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  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study looking at continuous glucose monitors and measuring blood sugar levels in people without diabetes

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition looks at continuous glucose monitors in people without diabetes. 

    Dr Adam Collins, Associate Professor of Nutrition, University of Surrey, said:

    “The appeal of CGMs lies in their non-invasiveness, coupled with their ability to automatically measure glucose every 5 minutes for up to 2 weeks at a time.  This provides the user with a mass of real time data which can be informative for dietary and lifestyle changes, particularly useful on those who are diabetic.  However, this study by Prof Gonzalez and his team is highly relevant and informative given the increasing use of CGMS by healthy, non-diabetic individuals.

    “This study nicely illustrates potential issues of accuracy with CGMs.  The robustness of the study lies in its measurement of postprandial glucose excursions on multiple occasions, under standardised conditions, in a well-controlled crossover design.  By design, CGMs sample interstitial fluid, which we assume is directly reflective of blood glucose, but yet could be influenced by other factors that impact glucose movement into tissues.  In addition, there will inevitably be some time lag between blood glucose and interstitial fluid changes.  This lag could be as short as a few minutes or as long as half an hour.  Such a lag can be problematic when detecting rapid changes in blood glucose.

    “We are in the middle of a similar validation study investigating the accuracy and reliability of CGMS and have observed that discrepancies can be as high as 1-1.5mmol/L.  Such a discrepancy can be significant in those who are healthy and have normal blood glucose control, as their normal range of blood glucose is typically far smaller.  This can lead to misinterpretation and “misdiagnosis” of apparent blood glucose excursions that still remain within the boundaries of normal.  Indeed, often individuals are basing dietary and lifestyle changes on what are essentially variations of normal any way, compounded by a magnitude of error in the data itself.

    “To add to this, in our current study, we are examining an agreement between two CGM devices fitted to participants at the same time, and have observed discrepancies between devices on the same person.  For example, differences between having the device fitted on your dominant or non-dominant arm.  I would also suggest that using handheld devices for measuring capillary blood, as has been the traditional practice (and used in this AJCN study), can also be subject to error.  Similarly, we have observed discrepancies between two handheld devices measuring the same individual’s blood.

    “With all this said, I very much agree with the lead authors’ conclusions.  The use and interpretation of CGM devices in healthy individuals should be undertaken with caution.  They certainly shouldn’t be used as the sole basis for dietary changes, restrictions, or extreme lifestyle changes.”

    Dr Nicola Guess, academic dietitian and researcher specialising in the dietary prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, University of Oxford, said:

    “This was a well conducted randomised controlled trial which compared the glucose response to standard meals using two methods: a CGM (continuous glucose monitor) and capillary blood testing (“finger prick” testing) in 15 healthy males and females.  The investigators found that CGMs overestimate glucose to a clinically-relevant degree in healthy people without prediabetes or diabetes.  This means that people who have normal glucose may be led to believe they have prediabetes.

    “This is one of a growing number of studies which demonstrate how cautious we need to be when interpreting CGM data from a person without diabetes.  In this study, the CGM estimated the “time out of range” as 4-fold higher compared to the capillary value.  Other studies have found CGMs can also underestimate glucose (for example during exercise) and are particularly inaccurate when glucose concentration changes rapidly.

    “Taken together, I would advise people without diabetes using CGMs to interpret the output with a pinch of salt.”

    ‘Continuous glucose monitor overestimates glycemia, with the magnitude of bias varying by postprandial test and individual – A randomized crossover trial’ by Katie M. Hutchins et al. was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition at 08:00 UK time on Wednesday 26 February 2025. 

    DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2025.02.024

    Declared interests

    Dr Adam Collins: “No conflict of interest.”

    Dr Nicola Guess: “No conflicts with any CMG company.  Nutrition adviser to Beyond Meat (I advise on fortification questions, ingredients etc., and have written blogs for them).  For MyFitnessPal I provide input into their behavioural programmes and have written blogs for them.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: MSPs urged to support end to public grants for genocide profiteers

    Source: Scottish Greens

    26 Feb 2025 External Affairs

    Public money should be used for public good.

    More in External Affairs

    The Scottish Greens have urged MSPs from all parties to support their call for an end to public grants for arms companies implicated in Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza.

    The motion will be heard today in a Green opposition debate led by Scottish Green Co-leader Lorna Slater.

    The Scottish Government has rightly and strongly opposed the bombing and collective punishment of Gaza. Despite this, since the war began, it has given over £1 million to companies that have armed Israel via Scottish Enterprise.

    Ms Slater said:

    “The Scottish Government rightly called for a ceasefire in Gaza when Westminster refused to, but it has continued to support companies who have enabled the killing.

    “Fundamentally, this is a debate about our values and the sort of country we want to be. The Scottish Government may not be able to set UK foreign policy, but it can decide which companies it supports and the criteria it applies for doing so.

    “If a company is profiting from war crimes and genocide, it should not be receiving public money from our government.”

    In 2018, the Scottish Greens secured new requirements for Scottish public bodies to conduct human rights checks for grant applicants. Despite this, Scottish Enterprise has continued to fund the world’s biggest arms dealers.

    Ms Slater added:

    “These human rights checks are clearly not good enough. If firms who have profited from some of the worst atrocities of this century are not beyond the pale then who is?

