reserve for unfunded commitments of $624,000 at June 30, 2024. The $2.1 million increase in the allowance for credit losses for the third quarter of 2024 was due to a $3.3 million provision for credit losses, including higher specific reserves of $2.5 million, offset by net charge-offs of $1.2 million. The increase in specific reserves and charge-offs in the third quarter of 2024 was primarily due to a decrease in the estimated fair value of collateral dependent loans, including estimated selling costs. Charge-offs in the third quarter of 2024 were related to one C&D loan and one CRE loan, which were written-down to their estimated fair value. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of loans HFI was 1.41% at September 30, 2024, compared to 1.37% at June 30, 2024. The allowance for loan losses as a percentage of nonperforming loans was 72% at September 30, 2024, a decrease from 76% at June 30, 2024. The decrease in the allowance for loan losses as a percentage of nonperforming loans was due in part to an increase in individually evaluated loans, which required no allowance for loan losses.

	For the Three Months Ended September 30, 2024								For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024
*(dollars in thousands)*	Allowance for loan losses			Reserve for unfunded loan commitments		Allowance for credit losses			Allowance for loan losses			Reserve for unfunded loan commitments		Allowance for credit losses
Beginning balance	$	41,741		$	624	$	42,365		$	41,903		$	640	$	42,543
Provision for credit losses		3,145			155		3,300			3,718			139		3,857
Less loans charged-off		(1,210	)		—		(1,210	)		(1,991	)		—		(1,991	)
Recoveries on loans charged-off		9			—		9			55			—		55
Ending balance	$	43,685		$	779	$	44,464		$	43,685		$	779	$	44,464

Shareholders’ Equity

At September 30, 2024, total shareholders’ equity was $509.7 million, a $1.6 million decrease compared to June 30, 2024, and a $7.2 million increase compared to September 30, 2023. The decrease in shareholders’ equity for the third quarter of 2024 was due to common stock repurchases of $11.0 million and common stock cash dividends paid of $2.9 million, offset by net income of $7.0 million, lower net unrealized loss on available-for-sale securities of $4.8 million and equity compensation activity of $528,000. Book value per share and tangible book value per share⁽¹⁾increased to $28.81 and $24.64 at September 30, 2024, up from $28.12 and $24.06 at June 30, 2024.

On February 29, 2024, the Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of up to 1,000,000 shares of common stock. The repurchase program permitted shares to be repurchased in open market or private transactions, through block trades, and pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Rules 10b5-1 and 10b-8. The Company repurchased 508,275 shares at a weighted average share price of $21.53 during the third quarter of 2024 and completed the authorized program.

Dividend Announcement

The Board of Directors has declared a common stock cash dividend of $0.16 per common share, payable on November 12, 2024 to shareholders of record on October 31, 2024.

	Contact: Lynn Hopkins, Chief Financial Officer
	(213) 716-8066
	lhopkins@rbbusa.com

(1) Reconciliations of the non–U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) measures included at the end of this press release.

Corporate Overview

RBB Bancorp is a community-based financial holding company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. As of September 30, 2024, the Company had total assets of $4.0 billion. Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Royal Business Bank, is a full service commercial bank, which provides consumer and business banking services predominately to the Asian-centric communities in Los Angeles County, Orange County, and Ventura County in California, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan in New York, in Edison, New Jersey, in the Chicago neighborhoods of Chinatown and Bridgeport, Illinois, and on Oahu, Hawaii. Bank services include remote deposit, E-banking, mobile banking, commercial and investor real estate loans, business loans and lines of credit, commercial and industrial loans, SBA 7A and 504 loans, 1-4 single family residential loans, trade finance, a full range of depository account products and wealth management services. The Bank has nine branches in Los Angeles County, two branches in Ventura County, one branch in Orange County, California, one branch in Las Vegas, Nevada, three branches and one loan operation center in Brooklyn, three branches in Queens, one branch in Manhattan in New York, one branch in Edison, New Jersey, two branches in Chicago, Illinois, and one branch in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Company’s administrative and lending center is located at 1055 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, California 90017, and its operations center is located at 7025 Orangethorpe Ave., Buena Park, California 90621. The Company’s website address is www.royalbusinessbankusa.com.

Conference Call

Management will hold a conference call at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time/2:00 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, to discuss the Company’s third quarter 2024 financial results.

To listen to the conference call, please dial 1-888-506-0062 or 1-973-528-0011, the Participant ID code is 392446, conference ID RBBQ324. A replay of the call will be made available at 1-877-481-4010 or 1-919-882-2331, the passcode is 51366, approximately one hour after the conclusion of the call and will remain available through November 5, 2024.

The conference call will also be simultaneously webcast over the Internet; please visit our Royal Business Bank website at http://www.royalbusinessbankusa.com and click on the “Investors” tab to access the call from the site. This webcast will be recorded and available for replay on our website approximately two hours after the conclusion of the conference call.

Disclosure

This press release contains certain non-GAAP financial disclosures for tangible common equity and tangible assets and adjusted earnings. The Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s operational performance and to enhance investors’ overall understanding of such financial performance. Please refer to the tables at the end of this release for a presentation of performance ratios in accordance with GAAP and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures to the GAAP financial measures.

Safe Harbor

Certain matters set forth herein (including the exhibits hereto) constitute forward-looking statements relating to the Company’s current business plans and expectations and our future financial position and operating results. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and/or achievements to differ materially from those projected. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures; the potential for additional material weaknesses in the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting or other potential control deficiencies of which the Company is not currently aware or which have not been detected; business and economic conditions generally and in the financial services industry, nationally and within our current and future geographic markets, including the tight labor market, ineffective management of the United States (“U.S.”) federal budget or debt or turbulence or uncertainly in domestic or foreign financial markets; the strength of the U.S. economy in general and the strength of the local economies in which we conduct operations; adverse developments in the banking industry highlighted by high-profile bank failures and the potential impact of such developments on customer confidence, liquidity and regulatory responses to these developments; our ability to attract and retain deposits and access other sources of liquidity; possible additional provisions for credit losses and charge-offs; credit risks of lending activities and deterioration in asset or credit quality; extensive laws and regulations and supervision that we are subject to, including potential supervisory action by bank supervisory authorities; increased costs of compliance and other risks associated with changes in regulation, including any amendments to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and other money laundering statutes and regulations; potential goodwill impairment; liquidity risk; failure to comply with debt covenants; fluctuations in interest rates; risks associated with acquisitions and the expansion of our business into new markets; inflation and deflation; real estate market conditions and the value of real estate collateral; the effects of having concentrations in our loan portfolio, including commercial real estate and the risks of geographic and industry concentrations; environmental liabilities; our ability to compete with larger competitors; our ability to retain key personnel; successful management of reputational risk; severe weather, natural disasters, earthquakes, fires; or other adverse external events could harm our business; geopolitical conditions, including acts or threats of terrorism, actions taken by the U.S. or other governments in response to acts or threats of terrorism and/or military conflicts, including the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, in the Middle East, and increasing tensions between China and Taiwan, which could impact business and economic conditions in the U.S. and abroad; public health crises and pandemics, and their effects on the economic and business environments in which we operate, including our credit quality and business operations, as well as the impact on general economic and financial market conditions; general economic or business conditions in Asia, and other regions where the Bank has operations; failures, interruptions, or security breaches of our information systems; climate change, including any enhanced regulatory, compliance, credit and reputational risks and costs; cybersecurity threats and the cost of defending against them; our ability to adapt our systems to the expanding use of technology in banking; risk management processes and strategies; adverse results in legal proceedings; the impact of regulatory enforcement actions, if any; certain provisions in our charter and bylaws that may affect acquisition of the Company; changes in tax laws and regulations; the impact of governmental efforts to restructure the U.S. financial regulatory system; the impact of future or recent changes in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance assessment rate and the rules and regulations related to the calculation of the FDIC insurance assessments; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices or accounting standards, as may be adopted from time-to-time by bank regulatory agencies, the SEC, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other accounting standards setters, including Accounting Standards Update 2016-13 (Topic 326, “Measurement of Current Losses on Financial Instruments, commonly referenced as the Current Expected Credit Losses Model, which changed how we estimate credit losses and may further increase the required level of our allowance for credit losses in future periods; market disruption and volatility; fluctuations in the Company’s stock price; restrictions on dividends and other distributions by laws and regulations and by our regulators and our capital structure; issuances of preferred stock; our ability to raise additional capital, if needed, and the potential resulting dilution of interests of holders of our common stock; the soundness of other financial institutions; our ongoing relations with our various federal and state regulators, including the SEC, FDIC, FRB and California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation; our success at managing the risks involved in the foregoing items and all other factors set forth in the Company’s public reports, including its Annual Report as filed under Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and particularly the discussion of risk factors within that document. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law. Any statements about future operating results, such as those concerning accretion and dilution to the Company’s earnings or shareholders, are for illustrative purposes only, are not forecasts, and actual results may differ.

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Unaudited) (Dollars in thousands)
	September 30,			June 30,			March 31,			December 31,			September 30,
	2024			2024			2024			2023			2023
Assets
Cash and due from banks	$	26,388		$	23,313		$	21,887		$	22,671		$	23,809
Interest-earning deposits with financial institutions		323,002			229,456			247,356			408,702			306,982
Cash and Cash Equivalents		349,390			252,769			269,243			431,373			330,791
Interest-earning time deposits with financial institutions		600			600			600			600			600
Investment securities available for sale		305,666			325,582			335,194			318,961			354,378
Investment securities held to maturity		5,195			5,200			5,204			5,209			5,214
Mortgage loans held for sale		812			3,146			3,903			1,911			62
Loans held for investment		3,091,896			3,047,712			3,027,361			3,031,861			3,120,952
Allowance for loan losses		(43,685	)		(41,741	)		(41,688	)		(41,903	)		(42,430	)
Net loans held for investment		3,048,211			3,005,971			2,985,673			2,989,958			3,078,522
Premises and equipment, net		24,839			25,049			25,363			25,684			26,134
Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) stock		15,000			15,000			15,000			15,000			15,000
Cash surrender value of bank owned life insurance		59,889			59,486			59,101			58,719			58,346
Goodwill		71,498			71,498			71,498			71,498			71,498
Servicing assets		7,256			7,545			7,794			8,110			8,439
Core deposit intangibles		2,194			2,394			2,594			2,795			3,010
Right-of-use assets		29,283			30,530			31,231			29,803			29,949
Accrued interest and other assets		70,644			63,416			65,608			66,404			87,411
Total assets	$	3,990,477		$	3,868,186		$	3,878,006		$	4,026,025		$	4,069,354
Liabilities and shareholders’ equity
Deposits:
Noninterest-bearing demand	$	543,623		$	542,971		$	539,517		$	539,621		$	572,393
Savings, NOW and money market accounts		666,089			647,770			642,840			632,729			608,020
Time deposits, $250,000 and under		1,052,462			1,014,189			1,083,898			1,190,821			1,237,831
Time deposits, greater than $250,000		830,010			818,675			762,074			811,589			735,828
Total deposits		3,092,184			3,023,605			3,028,329			3,174,760			3,154,072
FHLB advances		200,000			150,000			150,000			150,000			150,000
Long-term debt, net of issuance costs		119,433			119,338			119,243			119,147			174,019
Subordinated debentures		15,102			15,047			14,993			14,938			14,884
Lease liabilities – operating leases		30,880			32,087			32,690			31,191			31,265
Accrued interest and other liabilities		23,150			16,818			18,765			24,729			42,603
Total liabilities		3,480,749			3,356,895			3,364,020			3,514,765			3,566,843
Shareholders’ equity:
Common Stock		259,280			266,160			271,645			271,925			277,462
Additional paid-in capital		3,520			3,456			3,348			3,623			3,579
Retained Earnings		262,946			262,518			259,903			255,152			247,159
Non-controlling interest		72			72			72			72			72
Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net		(16,090	)		(20,915	)		(20,982	)		(19,512	)		(25,761	)
Total shareholders’ equity		509,728			511,291			513,986			511,260			502,511
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	3,990,477		$	3,868,186		$	3,878,006		$	4,026,025		$	4,069,354

