NewzIntel.com

Category: Banking

  • Sensex, Nifty open higher amid positive global cues

    Source: Government of India

    Source: Government of India (4)

    India’s benchmark indices opened in the green on Wednesday, tracking upbeat cues from Asian markets that bolstered investor sentiment.

    The Sensex climbed 155.81 points, or 0.19 percent, to 80,893.32, while the NSE Nifty gained 60 points, or 0.25 percent, to 24,602.80 in early trade.

    Broader market participation remained strong, with midcap and smallcap stocks continuing their upward momentum. The Nifty Midcap 100 advanced 309.30 points, or 0.54 percent, to 57,826.40, and the Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 88.40 points, or 0.49percent, to 18,210.75.

    Top gainers in early trade included Bharti Airtel, Zomato (Eternal), Tata Motors, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, ITC, HUL, and Infosys. TCS, Ultratech Cement, ICICI Bank, Titan, and Sun Pharma were among the major laggards.

    Asian markets traded higher, with indices in Tokyo, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Jakarta posting gains. Overnight, U.S. stocks also ended in positive territory, lending further support to sentiment.

    On the institutional side, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) extended their selling streak for the third consecutive session on Tuesday, offloading equities worth Rs 2,853.83 crore. Meanwhile, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained steady buyers for the 11th session in a row, infusing Rs 5,907.97 crore into equities.

    Analysts highlighted that India’s benign CPI inflation provides the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with scope for at least two more rate cuts in 2025. While this could impact bank margins, large private lenders are expected to deliver 12–15 percent returns over the next year, supported by strong fundamentals.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • MIL-OSI: DMG Blockchain Solutions Announces Preliminary May Operational Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG” or the “Company”), a vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, today announces its preliminary operational results for May 2025:

    • Bitcoin mined: 31 BTC (vs 30 BTC in Apr 2025)
    • Hashrate: 1.89 EH/s (vs 1.93 EH/s in Apr 2025)
    • Bitcoin balance: 350 BTC (vs 351 BTC in Apr 2025)

    During May 2025, DMG’s realized hashrate was 1.89 EH/s, approximately flat compared to April’s reported 1.93 EH/s. The Company reached its 2.1 EH/s hashrate target in early May, supported by the deployment of additional Bitmain S21+ Hydro miners. Throughout May, DMG reduced the hashrate of a portion of its fleet—particularly its Bitmain T21 miners—in response to rising ambient temperatures. The Company also continued to experience hydro infrastructure challenges, although its hydro-cooled miners continued to perform well.

    DMG’s bitcoin balance of 350 BTC at the end of May was similar to the prior month end. The Company sold bitcoin during the month to fund operating expenses and further reduce its loan balance with Sygnum Bank, in line with prior guidance.

    DMG’s CEO, Sheldon Bennett, commented, “In May, we mined 31 bitcoin on a hashrate of 1.89 EH/s, even as we incurred seasonal headwinds and infrastructure-related challenges. Our bitcoin balance remained stable as we continued to allocate proceeds toward paying operational costs and reducing debt. While we strive to remain competitive in Bitcoin mining to ensure sustained cash generation, we continue to be encouraged by our progress to secure colocation and off-take agreements for artificial intelligence infrastructure as well as new clients for our Systemic Trust digital asset custody subsidiary.”

    About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.

    DMG is a publicly traded and vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company that manages, operates and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the digital asset and artificial intelligence compute ecosystems. Systemic Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of DMG, is an integral component of DMG’s carbon-neutral Bitcoin ecosystem, which enables financial institutions to move Bitcoin in a sustainable and regulatory-compliant manner.

    For additional information about DMG Blockchain Solutions and its initiatives, please visit www.dmgblockchain.com. Follow @dmgblockchain on X, LinkedIn and Facebook, and subscribe to the DMG YouTube channel to stay updated with the latest developments and insights.

    For further information, please contact:

    On behalf of the Board of Directors,

    Sheldon Bennett, CEO & Director
    Tel: +1 (778) 300-5406
    Email: investors@dmgblockchain.com
    Web: www.dmgblockchain.com

    For Investor Relations:
    investors@dmgblockchain.com

    For Media Inquiries:
    Chantelle Borrelli
    Head of Communications
    chantelle@dmgblockchain.com

    Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

    This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements regarding DMG’s strategies and plans, executing on DMG’s broader strategy to shift its data center capacity towards AI, securing high-value AI off-take and colocation agreements, securing new clients for the Systemic Trust digital asset custody subsidiary, the opportunity and plans to monetize bitcoin transactions and provide additional products and services to customers and users, the continued investment in Bitcoin network software infrastructure and applications, the expected allocation of capital, developing and executing on the Company’s products and services, increasing self-mining, increasing hashrate, efforts to improve the operation of its mining fleet, the potential trimming of self-mining due to higher ambient temperature environment, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company’s technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information.

    Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hashrate may materially affect the future performance of DMG’s production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hashrate mining difficulty.

    Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, market and other conditions, volatility in the trading price of the common shares of the Company, business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition; the ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; access to equipment; market conditions and the demand and pricing for products; the demand and pricing of bitcoin; the demand and pricing of AI data centers and usage; security threats, including a loss/theft of DMG’s bitcoin; DMG’s relationships with its customers, distributors and business partners; the inability to add more power to DMG’s facilities; DMG’s ability to successfully define, design and release new products in a timely manner that meet customers’ needs; the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; competition in the industry; the impact of technology changes on the products and industry; failure to develop new and innovative products; the ability to successfully maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; the impact of intellectual property litigation that could materially and adversely affect the business; the ability to manage working capital; and the dependence on key personnel. DMG may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, the ability to successfully develop software, that there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business, anticipated costs, the ability to secure sufficient capital to complete its business plans, the ability to achieve goals and the price of bitcoin. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The securities of DMG are considered highly speculative due to the nature of DMG’s business. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Company’s filings on www.sedarplus.ca. In addition, DMG’s past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance.

    Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, equipment failures, lack of supply of equipment, power and infrastructure, failure to obtain any permits required to operate the business, the impact of technology changes on the industry, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company’s ability to operate, secure equipment, and hire personnel, competition, security threats including stolen bitcoin from DMG or its customers, consumer sentiment towards DMG’s products, services and blockchain and AI technology generally, failure to develop new and innovative products, litigation, adverse weather or climate events, increase in operating costs, increase in equipment and labor costs, equipment failures, decrease in the price of Bitcoin, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of or statements made by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru

    Source: ASEAN

    Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru, H.E. Ambassador Elmer Schialer Salcedo, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France, on 3 June 2025. Their discussions focused on strengthening of ASEAN–Peru relations and preparations for the visit of  H.E. Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra, President of the Republic of Peru to the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat in August of this year.

    The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Money Market Operations as on June 03, 2025

    Source: Reserve Bank of India
    (Amount in ₹ crore, Rate in Per cent)
      Volume
    (One Leg)    		 Weighted
    Average Rate    		 Range
    A. Overnight Segment (I+II+III+IV) 5,89,368.22 5.63 4.00-6.65
         I. Call Money 14,292.98 5.77 4.85-6.65
         II. Triparty Repo 3,94,520.60 5.59 5.40-5.77
         III. Market Repo 1,79,199.44 5.68 4.00-5.90
         IV. Repo in Corporate Bond 1,355.20 5.92 5.85-6.60
    B. Term Segment      
         I. Notice Money** 122.50 5.66 5.40-5.70
         II. Term Money@@ 278.00 – 5.70-6.10
         III. Triparty Repo 1,881.50 5.68 5.64-5.80
         IV. Market Repo 0.00 – –
         V. Repo in Corporate Bond 0.00 – –
      Auction Date Tenor (Days) Maturity Date Amount Current Rate /
    Cut off Rate
    C. Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF), Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) & Standing Deposit Facility (SDF)
    I. Today’s Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo Tue, 03/06/2025 1 Wed, 04/06/2025 5,019.00 6.01
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF# Tue, 03/06/2025 1 Wed, 04/06/2025 447.00 6.25
    4. SDFΔ# Tue, 03/06/2025 1 Wed, 04/06/2025 3,14,265.00 5.75
    5. Net liquidity injected from today’s operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*       -3,08,799.00  
    II. Outstanding Operations
    1. Fixed Rate          
    2. Variable Rate&          
      (I) Main Operation          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
      (II) Fine Tuning Operations          
         (a) Repo          
         (b) Reverse Repo          
    3. MSF#          
    4. SDFΔ#          
    D. Standing Liquidity Facility (SLF) Availed from RBI$       8,272.43  
    E. Net liquidity injected from outstanding operations [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     8,272.43  
    F. Net liquidity injected (outstanding including today’s operations) [injection (+)/absorption (-)]*     -3,00,526.57  
    G. Cash Reserves Position of Scheduled Commercial Banks
         (i) Cash balances with RBI as on June 03, 2025 9,48,458.20  
         (ii) Average daily cash reserve requirement for the fortnight ending June 13, 2025 9,41,551.00  
    H. Government of India Surplus Cash Balance Reckoned for Auction as on¥ June 03, 2025 5,019.00  
    I. Net durable liquidity [surplus (+)/deficit (-)] as on May 16, 2025 3,48,763.00  
    @ Based on Reserve Bank of India (RBI) / Clearing Corporation of India Limited (CCIL).
    – Not Applicable / No Transaction.
    ** Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 2 to 14 days tenor.
    @@ Relates to uncollateralized transactions of 15 days to one year tenor.
    $ Includes refinance facilities extended by RBI.
    & As per the Press Release No. 2019-2020/1900 dated February 06, 2020.
    Δ As per the Press Release No. 2022-2023/41 dated April 08, 2022.
    * Net liquidity is calculated as Repo+MSF+SLF-Reverse Repo-SDF.
    ¥ As per the Press Release No. 2014-2015/1971 dated March 19, 2015.
    # As per the Press Release No. 2023-2024/1548 dated December 27, 2023.
    Ajit Prasad          
    Deputy General Manager
    (Communications)    
    Press Release: 2025-2026/472

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Panasonic HD develops multimodal generative AI “OmniFlow” which enables Any-to-Any generation between text, image, and audio

    Source: Panasonic

    Headline: Panasonic HD develops multimodal generative AI “OmniFlow” which enables Any-to-Any generation between text, image, and audio

    Osaka, Japan, June 4, 2025 – Panasonic Holdings Co., Ltd. (Panasonic HD) and Panasonic R&D Company of America (PRDCA), in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have developed OmniFlow, a multimodal generative AI that can freely convert different data formats such as text, images, and audios (hereinafter referred to as “Any-to-Any”).
    In recent years, research on multimodal generative AI that realizes conversion between different data formats has been actively conducted, but since it is usually necessary to prepare all pairs of data to be handled for training data, the cost of acquiring data increases as the type of data to be handled increases. By flexibly combining generative AI (text audio, text image) specialized for each data format, OmniFlow can learn high-precision Any-to-Any models even with a small number of data (text audio images) consisting of all three sets of modalities, and has succeeded in significantly reducing the cost of creating training data. (Fig. 1)
    This technology has been internationally recognized for its advanced technology and has been accepted at CVPR 2025, a top conference for AI and Computer Vision. It will be presented at the plenary conference to be held in Nashville, USA from June 11, 2025 to June 15, 2025.