    “I hope all MSPs who have backed a ceasefire and condemned the destruction of Gaza will join us in saying enough is enough and calling for these grants to be halted.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: New Taxtec Report Reveals Global Lost Gains on Cross-border Securities

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LONDON, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — TaxTec, the world’s first fully digital tax reclamation service, has released a study showing how much withholding tax lies unreclaimed annually on foreign dividends and interest payments. The study provides the most up-to-date global estimate of $16.4 billion, with US cross-border investors missing out on over $3.8 billion in rightful returns.

    When foreign dividends or bond interest payments are made, the tax regime in question retains a certain level of withholding tax. Where that jurisdiction has a double taxation treaty with the investor’s domicile, a proportion of that withholding tax is reclaimable.

    The reclamation process is, however, bureaucratic and complex. Many studies have remarked on the complexity of reclaiming withholding tax. The result is that not all reclaims are processed, with investors ending up losing a percentage of their rightful income.

    This issue has come under the spotlight as the global volume of dividends paid out rises, and bonds once more deliver a significant coupon. Asset owners such as pension funds have a duty to their beneficiaries to maximize income, fund managers also have a fiduciary duty to optimize returns for investors, and custodians want to deliver the best possible service to clients.

    Stephen Everard, CEO of TaxTec notes: “While some progress has been made over the past decade in withholding tax reclamation rates, there is still a long way to go. Services that ease the process of reclamation are widely available. And a handful of pioneering custodians have already engaged those services to optimize investor returns. Yet the gap still remains.”
    “These returns belong to investors and it is the ethical duty of all market participants to ensure they are not left unnecessarily on the table. Double taxation treaties were set up to ensure that investors are not taxed twice, yet lack of reclamation on a proportion of rightful income is effectively allowing double taxation to continue.”

    The TaxTec 2024 Reclamation Report is available at https://www.mindmetreresearch.com/taxtec-report-2024/

    About TaxTec
    Founded in 2023, TaxTec has set to revolutionize tax recovery for institutional investors and their agents. Utilizing the latest AI-enabled digital technology, our highly automated global tax recovery proposition and client-centric service model maximize reclaim opportunities for our clients across all major markets. TaxTec clients recover more tax at lower cost enhancing their investment returns.

    Website: www.taxtec.co.uk
    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/taxtec-group

    Contact

    Client Services Director
    Sarah Nurgat
    ThoughtSpark
    sarah@thoughtsparkagency.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ca03caf7-00f5-43cc-b2d6-19fd43f4efb5

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Nokia launches MX Context to accelerate Industry 4.0 with AI-powered contextual awareness suites #MWC25

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Press Release
    Nokia launches MX Context to accelerate Industry 4.0 with AI-powered contextual awareness suites #MWC25

    • MX Context generates actionable insights to support intelligent automation for Industry 4.0 use cases.
    • The solution uses sensor fusion and AI to interpret sensor data that helps enterprises improve their operational environment by eliminating data silos, optimizing resources, as well as enhancing worker safety.
    • Launches with two use case suites, tracking and positioning and worker safety, that bring multi-modal sensor fusion and AI inferencing for operational technology.

    26 February 2025
    Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced MX Context, a new solution that leverages sensor fusion technology to deliver AI-powered contextual awareness for industrial enterprises. Integrated into the Nokia Edge Compute and AI platform for industrial sites, MX Context processes large amounts of data from different sources, providing real-time actionable insights and intelligent automation to enable operational excellence and enhance decision-making.
    MX Context is the only solution on the market that provides situational and contextual awareness.

    According to MarketsandMarkets, the global sensor fusion market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.8%, reaching USD $18 billion by 2028.1 This underscores the growing demand among organizations for solutions that unify data and provide rich insights to enhance efficiency, safety, and automation.

    Operational Technology (OT) environments generate huge quantities of data from machine sensors, positioning systems, and worker-worn devices. Connecting these assets using private wireless provides industries with real-time data and operational insights. However, the increasing complexity of modern OT environments often creates data silos, which limits enterprises’ contextual awareness. With Nokia MX Context, industrial enterprises can now easily ingest, harmonize, and fuse sensor data to get real-time actionable insights and improve their operations.

    Nokia MX Context leverages sensor fusion technology to combine multimodal data from different sources and deliver real-time, AI-powered insights for Industry 4.0 use cases. It utilizes Nokia’s on-premise edge industrial compute solutions, MXIE and MX Grid, for processing, as well as the MXIE Data Lake to store structured and unstructured data for historical analysis, and application data access via APIs.

    “Sensor fusion and AI are key capabilities for core industrial automation applications spanning robotics, autonomous work cells, and collaborative scenarios involving humans and machines. Nokia, with its private wireless and on-premise industrial edge compute, is well positioned to offer critical use cases for worker safety and tracking and positioning to bring the power of AI insights to industrial digitalization,” said Ryan Martin, Senior Research Director at ABI Research.

    “AI is becoming a strategic element for Industry 4.0 transformation. Nokia’s on-premise compute capabilities offer innovative AI solutions that are OT-compliant and bring the contextual awareness needed for industrial use cases. Nokia MX Context harmonizes real-time data from sensors and sensing technologies. It takes data-driven operational excellence to the next level, transforming data into contextual awareness information that can be used as actionable insights and intelligent automation,” said Stephan Litjens, Vice President Enterprise Campus Edge Solutions, Cloud and Network Services at Nokia.

    MX Context also offers low-code visual development capabilities, enabling users to quickly create logical workflows and design dashboards with minimal coding expertise. It seamlessly integrates with Nokia MX Workmate, a powerful gen-AI assistant that enables natural language-based interactions with connected workers.