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (Unaudited) *(In thousands, except share and per share data)*
	For the Three Months Ended						For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30, 2024		June 30, 2024		September 30, 2023		September 30, 2024		September 30, 2023
Interest and dividend income:
Interest and fees on loans	$	47,326	$	45,320	$	47,617	$	138,193	$	148,369
Interest on interest-earning deposits		3,388		3,353		3,193		11,781		6,096
Interest on investment securities		3,127		3,631		4,211		10,369		10,321
Dividend income on FHLB stock		326		327		290		984		814
Interest on federal funds sold and other		258		255		252		779		716
Total interest and dividend income		54,425		52,886		55,563		162,106		166,316
Interest expense:
Interest on savings deposits, NOW and money market accounts		5,193		4,953		3,106		14,624		8,180
Interest on time deposits		22,553		21,850		21,849		67,725		54,424
Interest on long-term debt and subordinated debentures		1,681		1,679		2,579		5,039		7,668
Interest on other borrowed funds		453		439		440		1,331		2,428
Total interest expense		29,880		28,921		27,974		88,719		72,700
Net interest income before provision for credit losses		24,545		23,965		27,589		73,387		93,616
Provision for credit losses		3,300		557		1,399		3,857		3,793
Net interest income after provision for credit losses		21,245		23,408		26,190		69,530		89,823
Noninterest income:
Service charges and fees		1,071		1,064		1,057		3,127		3,200
Gain on sale of loans		447		451		212		1,210		258
Loan servicing fees, net of amortization		605		579		623		1,773		1,959
Increase in cash surrender value of life insurance		402		385		356		1,169		1,036
Gain on OREO		—		292		190		1,016		190
Other income		3,221		717		332		4,311		982
Total noninterest income		5,746		3,488		2,770		12,606		7,625
Noninterest expense:
Salaries and employee benefits		10,008		9,533		9,744		29,468		28,935
Occupancy and equipment expenses		2,518		2,439		2,414		7,400		7,242
Data processing		1,472		1,466		1,315		4,358		3,969
Legal and professional		958		1,260		1,022		3,098		6,907
Office expenses		348		352		437		1,056		1,163
Marketing and business promotion		252		189		340		613		892
Insurance and regulatory assessments		658		981		730		2,621		2,043
Core deposit premium		200		201		236		602		708
Other expenses		1,007		703		638		2,298		2,445
Total noninterest expense		17,421		17,124		16,876		51,514		54,304
Income before income taxes		9,570		9,772		12,084		30,622		43,144
Income tax expense		2,571		2,527		3,611		8,342		12,752
Net income	$	6,999	$	7,245	$	8,473	$	22,280	$	30,392

Net income per share
Basic	$	0.39	$	0.39	$	0.45	$	1.22	$	1.60
Diluted	$	0.39	$	0.39	$	0.45	$	1.22	$	1.60
Cash Dividends declared per common share	$	0.16	$	0.16	$	0.16	$	0.48	$	0.48
Weighted-average common shares outstanding
Basic		17,812,791		18,375,970		18,995,303		18,261,702		18,991,579
Diluted		17,885,359		18,406,897		18,997,304		18,313,086		19,013,838

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES AVERAGE BALANCE SHEET AND NET INTEREST INCOME (Unaudited)
	For the Three Months Ended
	September 30, 2024							June 30, 2024							September 30, 2023
*(tax-equivalent basis, dollars in thousands)*	Average Balance		Interest & Fees		Yield / Rate			Average Balance		Interest & Fees		Yield / Rate			Average Balance		Interest & Fees		Yield / Rate
Interest-earning assets
Cash and cash equivalents⁽¹⁾	$	260,205	$	3,646		5.57	%	$	255,973	$	3,608		5.67	%	$	270,484	$	3,445		5.05	%
FHLB Stock		15,000		326		8.65	%		15,000		327		8.77	%		15,000		290		7.67	%
Securities
Available for sale⁽²⁾		298,948		3,105		4.13	%		318,240		3,608		4.56	%		369,459		4,187		4.50	%
Held to maturity⁽²⁾		5,198		46		3.52	%		5,203		46		3.56	%		5,385		48		3.54	%
Mortgage loans held for sale		1,165		23		7.85	%		3,032		57		7.56	%		739		13		6.98	%
Loans held for investment:⁽³⁾
Real estate		2,888,528		43,495		5.99	%		2,828,339		41,590		5.91	%		2,968,246		43,583		5.83	%
Commercial		179,885		3,808		8.42	%		185,679		3,673		7.96	%		187,140		4,021		8.52	%
Total loans held for investment		3,068,413		47,303		6.13	%		3,014,018		45,263		6.04	%		3,155,386		47,604		5.99	%
Total interest-earning assets		3,648,929	$	54,449		5.94	%		3,611,466	$	52,909		5.89	%		3,816,453	$	55,587		5.78	%
Total noninterest-earning assets		242,059							240,016							250,083
Total average assets	$	3,890,988						$	3,851,482						$	4,066,536

Interest-bearing liabilities
NOW		55,757		277		1.98	%	$	56,081	$	276		1.98	%	$	55,325	$	201		1.44	%
Money Market		439,936		4,093		3.70	%		431,559		3,877		3.61	%		403,300		2,656		2.61	%
Saving deposits		164,515		823		1.99	%		164,913		800		1.95	%		123,709		249		0.80	%
Time deposits, $250,000 and under		1,037,365		12,312		4.72	%		1,049,666		12,360		4.74	%		1,285,320		14,090		4.35	%
Time deposits, greater than $250,000		819,207		10,241		4.97	%		772,255		9,490		4.94	%		717,026		7,759		4.29	%
Total interest-bearing deposits		2,516,780		27,746		4.39	%		2,474,474		26,803		4.36	%		2,584,680		24,955		3.83	%
FHLB advances		150,543		453		1.20	%		150,000		439		1.18	%		150,000		440		1.16	%
Long-term debt		119,370		1,295		4.32	%		119,275		1,296		4.37	%		173,923		2,194		5.00	%
Subordinated debentures		15,066		386		10.19	%		15,011		383		10.26	%		14,848		385		10.29	%
Total interest-bearing liabilities		2,801,759		29,880		4.24	%		2,758,760		28,921		4.22	%		2,923,451		27,974		3.80	%
Noninterest-bearing liabilities
Noninterest-bearing deposits		528,081							529,450							571,371
Other noninterest-bearing liabilities		52,428							51,087							67,282
Total noninterest-bearing liabilities		580,509							580,537							638,653
Shareholders’ equity		508,720							512,185							504,432
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	3,890,988						$	3,851,482						$	4,066,536
Net interest income / interest rate spreads			$	24,569		1.70	%			$	23,988		1.67	%			$	27,613		1.98	%
Net interest margin						2.68	%						2.67	%						2.87	%

Total cost of deposits	$	3,044,861	$	27,746		3.63	%	$	3,003,924	$	26,803		3.59	%	$	3,156,051	$	24,955		3.14	%
Total cost of funds	$	3,329,840	$	29,880		3.57	%	$	3,288,210	$	28,921		3.54	%	$	3,494,822	$	27,974		3.18	%

_________________
(1) Includes income and average balances for interest-earning time deposits and other miscellaneous interest-earning assets.
(2) Interest income and average rates for tax-exempt securities are presented on a tax-equivalent basis.
(3) Average loan balances include nonaccrual loans. Interest income on loans includes the effects of discount accretion and net deferred loan origination fees and costs accounted for as yield adjustments.

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES AVERAGE BALANCE SHEET AND NET INTEREST INCOME (Unaudited)
	For the Nine Months Ended
	September 30, 2024							September 30, 2023
*(tax-equivalent basis, dollars in thousands)*	Average Balance		Interest & Fees		Yield / Rate			Average Balance		Interest & Fees		Yield / Rate
Interest-earning assets
Cash and cash equivalents⁽¹⁾	$	293,597	$	12,560		5.71	%	$	177,393	$	6,812		5.13	%
FHLB Stock		15,000		984		8.76	%		15,000		814		7.26	%
Securities
Available for sale⁽²⁾		312,352		10,302		4.41	%		332,007		10,245		4.13	%
Held to maturity⁽²⁾		5,203		140		3.59	%		5,610		151		3.60	%
Mortgage loans held for sale		1,802		105		7.78	%		295		16		7.25	%
Loans held for investment:⁽³⁾
Real estate		2,851,625		126,852		5.94	%		3,041,393		134,791		5.93	%
Commercial		181,716		11,236		8.26	%		214,618		13,562		8.45	%
Total loans held for investment		3,033,341		138,088		6.08	%		3,256,011		148,353		6.09	%
Total interest-earning assets		3,661,295	$	162,179		5.92	%		3,786,316	$	166,391		5.88	%
Total noninterest-earning assets		242,802							244,822
Total average assets	$	3,904,097						$	4,031,138

Interest-bearing liabilities
NOW	$	56,924		851		2.00	%	$	59,476	$	511		1.15	%
Money Market		427,884		11,496		3.59	%		431,299		7,315		2.27	%
Saving deposits		162,207		2,277		1.88	%		118,550		354		0.40	%
Time deposits, $250,000 and under		1,087,501		38,476		4.73	%		1,141,290		33,905		3.97	%
Time deposits, greater than $250,000		792,310		29,249		4.93	%		729,699		20,519		3.76	%
Total interest-bearing deposits		2,526,826		82,349		4.35	%		2,480,314		62,604		3.37	%
FHLB advances		150,182		1,331		1.18	%		179,707		2,428		1.81	%
Long-term debt		119,276		3,886		4.35	%		173,780		6,584		5.07	%
Subordinated debentures		15,012		1,153		10.26	%		14,794		1,084		9.80	%
Total interest-bearing liabilities		2,811,296		88,719		4.22	%		2,848,595		72,700		3.41	%
Noninterest-bearing liabilities
Noninterest-bearing deposits		528,624							624,781
Other noninterest-bearing liabilities		52,955							58,786
Total noninterest-bearing liabilities		581,579							683,567
Shareholders’ equity		511,222							498,976
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	3,904,097						$	4,031,138
Net interest income / interest rate spreads			$	73,460		1.70	%			$	93,691		2.47	%
Net interest margin						2.68	%						3.31	%

Total cost of deposits	$	3,055,450	$	82,349		3.60	%	$	3,105,095	$	62,604		2.70	%
Total cost of funds	$	3,339,920	$	88,719		3.55	%	$	3,473,376	$	72,700		2.80	%

_______________
(1) Includes income and average balances for interest-earning time deposits and other miscellaneous interest-earning assets.
(2) Interest income and average rates for tax-exempt securities are presented on a tax-equivalent basis.
(3) Average loan balances include nonaccrual loans. Interest income on loans includes the effects of discount accretion and net deferred loan origination fees and costs accounted for as yield adjustments.