    ■Details of the technology

    Panasonic HD and PRDCA are working on research on multimodal generative AI. In recent years, multimodal generative AI that incorporates audio in addition to text and images has been attracting attention, but the method of obtaining data that includes all text, images, and audio has been limited, and it has been costly to increase variations.
    The solution to this problem is the key to accelerating the use of multimodal generative AI, and research has been actively conducted in recent years. In fact, a method that can learn even if the combination of different data including all the data formats you want to handle is not completely aligned has recently been proposed, but it is realized by averaging the input data. It can be said that there is still a lot of room for improvement in terms of expressive ability.
    On the other hand, we have developed OmniFlow, which extends the existing framework of image generation flow matching*, and can learn complex relationships between data that cannot be obtained by averaging by connecting and processing three different data features during the generation process. (Fig. 2)
    * A technology that uses Flow to find the optimal conversion path between arbitrary data.In recent years, it has been attracting attention as it has been adopted for various generative models, including image generation.

    A big advantage of OmniFlow is that you can easily connect AIs that specialize in text-to-image and text-to-audio generation into a single multimodal generative AI. (Fig. 3) Since specialized AI is excellent at generating each data, it was possible to obtain high multimodal performance without learning a large amount of data consisting of all modalities.

    In the evaluation experiment, the performance of the “text→image” and “text→audio” generation tasks was compared with existing methods. (Fig. 4) As a result, it was confirmed that OmniFlow has the best performance among any-to-any methods (Generalist) and specialized methods for each task. We also found that the data size required to train OmniFlow can be reduced to up to 1/60 compared to other any-to-any methods.

    ■Future prospects

    The newly developed OmniFlow is an any-to-any method that flexibly combines generative AI specialized for each data format (text→audio, text→image) and is highly accurate even if the number of training sheets for all three data pairs (text audio image) is small. By learning this technology in various fields such as factories and lifestyles, it will be possible to generate various types of data specialized in those sites, and it is expected to expand the range of applications of multimodal AI.
    Going forward, Panasonic HD will continue to accelerate the social implementation of AI and promote the research and development of AI technologies that contribute to the usefulness of our customers’ lives and workplaces.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI: Orange County Bancorp, Inc. Announces Pricing of Public Offering of Common Stock

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIDDLETOWN, N.Y., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” – Nasdaq: OBT), parent company of Orange Bank & Trust Company, (the “Bank”) and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. (“HVIA”), today announced the pricing of an underwritten public offering of 1,720,430 shares of its common stock at a price of $23.25 per share. The Company also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 258,064 shares of common stock.

    The aggregate gross proceeds of the offering will be approximately $40.0 million before discounts and expenses. Assuming full exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares, the aggregate gross proceeds of the offering would be approximately $46.0 million before discounts and expenses. The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include investments in the Bank supporting continued growth, augmenting regulatory capital and liquidity and providing for potential strategic acquisitions. The Company has no current plans, arrangements or understandings relating to any specific acquisition or similar transaction. The offering is expected to close on June 5, 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.

    Piper Sandler & Co. and Stephens Inc. are serving as joint book-running managers.

    The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a shelf registration statement (including a prospectus) on Form S-3 (File No. 333-280793) and a preliminary prospectus supplement for the offering to which this press release relates. Before you invest, you should read the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including the information incorporated by reference therein, and the other documents we have filed and will file with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and this offering. The proposed offering is being made only by means of an effective shelf registration statement, including a preliminary prospectus supplement and final prospectus supplement, copies of which may be obtained for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Additionally, electronic copies may be obtained from Piper Sandler & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, or by phone at 1-800-747-3924, or by email at prospectus@psc.com, or Stephens Inc., 111 Center Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, or by phone at 1-800-643-9691.

    This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.   The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement or the shelf registration statement or prospectus relating thereto.

    About Orange County Bancorp, Inc.

    Orange County Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Orange Bank & Trust Company and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. Orange Bank & Trust Company is an independent bank that began with the vision of 14 founders over 125 years ago. It has grown through innovation and an unwavering commitment to its community and business clientele to approximately $2.6 billion in total assets. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. is a Registered Investment Advisor in Goshen, NY. It was founded in 1996 and acquired by the Company in 2012.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    The information disclosed in this press release includes various forward-looking statements that are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipates,” “projects,” “intends,” “estimates,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that these forward-looking statements are necessarily speculative and speak only as of the date made, and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, all of which may change over time. Actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. In addition to the specific risk factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from such forward-looking statements: those related to the real estate and economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which the Company operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, inflation, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, tariffs, increased levels of loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures, credit risk management, asset-liability management, cybersecurity risks, geopolitical conflicts, public health issues, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity. The Company does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

    For further information:
    Michael Lesler
    EVP & Chief Financial Officer
    mlesler@orangebanktrust.com
    Phone: (845) 341-5111

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Release: Reserve Bank predicts more job losses

    Source: New Zealand Labour Party

    The Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Statement predicts a sluggish economy with higher inflation and more job losses.

    “Just days after Nicola Willis slashed women’s pay in order to deliver her so-called ‘Growth Budget’, growth is now predicted to slow,” Labour finance and economy spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said.

    “The Reserve Bank cited low growth, higher inflation in the short term, and higher unemployment as key reasons why they cut rates today. Rate cuts are good for mortgage-holders, but there are some real alarm bells in the RBNZ’s statement.

    “Specifically, it projected sluggish economic growth of less than 1% in 2025, and said that inflation will continue to rise in the short term.

    “Most concerning, the Reserve Bank warned about a weakening labour market, with unemployment remaining above 5% and expected to climb further this year. That contradicts National’s promises of thousands of new jobs in their Budget. Thanks to their choices, more than 15,000 construction jobs have been lost.

    “The Government claims to have delivered a ‘Growth Budget’ but the only growth we can see is growing unemployment, growing prices, and a growing pay gap between men and women.

    “Instead of helping people through tough times, the Government has chosen to cut jobs and take money from women’s future pay, all so they can give it to tobacco, fossil fuel, and big tech companies.

    “Labour would make different choices, investing in jobs, health, and homes to grow the economy and lift living standards for everyone,” Barbara Edmonds said.

    Stay in the loop by signing up to our mailing list and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and X. 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Meet the Next Chapter of Ultra

    Source: Samsung

    For years, Samsung has listened to users asking for bigger screens, better cameras and new ways to connect and create. The demand is clear — an Ultra-experience that goes beyond a simple list of upgraded features in a smaller and more portable form factor.
    That’s why Galaxy’s next chapter is to provide an experience that seamlessly blends artistry and engineering to elevate everyday interactions.

    Squeeze onto a crowded subway train for your evening commute with the device folded in hand and use voice controls to have AI find you the perfect restaurant and text your dining companion. Finish off that unsent work email during the ride, then use the powerful camera to commemorate your night out. AI-powered tools enable all-day messaging, browsing and gaming on the go, so you can focus on your life—all without weighing you down.
    With industry-leading hardware, cutting-edge performance and seamless AI integration optimized for the foldable format, it’s what users have come to expect from Galaxy Ultra.
    And when it unfolds, it transforms– into a more immersive entertainment hub, a spacious workspace, or a multitasking powerhouse, now enhanced by powerful Galaxy AI features designed specifically for the foldable form.
    The Ultra experience is ready to unfold.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SBA Offers Disaster Assistance to Texas Small Businesses, Private Nonprofits and Residents Affected by May Storms

    Source: United States Small Business Administration

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) announced the availability of low interest federal disaster loans to Texas small businesses, private nonprofits and residents to offset physical and economic losses from the severe storm and straight‑line winds occurring May 8. The SBA issued a disaster declaration in response to a request received from Gov. Greg Abbott on May 29.

    The disaster declaration covers the Texas counties of Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Live Oak, Nueces and San Patricio.

    Businesses and nonprofits are eligible to apply for business physical disaster loans and may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.

    Homeowners and renters are eligible to apply for home and personal property loans and may borrow up to $100,000 to replace or repair personal property, such as clothing, furniture, cars, and appliances. Homeowners may apply for up to $500,000 to replace or repair their primary residence.

    Applicants may be eligible for a loan increase of up to 20% of their physical damages, as verified by the SBA, for mitigation purposes. Eligible mitigation improvements include insulating pipes, walls and attics, weather stripping doors and windows, and installing storm windows to help protect property and occupants from future disasters.

    SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program is available to eligible small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, nurseries and private nonprofit (PNP)organizations impacted by financial losses directly related to this disaster. The SBA is unable to provide disaster loans to agricultural producers, farmers, or ranchers, except for aquaculture enterprises.

    EIDLs are for working capital needs caused by the disaster and are available even if the business or PNP did not suffer any physical damage. They may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable, and other bills not paid due to the disaster.

    Interest rates are as low as 4% for businesses, 3.62% for nonprofits, and 2.81% for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Interest does not begin to accrue, and payments are not due until 12 months from the date of the first loan disbursement. The SBA sets loan amounts and terms based on each applicant’s financial condition.

    “When disasters strike, SBA’s Disaster Loan Outreach Centers play a vital role in helping small businesses and their communities recover,” said Chris Stallings, associate administrator of the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the SBA. “At these centers, SBA specialists assist business owners and residents with disaster loan applications and provide information on the full range of recovery programs available.”

    Beginning Wednesday, June 4, SBA customer service representatives will be on hand at the Disaster Loan Outreach Center (DLOC) to answer questions about SBA’s disaster loan program, explain the application process and help each individual complete their application. Walk-ins are accepted, but you can schedule an in-person appointment in advance at appointment.sba.gov.

    The DLOC hours of operations are as follows:

    JIM WELLS COUNTY
    Disaster Loan Outreach Center
    Jim Wells County Tax Office – Former Wells Fargo Bank
    First Floor
    601 E. Main St.
    Alice, TX  78332

    Opens at 12 p.m., Wednesday, June 4
    Mondays – Fridays, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
    Closes at 5 p.m., Thursday, June 26

    To apply online, visit sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may also call SBA’s Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955 or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov for more information on SBA disaster assistance. For people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

    The deadline to return physical damage applications is Aug. 1, 2025. The deadline to return economic injury applications is March 2, 2026.