    MX Context suites are modular and built to create use case-based contextual awareness solutions. The first two MX Context suites and associated user applications are tracking and positioning and worker safety.

    Tracking and positioning: MX Context is the first industry solution that can ingest and fuse data from various tracking and positioning technologies, like Bluetooth Angle-of-Arrival (i.e., Nokia HAIP), video-based positioning (i.e., Nokia VPOD), worker devices’ GPS, and other MXIE third-party tracking technologies such as HERE HD GNSS and Nordic ID. It provides more accurate and reliable positioning and ensures tracking continuity across mixed industrial environments to optimize asset utilization, inventory management, processes, and material flow.

    Worker safety: MX Context ingests and fuses different types of data from Nokia sensory solutions like Nokia VPOD, device sensors (i.e., gyroscopes, accelerometers, and microphones), and third-party applications. AI-based processing and fusion of real-time data provides, for the first time, situational awareness and contextual information, enabling the detection of potential accidents or incidents and facilitating the best response, such as triggering an alert, notifying emergency services, or providing real-time guidance to the worker.

    As part of the MX Context sensory solutions that can leverage internal sensors in industrial workers’ handhelds, Nokia will be complementing its portfolio of industrial routers with new variants that boast multi-sensory capabilities (accelerometers, gyroscopes, voltmeters, environmental sensors, etc.). These routers can enhance machine insights and will also utilize advanced GNSS chips for more accurate outdoor positioning.

    Multimedia, technical information and related news
    Product Page: OT Edge DataOps | Nokia DAC
    Web Page: Real-time tracking and positioning | Nokia DAC
    Web Page: Worker safety | Nokia DAC

    About Nokia
    At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together. 

    As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

    With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

    Media inquiries
    Nokia Press Office
    Email: Press.Services@nokia.com

    Follow Nokia on social media
    LinkedIn X Instagram Facebook YouTube

    1https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/sensor-fusion-market-71637844.html

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Sydbank’s 2024 Annual Report

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Company Announcement No 08/2025
    26 February 2025

    Sydbank’s 2024 Annual Report

    Highly satisfactory profit thanks to all-time high core income

    Core income has risen to a new all-time high level of DKK 7,227m from the record-level of DKK 7,071m in 2023. The increase is mainly attributable to a rise in income from asset management due to a significant increase in capital under management.

    The Sydbank Group’s 2024 financial statements show a profit before tax of DKK 3,645m compared to DKK 4,281m in 2023. The decrease of DKK 636m is primarily attributable to impairment charges, which are DKK 622m higher in 2024 than in 2023. Profit before tax equals a return on equity of 24.6%.

    Profit for the year is DKK 2,762m against DKK 3,342m in 2023, equal to a return on average equity after tax of 18.6%. At the beginning of 2024 profit after tax was projected to be in the range of DKK 2,500-2,900m.

    CEO Mark Luscombe comments on the profit:
    – It is positive that in 2024, due to a rise in core income, we succeeded in maintaining a profit before impairment charges at the record-high level that we achieved in 2023. Impairment charges represent an expense of DKK 595m, of which DKK 446m can be attributed to the restructuring of Better Energy. Profit after tax is in the upper end of the expectations for profit for the year announced in January 2024.

    Mark Luscombe comments on developments in core income:
    – Since June 2024 the Danish central bank has cut its key rates by 1pp and the effect is visible in net interest income, which is reduced by DKK 79m from the record-high level in 2023. The drop has occurred despite an increase in bank lending of DKK 8bn, equal to 11%. Other core income has gone up by DKK 235m, lifting total core income to a new all-time high. This is supported by strong business momentum and a high level of customer activity within savings and investments. I would like to thank all our employees for their hard work and contribution to this strong result and express my gratitude to our customers and shareholders for their continued support.

    Board chairman Lars Mikkelgaard-Jensen comments:
    – It is gratifying to note that, following the resignation of Karen Frøsig in mid-2024, the Bank under the management of Mark Luscombe has succeeded in continuing the very positive development under Karen Frøsig’s management. This has also been made possible by a well-planned handover focusing completely on the change of CEO not having any impact on Sydbank’s activities. We saw a very
    satisfactory trend in the Bank’s business in 2024 and the very high earnings and the Bank’s strong capital base allow us to distribute DKK 2,727m, equal to 99% of profit for 2024. 50% of profit will be distributed as dividend and the remaining share will be distributed via a new share buyback
    programme of DKK 1,350m. Following the dividend payout the Bank will continue to be well capitalised.

    Outlook 2025
    Moderate growth is projected for the Danish economy. Profit after tax is expected to be in the range of DKK 2,200-2,600m.

    The profit forecast assumes that the Danish central bank will lower the interest rate by 1pp in 2025.

    The outlook is subject to uncertainty and depends on financial market developments and macroeconomic factors which may affect eg the level of impairment charges.

    2024 highlights
    • A 2% increase in core income
    • A rise in costs (core earnings) of 6%
    • Impairment charges for loans and advances: an expense of DKK 595m
    • A drop in profit for the year of DKK 580m to DKK 2,762m
    • An 11% rise in bank loans and advances to DKK 82.5bn
    • Deposits of DKK 116.7bn
    • A capital ratio of 21.4%, including a CET1 ratio of 17.8%
    • A proposed dividend of DKK 26.88 per share
    • New share buyback programme of DKK 1,350m

    Additional information
    Jørn Adam Møller, Deputy Group Chief Executive, tel +45 74 37 20 30
    Lars Grubak Lohff, Press Manager, tel +45 20 31 54 65

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: The 2024 Annual Report of the Bank of Åland Plc has been published

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Bank of Åland Plc
    Annual Financial Report
    February 26, 2025, 9.30 EET

    The 2024 Annual Report of the Bank of Åland Plc has been published
    The Annual Report for 2024 of the Bank of Åland Plc (Ålandsbanken Abp), including the 2024 corporate governance report, was published today in Swedish and English. The Compensation Report and the Capital and Risk Management Report were published as separate documents at the same time. 