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Unaudited)
	At or for the Three Months Ended									At or for the Nine Months Ended September 30,
	September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
		2024		2024			2023			2024			2023
Per share data (common stock)
Book value	$	28.81		$	28.12		$	26.45		$	28.81		$	26.45
Tangible book value⁽¹⁾	$	24.64		$	24.06		$	22.53		$	24.64		$	22.53
Performance ratios
Return on average assets, annualized		0.72	%		0.76	%		0.83	%		0.76	%		1.01	%
Return on average shareholders’ equity, annualized		5.47	%		5.69	%		6.66	%		5.82	%		8.14	%
Return on average tangible common equity, annualized⁽¹⁾		6.40	%		6.65	%		7.82	%		6.81	%		9.58	%
Noninterest income to average assets, annualized		0.59	%		0.36	%		0.27	%		0.43	%		0.25	%
Noninterest expense to average assets, annualized		1.78	%		1.79	%		1.65	%		1.76	%		1.80	%
Yield on average earning assets		5.94	%		5.89	%		5.78	%		5.92	%		5.88	%
Yield on average loans		6.13	%		6.04	%		5.99	%		6.08	%		6.09	%
Cost of average total deposits⁽²⁾		3.63	%		3.59	%		3.14	%		3.60	%		2.70	%
Cost of average interest-bearing deposits		4.39	%		4.36	%		3.83	%		4.35	%		3.37	%
Cost of average interest-bearing liabilities		4.24	%		4.22	%		3.80	%		4.22	%		3.41	%
Net interest spread		1.70	%		1.67	%		1.98	%		1.70	%		2.47	%
Net interest margin		2.68	%		2.67	%		2.87	%		2.68	%		3.31	%
Efficiency ratio⁽³⁾		57.51	%		62.38	%		55.59	%		59.90	%		53.64	%
Common stock dividend payout ratio		41.03	%		41.03	%		35.56	%		39.34	%		30.00	%

____________________

(1) Non-GAAP measure. See Non–GAAP reconciliations set forth at the end of this press release.
(2) Total deposits include non-interest bearing deposits and interest-bearing deposits.
(3) Ratio calculated by dividing noninterest expense by the sum of net interest income before provision for credit losses and noninterest income.

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Unaudited) *(Dollars in thousands)*
	At or for the quarter ended
	September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
	2024			2024			2023
Credit Quality Data:
Special mention loans	$	77,501		$	19,520		$	31,212
Special mention loans to total loans		2.51	%		0.64	%		1.00	%
Substandard loans	$	79,831		$	63,076		$	71,401
Substandard loans to total loans		2.58	%		2.07	%		2.29	%
Loans 30-89 days past due, excluding nonperforming loans	$	10,625		$	11,270		$	19,662
Loans 30-89 days past due, excluding nonperforming loans, to total loans		0.34	%		0.37	%		0.63	%
Nonperforming loans	$	60,662		$	54,589		$	40,146
OREO		—			—			284
Nonperforming assets	$	60,662		$	54,589		$	40,430
Nonperforming loans to total loans		1.96	%		1.79	%		1.29	%
Nonperforming assets to total assets		1.52	%		1.41	%		0.99	%

Allowance for loan losses	$	43,685		$	41,741		$	42,430
Allowance for loan losses to total loans		1.41	%		1.37	%		1.36	%
Allowance for loan losses to nonperforming loans		72.01	%		76.46	%		105.69	%
Net charge-offs	$	1,201		$	551		$	2,206
Net charge-offs to average loans		0.16	%		0.07	%		0.28	%

Capital ratios⁽¹⁾
Tangible common equity to tangible assets⁽²⁾		11.13	%		11.53	%		10.71	%
Tier 1 leverage ratio		12.19	%		12.48	%		11.68	%
Tier 1 common capital to risk-weighted assets		18.16	%		18.89	%		17.65	%
Tier 1 capital to risk-weighted assets		18.74	%		19.50	%		18.22	%
Total capital to risk-weighted assets		24.79	%		25.67	%		26.24	%

______________
(1) September 30, 2024 capital ratios are preliminary.
(2) Non-GAAP measure. See Non-GAAP reconciliations set forth at the end of this press release.

RBB BANCORP AND SUBSIDIARIES SELECTED FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (Unaudited)
Loan Portfolio Detail	As of September 30, 2024					As of June 30, 2024					As of September 30, 2023
*(dollars in thousands)*	$			%		$				%	$				%
Loans:
Commercial and industrial	$	128,861		4.2	%	$	126,649		4.2	%	$	127,655		4.1	%
SBA		48,089		1.6	%		50,323		1.7	%		50,420		1.6	%
Construction and land development		180,196		5.8	%		202,459		6.6	%		259,778		8.3	%
Commercial real estate ⁽¹⁾		1,252,682		40.5	%		1,190,207		39.1	%		1,164,210		37.3	%
Single-family residential mortgages		1,473,396		47.7	%		1,467,802		48.2	%		1,505,307		48.2	%
Other loans		8,672		0.2	%		10,272		0.2	%		13,582		0.5	%
Total loans ⁽²⁾	$	3,091,896		100.0	%	$	3,047,712		100.0	%	$	3,120,952		100.0	%
Allowance for loan losses		(43,685	)				(41,741	)				(42,430	)
Total loans, net	$	3,048,211				$	3,005,971				$	3,078,522

_______________
(1) Includes non-farm and non-residential loans, multi-family residential loans and non-owner occupied single family residential loans.
(2) Net of discounts and deferred fees and costs of $467, $645, and $383 as of September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2023, respectively.

Deposits	As of September 30, 2024				As of June 30, 2024				As of September 30, 2023
*(dollars in thousands)*	$		%		$			%	$			%
Deposits:
Noninterest-bearing demand	$	543,623	17.6	%	$	542,971	18.0	%	$	572,393	18.1	%
Savings, NOW and money market accounts		666,089	21.5	%		647,770	21.4	%		608,020	19.3	%
Time deposits, $250,000 and under		926,877	30.0	%		921,712	30.5	%		848,868	26.9	%
Time deposits, greater than $250,000		808,304	26.1	%		790,478	26.1	%		687,365	21.8	%
Wholesale deposits⁽¹⁾		147,291	4.8	%		120,674	4.0	%		437,426	13.9	%
Total deposits	$	3,092,184	100.0	%	$	3,023,605	100.0	%	$	3,154,072	100.0	%

___________________
(1) Includes brokered deposits, collateralized deposits from the State of California, and deposits acquired through internet listing services.

Non-GAAP Reconciliations

Tangible Book Value Reconciliations

Tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP disclosure. Management measures tangible book value per share to assess the Company’s capital strength and business performance and believes this is helpful to investors as additional tools for further understanding our performance. The following is a reconciliation of tangible book value to the Company shareholders’ equity computed in accordance with GAAP, as well as a calculation of tangible book value per share as of September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024, and September 30, 2023.


*(dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)*	September 30, 2024			June 30, 2024			September 30, 2023
Tangible common equity:
Total shareholders’ equity	$	509,728		$	511,291		$	502,511
Adjustments
Goodwill		(71,498	)		(71,498	)		(71,498	)
Core deposit intangible		(2,194	)		(2,394	)		(3,010	)
Tangible common equity	$	436,036		$	437,399		$	428,003
Tangible assets:
Total assets-GAAP	$	3,990,477		$	3,868,186		$	4,069,354
Adjustments
Goodwill		(71,498	)		(71,498	)		(71,498	)
Core deposit intangible		(2,194	)		(2,394	)		(3,010	)
Tangible assets	$	3,916,785		$	3,794,294		$	3,994,846
Common shares outstanding		17,693,416			18,182,154			18,995,303
Common equity to assets ratio		12.77	%		13.22	%		12.35	%
Tangible common equity to tangible assets ratio		11.13	%		11.53	%		10.71	%
Book value per share	$	28.81		$	28.12		$	26.45
Tangible book value per share	$	24.64		$	24.06		$	22.53

Return on Average Tangible Common Equity

Management measures return on average tangible common equity (“ROATCE”) to assess the Company’s capital strength and business performance and believes this is helpful to investors as an additional tool for further understanding our performance. Tangible equity excludes goodwill and other intangible assets (excluding mortgage servicing rights), and is reviewed by banking and financial institution regulators when assessing a financial institution’s capital adequacy. This non-GAAP financial measure should not be considered a substitute for operating results determined in accordance with GAAP and may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by other companies. The following table reconciles ROATCE to its most comparable GAAP measure:

	Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended September 30,
*(dollars in thousands)*	September 30, 2024			June 30, 2024			September 30, 2023			2024			2023
Net income available to common shareholders	$	6,999		$	7,245		$	8,473		$	22,280		$	30,392
Average shareholders’ equity		508,720			512,185			504,432			511,222			498,976
Adjustments:
Average goodwill		(71,498	)		(71,498	)		(71,498	)		(71,498	)		(71,498	)
Average core deposit intangible		(2,326	)		(2,525	)		(3,165	)		(2,525	)		(3,398	)
Adjusted average tangible common equity	$	434,896		$	438,162		$	429,769		$	437,199		$	424,080
Return on average common equity		5.47	%		5.69	%		6.66	%		5.82	%		8.14	%
Return on average tangible common equity		6.40	%		6.65	%		7.82	%		6.81	%		9.58	%

The MIL Network –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI: Monroe Capital Corporation Schedules Third Quarter 2024 Earnings Release and Conference Call

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CHICAGO, Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Monroe Capital Corporation (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: MRCC) announced today that it will report its third quarter ended September 30, 2024 financial results on Tuesday, November 12, 2024, after the close of the financial markets.

The Company will host a webcast and conference call to discuss these operating and financial results on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The webcast will be hosted on a webcast link located in the Investor Relations section of our website at http://ir.monroebdc.com/events.cfm. To participate in the conference call, please dial (800) 715-9871 approximately 10 minutes prior to the call. Please reference conference ID # 5769748. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, the webcast will be available for replay on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the event.

About Monroe Capital Corporation

Monroe Capital Corporation is a publicly-traded specialty finance company that principally invests in senior, unitranche and junior secured debt and, to a lesser extent, unsecured debt and equity investments in middle-market companies. The Company’s investment objective is to maximize the total return to its stockholders in the form of current income and capital appreciation. The Company’s investment activities are managed by its investment adviser, Monroe Capital BDC Advisors, LLC, which is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and an affiliate of Monroe Capital LLC. To learn more about Monroe Capital Corporation, visit http://www.monroebdc.com.

About Monroe Capital LLC

Monroe Capital LLC (including its subsidiaries and affiliates, together “Monroe”) is a premier asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, alternative credit, structured credit, real estate and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe’s platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality “alpha” returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and maintains 10 offices throughout the United States and Asia.

Monroe has been recognized by both its peers and investors with various awards including Private Debt Investor as the 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Decade, 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Year, 2023 CLO Manager of the Year, Americas; Inc.’s 2023 Founder-Friendly Investors List; Global M&A Network as the 2023 Lower Mid-Markets Lender of the Year, U.S.A.; DealCatalyst as the 2022 Best CLO Manager of the Year; Korean Economic Daily as the 2022 Best Performance in Private Debt – Mid Cap; Creditflux as the 2021 Best U.S. Direct Lending Fund; and Pension Bridge as the 2020 Private Credit Strategy of the Year. For more information and important disclaimers, please visit http://www.monroecap.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Any such statements, other than statements of historical fact, are likely to be affected by other unknowable future events and conditions, including elements of the future that are or are not under the Company’s control, and that the Company may or may not have considered; accordingly, such statements cannot be guarantees or assurances of any aspect of future performance. Actual developments and results are highly likely to vary materially from these estimates and projections of the future. Such statements speak only as of the time when made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any such statement now or in the future.

SOURCE:  Monroe Capital Corporation

The MIL Network –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Shri Manohar Lal, rides Namo Bharat Trains marking the one-year successful operations of India’s first RRTS

Source: Government of India (2)

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Shri Manohar Lal, rides Namo Bharat Trains marking the one-year successful operations of India’s first RRTS

Namo Bharat Trains successfully completes one year of operations, serving over 4 million passengers.