    ###

    About the U.S. Small Business Administration

    The U.S. Small Business Administration helps power the American dream of business ownership. As the only go-to resource and voice for small businesses backed by the strength of the federal government, the SBA empowers entrepreneurs and small business owners with the resources and support they need to start, grow, expand their businesses, or recover from a declared disaster. It delivers services through an extensive network of SBA field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations. To learn more, visit www.sba.gov.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Banking – ASB Business Survey: The impact of Trump’s tariffs, according to Kiwi businesses

    Source: ASB

    Research released today by ASB, supported by Talbot Mills Research, shows Kiwi businesses see US tariffs as more impactful than Covid-19 or the Global Financial Crisis.  More than 300 business leaders, including CEOs and founders, contributed to the study, giving their insights on President Trump’s recently announced trade policies.

     

    • Two-thirds (67%) of businesses are concerned about the impact of proposed US tariffs in the next 12 months, with nearly 80% of exporters concerned
    • Kiwi business leaders believe Trump’s tariffs will have a more severe global impact than Covid-19 and the GFC
    • Meat, dairy and wine are seen as the most vulnerable within Food and Fibre sector, while businesses predict wool and seafood would fare better
    • Nearly one-quarter (24%) of Kiwi businesses see at least some opportunity in the tariffs
    • More than one-third (39%) of respondents listed support of banks as critical to navigating the current environment

     

    Tariffs: a threat and an opportunity for Kiwi businesses

    ASB’s Executive General Manager Business Banking Rebecca James says: “We’re seeing sustained market volatility with the ever-changing political decisions around tariffs, which naturally creates a heightened sense of uncertainty for businesses. It’s clear businesses view any proposed US tariffs as troubling, but it’s pleasing that nearly a quarter of respondents see opportunity in tariffs too. New Zealand has a reputation on the world stage for ingenuity and a can-do attitude, and we want businesses to know there are things they can do to future-proof and manage risks in turbulent times.”

    President Trump first announced tariffs in April as part of the ‘America First’ trade policy, aimed at protecting US industries and addressing the trade deficit. The tariffs are set at 10% for most countries, including New Zealand, with China a notable outlier where a larger tariff has been applied to Chinese origin goods. Additional proposed tariffs higher than the 10% baseline were paused for a 90-day period and will be reviewed in July.  Businesses are split on how long potential disruption could last.  A slight majority (51%) of Kiwi businesses are optimistic that the economy will recover quickly, while 38% predict a prolonged economic downturn for the country and the remainder were unsure.

    Taking action key to growth

    14% of those surveyed view US tariffs purely as an opportunity, while 10% see them as both a potential risk and an opportunity. Ten percent of businesses and 14% of exporters have already taken action to reduce the negative impacts of tariffs including raising prices, shifting markets or cutting costs. Just under one-third (30%) believe they can make up losses through new customers or cost savings; 25% from operational efficiencies, and 22% from other revenue streams. 22% are unsure, with uncertainty highest among small businesses.

    “The current market volatility and geopolitical tension may be our ‘new normal’, but we’ve been in positions of global uncertainty before and the research shows Kiwi businesses are already thinking about actions they can take to make their business more resilient and generate returns.”

    Ms James encourages businesses to stay connected to industry partners, trade advocacy groups and their banks to share knowledge and ideas when it comes to growth and scale.

    “Business customers are relying on us more than ever to navigate the current environment, and we’re seeing this through an increase in trade finance and a rise in currency hedging enquiries. Our advice is to start exploring options now. We’re seeing customers adapting their business strategy in all sorts of ways, so solutions for your business might look like assessing AI to improve workflow, adjusting your supply chain, selling down stock before new inventory orders, building new trade relationships or exploring untapped markets.”

    Businesses shifting their focus to closer to home

    More than three-quarters of Kiwi exporters expect the cost of doing business with the US to increase by 10% or more in the next year. Concern is higher among exporters (78%) and increases with business size, with worry growing to 88% among 100+ staff businesses). The potential impacts of tariffs which were of the most concern to businesses include slowing economic growth (39%), increased operating costs (32%) and supply chain disruptions (28%).  Nearly one-quarter of businesses are worried about consumer backlash due to price inflation (24%), along with 23% who see a China-US Trade war as unsettling for business. Some of the most explored markets by businesses are China (51%), Australia (37%), European Union (28%) and Southeast Asia (25%).  

    “The research shows a pendulum swing when it comes to trading partners, with businesses redirecting their attention to our close neighbours. Location seems to be king, with our customers prioritising relationships much closer to home,” says Ms James.

    “We’re also seeing exporters maintaining high standards and doubling down on premium products to give us an edge on the global stage, even where it costs more for consumers.”

    The role of banks as a critical support function

    Businesses see Government lobbying as the most critical tool in helping to reduce the impact of tariffs, with banks the next most important. More than one-third (39%) of respondents listed support of banks as critical, specifically working capital support (31%), risk advice (26%) and trade finance (24%).

    “ASB has provided $4.6 billion dollars to Kiwi businesses over the past five years including considerable support to companies looking to expand and navigate opportunities abroad. We have seen increased use of trade finance products, aided by trade credit insurance, enabling businesses to sustainably leverage balance sheets while derisking payment default. We encourage companies doing business overseas to speak with their banker and engage with a trade specialist to ensure your business is in the strongest position,” says Ms James.

    Notes: Results in this report are based upon questions asked in a Talbot Mills Research online survey. The basis of the sample is 344 New Zealand business leaders (business owners, C-suite, senior management), with the survey in field between 24 April and 5 May 2025.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Banking – ASB drops mortgage rates for the seventh time this year

    Source: ASB

    ASB has today reduced several of its fixed home lending rates by up to 20 basis points, marking the bank’s seventh fixed rate mortgage drop in 2025. ASB has also lowered some of its term deposit rates by between 5 and 20 basis points.

    ASB’s Executive General Manager Personal Banking Adam Boyd says “Interest rates remain a hot topic of conversation, with homeowners and first home buyers watching the market closely.  Whether you’re looking to fix or float, today’s drops to our fixed lending rates across short and medium terms, along with our lower variable rates announced last week, give New Zealanders a range of appealing options to consider.”  

    All rate decreases are effective immediately.

     

      Fixed home lending term

    Previous rate

    New rate

    Rate decrease

    6-month

    5.59%

    5.45%

    – 14 bps

    1-year

    4.99%

    4.95%

    – 4 bps

    18-month

    4.99%

    4.89%

    – 10 bps

    2-year

    4.99%

    4.95%

    – 4 bps

    3-year

    5.35%

    5.15%

    – 20 bps

     

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial News: Meeting of Finance Ministers and Heads of Central Banks of SCO Countries Held

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Central Bank of Russia –

    A meeting of finance ministers and heads of central banks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) countries was held in Beijing. The Bank of Russia was represented by Gulnara Khaidarshina, Director of the Department for Cooperation with International Organizations.

    The parties exchanged views on the prospects for the development of the global, regional and national economic situation, on fiscal policy in support of economic growth and the transition to a green economy. Within its competence, the Bank of Russia participated in the discussion of the development of inclusive digital finance and the further expansion of the use of national currencies of the SCO member states in regional trade and investment.

    Next year, the chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of State will pass to the Kyrgyz Republic.

    Preview photo: songweiqiang / Shutterstock / Fotodom

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    HTTPS: //VVV.KBR.ru/Press/Event/? ID = 24670

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Western New England Bancorp, Inc. Announces Completion of 2024 Repurchase Plan

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WESTFIELD, Mass., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Western New England Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” or “WNEB”) (NasdaqGS: WNEB), the holding company for Westfield Bank (the “Bank”), announced that on May 30, 2025, the Company completed all repurchases under its existing stock repurchase plan (the “2024 Repurchase Plan”) at an average price per share of $8.79. The 2024 Repurchase Plan authorized the Company to repurchase a total of 1.0 million shares of the Company’s common stock, or approximately 4.6% of the Company’s then-outstanding shares of common stock. The Board of Directors authorized the 2024 Repurchase Plan on May 21, 2024.

    On April 22, 2025, the Board of Directors of the Company authorized a new stock repurchase plan, pursuant to which the Company may repurchase up to 1.0 million shares, or approximately 4.8% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock, upon the completion of the 2024 Repurchase Plan.

    James C. Hagan, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are pleased to announce the completion of our 2024 Repurchase Plan. We believe that share repurchases are a prudent use of the Company’s capital and demonstrate our commitment to effectively manage the Company’s capital levels, while increasing total shareholder returns through stock repurchases as well as cash dividends.”

    The Company may repurchase shares from time to time in open market transactions or through privately negotiated transactions at the Company’s discretion or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The amount, timing and nature of any share repurchases will be based on a variety of factors, including the trading price of the Company’s common stock, applicable securities laws restrictions, regulatory limitations and market and economic factors. The repurchase program may be modified, suspended or discontinued at any time, at the Company’s discretion.

    About Western New England Bancorp, Inc.

    Western New England Bancorp, Inc. is a Massachusetts-chartered stock holding company and the parent company of Westfield Bank, CSB Colts, Inc., Elm Street Securities Corporation, WFD Securities, Inc. and WB Real Estate Holdings, LLC. Western New England Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiaries are headquartered in Westfield, Massachusetts and operate 25 banking offices throughout western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut. To learn more, visit our website at www.westfieldbank.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the Company’s financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, future performance, and business. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of such words as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” and “potential.” Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, estimates with respect to our financial condition, results of operations and business that are subject to various factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from these estimates. 

    Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in these forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in Western New England Bancorp’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and in its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. We do not undertake any obligation to republish revised forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except to the extent required by law.

    For further information contact:
    James C. Hagan, President and Chief Executive Officer
    Guida R. Sajdak, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
    Meghan Hibner, First Vice President and Investor Relations Officer
    413-568-1911

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: A two-state solution is gaining momentum again. Does it have a chance of success?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Thomas, Lecturer in Middle East Studies, Deakin University

    As Israel’s devastating war in Gaza has ground on, the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was thought to be “dead”. Now, it is showing signs of life again.

    French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly pressing other European nations to jointly recognise a Palestinian state at a UN conference in mid-June, focused on achieving a two-state solution. Macron called such recognition a “political necessity”.

    Countries outside Europe are feeling the pressure, too. Australia has reaffirmed its view that recognition of Palestine should be a “way of building momentum towards a two-state solution”.

    During Macron’s visit to Indonesia in late May, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto made a surprising pledge to recognise Israel if it allowed for a Palestinian state.

    Indonesia is one of about 28 nations that don’t currently recognise Israel. France, Australia, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea are among the approximately 46 nations that don’t recognise a Palestinian state.