    The financial reports in Swedish are being published in compliance with European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) reporting requirements. In line with ESEF requirements, the primary portions of the consolidated financial statements have been marked up with XBRL tags.

    The authorised public accounting company KPMG Oy has provided an independent auditors’ affidavit of reasonable assurance about the Bank of Åland Plc’s ESEF financial statements. 

    The Annual Report, the Compensation Report and the Capital and Risk management Report are available for downloading from our website:

    Annual Report

    https://www.alandsbanken.fi/uploads/pdf/result/arsredovisn2024en.pdf

    Compensation Report

    https://www.alandsbanken.fi/uploads/pdf/result/ersattningsrapport2024en.pdf

    Capital and Risk Management Report

    https://www.alandsbanken.fi/uploads/pdf/result/capital-and-risk-management-report_2024en.xlsx

    Bank of Åland Plc   

    For further information, please contact:
    Peter Wiklöf, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Bank of Åland, tel +358 40 512 7505 

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: View from The Hill: the mud flies, but will the voters take much notice?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    In these scrappy days before the prime minister announces the election date, the mud and the personal insults are flying, despite the politicians knowing voters hate this sort of thing.

    On Wednesday morning TV, shadow finance minister Jane Hume, usually reasonably restrained with her language, called Employment Minister Murray Watt “king grub” of the “grubbiest people you will ever come across” – a reference to Labor’s pursuit of Peter Dutton’s past share trading. As Watt remarked, “That’s quite an accusation”.

    Hume was later on the warpath in a Senate estimates hearing, where Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy fended off an opposition attack suggesting, in essence, that Treasurer Jim Chalmers had sought to make Treasury his political pawn.

    Dutton spent most of his Wednesday news conference pushing back on attacks on his integrity relating to his purchase of bank shares during the global financial crisis, and dealing with questions about his acquisition of an extensive property portfolio over decades.

    What the opposition dubs Labor’s “dirt unit” apparently drove the share story. The core of it is that Dutton bought bank shares just before the Rudd government announced its guarantee to ensure the financial security of the banks.

    Labor demanded to know whether Dutton had insider knowledge of the imminent guarantee through a Rudd government briefing of the opposition. Dutton, who declared the share purchase, says he had no information other than what was in the public domain.

    The story about Dutton’s property portfolio – which he has unloaded, no doubt as part of preparations in pursuit of the prime ministership – ran in Nine media. The report said

    Peter Dutton has made $30 million of property transactions across 26 pieces of real estate over 35 years, making him one of the country’s wealthiest-ever contenders for prime minister.

    Dutton was late with declaring on the parliamentary register some of the transactions.

    Nine says the story didn’t come from a Labor “dirt unit”, but it was grist for an embattled government.

    Dirt digging, mud throwing, and exploitation of the politics of envy are recurring features of election campaigns. Whether they’ll have much resonance this time is doubtful.

    The share story, going back the best part of a couple of decades, doesn’t sound like a smoking gun. We’ve heard about Dutton’s property buying before. We know he has plenty of money. Not as much, of course, as earlier PMs Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd.

    Dutton, working on the assumption these stories will be brief wonders, kept his cool.

    He hasn’t provided more details about the bank shares, relying on a general response that everything had been above board. On his property purchases, he made it clear he’s proud of his climb up the aspirational ladder since he was a “butcher’s boy” in those days when he had a job in a butcher’s shop.

    For Dutton, the mud is all in a day’s work. The attack on Kennedy is in a rather different category.

    In the run-up to an election, Treasury often finds itself in a awkward position, as a government seeks to use it, while an opposition objects. This time, Chalmers employed it to discredit the opposition’s policy to give a tax break to small businesses for taking their workers or clients to a meal.

    Treasury doesn’t cost opposition policies. So the government asked it to cost a theoretical policy that was similar to that of the Coalition. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Treasury came up with a much bigger cost than the opposition said was produced by the Parliamentary Budget Office.

    Kennedy insisted to the Senate hearing, “we do not act politically”.

    “I have behaved no differently with this government, nor have I observed the department’s behaving any differently,” he said. “I understand how the circumstances might lead you to question that, but all I can do is assure you that that has not been the case.”

    If Dutton became prime minister, would Kennedy’s position be at risk?

    It shouldn’t be. Kennedy, appointed by the Coalition, served the previous Liberal government very well and was a key figure in its ambitious economic response to the COVID pandemic. That response kept many people in jobs and the economy out of recession.

    While Kennedy was taking the flak in estimates, Chalmers had been in Washington making Australia’s case for an exemption of the Trump aluminium and steel tariffs.

    Chalmers’s visit was timely and carefully managed. The treasurer said before he left Australia he wouldn’t obtain an outcome on tariffs – it was about making Australia’s case. So when there was not an outcome, it was not a disappointment. “My task here in DC wasn’t to try and conclude that discussion, it was to try and inform it,” Chalmers told a news conference after his talks.