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 5:19PM by PIB Delhi

In a significant event marking the completion of one year of Namo Bharat operations, Hon’ble Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs and Minister of Power, Shri Manohar Lal, took a ride on the Namo Bharat train and visited key stations along the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. Union Minister said that work of Rapid rail transit system is going on in full speed, equipped with newer technologies, that will make intercity travel very convenient for the travellers. He said that while average speed of metro rail is 30 km/hr, the RRTS has an average speed of 80 km/hr, with a maximum operational speed of 160 km/ hr

The Minister boarded the Namo Bharat train from Sahibabad station in a driving cab, where he interacted with the women train operators, acknowledging their vital contributions to the operations of India’s first RRTS corridor. He also engaged with passengers, gathering firsthand feedback on their experiences with the Namo Bharat service.

Shri Manohar Lal expressed satisfaction with the overwhelmingly positive response from passengers, who praised the convenience, speed, and comfort of Namo Bharat trains. Many highlighted how this new mode of transportation has significantly improved their daily commute, offering a hassle-free and reliable alternative to traditional modes of transport.

Additionally, NCRTC celebrated the one-year anniversary of Namo Bharat train operations with a special visit from school students in the morning. The children enjoyed speedy and joyful rides, fulfilled with chocolates. Commuters were welcomed with festive dhol beats, chocolates, and mementos as tokens of appreciation for their continued support. The stations were adorned with entry gates for Namo Bharat Diwas, creating a festive atmosphere.

Shri Manohar Lal started his visit from Anand Vihar RRTS Station, where he was received by NCRTC MD, Shri Shalabh Goel. The Minister received a detailed briefing on the station’s unique design and its significance within the overall RRTS network.

He was informed about the strategically designed Anand Vihar RRTS Station, constructed just one level below ground to ensure ease of access and seamless integration with multiple modes of transport, positioning it as a vital commuter hub. With its proximity to two Metro lines, a railway station, and one bus terminals (ISBTs) in Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh, and another inter-state bus terminal in Anand Vihar, Delhi is set to become one of the region’s busiest transit hubs. The station’s multimodal connectivity facilitates smooth transitions between various modes of transportation, enhancing convenience and accessibility for daily commuters and creating a comprehensive network of networks.

The trial run of the Namo Bharat trains have recently been commenced to connect New Ashok Nagar and Anand Vihar RRTS station with already operational Sahibabad station. Hon’ble Minister then proceeded to Sahibabad RRTS Station, where he saw the various passenger-centric amenities developed for the commuters. He was presented with live models, as well as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) demonstrations, which offered an immersive understanding of the innovative infrastructure, advanced technologies, and services being employed in the development of the RRTS.

From the very first day of Namo Bharat’s operations, passengers have benefited from the convenience of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), enabling seamless travel across multiple modes of transport under the Government of India’s “One Nation, One Card” initiative.

The Minister was apprised that since their launch on October 21, 2023, Namo Bharat trains have significantly transformed commuting across Ghaziabad, Sahibabad, and the surrounding regions, successfully serving over 40 lakhs passengers in their first year of operations. Ghaziabad RRTS Station registered the highest footfall over the past year, followed closely by Sahibabad and Meerut South RRTS Stations. The Minister was also apprised of several groundbreaking technologies, many being used for the first time globally, are part of the implementation of the Namo Bharat project under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiatives. These cutting-edge developments, aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision, are driving the transformation of public transport infrastructure in India.

The Honourable Prime Minister of India inaugurated the first 17-kilometer Priority Section between Sahibabad and Duhai Depot on October 20, 2023, marking the historic launch of India’s first RRTS. On March 7, 2024, another 17-kilometer stretch between Duhai and Modinagar North was inaugurated, followed by the operationalization of Meerut South RRTS Station on August 18, 2024.

Currently, Namo Bharat services operate on a 42-kilometer stretch covering nine stations, including Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Duhai Depot, Muradnagar, Modi Nagar South, Modi Nagar North, and Meerut South. The corridor will soon extend to 54 kilometers with the addition of the Sahibabad to New Ashok Nagar section, which includes key stations such as Anand Vihar and New Ashok Nagar.

RRTS distinguishes itself from other modes of transport by providing high-speed connectivity between suburban areas, significantly reducing commuting times for longer distances. This system is especially effective in addressing the challenges posed by urban expansion into new regions, such as the National Capital Region (NCR). By enabling travellers to cover greater distances in a shorter time frame, RRTS enhances accessibility and convenience, making it an ideal solution for commuters navigating the growing urban landscape.

Once the entire 82-kilometer corridor is completed by June 2025, passengers will be able to travel from Delhi to Meerut in under an hour, revolutionizing regional connectivity and enhancing the overall commuter experience.

***

JN/SK/NS/AA

(Release ID: 2066736) Visitor Counter : 40

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Raksha Mantri & his Singaporean counterpart to hold 6th India-Singapore Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in New Delhi to further bolster defence ties

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 5:15PM by PIB Delhi

Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh and Minister of Defence, Singapore Dr Ng Eng Hen will co-chair the sixth India-Singapore Defence Ministers’ Dialogue in New Delhi on October 22, 2024. The meeting aims to carry forward defence cooperation between the two countries. Both sides will also exchange views on regional and global issues of shared interest.

India and Singapore share a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The bilateral defence relations form a significant pillar to this collaboration. The engagements have diversified to include wide-ranging contacts between the Services, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity building and training programmes, cooperation in UN Peacekeeping, ship visits and bilateral exercises.

Singapore is a key pillar of India’s Act East Policy, and an important partner of the Indo-Pacific vision. Defence and security partnership between the two countries is an important factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Singaporean Defence Minister will be on a visit to India from October 21-23, 2024. The fifth edition of the Defence Ministers’ Dialogue took place in January 2021 through virtual teleconference.

*****

SR/Savvy

(Release ID: 2066727) Visitor Counter : 77

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister Jitendra Singh addresses Karmayogi Saptah ‘Samuhik Charcha’ during the Karmayogi Saptah for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Source: Government of India (2)

Union Minister Jitendra Singh addresses Karmayogi Saptah ‘Samuhik Charcha’ during the Karmayogi Saptah for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Dr Jitendra Singh lauds PM Shri Narendra Modi for his vision of Citizen-Centric Governance and Administrative Reforms

Mission Karmayogi Marks a Paradigm shift from Rule to Role: Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh

Cycle of regular learning will help in creating a vast, agile and responsive workforce in the run up to Vikasit Bharat

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:58PM by PIB Delhi

Setting the context for Karmayogi Saptah, ‘Samuhik Charcha’ for officers of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Minister of State (I/C) for Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr Jitendra Singh, briefed about Mission Karmayogi, National Learning Week and Karmayogi Competency Model.

The Minister emphasised that Mission Karmayogi underlines a paradigm shift from “Rule” to “Role” and focuses that Civil Servants should not be bound by rules but by responsibilities.
The Union Minister outlined how the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions has been the first among the ministries to start this cycle of regular learning. During the occasion, Minister also recounted the journey of setting up Mission Karmayogi, which was after taking inspiration from Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He also applauded the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) for taking up this task.

Union Minister stressed that Mission Karmayogi has led to the development of a new culture in governance which is responsive, dynamic and allied with contemporary India. He further outlined that Mission Karmayogi will help bureaucrats in performing the diverse range of works in government in different ministries.

Union Minister highlighted that how Mission Karmayogi creates a layer of sustainable ecosystem with the ‘One Government’ approach to realise the dream of Viksit Bharat. He also stated that given the needs of changing times, one should be continuously engaging in the learning processes. This will carry much significance for the bureaucrats who will be at the forefront of Vikasit Bharat 2047.

He remarked that this brainstorming cycle of Samuhik Charcha will aid in the creation of an allied, vast framework, a vast ecosystem, aligned across industries, across the department, and whole of the Government.

Furthermore, the aim of the ‘Samuhik Charcha’ for the officers of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions is to facilitate and entrench learning on a chosen theme by bringing officers across departments within the Ministry together. The ‘Samuhik Charcha’ is designed to enable officers to contemplate and exchange ideas on a chosen theme derived from a webinar that comprises part of the ‘National Learning Week’ programme.

*****

NKR/KS/AG

(Release ID: 2066716) Visitor Counter : 59

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana achieves sales worth Rs.1000 Crores in October 2024

Source: Government of India

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana achieves sales worth Rs.1000 Crores in October 2024

Jan Aushadhi Kendras grew more than 170 times in number in last 10 years; more than 14,000 kendras now cover almost all the districts of the country

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:46PM by PIB Delhi

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana (PMBJP) has reached a remarkable milestone by achieving sales worth Rs. 1000 Crores in October 2024, a significant advancement from previous year when this target was met in December, 2023. This achievement highlights the growing trust and reliance of the people on affordable and quality medicines. This was possible only with the unwavering support of the citizens, who have embraced the initiative by purchasing medicines from over 14,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country. This substantial growth is a testament to PMBI’s commitment to making healthcare accessible and affordable for all by reducing out of pocket expenditure. Notably few days ago, PMBI had sold medicines worth Rs. 200 crores in one single month of September 2024.

In the last 10 years, there has been a growth of more than 170 times in number of Kendras which were only 80 in 2014 and have now grown to more than 14,000 Kendras covering almost all the districts of the country.

In next 2 years, there will be 25000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras in the country. The product basket of PMBJP comprises 2047 medicines and 300 surgical devices covering all major therapeutic groups such as Cardiovascular, Anti-cancers, Anit-diabetics, Anti-infectives, Anti-allergic, Gastro-intestinal medicines, Nutraceuticals, etc. Almost 1 million people are visiting these popular people-friendly Kendras daily.

The PMBJP initiative continues to empower communities, ensuring that quality healthcare is within reach for every citizen. The record-breaking sales not only highlight the success of the program but also it plays a vital role in promoting health equity in the country.

*****

MV/AKS

(Release ID: 2066709) Visitor Counter : 26

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya Launches ‘eShram – One Stop Solution’ for Welfare of Unorganised Workers

Source: Government of India

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya Launches ‘eShram – One Stop Solution’ for Welfare of Unorganised Workers

eShram – One Stop Solution will provide seamless access of different Social Security Schemes to the unorganised workers registered on eShram: Union Minister

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:44PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister of Labour & Employment and Youth Affairs & Sports, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya launched “eShram – One Stop Solution” in New Delhi today. Union Minister of State for Labour & Employment, Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Secretary and other senior officials of Ministry of Labour & Employment were also present on the occasion.

Speaking at the launch event, Dr. Mandaviya emphasized the growing trust in the eShram portal, noting, “Every day, around 60,000 to 90,000 workers are joining the eShram platform, which demonstrates their confidence in this initiative.” He said that eShram – One Stop Solution will provide seamless access of different Social Security Schemes to the unorganised workers registered on eShram,

Dr. Mandaviya also highlighted that the primary purpose of the eShram One Stop Solution is to simplify the registration process for unorganised workers and facilitate their access to government welfare schemes. “This platform will act as a bridge, connecting the workers to the numerous benefits offered by the government and making the registration process easier and more transparent,” he said.

प्रधानमंत्री श्री @NarendraModi जी के ‘श्रमेव जयते’ के सिद्धांत पर चलते हुए, आज हमारे असंगठित क्षेत्र के श्रमिक साथियों के लिए ‘e-Shram- One Stop Solution’ की शुरुआत की।

इससे हमारे श्रमिक साथियों को विभिन्न सुविधाओं का लाभ, सुगमता से एक ही स्थान, यानी इस पोर्टल पर मिल पाएगा। आज… pic.twitter.com/iE3jB7ahgL

— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) October 21, 2024

Dr. Mandaviya urged all unorganised workers to register on the eShram portal and take advantage of the various welfare schemes designed for their benefit. He emphasized that onboarding to the platform will enable workers to access a wide range of social security and welfare initiatives launched by the government, aimed at improving their livelihoods and ensuring their well-being.