    The UN conference on June 17–20, co-sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, wants to go “beyond reaffirming principles” and “achieve concrete results” towards a two-state solution.

    Most countries, including the US, have supported the two-state solution in principle for decades. However, the political will from all parties has faded in recent years.

    So, why is the policy gaining traction again now? And does it have a greater chance of success?

    What is the two-state solution?

    Put simply, the two-state solution is a proposed peace plan that would create a sovereign Palestinian state alongside the Israeli state. There have been several failed attempts to enact the policy over recent decades, the most famous of which was the Oslo Accords in the early 1990s.

    In recent years, the two-state solution was looking less likely by the day.

    The Trump administration’s decision in 2017 to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the US embassy there signalled the US was moving away from its role as mediator. Then, several Arab states agreed to normalise relations with Israel in the the Abraham Accords, without Israeli promises to move towards a two-state solution.

    The Hamas attacks on Israel – and subsequent Israeli war on Gaza – have had a somewhat contradictory effect on the overarching debate.

    On the one hand, the brutality of Hamas’ actions substantially set back the legitimacy of the Palestinian self-determination movement in some quarters on the world stage.

    On the other, it’s also become clear the status quo – the continued Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West Bank following the end of a brutal war – is not tenable for either Israeli security or Palestinian human rights.

    And the breakdown of the most recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the return of heavy Israeli ground operations in May and reports of mass Palestinian starvation have only served to further isolate the Israeli government in the eyes of its peers.

    Once-steadfast supporters of Israel’s actions have become increasingly frustrated by a lack of clear strategic goals in Gaza. And many now seem prepared to ignore Israeli wishes and pursue Palestinian recognition.

    For these governments, the hope is recognition of a Palestinian state would rebuild political will – both globally and in the Middle East – towards a two-state solution.

    Huge obstacles remain

    But how likely is this in reality? There is certainly more political will than there was before, but also several important roadblocks.

    First and foremost is the war in Gaza. It’s obvious this will need to end, with both sides agreeing to an enduring ceasefire.

    Beyond that, the political authority in both Gaza and Israel remains an issue.

    The countries now considering Palestinian recognition, such France and Australia, have expressly said Hamas cannot play any role in governing a future Palestinian state.

    Though anti-Hamas sentiment is becoming more vocal among residents in Gaza, Hamas has been violently cracking down on this dissent and is attempting to consolidate its power.

    However, polling shows the popularity of Fatah – the party leading the Palestinian National Authority – is even lower than Hamas at an average of 21%. Less than half of Gazans support the enclave returning to Palestinian Authority control. This means a future Palestinian state would likely require new leadership.

    There is almost no political will in Israel for a two-state solution, either. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not been shy about his opposition to a Palestinian state. His cabinet members have mostly been on the same page.

    This has also been reflected in policy action. In early May, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved a plan for Israel to indefinitely occupy parts of Gaza. The government also just approved its largest expansion of settlements in the West Bank in decades.

    These settlements remain a major problem for a two-state solution. The total population of Israeli settlers is more than 700,000 in both East Jerusalem and the West Bank. And it’s been increasing at a faster rate since the election of the right-wing, pro-settler Netanyahu government in 2022.

    Settlement is enshrined in Israeli Basic Law, with the state defining it as “national value” and actively encouraging its “establishment and consolidation”.

    The more settlement that occurs, the more complicated the boundaries of a future Palestinian state become.

    Then there’s the problem of public support. Recent polling shows neither Israelis nor Palestinians view the two-state solution favourably. Just 40% of Palestinians support it, while only 26% of Israelis believe a Palestinian state can “coexist peacefully” alongside Israel.

    However, none of these challenges makes the policy impossible. The unpopularity of the two-state solution locally is more a reflection of previous failures than it is of future negotiations.

    A power-sharing agreement in Northern Ireland was similarly unpopular in the 1990s, but peace was achieved through bold political leadership involving the US and European Union.

    In other words, we won’t know what’s possible until negotiations begin. Red lines will need to be drawn and compromises made.

    It’s not clear what effect growing external pressure will have, but the international community does appear to be reaching a political tipping point on the two-state solution. Momentum could start building again.

    Andrew Thomas 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. A two-state solution is gaining momentum again. Does it have a chance of success? – https://theconversation.com/a-two-state-solution-is-gaining-momentum-again-does-it-have-a-chance-of-success-257890

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Microchip Technology to Present at the Bank of America 2025 Global Technology Conference

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHANDLER, Ariz., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — (NASDAQ:MCHP) – Microchip Technology Incorporated, a leading provider of smart, connected, and secure embedded control solutions, today announced that the Company will present at the Bank of America 2025 Global Technology Conference on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 at 9:20 a.m. (Pacific Time). Presenting for the Company will be Mr. Eric Bjornholt, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. A live webcast of the presentation will be made available by B of A, and can be accessed on the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

    Any forward looking statements made during the presentation are qualified in their entirety by the discussion of risks set forth in the Company’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Copies of SEC filings can be obtained for free at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov) or from commercial document retrieval services. Microchip notes that its press release on May 29, 2025 incorrectly stated that the date of the BofA conference was June 3 (not June 4) and that $1.025 billion was the low of its prior guidance range while it was actually $1.02 billion.

    Microchip Technology Incorporated is a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs, which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve approximately 112,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

    Note: The Microchip name and logo are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Inc. in the USA and other countries.

    INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACT:

    Deborah Wussler ……… (480) 792-7373

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Orange County Bancorp, Inc. Launches Public Offering of Common Stock

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MIDDLETOWN, N.Y., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Orange County Bancorp, Inc. (the “Company” – Nasdaq: OBT), parent company of Orange Bank & Trust Company, (the “Bank”) and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. (“HVIA”), today announced it launched an underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock. The Company also expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase additional shares of its common stock.

    The Company plans to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes, which may include investments in the Bank supporting continued growth, augmenting regulatory capital and liquidity and providing for potential strategic acquisitions. The Company has no current plans, arrangements or understandings relating to any specific acquisition or similar transaction.

    Piper Sandler & Co. and Stephens Inc. are serving as joint book-running managers.

    The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a shelf registration statement (including a prospectus) on Form S-3 (File No. 333-280793) and a preliminary prospectus supplement for the offering to which this press release relates. Before you invest, you should read the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, including the information incorporated by reference therein, and the other documents we have filed and will file with the SEC for more complete information about the Company and this offering. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. Electronic copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus may be obtained from Piper Sandler & Co., Attention: Prospectus Department, 800 Nicollet Mall, J12S03, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, or by phone at 1-800-747-3924, or by email at prospectus@psc.com, or Stephens Inc., 111 Center Street, Little Rock, AR 72201, or by phone at 1-800-643-9691.

    This press release is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.   The securities being offered have not been approved or disapproved by any regulatory authority, nor has any such authority passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the prospectus supplement or the shelf registration statement or prospectus relating thereto.

    About Orange County Bancorp, Inc.

    Orange County Bancorp, Inc. is the parent company of Orange Bank & Trust Company and Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. Orange Bank & Trust Company is an independent bank that began with the vision of 14 founders over 125 years ago. It has grown through innovation and an unwavering commitment to its community and business clientele to approximately $2.6 billion in total assets. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors, Inc. is a Registered Investment Advisor in Goshen, NY. It was founded in 1996 and acquired by the Company in 2012.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    The information disclosed in this press release includes various forward-looking statements that are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words “anticipates,” “projects,” “intends,” “estimates,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” and other similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The Company cautions that these forward-looking statements are necessarily speculative and speak only as of the date made, and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, all of which may change over time. Actual results could differ materially from such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. In addition to the specific risk factors disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, the following factors, among others, could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from such forward-looking statements: those related to the real estate and economic environment, particularly in the market areas in which the Company operates, competitive products and pricing, fiscal and monetary policies of the U.S. Government, inflation, changes in government regulations affecting financial institutions, including regulatory fees and capital requirements, changes in prevailing interest rates, tariffs, increased levels of loan delinquencies, problem assets and foreclosures, credit risk management, asset-liability management, cybersecurity risks, geopolitical conflicts, public health issues, the financial and securities markets and the availability of and costs associated with sources of liquidity. The Company does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions that may be made to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

    For further information:
    Michael Lesler
    EVP & Chief Financial Officer
    mlesler@orangebanktrust.com
    Phone: (845) 341-5111

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Disaster Recovery Center Opens in Breckinridge County

    Source: US Federal Emergency Management Agency

    Headline: Disaster Recovery Center Opens in Breckinridge County

    Disaster Recovery Center Opens in Breckinridge County

    FRANKFORT, Ky

    –A Disaster Recovery Center has opened in Breckinridge County to offer in-person support to Kentucky uninsured and underinsured survivors who experienced loss as the result of the April severe storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides and mudslides

    The new Disaster Recovery Center in Breckinridge County is located at: McDaniels Community Center, 10762 S

    Highway 259, McDaniels, KY 40152 Working hours are 7 a

    m

    to 7 p

    m

    Central Time, Monday through Friday, closed Saturday and Sunday

    Disaster Recovery Centers are one-stop shops where you can get information and advice on available assistance from state, federal and community organizations

     You can get help to apply for FEMA assistance, learn the status of your FEMA application, understand the letters you get from FEMA and get referrals to agencies that may offer other assistance

    The U

    S

    Small Business Administration representatives and resources from the Commonwealth are also available at the Disaster Recovery Centers to assist you

    FEMA is encouraging Kentuckians affected by the April storms to apply for federal disaster assistance as soon as possible

    The deadline to apply is June 25

    You can visit any Disaster Recovery Center to get in-person assistance

    No appointment is needed

    To find all other center locations, including those in other states, go to fema

    gov/drc or text “DRC” and a Zip Code to 43362

     You don’t have to visit a center to apply for FEMA assistance

    There are other ways to apply: online at DisasterAssistance

    gov, use the FEMA App for mobile devices or call 800-621-3362

    If you use a relay service, such as Video Relay Service (VRS), captioned telephone or other service, give FEMA the number for that service

    When you apply, you will need to provide:A current phone number where you can be contacted

    Your address at the time of the disaster and the address where you are now staying

    Your Social Security Number

    A general list of damage and losses

    Banking information if you choose direct deposit

    If insured, the policy number or the agent and/or the company name

    For more information about Kentucky flooding recovery, visit www

    fema

    gov/disaster/4860 and www

    fema

    gov/disaster/4864

    Follow the FEMA Region 4 X account at x

    com/femaregion4

     
    martyce

    allenjr
    Tue, 06/03/2025 – 14:18

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: IAM District 5 Volunteers Unite to Fight Hunger at Great Plains Food Bank

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    IAM District 5, along with 12 members from Locals 2525, W33, and W384 recently organized and performed their second IAM H.E.L.P.S event for 2025 at the Great Plains Food Bank (GPFB) in Fargo, N.D. The local food bank is a vital organization committed to fighting hunger by collecting, warehousing, and distributing surplus food to those in need across North Dakota and northwestern Minnesota.