    Chalmers spent time with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett. He said the discussion was “wider-ranging than just steel and aluminium”. Bessent also was a speaker at the superannuation summit held at the Australian embassy (a coup for ambassador Kevin Rudd as well as Chalmers).

    In his 2023 Monthly essay, Chalmers argued for the super funds to invest more widely in Australia, notably in social housing.

    At the embassy conference, Chalmers was able to look to a much wider horizon for the funds.

    The current value of Australian super fund investments in the US is around $400 billion – due to reach $1 trillion over the next decade. So, Australia’s superannuation sector has the size, scale and presence to play a big role in driving new American industries and creating jobs.

    Michelle Grattan 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. View from The Hill: the mud flies, but will the voters take much notice? – https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-the-mud-flies-but-will-the-voters-take-much-notice-250897

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI: Share buyback

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Company Announcement No 06/2025

    		 Peberlyk 4
    6200 Aabenraa, Denmark

    Tel +45 74 37 37 37
    Fax +45 74 37 35 36

    Sydbank A/S
    CVR No DK 12626509, Aabenraa
    sydbank.dk
    26 February 2025  

    Dear Sirs

    Share buyback

    The Board of Directors has decided to implement a share buyback programme of DKK 1,350 million, however not exceeding 5,400,000 million shares. The purpose of the share buyback is to reduce the Bank’s share capital with the shares purchased under the programme.

    At the general meeting of Sydbank A/S held on 21 March 2024 the Board of Directors was most recently authorised to allow the Bank to acquire own shares at a total value of up to 10% of the Bank’s share capital.

    The price paid for shares may not differ by more than 10% from the price quoted on Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S at the time of purchase.

    The share buyback is part of the adjustment to optimise the capital structure in accordance with the Bank’s capital targets and capital policy. At 31 December 2024 Sydbank’s CET1 ratio stood at 17.8% and its capital ratio stood at 21.7%.

    The share buyback programme will be initiated on Monday 3 March 2025 and will be completed by 31 January 2026.

    Sydbank has chosen Danske Bank A/S to manage the share buyback programme which will be executed in compliance with Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016, referred to as the Safe Harbour rules.

    The share buyback programme will be subject to the following guidelines:

    • Shares may not be purchased at a price higher than the higher of the following prices:

    I. the price of the last independent trade
    II. the highest current independent purchase bid on the trading venue where the purchase is carried out, including when the shares are traded on different trading venues.

    • Purchases on any trading day must not exceed 25% of the average daily volume of the shares in the preceding 20 trading days on the trading venue on which the purchase is carried out.

    On the first banking day of each week Sydbank will state the number and value of repurchased shares in a company announcement.

    Sydbank may suspend or end the share buyback programme at any time. In such case this will be announced in a company announcement.

    On 23 January 2025 Sydbank’s share buyback programme of DKK 1,200m was completed. The share buyback programme was launched on 4 March 2024 and Sydbank purchased 3,383,960 shares within the programme. At 24 February 2025 Sydbank owned a total of 3,384,960 own shares, equal to approx 6.2% of the Bank’s share capital. The Board of Directors recommends to the AGM to be held on 20 March 2025 that the Bank’s share capital be reduced by DKK 33,839,000 to DKK 512,044,600.

    Yours sincerely

                    
    Mark Luscombe        Jørn Adam Møller
    CEO        Deputy Group Chief Executive        

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: ING to redeem two series of SEC registered Senior Notes

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ING to redeem two series of SEC registered Senior Notes

    ING announced today it will redeem two series of outstanding SEC registered securities: the USD 500 million Callable Floating Rate Senior Notes (CUSIP 456837 BD4 / ISIN US456837BD49) and the USD 1,250 million 3.869% Callable Fixed-to-Floating Rate Senior Notes (CUSIP 456837 BA0 / ISIN US456837BA00) (together the “Callable Senior Notes”) on their call date of 28 March 2025.

    The Callable Senior Notes will be redeemed in full in accordance with their terms, with payment to be made on 28 March 2025. The redemption price will be the principal amount of the Callable Senior Notes. Accrued and unpaid interest due on the redemption date will be paid in the usual manner to holders of record as of 27 March 2025. The paying agent for the Callable Senior Notes Securities is The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch 160 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4LA United Kingdom.

    Any future decisions by ING as to whether it will exercise (or cause to be exercised) calls in respect of debt securities will be made on an economic basis, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders. Other factors that ING will consider include prevailing market conditions, regulatory approval and capital requirements.

    Note for editors

    For more on ING, please visit www.ing.com. Frequent news updates can be found in the Newsroom or via X @ING_news feed. Photos of ING operations, buildings and its executives are available for download at Flickr.

    ING PROFILE

    ING is a global financial institution with a strong European base, offering banking services through its operating company ING Bank. The purpose of ING Bank is: empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and in business. ING Bank’s more than 60,000 employees offer retail and wholesale banking services to customers in over 100 countries.

    ING Group shares are listed on the exchanges of Amsterdam (INGA NA, INGA.AS), Brussels and on the New York Stock Exchange (ADRs: ING US, ING.N).

    ING aims to put sustainability at the heart of what we do. Our policies and actions are assessed by independent research and ratings providers, which give updates on them annually. ING’s ESG rating by MSCI was reconfirmed by MSCI as ‘AA’ in August 2024 for the fifth year. As of December 2023, in Sustainalytics’ view, ING’s management of ESG material risk is ‘Strong’. Our current ESG Risk Rating, is 17.2 (Low Risk).