Sushri Shobha Karandlaje emphasised on the integration of State Governments portal with eShram in order to ensure last mile connectivity. This initiative will also help in ensuring saturation of the schemes through identification of left-out potential beneficiaries, State/ District-wise, she added.

One Stop Solution entails consolidating and integrating data from various Central Ministries/ Departments into a single repository as per the recent Budget Announcement and 100 days agenda of Ministry of Labour and Employment. Key welfare schemes such as One Nation One Ration Card, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, National Social Assistance Programme, National Career Service, Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan etc. have been integrated with eShram, and onboarding of other welfare schemes is also in progress.

Ms. Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, pointed out that eShram One Stop Solution will serve as a facilitator to enable seamless access to various Government schemes to the unorganised workers. She informed that the ongoing exercise of ‘One Stop Solution’ will continue to integrate all Social Security/ Welfare Schemes on eShram Portal.

During the first 100 hundred days of new Government, several meetings were held with concerned Ministries/ Departments to integrate their Social Security / Welfare Schemes with eShram demonstrating a good example of whole of Government approach for welfare of unorganised workers.

eShram portal was launched by Ministry of Labour & Employment on 26^th August 2021, and more than 30 crore workers have already registered themselves on eShram in a span of 3 years.

*****

Himanshu Pathak

(Release ID: 2066707) Visitor Counter : 40

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: JOINT MILITARY TRAINING BETWEEN INDIAN AIR FORCE AND REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AIR FORCE BEGINS AT AIR FORCE BASE IN WEST BENGAL

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:20PM by PIB Delhi

On 21^st October 2024, the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) commenced the 12^th edition of the Joint Military Training (JMT) exercise at Air Force Station Kalaikunda, West Bengal.

The bilateral phase of the exercise will be conducted from 13 to 21 November 2024 and is expected to generate intense collaboration between the two forces, as they engage in advanced air combat simulations, joint mission planning and debriefing sessions. The bilateral phase aims to enhance interoperability, sharpen combat readiness and promote the exchange of knowledge between the two Air Forces.

The RSAF is participating with its largest contingent till date, comprising of aircrew and support personnel from F-16, F-15 squadrons alongwith G-550 Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) and C-130 aircraft. The IAF will be participating with Rafale, Mirage 2000 ITI, Su-30 MKI, Tejas, MiG-29 and Jaguar aircraft.

Since its inception, JMT has been conducted under the ambit of a bilateral agreement signed between the two nations. JMT exercise comes right after RSAF’s participation in one of the largest multinational aerial exercises, Ex-Tarang Shakti hosted by the IAF, which is reflective of a growing professional association between the two Air Forces. In addition to air operations, the personnel of the two air forces will exchange best practices, as they interact during a multitude of sports and cultural activities over the next seven weeks.

JMT-2024 highlights the strong bilateral defence relationship built over years of collaboration and joint exercises, as well as the mutual respect between India and Singapore.

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Candy leaf has Potential beyond its Natural Sweetening properties

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:07PM by PIB Delhi

Candy Leaf (Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni) Bertoni) a plant recognized for its natural non-caloric sweetening characteristics, also has therapeutic properties for diseases like endocrine, metabolic, immune, and cardiovascular diseases, because of its effect on cellular signalling systems according to a new study.

Assam exports Stevia worldwide. The North Eastern Council (Government of India) also highlighted stevia cultivation’s potential to help the northeast Indian economy due to high demand and use.

At the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST) in Guwahati, an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology, a team of researchers Dr. Asis Bala, Associate. Professor, Prof. Ashis K. Mukherjee, Director, and Ms. Piyali Devroy, Research Scholar did pioneering research on Stevia’s medicinal properties, effects on cellular signalling mechanisms to prove the Assam’s Stevia’s therapeutic qualities.

Their multimodal strategy integrated network pharmacology with in vitro and in vivo techniques, showing that the plant used phosphorylation of Protein Kinase C (PKC) to inhibit a crucial cellular signalling route.

PKC is connected to inflammatory, autoimmune, endocrine, and cardiovascular illnesses. Stevia suppresses PKC phosphorylation, which alters downstream pathways that cause inflammation, a significant cause of endocrine metabolic and cardiovascular issues.

The study shows Stevia’s promise in this field for the first time. The study also found that active stevia molecules strongly interact with AMPK, highlighting the need for additional research.

This work published in the journal “Food Bioscience” revealed Stevia’s potential and identified new targets for immunological endocrine and cardiovascular problems. It could have therapeutic effect on diabetes, type 1, type 2, autoimmune diabetes, pre-diabetes, chronic inflammation related auto immune disease – rheumatoid arthritis; chronic kidney diseases and cardiovascular diseases like hypertension; vasculopathy and so on.

The study illuminates an undiscovered facet of Stevia, underlining the necessity of creative tactics and scientific data to support traditional therapeutic practices.

Figure: The scientific method used by the research team: The network pharmacology to identify the target and then performed molecular docking for target validation. After that, conducted in vitro and in vivo studies of HPTLC validated Stevia that suggested the effectiveness of Stevia rebaudiana in inhibiting Protein Kinase C phosphorylation.

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Connections established between Volcanic Eruption & Ionospheric Disturbances

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 21 OCT 2024 4:05PM by PIB Delhi

A new study has revealed a previously unexplored ionospheric connection between the massive eruption of the Tonga volcano, a submarine volcano in the South Pacific, on 15 January 2022 and the formation of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs) or an ionospheric phenomenon near the Earth’s geomagnetic equator at night time over the Indian subcontinent.

It highlights how volcanic eruptions can trigger ionospheric disturbances and space weather that affect satellite communication and navigation systems.

In today’s world, satellite-based communication and navigation systems are critical for numerous sectors. Understanding how natural disasters, like volcanic eruptions, can impact the ionosphere is essential for predicting and mitigating disruptions in these systems. While previous studies have established that EPBs can disrupt satellite signals, the role of terrestrial events in shaping space weather has not been explored.

On January 15, 2022, the Tonga volcano located 65 km (40 mi) north of Tongatapu, Tonga‘s main island in Polynesia, erupted with extraordinary force sending shock waves through the atmosphere. Scientists were intrigued by the subsequent formation of EPBs in the evening hours over the Indian region.

Scientists at Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) Navi Mumbai, an autonomous institute of Department of Science and Technology explored the connection between the Tonga volcanic eruption and the EPBs.

They found that the eruption produced strong atmospheric gravity waves that propagated into the upper atmosphere, triggering ionospheric conditions favorable to trigger EPBs. They used ionosonde observations from Tirunelveli and Prayagraj to detect spread-F traces –a phenomenon in the ionosphere where electron density become irregular causing spread in radio signals and leading to fading or disruptions in communications. Concurrently, satellite data from Swarm B and C confirmed significant electron density depletions, directly linked to the formation of EPBs.

The scientists analyzed various atmospheric and ionospheric data to understand how disturbances triggered by the eruption led to the generation of EPBs.

Observations from NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) (wind, ion density, and temperature) and Swarm satellites provided a comprehensive view of the ionospheric changes during the event, confirming that the eruption-induced gravity waves played a crucial role in initiating these plasma instabilities.

Plasma blobs, as well as enhanced Pre- Reversal Enhancement (PRE) –sharp increase in the ionospheric eastward electric field in the dusk sector before it turns to westward in the late-night hours, triggered by atmospheric disturbances were also detected.

Further analysis of iso-frequency and Total Electron Content (TEC) data from Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements across the Indian region revealed gravity wave-like oscillations/Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs) moving across Indian longitudes in the equatorial ionosphere.

This indicated that the volcanic eruption had a widespread impact on the ionosphere and acted as seeding mechanisms for EPB generation.

This comprehensive utilization of data from multiple sources gave the researchers a multi- dimensional view of the ionospheric disturbances.

By combining ground-based and satellite data, the study published in “Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics” offers new insights into how natural disasters like volcanic eruptions can significantly influence space weather, affecting satellite communication and navigation systems.

The Tonga Volcano identified as a cause for these ionospheric disturbances is a real-world example showing the need for monitoring space weather conditions in the aftermath of major geological events, adding to existing knowledge of ionospheric dynamics.

The research by the team consisting of R K Barad, S Sripathi, S Banola, and K Vijaykumar, underscores the role of terrestrial events in shaping space weather, adding to existing knowledge of ionospheric dynamics.

The connection established between geological events and ionospheric dynamics is important for satellite communication and relevant for sectors like defense, agriculture, aviation, disaster management, and any other areas that rely on Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and satellite-based technologies.

The study can help improve forecasting of ionospheric disturbances leading to better early warning systems that involve satellite signal interference, benefiting fields like navigation, aviation, and military operations. This will allow governments and industries to better prepare for and mitigate disruptions in essential services like GPS, air traffic control, and satellite communications.

Figure: (a) Brightness temperature (BT) perturbation at a 4.3-micron wavelength obtained from the AIRS instrument on NASA’s Aqua satellite, with the pink triangle indicating the location of the Tonga volcano. (b) Distance-time plot of Total Electron Content (TEC) perturbations observed over Colombo, Tirunelveli, Bangalore, and Hyderabad, with blue and red dots representing the first (∼452 m/s) and second (∼406 m/s) Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs). (c) Temporal variation of the F-layer base height (h’F) over Tirunelveli and Prayagraj for January 2022, illustrating the ionospheric response following the eruption. This figure sequence captures the progression from the atmospheric disturbance caused by the Tonga eruption to its impact on the ionosphere over India.

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Video: Reporters Without Borders RSF launches the Myanmar Press Freedom Project to protect and support Burmese journalists

Source: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) (Video Release)

#THAILAND: “We have journalists that are taking risks that are crossing the border, that are bringing first hand account reports”.

As an increasing number of journalists have been forced into exile due to the brutal crackdown on press freedom by the military junta in Myanmar, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is launching the Myanmar Press Freedom Project in Chiang Mai.

Since the coup on 1 February 2021, Myanmar’s military junta has mercilessly cracked down on the press. Seven journalists and press freedom defenders have been executed, and at least 150 have been arrested and imprisoned.

Developed in partnership with Exile Hub, the project aims to provide Myanmar journalists — both in exile and within Myanmar — with equipment such as laptops, mobile phones, solar batteries, and digital security tools, as well as various training to strengthen their capacities.

#Myanmar #MyanmarPressFreedom #media #rsf #freespeech #freepress #journalists #journaliste #condemningabuses #reportersindanger #libertédelapresse #journalismisntacrime #fightfortruth #humanrights #freemedia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P03iXef0JCc

MIL OSI Video –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center will pay $900K in back wages, interest to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring discrimination

Source: US Department of Labor

DALLAS – The U.S. Department of Labor and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have entered into a conciliation agreement in which the federal contractor will pay $900,000 in back wages and interest to resolve alleged systemic racial hiring affecting 6,123 Black applicants at the center’s Dallas facility.

A routine compliance evaluation by the department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs found the research hospital’s hiring practices allegedly discriminated against Black applicants from Aug. 24, 2016, through Aug. 24, 2018, in violation of Executive Order 11246, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.

In addition to the back wages and interest, UT’s Southwest Medical Center will make 132 job offers to the affected job applicants and ensure its hiring policies and procedures do not discriminate. The facility will also provide training to all managers, supervisors and other company officials in the hiring process.

“Federal contractors must ensure they are not engaging in discriminatory employment practices. Employers must ensure equal employment opportunities and nondiscrimination in hiring for all applicants,” said Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs’ Southwest and Rocky Mountain Regional Director Ronald W. Sullivan II in Dallas.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center employs about 23,000 people and provides medical education, scientific training and clinical care. It currently has contracts to provide services to the Department of Veterans Affairs and has held more than $90 million in federal contracts since 2013.