    The volunteers from District 5 and its affiliated locals were split into two groups, one group packing snack bags for kids and the other group worked on bagging potatoes into four-pound bags. Steve Allard, Joe Schwartz, Jill Olson, Jennifer Winkler, Rebecca Joslyn, Danni Annible, Jessica Anderson and Tami Jesme packed 527 snack bags for kids, while Jeff Hoopman, Chris Seely, Patrick Mathias and James Thompson packed 278 bags of potatoes for a total of 1,112 pounds of potatoes. This effort directly benefited local families, providing them with essential items.

    “When we serve our community, we don’t just fill bags,” said IAM Midwest Territory General Vice President Sam Cicinelli. “We fill hearts, restore dignity, and build a stronger tomorrow in the communities we serve.”

    The decision to collaborate with the GPFB was driven by the collective desire of District 5 and its locals to make a meaningful impact in their local communities. By supporting the food bank’s mission, the IAM aimed to contribute to the well-being of those in need by providing essential items for essential nourishment. The IAM H.E.L.P.S. event highlighted the importance of community involvement, as the Great Plains Food Bank relies on volunteers to successfully fulfill its mission of alleviating hunger in the region.

    The IAM Midwest Territory began the “IAM H.E.L.P.S. in the Community” initiative in the spring of 2017 to provide essential assistance to those in need. H.E.L.P.S. stands for Honoring, Engaging, Lifting, Providing and Servicing.

    The post IAM District 5 Volunteers Unite to Fight Hunger at Great Plains Food Bank appeared first on IAM Union.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: The Netherlands: Leyden Labs lands €20 million EIB investment facilitated by HERA to advance pandemic preparedness activities

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • European Investment Bank and Leyden Labs sign €20 million financing to advance Leyden Labs’ pandemic preparedness activities, guaranteed by European Commission’s InvestEU initiative through its Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA).
    • Funding is part of “HERA Invest,” a €110 million top-up to the European Union’s InvestEU initiative, meant to address pandemic readiness, biodefense and antimicrobial resistance.
    • Leyden Labs will use the funding to advance development of its novel non-vaccine approach, with nasal sprays containing broadly-protective antibodies to defend against seasonal and pandemic viral infections.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Dutch clinical-stage biotechnology company Leyden Laboratories B.V. have signed a €20 million financing deal to advance development of the Company’s broadly-protective antibodies to defend against seasonal and pandemic viral infections. Leyden Labs’ lead program is a pan-influenza nasal spray currently in clinical development (PanFlu), which has the potential to provide first-in-class influenza protection and meaningfully reduce the burden of influenza infection, including in infection from Avian Flu (H5).

    The venture debt financing agreement is supported under the European Commission’s InvestEU programme and specifically falls under “HERA Invest.” This €110 million initiative from the European Health Union is meant to address biodefence, pandemic readiness and antimicrobial resistance in Europe, as a top-up to the European Union’s InvestEU initiative, funded by the EU4Health programme.

    “The COVID-19 pandemic taught us multiple lessons, including that we should strengthen the EU’s preparedness and autonomy in key areas like bio sciences.” stated EIB Vice President Robert de Groot. “With the support of the European Commission, the EIB backs highly innovative EU companies like Leyden Labs with venture debt, enabling them to grow and thrive in Europe. Technological innovations from companies like Leyden Labs are key for European competitiveness and the well-being of our society.” 

    Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, added: “Respiratory viruses are common and affect us all, especially the most medically vulnerable. Today’s agreement reaffirms our commitment to invest in innovation to strengthen preparedness and protection against respiratory viruses. HERA Invest is a prime example of Europe at the forefront of medical advancements in response to serious threats to health.”

    “We are thrilled with this endorsement of our approach and support from HERA and the European Investment Bank. This will accelerate our efforts to provide broad, universal protection against current and future viral outbreaks. We are grateful that HERA and the EIB understand the urgency and significance of investing in initiatives to ensure Europe is prepared for pandemic viruses. This concern is greater than ever given the increasing threat of an avian influenza outbreak,” said Koenraad Wiedhaup, co-founder and CEO of Leyden Labs. 

    Leyden Labs’ product candidates are nasal sprays that administer broadly protective antibodies directly to the respiratory mucosa. Leyden Lab’s solutions are designed to work at the earliest moment, before the virus even reaches systemic circulation. Systemically administered vaccines primarily generate systemic protection against viruses, however, this may be a limitation that contributes to suboptimal efficacy. Airborne viruses, including influenza, do not directly enter systemic circulation, but rather, they enter the body through the nose and mouth. The Company’s antibodies aim to protect against full viral families, so they keep working even when a virus mutates and evolves. This intranasal strategy also has the potential to benefit people with weakened immune systems because it does not rely on the person to be able to mount an immune response in order to be protective.

    The Company’s novel approach has the potential to transform the way the healthcare ecosystem thinks about viral prophylaxis, while also providing an innovative solution for use both in times of seasonal outbreaks as well as pandemic emergencies.

    HERA’s responsibility is to ensure that the EU and Member States are ready to act in the face of cross-border health threats. The €20 million proceeds of this financing will support further development of Leyden Labs’ novel, non-vaccine approach to fighting respiratory viruses to contribute to European pandemic preparedness efforts.

    Background information:

    Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA). The European Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) supports projects that strengthen preparedness and response capacities in the field of health. HERA was established as a direct consequence of the lessons learned from the initial management of the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure a solid Union response to serious-cross border health threats and secure ready availability and accessibility of medical countermeasures. HERA’s responsibility is to ensure that the EU and Member States are ready to act in the face of cross-border health threats, and its mandate covers both the strengthening of preparedness in advance of future emergencies and the implementation of a swift and efficient response once crisis hits.

    HERA Invest is a €110 million top-up to the InvestEU programme, funded by the EU4Health programme. It is implemented by the EIB and supports projects that focus on pathogens with pandemic potential, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear threats, and antimicrobial resistance. Together with HERA, the EIB assesses whether an operation meets HERA Invest’s criteria.

    The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investment for EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. The Netherlands owns a 5,2% share of the EIB. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals and national priorities. More than 90% of its activity is in Europe. Over the last ten years, the EIB has made available more than €27 billion in financing for Dutch projects in various sectors, including research & development, sustainable mobility, drinking water, healthcare and SMEs. In 2024 the EIB Group, which also includes the EIB’s subsidiary, the European Investment Fund (EIF), made available more than €3 billion for Dutch projects.

    Leyden Laboratories B.V. (Leyden Labs), founded in 2020, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in the Netherlands. Leyden Labs is working to free people from the threat of respiratory viruses, by leveraging its Mucosal Protection Platform to develop a portfolio of candidates aimed at providing protection against influenza, coronaviruses, and other respiratory viruses through a new class of broadly protective nasal sprays. Leyden Labs is supported by a strong syndicate of investors and ambassadors; VC investors include GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casdin Capital, F-Prime Capital, ClavystBio (a life sciences venture investor established by Temasek), Polaris Partners, Qiming Venture Partners, Invus, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Byers Capital / Brook Byers and Bluebird Ventures.To learn more, visit www.leydenlabs.com.

    CR9114, Leyden Labs’ lead product candidate for the PanFlu program, is a human monoclonal antibody that protects against influenza in preclinical models. Leyden Labs holds an exclusive license from Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize CR9114.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: Coalesce Launches AI and Governance Features at Snowflake Summit 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Coalesce, the leader in AI-powered data transformation and cataloging, introduced a series of major platform innovations at Snowflake’s annual user conference, Snowflake Summit 2025. These innovations reinforce Coalesce’s commitment to accelerating data development and business insight within the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.

    Coalesce’s latest updates enable data teams to build faster, govern more consistently, and deliver trusted data at scale. Key highlights include the debut of Coalesce Copilot (now in private preview), support for Snowflake Semantic Views (private preview), and deeper integration between Coalesce Transform and Catalog to close the gap between data engineering and business needs.

    “Our vision has always been to unify transformation and governance in a way that’s intuitive, scalable, and future-proof,” said Armon Petrossian, CEO and Co-founder of Coalesce. “By rapidly expanding our AI capabilities and supporting the latest innovations on Snowflake—including their Semantic Views for Cortex—we’re helping data teams move faster, stay aligned with the business, and build trust at every stage of the data lifecycle.”

    Boosting Data Engineering Productivity with Coalesce Copilot

    Building on the success of its AI Documentation Assistant, Coalesce is introducing a new generative AI Copilot designed to streamline transformation workflows. Powered by an agentic architecture, the prompt-based assistant accelerates development and reduces friction in daily data engineering tasks.

    Now in private preview, Coalesce Copilot helps users:

    • Explore metadata using natural language prompts
    • Auto-generate transformation logic, SQL, and platform configurations
    • Stay in flow without switching between documentation, SQL references, and the UI

    Whether data teams are creating new objects or refining complex logic, Coalesce Copilot offers real-time, context-aware suggestions tailored to their Snowflake environments, helping teams move faster while maintaining governance and consistency.

    Stop by Booth 1603 at Snowflake Summit 2025, June 2-5, to see the Coalesce Copilot in action or learn more here.

    Enhancing the Coalesce Catalog Experience

    Following the March 2025 acquisition of CastorDoc—now Coalesce Catalog—the Coalesce team prioritized deep integration with the Transform product and quickly introduced it to their customer base.

    Adoption has been swift: within two months of the acquisition, over 10% of existing customers had added Catalog—including RSG Group, Alterman, and Toll Brothers—a rapid ramp-up rarely seen with acquired products, according to Joe Floyd, General Partner at Emergence Capital.

    “At United, we have numerous data initiatives and enterprise-wide requirements, and Coalesce is helping accelerate our development and support our ambitious goals,” said Andrew Crisp, Director of Enterprise Data Services at United Community Banks. “The platform is powerful and intuitive, and the team is especially excited about the new Catalog and its potential to enable self-service analytics and governance.”

    The platform roadmap continues to advance rapidly, including:

    • MCP Server development, enabling the Catalog AI Assistant to run in Slack, Teams, and other collaboration tools where teams already work
    • Quality tests authored in Coalesce Transform and surfaced in Catalog provide a deep, bidirectional data quality and monitoring experience
    • End-to-end lineage spanning the entire Snowflake ecosystem, from source to dashboards
    • Live integrations with tools like Confluence and Notion, supporting real-time confidence and collaboration

    “Trust starts with the business,” said Satish Jayanthi, Co-founder and CTO of Coalesce. “With our deeper integration between Catalog and Transformation, business teams can define their intent in the catalog—whether it’s rules, policies, or metrics—and have that enforced automatically by our platform. Catalog becomes the hub, and things like transformation, quality, and security are the spokes.”