    ING Group shares are also included in major sustainability and ESG index products of leading providers including Euronext, STOXX, Morningstar and FTSE Russell.

    IMPORTANT LEGAL INFORMATION

    Elements of this press release contain or may contain information about ING Groep N.V. and/ or ING Bank N.V. within the meaning of Article 7(1) to (4) of EU Regulation No 596/2014 (‘Market Abuse Regulation’).

    ING Group’s annual accounts are prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union (‘IFRS- EU’). In preparing the financial information in this document, except as described otherwise, the same accounting principles are applied as in the 2023 ING Group consolidated annual accounts. The Financial statements for 2024 are in progress and may be subject to adjustments from subsequent events. All figures in this document are unaudited. Small differences are possible in the tables due to rounding.

    Certain of the statements contained herein are not historical facts, including, without limitation, certain statements made of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management’s current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual results, performance or events may differ materially from those in such statements due to a number of factors, including, without limitation: (1) changes in general economic conditions and customer behaviour, in particular economic conditions in ING’s core markets, including changes affecting currency exchange rates and the regional and global economic impact of the invasion of Russia into Ukraine and related international response measures (2) changes affecting interest rate levels (3) any default of a major market participant and related market disruption (4) changes in performance of financial markets, including in Europe and developing markets

    (5) fiscal uncertainty in Europe and the United States (6) discontinuation of or changes in ‘benchmark’ indices (7) inflation and deflation in our principal markets (8) changes in conditions in the credit and capital markets generally, including changes in borrower and counterparty creditworthiness (9) failures of banks falling under the scope of state compensation schemes (10) non- compliance with or changes in laws and regulations, including those concerning financial services, financial economic crimes and tax laws, and the interpretation and application thereof (11) geopolitical risks, political instabilities and policies and actions of governmental and regulatory authorities, including in connection with the invasion of Russia into Ukraine and the related international response measures (12) legal and regulatory risks in certain countries with less developed legal and regulatory frameworks (13) prudential supervision and regulations, including in relation to stress tests and regulatory restrictions on dividends and distributions (also among members of the group) (14) ING’s ability to meet minimum capital and other prudential regulatory requirements (15) changes in regulation of US commodities and derivatives businesses of ING and its customers (16) application of bank recovery and resolution regimes, including write down and conversion powers in relation to our securities (17) outcome of current and future litigation, enforcement proceedings, investigations or other regulatory actions, including claims by customers or stakeholders who feel misled or treated unfairly, and other conduct issues (18) changes in tax laws and regulations and risks of non-compliance or investigation in connection with tax laws, including FATCA (19) operational and IT risks, such as system disruptions or failures, breaches of security, cyber-attacks, human error, changes in operational practices or inadequate controls including in respect of third parties with which we do business and including any risks as a result of incomplete, inaccurate, or otherwise flawed outputs from the algorithms and data sets utilized in artificial intelligence (20) risks and challenges related to cybercrime including the effects of cyberattacks and changes in legislation and regulation related to cybersecurity and data privacy, including such risks and challenges as a consequence of the use of emerging technologies, such as advanced forms of artificial intelligence and quantum computing (21) changes in general competitive factors, including ability to increase or maintain market share (22) inability to protect our intellectual property and infringement claims by third parties (23) inability of counterparties to meet financial obligations or ability to enforce rights against such counterparties (24) changes in credit ratings (25) business, operational, regulatory, reputation, transition and other risks and challenges in connection with climate change and ESG-related matters, including data gathering and reporting (26) inability to attract and retain key personnel (27) future liabilities under defined benefit retirement plans (28) failure to manage business risks, including in connection with use of models, use of derivatives, or maintaining appropriate policies and guidelines (29) changes in capital and credit markets, including interbank funding, as well as customer deposits, which provide the liquidity and capital required to fund our operations, and (30) the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the most recent annual report of ING Groep N.V. (including the Risk Factors contained therein) and ING’s more recent disclosures, including press releases, which are available on www.ING.com.

    This document may contain ESG-related material that has been prepared by ING on the basis of publicly available information, internally developed data and other third-party sources believed to be reliable. ING has not sought to independently verify information obtained from public and third-party sources and makes no representations or warranties as to accuracy, completeness, reasonableness or reliability of such information.

    Materiality, as used in the context of ESG, is distinct from, and should not be confused with, such term as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or as defined for Securities and Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) reporting purposes. Any issues identified as material for purposes of ESG in this document are therefore not necessarily material as defined in the Market Abuse Regulation or for SEC reporting purposes. In addition, there is currently no single, globally recognized set of accepted definitions in assessing whether activities are “green” or “sustainable.” Without limiting any of the statements contained herein, we make no representation or warranty as to whether any of our securities constitutes a green or sustainable security or conforms to present or future investor expectations or objectives for green or sustainable investing. For information on characteristics of a security, use of proceeds, a description of applicable project(s) and/or any other relevant information, please reference the offering documents for such security.

    This document may contain inactive textual addresses to internet websites operated by us and third parties. Reference to such websites is made for information purposes only, and information found at such websites is not incorporated by reference into this document. ING does not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy or completeness of, or take any responsibility for, any information found at any websites operated by third parties. ING specifically disclaims any liability with respect to any information found at websites operated by third parties. ING cannot guarantee that websites operated by third parties remain available following the publication of this document, or that any information found at such websites will not change following the filing of this document. Many of those factors are beyond ING’s control.

    Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ING speak only as of the date they are made, and ING assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or for any other reason.

    This document does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction.

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Phoenix Group to Attend Cantor Fitzgerald Global Technology Conference In New York, USA

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Abu Dhabi, UAE, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Phoenix Group PLC (ADX:PHX), a global leader in Bitcoin mining, blockchain, and next-generation digital and AI infrastructure, is excited to announce that its CEO and Co-Founder, Munaf Ali, will lead the company’s delegation to the Cantor Global Technology Conference in New York City, USA, on March 11-12, 2025.

    As the first digital assets company from the MENA region to attend this prestigious event, Phoenix Group will join a distinguished group of global technology leaders. The conference brings together industry experts, investors, and innovators to discuss the latest trends and opportunities in technology.

    Topics covered will include the institutionalization of cryptocurrency, the intersection of Bitcoin mining and AI/data centers, and the future of digital assets. The company will leverage its position as one of the world’s largest Bitcoin miners to share insights and expertise with attendees.

    Munaf Ali, CEO and Co-Founder of Phoenix Group, commented, “We’re thrilled to be attending the Cantor Global Technology Conference. It’s a fantastic opportunity to connect with leading investors and industry experts. It’s also an opportunity for us to meet with our ever-growing US investors and institutional client base.

    Since our founding in 2017, Phoenix Group has been at the forefront of the digital asset revolution. We’re proud of our achievements and excited about the future. By attending the Cantor Global Technology Conference, we aim to showcase our leadership in scalable infrastructure, proprietary technology, and sustainable digital innovation.”

    -END-

    About Phoenix Group

    Phoenix Group is a multi-billion-dollar global technology leader headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Founded in 2017, the company has rapidly grown into a conglomerate with a diverse portfolio of businesses in the blockchain, crypto, and technology sectors.

    As one of the world’s top 5 Bitcoin miners, Phoenix Group is at the forefront of the digital asset revolution. With a strong focus on innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence, the company is driving the adoption of digital assets and blockchain technology.

    Phoenix Group operates multiple mining facilities in the US, Canada, Oman, Ethiopia, and the UAE, with a total mining capacity of 451 MW.

    Phoenix Group is the first crypto and blockchain conglomerate in the region to be listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. It also operates the largest mining farm in the MENA region.

    Phoenix Group PLC media team contact:

    Email: media@phoenixgroupuae.com 

    Media Contact:
    Yasmin Oronos
    Luna PR
    yasmin.oronos@lunapr.io

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Intermediate Capital Group plc: Board Change

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    26 February 2025

    Intermediate Capital Group plc (the “Company” or “ICG”) – Board Change

    The Board of ICG announces that Robin Lawther has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of the Company. She will join the Board on 1 November 2025.

    Robin holds a number of current roles, including as an Independent Non-Executive Director at Standard Chartered PLC, an Independent Non-Executive Director at Ashurst LLP, and a Global Advisory Board Member at Aon PLC. She spent over 20 years at JPMorgan Chase in a number of senior roles in Investment Banking in both North America and Europe and has significant executive and non-executive experience as well as entrepreneurial activity with earlier stage private investments.

    William Rucker, Chair of ICG, said: “We are delighted to welcome Robin to the Board. She has significant experience of the financial services industry spanning both sides of the Atlantic and has knowledge of a broad spectrum of the market. Her expertise and perspective across a range of business areas and geographies will be of great value to ICG and I look forward to her joining us.”

    Other appointments and other relevant information for Robin Lawther are listed below, and no other information is required to be disclosed pursuant to the Listing Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority.

    Ends

    Contacts

    Chris Hunt
    Shareholder Relations, ICG plc
    +44 (0) 20 3545 2020

    Andrew Lewis
    Company Secretary, ICG plc
    +44 (0) 20 3545 1344

    Fiona Laffan
    Corporate Affairs, ICG PLC
    +44 (0) 20 3545 1510

    Notes:

    Committee Appointments

    Robin Lawther will be appointed to committees of the Board following her appointment to the Board and these will be publicly disclosed in due course.

    Interests in shares

    As at the date of this announcement, Robin Lawther and her connected persons do not hold any shares in the Company.

    Selected current roles

    Standard Chartered PLC, Independent Non-Executive Director and a Member of the Risk, Remuneration, and Culture and Sustainability Committees

    Ashurst LLP, Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee

    Aon PLC, Global Advisory Board Member

    Selected former roles

    2014-2023 Nordea Bank ABP, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chair Remuneration Committee (2017-2020), and Member of the Risk and Remuneration Committees

    2014-2022 UK Government investments, Non-Executive Director and Member of the Audit, Remuneration, and Nomination Committees

    2019-2021 M&G PLC, Independent Non-Executive Director, Chair Remuneration Committee, and Member of the Risk, Audit, and Nomination Committees

    2016-2020 Oras Invest, Independent Non-Executive Board Member

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Development Asia: 3 Lessons from Crowdsourcing Digital Solutions for Improving MSMEs’ Access to Finance

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    Here are three lessons that we have learned in crowdsourcing digital solutions to support MSMEs’ and WMSMEs’ access to financing:

    Employ a bottom-up and top-down, collaborative approach. Effective crowdsourcing requires a deep understanding of the problem. Therefore, various stakeholders, including government and non-governmental institutions, (W)MSMEs, financial institutions, and technology service providers, were consulted to learn more about the situation on the ground to better frame and flesh out the challenges. The collaborative approach used by ADB’s IT Department, gWFX, the Private Sector Financial Institutions Division of ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department, and the Finance Sector Office ensured that the challenges were relevant and actionable. In addition, collaboration generated lessons for broader engagement with various groups.