OFCCP launched the Class Member Locator to identify applicants and/or workers who have been impacted by OFCCP’s compliance evaluations and complaint investigations and who may be entitled to a portion of monetary relief and/or consideration for job placement. In addition to Executive Order 11246, OFCCP enforces Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974. Together, these laws prohibit employment discrimination by federal contractors.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Deputy Administrator Isobel Coleman on Building Nutritional Resilience in Food Security

Source: USAID

DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR ISOBEL COLEMAN: Thank you, Ambassador [Jeff] Prescott for hosting me and this discussion here today.

It’s a great opportunity to renew our commitment to prioritizing nutrition ahead of the next Nutrition for Growth Summit in Paris next year.

Over just the past five years, we’ve faced a number of disruptions to global food security: A global pandemic, increasing climate-related disasters, and global food crises exacerbated by Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine.

Currently, there are 56 active conflicts in the world, the highest number since World War II. Because of this, as we all know, even though humanitarian needs are rising, there are still not nearly enough resources available to meet global needs.

Worldwide, most recent estimates indicate that well over 700 million people are undernourished, lacking adequate food to live healthy, active lives.

It is estimated that a staggering 45 million children under the age of five are experiencing acute malnutrition at any given time, and every year, up to two million of these children die as a result.

Malnutrition devastates every aspect of a child’s body. Those who survive experience lasting consequences, robbing them of the ability to live, think, create, and thrive because of lack of access to basic, life-sustaining nutrition.

The United States remains committed to addressing malnutrition in all its forms.

With the scale of child wasting today, we need to make sure that as many children as possible can be reached.

So, we all know we need to get even smarter and more strategic about the way we do this work.

Fortunately, one year ago WHO released new guidelines for child wasting prevention and management which have helped us do just that, providing a helpful framework to update our efforts to combat malnutrition and making us more effective in our work.

For example, the guidelines emphasize the importance of strengthening coordination between WFP and UNICEF for more effective prevention and treatment of moderately wasted children and severely wasted children.

In addition, the guidelines highlight the necessity of prevention programming in addition to treatment – to prevent children from becoming wasted in the first place.

This is not only the most humane approach, but the most strategic and the most cost-effective.

Without appropriate prevention, we know the billions spent today on treatment will continue in perpetuity.

And recognizing the critical role that community healthcare workers already play in meeting local needs, the guidelines empower community health workers with proper training to treat wasting and malnutrition at home – resulting in fewer trips to clinics, and fewer expensive, in-patient stays at government facilities.

The new guidelines also enable us to be more nimble, allowing severely malnourished children who are quickly improving to gradually consume less Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food as they recover, which nutritionists agree is beneficial to a child’s long-term health.

This allows us to channel this powerful resource to the children who need it the most.

USAID has been focused on implementing the guidelines’ recommendations in order to reach more children – and we’ve been working hand-in-hand with WFP and UNICEF to develop and implement a joint strategy for phasing in these guidelines in priority humanitarian contexts.

Just last month, USAID provided $100 million to each partner to support those efforts.

The WHO guidelines brought attention to the growing evidence base of nutrition research and helped to identify where we have gaps in evidence still to be filled.

Last week, I announced USAID’s first policy paper on Cost-Effectiveness because we have learned from the global body of impact evaluation evidence that there are some programs that deliver extraordinary returns.

I committed the agency to infusing rigorous evidence more broadly and deeply across all our programming to maximize our “impact per dollar.”

Today, I am pleased to announce that USAID will host an evidence summit on wasting research in December of this year, which will bring together researchers to discuss the latest findings from nutrition experts and to identify gaps in evidence in order to shape future research.

Following the evidence sometimes requires shifting some of our investments in activities that are demonstrably “good”, because the evidence shows we could make greater progress toward the same objectives through other approaches.

It’s hard to stop a program that is doing some good, but that’s exactly what we need to do when we know we could achieve even more by working in a different way.

This kind of evidence-driven collaboration is an important step toward determining and implementing the most cost-effective malnutrition programming – which we at USAID view as a paramount priority and a moral obligation as we seek to create the greatest impact possible with each dollar we spend.

In closing, I want to thank Special Envoy [Brieuc] Pont for his steadfast leadership in preparing for the next Nutrition for Growth Summit in France next year. The U.S. government is a proud member of the Troika, which brings together hosts of Nutrition for Growth past, present, and future together with the Governments of Japan and France.

In 2021, USAID was proud to put forward a commitment focused on prevention and treatment of childhood wasting.

Going into 2025, we strongly believe this will be a critical opportunity for the entire global nutrition community to recommit to both evidence and action.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Administrator Samantha Power Travels to Cambodia

Source: USAID

Administrator Samantha Power will travel to Cambodia from October 22-23, becoming the first USAID Administrator to visit the country. The Administrator will meet with Prime Minister Hun Manet to strengthen bilateral ties in support of prosperity, resiliency, and development progress in Cambodia and the Indo-Pacific region as a whole, and to underscore our continued commitment to the Cambodian people.

Administrator Power will visit Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to meet with Cambodian communities, officials, and local partners and discuss issues related to economic growth, health, governance, human rights, support for persons with disabilities, labor, and the environment. This trip highlights the United States’ enduring support for the people of Cambodia and their aspirations for a more prosperous and inclusive society.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Australia: Cathay Pacific celebrates 50 years connecting Sydney and Hong Kong

Source: Sydney Airport

Tuesday 22 October 2024

Cathay Pacific marks 50 years of flights between Sydney and Hong Kong
Landmark journey began in 1974 with 108 passengers on board a Boeing 707
Today, the Cathay Group flies to over 90 passenger and cargo destinations across the globe with Skytrax naming Cathay Pacific ‘World’s Best Airline’ four times

Cathay Pacific marks an important milestone today, celebrating the 50th anniversary of its inaugural direct flights between Sydney and Hong Kong, a journey that has transformed travel to Asia.

In October 1974, 108 passengers boarded the first Boeing 707 bound for Hong Kong, a direct route that eliminated the need for complicated layovers across Australia and Asia. This milestone not only revolutionised travel but also strengthened ties between two vibrant cities.

Over the past five decades, Cathay Pacific has evolved into one of the world’s strongest and most connected airlines. The Cathay Group now serves over 90 passenger and cargo destinations globally.

Greg Botham Group Executive, Aviation Growth & Group Strategy, Sydney Airport, said: “We are proud to celebrate Cathay Pacific’s 50-year milestone of flying between Sydney and Hong Kong. This iconic route has been a vital cornerstone of our Asia network, fostering connections and promoting tourism between two major cities.

“Cathay Pacific’s unwavering commitment to service and excellence has played a pivotal role in enhancing Sydney Airport’s position as a global gateway, and we look forward to many more years of partnership and growth together.”

Frosti Lau, Regional General Manager Southwest Pacific, Cathay Pacific said: “Cathay Pacific has had a long history with Australia, with one of our founders being Sydneysider, Sydney de Kantzow. To celebrate 50 years of flying passengers direct between Sydney and Hong Kong is truly a momentous occasion.

“While Sydney has always been a key destination for Cathay Pacific customers, we have also been moving cargo between the two cities and beyond since our inception in 1946.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with Sydney Airport and bringing exceptional service to those we connect with the rest of the world.”

The Sydney service has expanded significantly, growing from a daily flight to double, triple, and now four daily flights, reflecting Sydney Airport’s commitment to meeting passenger demand and enhancing connectivity.

Today, Cathay Pacific continues to expand its offering for passengers, not only transporting them to new destinations across its expansive network, but also providing a premium service and state-of-the-art in-flight products seen through its recent unveiling of its new Business Class, the Aria Suite. The airline has also garnered recognition from Skytrax World Airline Awards, being named ‘World’s Best Airline’ four times and was recently named “World’s Best Economy Class” and “#5 in World’s Best Airline” for 2024.

Notes to editor

Cathay Pacific facts

The first Sydney to Hong Kong flight was piloted by Captain Bob Howell, First Officer Hal Dyball, and Flight Engineer Bruce Holyman.
Since 1994, over 1,800 Cathay Pacific pilots have trained in Adelaide, reinforcing the airline’s dedication to safety and excellence in aviation.
To celebrate Cathay Pacific’s 50th anniversary flying between Sydney Airport and Hong Kong, the airline is giving away Cathay Pacific Flight Vouchers worth $500. Customers can enter the competition here

MIL OSI News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Evansville Methamphetamine Ring Dismantled, Trio Sentenced to a Combined Thirty One Years in Federal Prison

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

EVANSVILLE—Michael Bravo, 27, of Conroe, Texas, George Hartley, 66, of Evansville, have each been sentenced to ten years in federal prison, and Patricia Latouche, 44, of Evansville, has all been sentenced to 140 months in federal prison after each of the defendants pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Each of the defendants will also serve five years of supervised release following their release from prison.

According to court documents, between June and November of 2020, the group worked together to distribute over 30 pounds of methamphetamine into the Evansville area. Bravo trafficked methamphetamine from Texas to his Evansville-based co-conspirators. After obtaining the methamphetamine from Bravo, Hartley and another individual, who is now deceased, further distributed it to mid-level dealers within the drug trafficking organization, including Patricia Latouche.

“Methamphetamine and other deadly controlled substances have devastating impacts on users, their loved ones, and our communities,” said Zachary A. Myers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Drug traffickers like these defendants, responsible for pushing this poison from across the country into our neighborhoods must be held accountable for the suffering they cause in search of quick profits. This operation is an outstanding example of the impact we can have with the help of our state and local law enforcement partners. I commend the efforts of the DEA and Evansville Police Department to make our communities safer by getting meth and meth dealers off our streets.”

The DEA and Evansville Police Department investigated this case. The sentences were imposed by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young.

U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Wheatley, who prosecuted this case.

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MIL Security OSI –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: 15th MEU H-1 Det Conducts Live-Fire Training from USS Miguel Keith in the Indo-Pacific

Source: United States Navy Pacific Fleet 1

PACIFIC OCEAN — UH-1Y Venom and AH-1Z Viper aircrew assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) conducted a series of day and night close air support training missions with live ordnance Sept. 25 and Oct. 13, launching from the expeditionary sea base USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5) to a range west of Okinawa, Japan.

MIL Security OSI –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Owner of Tax Preparation Company Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison for Bank Fraud and $2.1 Million COVID Relief Fraud

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

Defendant fled the United States after being indicted and remained a fugitive for 19 months

BOSTON – A Lawrence woman was sentenced in federal court in Boston for using stolen identities of taxpayers and businesspeople to defraud the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a bank, and the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Luz Paulino, 42, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns to 54 months in prison, four years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $37,056 in restitution to MetaBank and $456,300 to the Small Business Administration. In June 2024, Paulino pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud conspiracy, one count of bank fraud, two counts of wire fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.

Paulino was arrested in December 2020 and indicted by a federal grand jury in January 2021. While on pretrial release, Paulino fled the United States and remained a fugitive for 19 months. Panamanian authorities ultimately returned her to the United States, where she was arrested for a second time.

Paulino owned and operated Agape Financial Services, a Lowell-based company that provided tax preparation and notary services. In 2019 and early 2020, Paulino filed false and fraudulent federal tax returns using the stolen identities, names and Social Security numbers of individual victims. The fraudulent tax returns reported false information regarding wages, employers and dependents, among other things, to claim tax refunds. To conceal her involvement, Paulino falsely represented to the IRS that the returns had been prepared by two former employees of Agape. Paulino then used the fraudulent returns to obtain Refund Advance Loans from a bank in the names of her victims. Paulino and others she recruited then cashed the loan checks using false identification documents and forged signatures.