    Deepening Snowflake Partnership and Customer Growth

    Coalesce’s growth within the Snowflake ecosystem continues to accelerate. The number of global companies adopting Coalesce has nearly doubled year-over-year, alongside 4x growth in development activity and 3x growth in Snowflake object creation.

    This momentum has been bolstered by a native integration with Fivetran, support for Snowflake AI and interoperability capabilities (including Cortex AI and Apache Iceberg™), and rapid development on new Snowflake features, such as their semantic layer.

    “Coalesce continues to be one of the companies setting the pace of innovation in the Snowflake partner ecosystem,” said Kieran Kennedy, VP, Data Cloud Product Partners, Snowflake. “Their momentum and focus on governed, intelligent operations make them a standout partner in the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.”

    Visit Us at Snowflake Summit 2025

    Coalesce is showcasing its latest innovations, including Coalesce Copilot and enhanced Catalog features, at Booth 1603 during Snowflake Summit 2025 at Moscone Center in San Francisco.

    To book a meeting or see a live demo, visit https://coalesce.io/summit

    About Coalesce
    Coalesce is the only data transformation platform built for scale, governance, and the AI-driven future. The platform provides data teams with an intuitive yet powerful interface to build, document, and manage data transformations 10x faster, all while maintaining standards and governance. With the addition of Coalesce Catalog, customers can now unify data transformation and metadata in a single solution—enabling better discovery, trust, and collaboration across the business.

    To learn more, visit https://coalesce.io.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Murphy, Colleagues, Advocates Call Out Trump’s Corrupt Meme Coin Dinner, Demand The Release Of Attendees’ Names And What Favors They’re Getting

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy

    June 03, 2025

    [embedded content]
    WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday led a press conference with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and U.S. Representative Sam Liccardo (D-Calif.), Public Citizen, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and End Citizens United to call out the blatant corruption behind President Trump’s meme coin dinner — a secretive, high-dollar event where anonymous crypto investors are buying direct access to Trump. The Members demanded full transparency: who’s attending, how much they paid, and what kind of influence they’re expecting in return for the millions of dollars they put in Trump’s meme coin. With no press, no disclosure, and crypto wallets tied to foreign actors, this dinner isn’t just unethical — it’s a national security risk. It’s pay-to-play politics on steroids, and Trump is cashing in. The dinner is scheduled for tonight at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
    “We’re here today to call on the President and the people who serve him to do something really simple: release the names of the people who are going to be there,” said Murphy. “Even if you release the names, it’s still corrupt. But at least let us see who’s going to be there. At least let the American people know who has bought access to the President. Release the names. If there’s nothing wrong, if you think that this is all above board, then what are you hiding?”
    “Americans sent us to Congress to unrig the economy — not to help the President turn the White House into a crypto cash machine with private dinners for his top meme coin buyers or legislation that supercharges his stablecoin profits,” said Banking Committee Ranking Member Warren. “The GENIUS Act should be written to prohibit the president and his family from profiting—period.”
    “President Trump has put a ‘for sale’ sign on the White House lawn with his cryptocurrency schemes,” said Merkley. “Congress needs to act fast to stop the massive corruption and national security threat that is Trump selling access and influence to the highest bidders. My End Crypto Corruption Act not only cracks down on this corruption but also prevents other federal officials, like Members of Congress, from betraying our ‘We The People’ government.”
    “Donald Trump is selling access. He is selling out America, he is selling it to a foreign power, and he is putting our national security at risk. Trump is becoming beholden to foreign powers—the Emirates that provided $2 billion to World Liberty Financial, the Qataris that have provided him with a plane, and the unknown foreign actors that have invested in his meme coin operation. It’s not just about corruption—it is about corruption that endangers our national security by putting the president in a compromised position in relation to foreign powers,” said Blumenthal. “My hope is that the Trump Administration will give us the list of individuals attending tonight’s dinner as the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation has asked them to provide.”
    “I was not invited to dine with Donald Trump today. I’m not disappointed.  But you know who should be disappointed? The 746,000 people (probably many of them Americans) who bought small amounts of that Trump coin – maybe some of them bought a little bit more – who didn’t get invited. When I introduced the MEME Act in the House it was because, to borrow from Richard Nixon, those 764,000 Americans needed to know that their president was a crook. And hopefully, we’re going to find some Republicans who have the courage and the spine to say this is corruption regardless of which party is committing it,” said Liccardo.
    “America should not be for sale. With tonight’s prize dinner, our President is using his private golf course to cater to some of the world’s richest people, instead of working on behalf of working families and our country. He claims to be ‘America first,’ but really, he’s ‘Donald Trump first.’ Between his outrageous meme coin grift, his Tesla car show on the White House lawn, the jumbo jet gift from Qatar and his numerous candlelit dinners for tech bros and foreign billionaires, this President is the definition of corruption and personal profit over regular people,” said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen.
    “The President’s corrupt dinner is yet another alarming example of foreign interests opening their wallets to him. By turning the American presidency into a money-making venture, Trump is inviting an unprecedented level of corruption—and putting our national security at risk. End Citizens United proudly stands with Senator Murphy and the other lawmakers who spoke out today to demand transparency and accountability,” said Justin Unga, Vice President of Public Affairs, End Citizens United.
    Earlier this month, Murphy introduced the Modern Emoluments and Malfeasance Enforcement (MEME) Act, legislation to prevent corrupt federal officials from using their position to profit off digital assets such as meme coins. Rep. Liccardo introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Fine-tuning AI models into agents — the secret to scaling expert knowledge across your company

    Source: Microsoft

    Headline: Fine-tuning AI models into agents — the secret to scaling expert knowledge across your company

    When every business uses AI, how do you maintain a competitive edge? Simply adopting the standard AI models isn’t enough—you need to adapt them to your business, and the work you want them to do for you.  

    Fine-tuning is the step that makes this possible: you can give your AI a hyper-accelerated education in everything that makes your company valuable. Learning from your data, the AI will become a specialist in your organization, uniquely designed to accomplish what you do best.  

    Historically, fine-tuning was a time- and resource-intensive process. But recent breakthroughs are changing the game. It’s now readily available to every organization—no coding experience required. Here’s how that change is unfolding, and what it means for your business. 

    Moving to more specialized agents
    Many foundation models are trained on data from across the internet, which makes them powerful but general. Fine-tuning gives them targeted expertise: for instance, the model can take in countless examples from your business and learn to understand your data, language, and workflows. Build an agent based on that tuned model, and it’s like hiring a digital specialist with years of experience. 

    Thanks to recent advancements that make it easier and faster, fine-tuning is well within reach for organizations of any size. Businesses now have two ways to tap into these more knowledgeable models:  

    • Custom: Fine-tune a model yourself and build agents based on it. This is a much easier process now with low-code tools like Copilot Tuning, a new offering we just announced at Build. (Your fine-tuned model and custom agents access data securely, and only within your organization’s Microsoft 365 service boundary.) Any agent you create has deep and specific knowledge based on your company’s own data about how best to do a particular task. 

    • Pre-built: Buy an agent that has already been taught special skills. If you need help with advanced data analysis, for example, there’s a Microsoft agent called Analyst—built on OpenAI’s o3-mini reasoning model and designed to think like a data scientist. Its knowledge in that area is deep, but instead of being fine-tuned on your own company data, it’s trained on a broad, abstracted understanding of how businesses work. To access other special skills, you can tap into a whole ecosystem of agents from Microsoft and our partners.  

    Honing your competitive edge
    Fine-tuning agents on what sets your business apart is the digital equivalent of onboarding a team with specialized skills and knowledge. Since your institutional knowledge and know-how are what differentiate you from your competition, tuning your agents is the way you scale that competitive advantage across the whole business. In essence, you’re encoding the valuable expertise of your subject matter experts into the systems that support everyone else. 

    For instance, imagine if your agents understood how and why your documents are crafted in specific ways (including format, word choice, and content). A biomedical company could use agents to write reports in the way it has developed over decades, so they’re not just accurate but aligned with how the firm’s experts communicate critical information. A legal firm could draft arguments that blend institutional knowledge with client-specific context to build the strongest cases possible. At a financial services firm, an agent could generate investment reports modeled on the tone, structure, and content of those drafted by the organization’s most experienced analysts.  

    This is institutional knowledge at scale—captured, codified, and available to any employee. 

    Agents go vertical, human roles go horizontal
    Because of this new ability to scale organizational knowledge, the traditional model of an organization’s software customization is going to change—along with the role of humans. In short, software will go more vertical, and humans more horizontal. Software products have traditionally been universal—think of Excel, which anyone who works with numbers can use, or Word, a tool for writing and editing that’s used across countless professions and industries. We’re moving into an era of more targeted solutions, with agents as a new kind of software that has deep expertise in specific roles, industries, and organizations.  

    In the meantime, I expect that human roles will be able to expand horizontally as agents support them with deep, vertical expertise. AI-first organizations will pair human generalists with specialized agents at every level. Humans will step back to see the big picture—connecting dots across roles and orchestrating work between people and machines. They’ll manage and guide agents, validating their outputs, resolving discrepancies, handling exceptions, and making judgment calls. The real advantage will belong to those who can think strategically while deploying tools designed for precision. 

    Summing it up
    What if everyone in your organization had access to all your company’s best thinking, preferred practices, and institutional knowledge? This is truly the definition of democratizing that knowledge across the business. Soon, a fleet of fine-tuned agents will make that vision possible. They embed your company’s best practices into the flow of work, helping teams move faster with more consistency and confidence—constantly sharpening your unique edge. 

    For more insights on AI and the future of work, subscribe to this newsletter.

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Egypt’s renewable power capacity to reach 31.6GW in 2035, forecasts GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Egypt’s renewable power capacity to reach 31.6GW in 2035, forecasts GlobalData

    Posted in Power

    Egypt is endeavoring to augment the proportion of renewable energy within its electricity mix to 42% by the year 2035. The nation is actively expanding its capacity through the implementation of large-scale solar and wind energy initiatives. Against this backdrop, renewable power capacity in the country is expected to reach 31.6GW in 2035, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.4% during 2024-35, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s latest report, “Egypt Power Market Outlook to 2035, Update 2025 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape,” reveals that annual renewable power generation in Egypt is expected to increase at a CAGR of 19.4% during 2024-35 to reach 88.9TWh.

    With its advantageous conditions to harness solar and wind power, Egypt recognizes renewable energy as a pivotal factor for its economic growth. The country possesses considerable wind energy potential, particularly in the Gulf of Suez area, where stable wind speeds average 8-10 meters per second at a height of 100 meters.  Furthermore, Egypt enjoys between 2,800 and 3,200 hours of sunshine annually, with daily sunshine ranging from 9-11 hours from north to south.

    Attaurrahman Ojindaram Saibasan, Power Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Egypt’s primary opportunity resides in the exponential growth of electricity consumption, which correlates directly with the increasing population size. This trend presents a significant investment opportunity for companies specializing in power generation equipment.”

    The adoption of renewable energy could enhance Egypt’s energy security while preserving foreign exchange income through continued gas exports. Additionally, it has the potential to reduce GHG emissions and mitigate environmental impacts.

    Saibasan concludes: “Electricity consumption is increasing across all sectors, including residential, industrial, and commercial, in Egypt. Growing demand is driving the need for new power generation projects and grid upgrades. Egypt has one of the fastest-growing populations in the region, with over 107.8 million people as of 2024. Urbanization is increasing, with new housing developments and smart cities like the New Administrative Capital requiring large-scale electricity infrastructure. The country is focusing on renewables to meet increasing demand.”

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Enterprises need to jump on opportunities presented by global AI sovereignty strategies, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Enterprises need to jump on opportunities presented by global AI sovereignty strategies, says GlobalData

    Posted in Technology

    AI is no longer simply a competitive differentiator for enterprises; the technology is increasingly critical to national security and economic empowerment, prompting countries across the globe to implement strategies that support AI sovereignty. While narrowly defined by some as a focus primarily on infrastructure, AI sovereignty should include a broad swath of capabilities that relate to a country’s (or region’s) ability to produce and maintain its own AI prowess. Enterprises need to exploit the opportunities presented by AI sovereignty strategies globally, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    Rena Bhattacharyya, Chief Analyst and Practice Lead for Enterprise Technology and Services at GlobalData, comments: “AI sovereignty should consist of capabilities related to chip design, chip manufacturing, AI processing facilities, data sovereignty, AI models (including LLMs), an appropriate regulatory environment, and AI talent.”

    GlobalData notes that given the rapid pace of innovation prompted by sovereign AI strategies, enterprises need to implement solutions that allow them to remain agile as their needs and the competitive landscape evolve.  They need a strategy that supports business continuity and resiliency and encompasses AI requirements.

    Bhattacharyya notes: “Organizations need to be able to pivot, when necessary, which could mean implementing solutions available in their own backyards, should the need arise.  Foundational to this is a strategy that avoids vendor lock-in and cultivates the skills to take advantage of new technology, new solutions, and new standards as they come to market.”

    Additionally, building in-country expertise will be foundational to implementing a sovereign AI strategy. Enterprises and governments outside the US should jump on the opportunity to expand their talent pools.

    Bhattacharyya concludes: “Immigration and visa turmoil in the US, combined with AI investments by governments around the world, present an opportunity for other countries to lure tech-savvy individuals that would normally study and then stay in the US. Additionally, AI professionals that may have considered US-based employment will be attracted to the growing number of opportunities with organizations across the globe.”

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: EyePoint’s Duravyu holds potential to become new treatment option for wAMD, says GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    EyePoint’s Duravyu holds potential to become new treatment option for wAMD, says GlobalData

    Posted in Pharma

    EyePoint Pharmaceuticals’ Duravyu (vorolanib) is in the spotlight following its recent advancements in its Phase III trial. The company recently announced the completion of patient enrollment for LUGANO, its pivotal Phase III clinical trial. The current wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD) treatment landscape is largely dominated by vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. Duravyu is expected to introduce a novel mechanism of action, offering enhanced durability and consistent dosing in the wAMD therapeutic arena, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    Duravyu is a sustained-release intravitreal implant that selectively inhibits tyrosine kinase activity by targeting all three VEGF receptors: VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, and VEGFR-3, as well as the platelet-derived growth factor receptor (PDGFR), while sparing the TIE-2 receptor. It is being evaluated in the LUGANO trial, a randomized, active-controlled, quadruple-masked, multi-center Phase III study designed to assess Duravyu’s efficacy, safety, and durability at two dosage levels in patients with wAMD. Enrollment for this trial has been completed across multiple sites in the US.

    Data from the completed Phase II DAVIO2 trial, presented by Dr. Katherine Talcott, Vitreoretinal Surgeon at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic, during the 2025 ARVO Annual Meeting, demonstrated that both 2mg (n=50) and 3mg (n=52) doses of Duravyu were statistically non-inferior to aflibercept administered every eight weeks (n=54) in terms of improvement in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), thereby meeting the primary endpoint.

    Additionally, BCVA and central subfield thickness (CST) were maintained over one year. Remarkably, 63% of eyes treated with Duravyu did not require supplemental aflibercept treatment for up to six months post-insertion. The treatment burden was reduced by 80% among trial participants compared to their pre-trial regimen, whereas those previously on standard care experienced a 70% reduction.

    Sara Reci, MSc, Managing Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “These findings highlight Duravyu’s potential to significantly alleviate treatment burden while maintaining efficacy and durability, a critical consideration for patients managing wAMD.”

    Key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData have praised Duravyu’s initial clinical data, emphasizing its promising potential in the wAMD patient population. They noted that Duravyu has demonstrated a level of durability that surpasses many currently approved therapies on the market.

    Reci concludes: “Duravyu shows considerable promise as a treatment option for wAMD patients and clinicians, given its encouraging efficacy, safety, and durability profiles. Should the LUGANO trial confirm these benefits, Duravyu could emerge as a leading therapy, offering much-needed durability in wAMD management.”

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI: Siili Solutions Plc: Share Repurchase 3.6.2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Siili Solutions Plc       Announcement  3.6.2025
         
         
    Siili Solutions Plc: Share Repurchase 3.6.2025  
         
    In the Helsinki Stock Exchange    
         
    Trade date           3.6.2025  
    Bourse trade         Buy  
    Share                  SIILI  
    Amount             1 100 Shares
    Average price/ share    6,3800 EUR
    Total cost            7 018,00 EUR
         
         
    Siili Solutions Plc now holds a total of 2 898 shares
    including the shares repurchased on 3.6.2025  
         
    The share buybacks are executed in compliance with Regulation 
    No. 596/2014 of the European Parliament and Council (MAR) Article 5
    and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052.
         
    On behalf of Siili Solutions Plc    
         
    Nordea Bank Oyj    
         
    Sami Huttunen Ilari Isomäki  
         
    Further information:    
    CFO Aleksi Kankainen    
    Email: aleksi.kankainen@siili.com    
    Tel. +358 50 584 2029    
         
    www.siili.com    
         
         

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Foreign Exchange and Liquidity and Monthly Balance Sheet, May 2025

    Source: Danmarks Nationalbank

    THE FOREIGN-EXCHANGE RESERVE

    In May 2025, the foreign-exchange reserve decreased by kr. 0.5 billion to kr. 660.9 billion. The decrease reflects Danmarks Nationalbank’s net sale of foreign exchange for kr. 0.5 billion, and the central government’s net borrowing of foreign debt for kr. 0.1 billion, cf. table 1.

    For settlement in May, Danmarks Nationalbank has not intervened in the foreign exchange market.

    Danmarks Nationalbank’s net foreign-exchange purchases and the change in the foreign-exchange reserve – table 1

    Kr. billion May 2025 January – May 2025
    Danmarks Nationalbank’s interventions* to purchase foreign exchange, net 0.0 0.0
    Other** -0.5 5.6
    Danmarks Nationalbank’s net foreign-exchange purchases -0.5 5.6
    The central government’s net foreign borrowing*** 0.1 0.9
    Change in the foreign-exchange reserve -0.5 6.5

    Note: Details may not add because of rounding and previously published figure may have been revised. All transactions as per settlement date.

    * Intervention takes place when Danmarks Nationalbank purchases and sells foreign exchange for Danish kroner in the foreign-exchange market in order to stabilise the exchange rate.

    ** Comprises e.g. interest accrued on the foreign-exchange reserve, the central government’s net payments in foreign exchange, and changes in the banks’ deposits in euro-denominated accounts at Danmarks Nationalbank.

    *** Including net payments to the central government in foreign exchange as a result of currency swaps.

    DEVELOPMENT IN LIQUIDITY

    In May, the central government’s net financing requirement amounted to kr. -11.8 billion. Since the turn of the year, the central government’s net financing requirement has been kr. -50.8 billion, cf. table 2.

    The net position of the banks and mortgage-credit institutes vis-à-vis Danmarks Nationalbank decreased by kr. 11.7 billion in May, to an outstanding amount of kr. 215.0 billion. In May, the central government’s liquidity impact decreased the net position by kr. 10.9 billion.

    Impact of various factors on the net position of the banks and mortgage-credit institutes via-a-vis Danmarks Nationalbank – table 2

    Kr. billion May 2025 January – May 2025
    The central government’s net financing -11.8 -50.8
    Redemption on domestic central-government debt* 4.4 30.3
    Net bond purchases by the government funds and own portfolio and financing of social housing 0.4 -2.7
    Other** 0.3 1.2
    The central government’s gross domestic financing requirement -6.7 -22.0
    The central government’s gross domestic borrowing*** 4.2 30.4
    The central government’s liquidity impact -10.9 -52.5
    Danmarks Nationalbank’s net foreign-exchange purchases -0.5 5.6
    Danmarks Nationalbank’s net bond purchases 0.1 -0.9
    Other factors**** -0.4 2.2
    Change in net position -11.7 -45.5

    Note: Details may not add because of rounding and previously published figure may have been revised. All transactions as per settlement date.

    * Including krone-denominated payments by the central government in currency swaps.

    ** Comprises foreign net financing requirement and changes in net collateral for the government’s swap portfolio.

    *** Gross long-term borrowing, net short-term borrowing and krone-denominated payments to the central government in currency swaps.

    **** Comprises e.g. changes in banknotes and coins in circulation.

    DANMARKS NATIONALBANK’S INTEREST RATES

    Since 22 April 2025 the discount rate has been 1.85 pct. p.a., since 22 April 2025 the current-account interest rate has been 1.85 pct. p.a., since 22 April 2025 the lending rate has been 2 pct. p.a. and since 22 April 2025 the rate of interest on certificates of deposit has been 1.85 pct. p.a.

    Enquiries can be directed to press advisor Teis Hald Jensen on tel. +45 3363 6066.