Paulino separately used stolen identities of businesspeople living in California, Michigan, Indiana and elsewhere to apply to the SBA for $2.1 million in COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loans. Between June 2020 and October 2021, Paulino’s false applications listed fictitious companies that purportedly lost revenue during the pandemic. She used the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds to wire more than $395,000 to the Dominican Republic and to buy a 2020 Cadillac for $86,000, among other purchases.

Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy; Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Harry Chavis, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations; and Melix Bonilla, Acting Chief of the Lawrence Police Department made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Victor A. Wild of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit prosecuted the case.

On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Department of Justice in partnership with agencies across government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The Task Force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international criminal actors and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes, and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit Justice.gov/Coronavirus and Justice.gov/Coronavirus/CombatingFraud.

Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline via the NCDF Web Complaint Form.

MIL Security OSI –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Security: Jury Found Man Guilty of First-Degree Murder and Assault

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

TULSA, Okla. – A federal jury returned a guilty verdict on all four counts of an Indictment filed in March 2024. Cameron Lynn, 34, was convicted of First Degree Murder in Indian Country, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon with Intent to do Bodily Harm in Indian Country, Carrying, Using, Brandishing, and Discharging a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, and Assault Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury in Indian Country.

“Our community is a much safer place due to Cameron Lynn’s conviction,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “I want to thank the Tulsa Police Department and the FBI for their hard work in solving this case and working collaboratively during this investigation.”

According to evidence presented at trial on February 24, 2024, Tulsa Police officers were dispatched around midnight to a call where someone was shot. The caller was in a heavily wooded area near railroad tracks, flagged down officers and led them to the encampment. Officers found two victims in their tents that were shot. Medical personnel arrived on the scene and rendered aid to both victims. One victim was shot in the abdomen and transported to a local hospital. The other victim, Alcides Monroig, died at the scene.

The caller and surviving victim told officers that they were asleep when Lynn approached their encampment. They explained that Lynn started going through their belongings, stating he was trying to find his stuff. They told officers they shined a flashlight, trying to see Lynn, and asked him to leave. Lynn refused and shot several times at both tents before fleeing.

Several witnesses testified that they saw Lynn heading towards the encampment. After they heard several shots fired, Lynn ran toward the witnesses, telling them that they needed to leave the area and that he shot in self-defense. Before being detained, Lynn attempted to alter his appearance to avoid detection by officers. When interviewed by Tulsa Police detectives, Lynn claimed that his brother was the shooter.

Lynn is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He will remain in custody. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.

The FBI and the Tulsa Police Department investigated the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Elmore and Stephen Flynn.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about PSN, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

MIL Security OSI –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Centers Open in Aiken, Allendale, Greenwood, Newberry Counties

Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Headline: Disaster Recovery Centers Open in Aiken, Allendale, Greenwood, Newberry Counties

Disaster Recovery Centers Open in Aiken, Allendale, Greenwood, Newberry Counties

Disaster Recovery Centers will be open in Aiken, Allendale, Greenwood and Newberry counties to provide in-person assistance to South Carolinians affected by Hurricane Helene.

Aiken County
Aiken Technical College – Building B
2276 Jefferson Davis Highway
Graniteville, SC 29829
Open Oct. 21-24, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.
Oct 25-26, 7:30 a.m.– 6 p.m.

Allendale County
James Brandt Building
398 Barnwell Highway
Allendale, SC 29810
Open Oct. 21-23, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

Greenwood County
United Way of the Lakelands
929 Phoenix St.
Greenwood, SC 29646
Open Oct. 21-30, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

Newberry County
Newberry County Sheriff’s Office
550 Wilson Road
Newberry, SC 29108
Open Oct. 21-24, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

These locations join the centers previously opened in Anderson, Greenville, Pickens and Union counties.

Anderson County
Anderson County Library
300 N. McDuffie St.
Anderson, SC 29621
Open Oct. 20, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Oct. 21-24, 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Oct. 25-26, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Oct. 27, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Greenville County
Freetown Community Center
200 Alice Ave.
Greenville, SC 29611
Open through Oct. 24, 8 a.m.–7 p.m.

Pickens County
Captain Kimberly Hampton Memorial Library
304 Biltmore Road
Easley, SC 29640
Open through Oct. 21, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Union County
Union County Library
300 E. South St.
Union, SC 29379
Open through Oct. 22, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Additional Disaster Recovery Centers are scheduled to open in other South Carolina counties. You can visit any open center to meet with representatives of FEMA, the state of South Carolina and the U.S. Small Business Administration. No appointment is needed. To find other center locations, go to fema.gov/drc or text “DRC” and a Zip Code to 43362.

Homeowners and renters in Abbeville, Aiken, Allendale, Anderson, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Hampton, Jasper, Kershaw, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Orangeburg, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Union and York counties and the Catawba Indian Nation can apply for federal assistance.

The quickest way to apply is to go online to DisasterAssistance.gov. You can also apply using the FEMA App for mobile devices or calling toll-free 800-621-3362. The telephone line is open every day and help is available in many languages. If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA your number for that service. For a video with American Sign Language, voiceover and open captions about how to apply for FEMA assistance, select this link.

FEMA programs are accessible to survivors with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.

kwei.nwaogu
Mon, 10/21/2024 – 22:42

MIL OSI USA News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ROK-UK Joint Statement on DPRK-Russia Cooperation

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Joint statement between the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom David Lammy and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea Cho Tae-yul.

We condemn in the strongest terms the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s continued unlawful arms transfers and the reported deployment of its troops to the Russian Federation to support Russia’s unlawful war of aggression in Ukraine. Such cooperation between Russia and the DPRK is not only in violation of multiple UNSC resolutions, but also prolongs the suffering of the Ukrainian people and threatens global security, including those in the ROK and the UK, and demonstrates the desperation of the DPRK and Russia. We are committed to providing the support Ukraine requires to secure a just and lasting peace.

We are closely monitoring what Russia provides to the DPRK in return for its provision of arms and military personnel, including Russia’s possible provision of materials and technology to the DPRK in support of Pyongyang’s military objectives. We are also deeply concerned about the possibility for any transfer of nuclear or ballistic missile-related technology to the DPRK, which would jeopardize the international non-proliferation efforts and threaten peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and across the globe. We take note that the security of the Indo-Pacific and Euro-Atlantic are more closely intertwined than ever, and commit ourselves to closely monitoring the situation and actively pursuing necessary measures together with the international community to deter further unlawful, reckless and destabilising behaviour.

Published 22 October 2024

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI USA: Sinema Introduces Bill Transferring Ownership of Forest System Land to Tonto Apache Tribe

US Senate News:

Source: United States Senator Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona)
The Senator’s bill would transfer 3,060 acres of culturally significant land to the Tonto Apache Tribe
WASHINGTON – Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly introduced legislation to transfer 3,060 acres of U.S. Forest Service land to the Tonto Apache Tribe, located near Payson, Ariz., to be held in trust as part of their existing reservation.
“My legislation transferring culturally significant land to the Tonto Apache Tribe represents our continued work honoring and respecting Tribal sovereignty and protecting culturally significant land,” said Sinema.
“Transferring this land to the Tonto Apache Tribe is about respecting their history and ensuring their community has the resources to grow and thrive,” said Kelly. “This bill will give them more control over land that holds deep cultural significance, strengthening their community and their connection to their heritage.”
Sinema’s legislation supports the Tonto Apache Tribe’s proposal to expand their reservation. This land is culturally significant to the tribe and will enable them to build additional housing for community members to reside on the reservation.
Throughout her time in Congress, Sinema has worked to expand the growth and prosperity of Arizona tribal communities. While in the U.S. House, Sinema championed a La Paz County Land Transfer of 5,900 acres. In 2019, Sinema helped pass that land transfer into law. Sinema’s direct negotiations ensured passage of the Blackwater Trading Post Land Transfer Act and the Old Pascua Community Land Acquisition Act – two pieces of legislation increasing land rights for the Gila River Indian Community and the Pascua Yaqui Tribe – increasing economic opportunities for both tribal communities.
Sinema also secured bipartisan passage of critical land and water rights bills for tribes across Arizona, including in part the Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act and the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act – legislation helping secure tribal communities’ and Arizona’s water future.
Supporters of the Tonto Apache Land Transfer Act are the Tonto National Forest, the Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Gila County, and the City of Payson.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI NGOs: Yanette: My sister was forcibly disappeared by the Colombian military

Source: Amnesty International –

Yanette Bautista was just 27 when her sister Nydia was forcibly disappeared in 1987. Three years later, Yanette found Nydia’s remains – she had been murdered by state authorities and her whereabouts concealed to her family. It was the first time she learnt about enforced disappearances, an issue that is rife in Colombia – even today – with an estimated 200,000 people disappeared between 1985 and 2016 according to the 2022 Final Report of Colombia’s Truth Commission.

Since her sister’s enforced disappearance, Yanette, now 66, has dedicated her life to supporting Colombian women to search for their loved ones without fear. She has set up her own organization, as well as spearheaded a new bill that became a law in 2024, calling for better protection for women searchers. In honour of the bill, Colombia has recently introduced International Women’s Searchers Day, which takes place on 23 October.

Here she tells her incredible story, spanning three decades…

I found my sister three years after she was taken away and disappeared. I knew it was her. She was wearing the same clothes she had on the day she disappeared. It had been a day of celebration, the day our children received their first communion. When we found Nydia, she was still wearing the same dress and a jacket I had lent her. The only thing missing was her underwear. There was no reason for her underwear to be missing. I had to beg the authorities to hand her body over. I even threatened to go on hunger strike. When they eventually agreed to give me Nydia’s body, they handed it over in a trash bag.

My sister was forcibly disappeared when I was 27. At the time, I didn’t know enforced disappearances existed. She was studying economics at university. We knew she was part of an opposition guerrilla group, M-19, that signed a peace agreement and became a legal political party a couple of years later. We thought that the worst that could happen was for her to be sent to jail by a judge for her political activities. It felt shocking to learn that we lived in a country where there was a huge lack of human rights. If you supported the opposition, you paid for it. It was a situation of desperation and confusion.

My father and I started searching together – we went to hospitals, to military brigades, to the police intelligence, the secret police and the jails to see what could have happened. It was dangerous from the beginning as I started to be threatened many times just for asking for her. Eventually I was forcibly displaced. I left my home, sent my children to live elsewhere and I moved to another location. I soon started receiving anonymous calls. On one occasion, someone said: ‘Don’t look for her, she’s fine.’ It wasn’t a comforting call, and I knew I had to continue searching.

Yanette Bautista is the founder of Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, created to fight against impunity in enforced disappearance in Colombia.

I sought help from the Colombian NGO Committee for Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and we were provided with legal assistance, while the Association of Family Members of Disappeared Detainees (ASFADDES) shared advice. While I searched for my sister, I started working with other families and we eventually got in touch with Colombia’s Inspector for Human Rights – he was determined to help. He somehow found a witness who claimed to know where Nydia was. By that point I didn’t have hope we would find her alive. I’d come to realize that those searching for their loved ones, were searching for people who had been murdered.

A case was opened, and the well-known lawyer Eduardo Umaña took it on. I was told the witness was part of the Colombian military. He wanted to confess and said Nydia had been murdered and was buried in a rural town near Bogota. Together, with the inspector, forensic experts and our lawyer, we exhumed the body. I immediately knew it was her, even though she had been buried under NN (No Name).

Life changed dramatically

After Nydia disappeared, my life changed. I used to be an executive secretary for an important CEO, but it felt artificial after I started searching. I found it impossible to continue in this bubble, while people were being forcibly disappeared. That’s why I took off my heels and put on my shoes so I could start searching.

After my sister disappeared, life changed. So I took off my heels and put on my shoes so I could start searching for her.