    BALANCE SHEET OF DANMARKS NATIONALBANK 31 MAY 2025

    Assets 2025 2025
    1000 kr. 31/05 30/04
    Stock of gold 40,309,044 40,309,044
    Foreign assets 566,881,908 567,242,187
    Claims on the International Monetary Fund 59,637,170 59,630,332
    Claims related to banks’ and mortgage credit institutes’ TARGET accounts in ECB 22,525 35,894
    Monetary-policy lending 30,000,000 1,000
    Other lending 994,843 1,160,292
    – Banks’1) 994,843 1,160,292
    – Miscellaneous loans – –
    Domestic bonds 32,964,923 32,869,523
    Financial fixed assets, etc. 131,550 131,550
    Tangible and intangible fixed assets 784,982 715,435
    Other assets 4,824,247 5,170,251
    736,551,192 707,265,508

    1) Other lending to banks include loans for cash deposits.

    Liabilities 2025 2025
    1000 kr. 31/05 30/04
    Banknotes 46,638,763 46,730,241
    Coins 6,082,989 6,088,949
    Monetary-policy deposits 244,974,905 226,668,294
    – Current accounts 244,974,905 226,668,294
    – Certificates of deposit – –
    Other deposits 15,143,360 15,175,216
    – Deposits related to banks’ and mortgage credit institutes’ TARGET accounts in ECB 22,525 35,894
    – Other deposits from banks’ and mortgage credit institutes’ 871,172 947,726
    – Miscellaneous deposits 14,249,663 14,191,596
    Central government 265,043,218 254,056,564
    Foreign liabilities 5,898,251 5,801,316
    Counterpart of Special Drawing Rights allocated by the IMF (SDR) 45,039,776 45,039,776
    Other liabilities 6,891,005 6,866,227
    Capital and reserves 100,838,925 100,838,925
    736,551,192 707,265,508

    Note: The monthly balance sheet is calculated at beginning of year values +/- accumulated transaction values. The monthly balance does not include value adjustments and accruals, as these are only calculated at year-end, cf. Danmarks Nationalbank’s accounting principles.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI: Travis Credit Union Strengthens Leadership and Innovation in Payments and Information Security

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    VACAVILLE, Calif., June 03, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In response to the rapidly evolving payments landscape and increasing importance of cybersecurity, Travis Credit Union (TCU) announces two strategic leadership appointments. These investments in talent underscore TCU’s ongoing commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and the protection of its members’ financial data.

    Leading the newly established Payment Services capability will be Chris Germann, who joins TCU as Managing Director of Payment Services. Payment Services strategically integrates payment product development, advanced fraud mitigation capabilities, card servicing and loan servicing.

    “Chris is a strategic and operational payments leader, enabling internal and external resources to deliver on TCU’s ongoing commitment to protecting our members’ financial data and reenforcing our commitment deliver a trusted and secure banking environment for our members,” said Kevin Miller, president and chief executive officer at Travis Credit Union. “This appointment will ensure that we remain at the forefront of industry standards and best practices, fostering a secure environment for our members’ trust and peace of mind in an evolving digital landscape.”

    Chris brings a wealth of experience from his previous roles as Director of Payment Services at Huntington National Bank and TCF National Bank.

    Leading cybersecurity across TCU will be Kirsten Miller as Information Security Officer. Kirsten will oversee the credit union’s information security program, focusing on risk management and operational maturity initiatives to further strengthen member data protection.

    “Kirsten’s leadership is vital as we continue to enhance our cybersecurity efforts and protect our members’ financial data from emerging digital threats,” said Kevin. “Her vision and expertise will help us stay ahead of evolving risks and ensure our security practices remain strong, adaptive, and member focused.”

    Kirsten brings decades of technology and information security risk leadership experience from her previous roles held at Golden 1 Credit Union, VSP Global and Citigroup.

    With more than 50 years of combined experience in payments, cybersecurity, risk, operational efficiency and change leadership, these two new leaders mark a significant step forward in TCU’s mission to deliver innovative, secure, and member-focused financial services.

    About Travis Credit Union
    Travis Credit Union, based in Vacaville, Calif., has been recognized at the federal, state and local levels for its longstanding financial education and financial advocacy efforts. In 2024, TCU was named as a Best Regional Credit Union by Newsweek. It has also selected as a Best-In-State Credit Union by Forbes and has also earned the U.S. Air Force Distinguished Credit Union of the Year award. Founded in 1951 on Travis Air Force Base, TCU today serves 12 Northern California counties. It is the twelfth largest credit union in California, with 250,000 members and $5 billion in assets. Learn more about our mission at traviscu.org.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Security: St. Paul Man Sentenced in Twin Cities Stuffed Animal Fentanyl Distribution Conspiracy

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ST. PAUL, Minn. – A St. Paul man was sentenced to 120 months imprisonment followed by 5 years of supervised release after pleading guilty to his part in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.

    According to court documents, between August 2022 through December 2023, Quijuan Hosea Bankhead, 31, and others conspired to distribute fentanyl in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota.  To accomplish their scheme, several of the co-defendants traveled to Phoenix to obtain fentanyl pills from suppliers, hid the pills inside stuffed animals, and then mailed them to addresses in and around the Twin Cities.  Law enforcement in Dakota, Ramsey, and Washington counties became aware of the trafficking and initiated a joint investigation, which resulted in the seizure of six packages containing over 30,000 grams of fentanyl pills.

    Bankhead was sentenced on May 29, 2025, in U.S District Court before Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan.

    “Bankhead and his network smuggled deadly fentanyl into Minnesota and had the gall to hide this poison inside of children’s toys—stuffed animals,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.  “Bankhead will now serve a well-deserved decade in federal prison.”

    This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Dakota County Drug Task Force, the Washington County Drug Task Force, and the Ramsey County Violent Crime Enforcement Team.

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Campbell Warner prosecuted the case.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: IMF Staff Completes 2025 Article IV Visit to Brazil

    Source: IMF – News in Russian

    June 3, 2025

    End-of-Mission press releases include statements of IMF staff teams that convey preliminary findings after a visit to a country. The views expressed in this statement are those of the IMF staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF’s Executive Board. Based on the preliminary findings of this mission, staff will prepare a report that, subject to management approval, will be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for discussion and decision.

    • Brazil’s economy has grown strongly over the past three years, surprising on the upside. Inflation rebounded in 2024 amid strong demand, a rise in food prices, and currency depreciation, exceeding the target tolerance interval. IMF staff expects growth to moderate in the near term as inflation converges to target, and then strengthen to 2.5 percent over the medium term.
    • The pivot to a monetary policy tightening cycle in September 2024 was appropriate and consistent with bringing inflation and inflation expectations back to the 3 percent target. In the context of heightened global policy uncertainty and inflation expectations above target-consistent levels, maintaining flexibility on the pace and length of the hiking cycle is prudent.
    • The authorities’ efforts to continue improving the fiscal position, while trying to meet social spending and investment needs, are welcome and further steps are warranted. Phasing out costly and inefficient tax expenditures, enhancing revenue administration, and tackling budget rigidities would open space for priority investments, support public debt sustainability, and facilitate a lower path of interest rates.
    • The authorities are advancing their sustainable and inclusive growth agenda. Implementation of the landmark VAT reform is proceeding and a personal income tax reform that aims to enhance equity is under discussion in Congress.

    Washington, DC: An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Daniel Leigh, conducted discussions for the 2025 Article IV Consultation with the Brazilian authorities and consulted with other stakeholders during May 20 – June 2, 2025. At the conclusion of the visit, Mr. Leigh issued the following statement:

    “Brazil’s economy has grown strongly over the past three years, surprising on the upside. Staff projects a moderation in growth from 3.4 percent in 2024 to 2.3 percent in 2025, amid tight monetary and financial conditions, a scaling back of fiscal support, and heightened global policy uncertainty. Inflation is expected to reach 5.2 percent by end-2025, before gradually converging to the 3 percent target by end-2027. The external current account deficit reached 2.8 percent of GDP in 2024, on the back of strong exports and rising imports due to stronger economic activity.

    “Over the medium term, growth is forecasted to recover to 2.5 percent, supported by the normalization of monetary policy and supportive structural factors, notably the implementation of the efficiency-enhancing VAT reform and the acceleration in hydrocarbon production. Additional structural reforms and implementation of the Ecological Transformation Plan would further boost medium-term growth prospects.

    “Risks to the growth outlook are tilted to the downside amid heightened global policy uncertainty. A sound financial system, adequate FX reserves, low reliance on FX debt, large government cash buffers, and a flexible exchange rate continue to support Brazil’s resilience.

    “The Central Bank of Brazil’s (BCB) pivot to a tightening cycle in September 2024 was appropriate and consistent with bringing inflation and inflation expectations back to the 3 percent target. Above-target near- and medium-term inflation expectations, as well as a widening positive output gap, supported the case for the BCB’s rate hikes. In the context of heightened global policy uncertainty and inflation expectations above target-consistent levels, maintaining flexibility on the pace and length of the hiking cycle is prudent.

    “The authorities’ efforts to continue improving the fiscal position, while trying to meet social spending and investment needs, are welcome and further steps are warranted. To put public debt on a firmly downward path, open space for priority investments, and facilitate a lower path of interest rates, staff recommends a sustained and more ambitious fiscal effort, supported by an enhanced fiscal framework, revenue mobilization, and spending measures. Implementation of the landmark 2023 VAT reform is expected to significantly simplify the tax system and boost productivity, and efforts rightly aim to secure revenue-neutrality.

    “The financial sector was resilient in 2024 and is expected to remain so amid higher interest rates. The authorities are implementing regulatory changes aimed at further strengthening financial sector resilience. Reforms to facilitate a reduction in household leverage are needed. At present, public banks appear well-capitalized, profitable, and liquid, and have been paying dividends to the government. Lending by public banks should continue to focus on addressing market failures, such as supporting long-term investment.

    “The BCB continues to advance its financial innovation agenda. Pix, the instant payment system developed by the BCB, now accounts for 49 percent of all electronic payments in Brazil—the most popular method, reflecting its low costs and immediate settlement. The pilot of Brazil’s Central Bank Digital Currency, Drex, has entered the second phase, where additional use cases and integration with external platforms will be tested and enhanced, while continuing to explore data privacy solutions.

    “The authorities are delivering on their inclusive and sustainable growth agenda. Structural reforms together with expanding hydrocarbon production have lifted Brazil’s medium-term growth prospects. Additional structural reforms and implementation of the Ecological Transformation Plan would further foster productivity, investment, and job-rich growth, while extending recent gains in social inclusion. Brazil has made notable progress in reducing deforestation in recent years and is on track to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) targets.

    “The team would like to thank the authorities and private sector representatives for their support, hospitality, and constructive dialogue.”

    IMF Communications Department
    MEDIA RELATIONS

    PRESS OFFICER: Julie Ziegler

    Phone: +1 202 623-7100Email: MEDIA@IMF.org

    https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2025/06/03/pr-25174-brazil-imf-completes-2025-art-iv-visit

    MIL OSI

    MIL OSI Russia News –