Yanette Baustista

Even though we found Nydia’s body, we have never got the justice we deserve. The inspector for human rights sanctioned in 1995 one general and four military officials – a first in our country. However, two months later, he had to flee because he started receiving threats. During that time, I was calling for a change in law, speaking out about the military – and I was eight months pregnant. I was under constant surveillance. Eventually the four sanctioned men were set free even though it was clear it was the military committing these crimes.

By this time, it was too dangerous for me to stay in Colombia. Following a trip to Germany I just couldn’t come home. In 1997, I was forced into exile for seven years. During this time, I worked for Amnesty International, writing and researching about violence against women. I also became President of Federation of Family Members of Disappeared Persons (FEDEFAM), working with victims of forced disappeared in different countries.

Returning home

When I eventually returned to Colombia in 2007, I started my own organization. I’d met people from the Philippines, Albania, Kosovo, Turkey. We had so much collective knowledge. I wanted to empower families to search for their loved ones, so we started our organisation in my living room, with a small group of families.

Our collective, Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation, is designed for women to help one another. There’s no hierarchy. It is an exchange of knowledge. We provide legal support, document stories and advocate. We have a leadership school to empower the women searching in different parts of the country. We work in eight regions of Colombia and we are supporting 519 cases.

Our collective is mostly women – our research has revealed 95% of those searching for their loved ones are women – they’re mothers, sisters and wives. In a patriarchal society, it’s a task handed to the caregivers. But to me, we’re more than caregivers. When women start searching, we become human rights defenders – searching fearlessly, we challenge the rules of silence and oppression imposed by those who disappeared our loved ones, and we end up defending the rights of everyone.

Yanette leads a workshop with women searchers in Bogotá, Colombia.

The women who search are incredibly brave, even though there is no support from the authorities and no political will to investigate these crimes. In fact, enforced disappearance isn’t seen as a crime – it’s normalized; sometimes it’s even justified by the Colombian authorities.

Moving forward

As a collective, we want to turn our pain into rights. That’s why we wrote a law in a bid to empower women searching for the forcibly disappeared and to promote the rights of these women. It was signed into law in 2024.

However, our next task is to ensure it is implemented and becomes a reality. We have so many allies supporting us, including Amnesty International, and it is spurring us on every day.

While I have hope going forward, advocating for this law brings fear. As I continue to call for change, enforced disappearances are continuing, women searchers are suffering violence, and our funds are decreasing – making our work even tougher.

However, in my darker moments, I remember Nydia. Nydia dreamt of an army of women, who were armed with voices, not guns. I am determined to pursue her dream, so women can search without fear of suffering violence or of not having food at their family’s table, so women can search with freedom and dignity.

This piece is part of Amnesty International’s new campaign #SearchingWithoutFear, supporting women across the Americas searching for their loved ones.

MIL OSI NGO –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Banking: APEC Finance Ministers Issue Joint Statement Lima, Peru | 21 October 2024 Issued by the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process

Source: APEC – Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

Finance Ministers from the 21 APEC member economies released a joint statement at the conclusion of their meeting in Lima on Monday under the theme, “Sustainable + Digital + Resilient = APEC.”

The statement reflects the outcomes of the 2024 APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting chaired by José Arista Arbildo, Peru’s Minister of Economy and Finance. It describes joint actions to be taken forward by APEC member economies in the following priority areas:

Global and Regional Economy
Sustainable Finance
Domestic Carbon Pricing and Non-pricing Measures
Sustainable Energy Transitions
Sustainable Infrastructure Financing
Open Finance to Enhance Competition and Foster Innovation
Digital Financial Inclusion
Hydrometeorological Risk Financing
Modernization of the Finance Ministers’ Process

View the 2024 APEC Joint Finance Ministerial Statement

and accompanying Chair’s Statement

Finance Ministers also launched the Sustainable Finance Initiative for the coordination and promotion of voluntary information sharing and capacity building on sustainable finance issues. They further welcomed the adoption of the guidance document for developing a new roadmap and endorsed a strategy to modernize the Finance Ministers’ Process.

Read the accompanying annexes to the joint statement:

Annex A. Sustainable Finance Initiative

Annex B. Guidance Document for Developing a New Finance Ministers’ Process Roadmap

Annex C. Second Strategy for Modernization of the Finance Ministers’ Process

For further details, please contact:

APEC Media at [email protected]

MIL OSI Global Banks –

January 24, 2025

MIL-Evening Report: Promoted as a win-win, Australia’s Pacific island guest worker scheme is putting those workers at risk

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matt Withers, Senior Lecturer, School of Sociology, Australian National University

The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility Scheme (PALM) has been lauded by both sides of politics as a “win win” for the islanders who come here and the Australians who use their services.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs has even labelled it a “triple win”, for the workers, their hosts and for their home nations who receive remittances.

But beneath the surface serious questions are being asked about the safety of workers denied the right to leave their employers.

A report by the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner entitled Be Our Guests has identified signs of debt bondage, deceptive recruiting, forced labour and, in extreme cases, servitude, sexual servitude and human trafficking.

The NSW parliament has launched its own inquiry into the risks faced by migrant workers in response and is seeking submissions.

Employment Minister Murray Watt this month signalled changes, saying there had been “far too many abuses of the PALM scheme”.

PALM allows rural and regional employers to hire workers from nine Pacific nations and Timor-Leste when there are not enough local workers available.

Unplanned pregnancies, sleeping rough

The workers hired do not have the right to change employers while in Australia, even for contracts of up to four years, except via a request from their original employer or a direction from the Department of Employment.

This means workers who abandon their employers for reasons including underpayment of wages, excessive deductions and overcharging for accommodation become absconders and lose their rights.

The NSW Modern Slavery Commissioner says there are several thousand absconded PALM workers in Australia, without access to health insurance and formal income. Among them are women with unplanned pregnancies denied antenatal care due to ineligibility for Medicare.

The Commissioner says crisis accommodation services in the NSW Riverina report having exhausted all available resources, including tents, for PALM workers who have left their employers and are sleeping rough.

Australia had 30,805 PALM workers at the end of August, one-third of them (11,420) in Queensland. Most work in farming (52%) and 39% in meat processing. The accommodation and care industries between them account for 6%.

For many of these workers, the income is life-changing. An I-Kiribati worker I interviewed recently told me she makes more money cleaning hotel rooms in Queensland than is paid to the president of her country.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says between July 2018 to October 2022 PALM workers sent home a total of A$184 million, but their employers made profits of $289 million and charged them a further $74 million in rent.

Unable to switch employers, their bargaining power is weak.

An estimated 45 workers on the PALM scheme died between June 2022 and June 2023. Nineteen deaths remain under investigation.

After a Fijian abattoir worker died of a brain tumour in June, Fiji raised with Australia claims of racism, bullying, excessive workloads, unfair termination and unsafe working conditions under the program.

Minimum pay, but no right to move

Reforms introduced last year guaranteed workers a minimum of 30 hours per week and a minimum weekly take-home pay (after deductions) of $200.

But until PALM workers are able to move freely between approved employers they will remain at risk of what the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions Michele O’Neil calls modern-day slavery.

O’Neil wants the government to blacklist bad employers and identify ethical ones in consultation with unions and civil society organisations. But she says until PALM workers can move, they risk being treated as disposable labour.

Many employers treat their PALM workers well, but the current design of the scheme leaves that outcome to chance, and leaves badly-treated workers trapped.

It’s time to give them the same sort of right to move between employers as the rest of us.

Matt Withers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Promoted as a win-win, Australia’s Pacific island guest worker scheme is putting those workers at risk – https://theconversation.com/promoted-as-a-win-win-australias-pacific-island-guest-worker-scheme-is-putting-those-workers-at-risk-240333

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

January 24, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: FS continues to attend APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Peru (with photos/video)

Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

â€‹The Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, continued his attendance at the APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting (FMM) in Lima, Peru, yesterday (October 21, Lima time).

This year’s APEC FMM takes the theme of “Sustainable + Digital + Resilient = APEC.” During various discussions, Mr Chan spoke on topics including global and regional economic and financial outlooks, sustainable finance, sustainable infrastructure, digital finance, and enhancing resilience against climate change.

In the session on global and regional economic and financial outlooks, Mr Chan shared the latest economic situation in Hong Kong and reiterated Hong Kong’s firm support for rules-based free trade and multilateralism. As a “super connector,” Hong Kong plays a bridging role between traditional and emerging markets, promoting the regional digital economy and innovative technology for better collective development.

In the discussion session on sustainable finance and infrastructure, Mr Chan highlighted Hong Kong’s functions as an international financial centre, facilitating the effective matching of funds with green and infrastructure projects. Through financial innovation and cooperation with international institutions, Hong Kong has been able to securitise infrastructure loans from various countries and issue catastrophe bonds, guiding more international capital to support projects in developing countries and helping them address climate challenges. He also shared updates and experience on Hong Kong’s efforts in advancing green and transition finance, including the release of a green taxonomy aligned with international standards and active participation in setting global green standards.

Mr Chan also participated in discussions on digital finance at the FMM, sharing Hong Kong’s experiences in developing fintech and promoting inclusive finance, including how regulatory sandboxes encourage fintech innovation and the application of new technologies. He noted that Hong Kong’s robust and internationalised financial infrastructure, along with a balanced regulatory system that promotes security and innovation, is conducive to building a thriving fintech ecosystem.

At noon, Mr Chan attended a luncheon of the APEC Business Advisory Council, sharing Hong Kong’s experiences on leveraging private market capital to better support sustainable infrastructure and climate change projects, as well as creating a more favorable environment for micro, small and medium enterprises to embrace digital finance. He exchanged views with representatives and business leaders from other economies.

During the FMM, Mr Chan also met with South Korea’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance of the Republic of Korea, Mr Choi Sang-mok, and Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Mr Vo Thanh Hung, to discuss strengthening cooperation and exchanging views on issues of mutual interest.

In the evening, Mr Chan would depart Lima for New York, the United States, where he will attend the Bloomberg Global Regulatory Forum and deliver a speech today (October 22, New York time).

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 24, 2025

Category: Asia

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Shri Manohar Lal, rides Namo Bharat Trains marking the one-year successful operations of India’s first RRTSNamo Bharat Trains successfully completes one year of operations, serving over 4 million passengers.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh addresses Karmayogi Saptah ‘Samuhik Charcha’ during the Karmayogi Saptah for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and PensionsDr Jitendra Singh lauds PM Shri Narendra Modi for his vision of Citizen-Centric Governance and Administrative Reforms

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana achieves sales worth Rs.1000 Crores in October 2024Jan Aushadhi Kendras grew more than 170 times in number in last 10 years; more than 14,000 kendras now cover almost all the districts of the country

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya Launches ‘eShram – One Stop Solution’ for Welfare of Unorganised WorkerseShram – One Stop Solution will provide seamless access of different Social Security Schemes to the unorganised workers registered on eShram: Union Minister

Notes to editor

Cathay Pacific facts

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Updates to this page

Unplanned pregnancies, sleeping rough

Minimum pay, but no right to move

Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Shri Manohar Lal, rides Namo Bharat Trains marking the one-year successful operations of India’s first RRTS

Namo Bharat Trains successfully completes one year of operations, serving over 4 million passengers.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh addresses Karmayogi Saptah ‘Samuhik Charcha’ during the Karmayogi Saptah for the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Dr Jitendra Singh lauds PM Shri Narendra Modi for his vision of Citizen-Centric Governance and Administrative Reforms

Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana achieves sales worth Rs.1000 Crores in October 2024

Jan Aushadhi Kendras grew more than 170 times in number in last 10 years; more than 14,000 kendras now cover almost all the districts of the country

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya Launches ‘eShram – One Stop Solution’ for Welfare of Unorganised Workers

eShram – One Stop Solution will provide seamless access of different Social Security Schemes to the unorganised workers registered on eShram: Union Minister