    Design problem statements tailored to match the unique needs of Developing Member Countries (DMCs). The intent behind these challenges is to obtain proposals that are no longer at the ideation stage. Instead, these should be actionable, relevant, and responsive to the specific context in the DMC covered by the challenge. Prioritizing local experience in the evaluation process also helped in shortlisting proposals that were socio-culturally and economically appropriate.

    Furthermore, we used local experience as one of the criteria for evaluating submissions to ensure that the shortlisted teams were familiar with the context. Taking these criteria into consideration enabled the team to filter out which of the submitted solutions would best fit the context and needs of the respective DMCs. This was also to ensure that any solution would not leave out the women’s market segment but would instead look at technology through a gender lens and provide tools to help women access the financing they need to thrive.

    Ensure the right solution is selected through validation. Beyond identifying and selecting a solution that addresses a specific challenge faced by financial institutions, it is equally crucial to validate the solution through a “test-and-learn” approach. By stress testing the solution during both the proof of concept and pilot stages, teams can assess its viability and scalability, ensuring that it meets the needs of the financial institutions and the entrepreneurs it aims to support.

    For example, in Pakistan, the AI-leveraged solution for financial statement analytics underwent testing to ensure that the solution met the financial institution’s objectives of scoring WMSMEs more effectively. The team gathered business and technical requirements of the institution, prioritized features and functionalities, and worked with the IT and Operations teams to create and implement an integration roadmap. Next, the solution will be deployed in a test environment to lend to a sample size of WMSMEs for validation.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI China: Hong Kong unveils its first generative AI model

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Hong Kong on Tuesday unveiled its first-ever generative artificial intelligence (AI) model, dubbed HKGAI V1, heralding a new chapter in the city’s AI development.

    The tool was developed by the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center (HKGAI) under the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government’s InnoHK innovation program.

    As of now, approximately 70 HKSAR government departments have test-run the locally developed AI tool powered by DeepSeek’s data learning model. This innovative achievement signifies the successful localization of DeepSeek in Hong Kong, injecting new vitality into the city’s AI ecosystem while showcasing the robust collaborative innovation capabilities between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland in AI, according to an HKGAI press release.

    Speaking at the launch event, Sun Dong, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the HKSAR government, emphasized that AI is at the forefront of a new technological revolution and industrial transformation, and Hong Kong is actively engaging in this AI wave.

    Sun also underscored the HKSAR government’s broader efforts to support AI development, including the establishment of an AI supercomputing center, a 3-billion-Hong Kong dollar (386-million-U.S. dollar) AI funding scheme, and the clustering of over 800 AI companies at Science Park and Cyberport.

    He expressed optimism that the locally developed large language model will soon be made available for use, not only by businesses and residents but also by overseas Chinese communities. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: Annual Report 2024

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • Earnings per share DKK 80.0 (2023: DKK 89.3)
    • Core income DKK 13,693m (2023: DKK 14,356m)
    • Core expenses DKK 6,402m (2023: DKK 6,102m)
    • Loan impairment charges DKK 21m (2023: DKK 127m)
    • Capital ratio of 23.1%, of which common equity tier 1 capital ratio of 17.6% (2023: 21.0% and 16.9%, respectively)
    • The Group Supervisory Board proposes an ordinary dividend of DKK 24.0 per share, or DKK 1,543m for resolution at the coming annual general meeting
    • New share buy-back programme of up to DKK 2.25bn is expected to be completed by 31 January 2026 at the latest and contributes to a historical capital distribution to shareholders
    • The net profit is expected in the range of DKK 3.8bn-4.6bn in 2025, corresponding to earnings per share in the range of DKK 60-73
    • Improved customer satisfaction, higher meeting activity and increased inflow of personal customers
    • Rising business volumes, especially within asset management, where customers also achieved excellent returns.

    Summary

    In connection with the publication of Jyske Bank’s Annual Report 2024, Lars Mørch, CEO and Member of the Executive Board states:

    “Jyske Bank delivered a net profit at DKK 5.3bn or DKK 80 per share in 2024. The profit is the second highest ever and lands at the upper end of the upgraded expectations for the year. Jyske Bank enters 2025 in good shape and with a strong business momentum.

    The integration of Handelsbanken Danmark and PFA Bank have, with a few exceptions, been completed and with better-than-expected realised results and synergies. Jyske Finans’ acquisition of the Opendo leasing portfolio, which was announced in September 2024, is also proceeding according to plan.

    The results reflect that net interest income showed a declining trend during the year whereas net fee and commission income was up by 6% due to increased business volumes compared with the preceding year. The increase was in particular supported by rising assets under management amid high demand for our investment products and favourable financial markets.

    The credit quality is still solid with a low level of non-performing exposures and a low level of actual write-offs.

    Following a few years with value-creating acquisitions, Jyske Bank is now paying both dividend and launching a share buy-back. In 2024, Jyske Bank distributed a dividend of DKK 500m and executed a share buy-back programme of DKK 1.5bn which was completed in early October. In accordance with the dividend policy the Supervisory Board proposes to the coming annual general meeting a historically large dividend of DKK 24 per share, corresponding to 30% of the shareholders’ result for 2024. For 2025, the largest single share buy-back programme to date of up to DKK 2.25bn has been launched. The programme will run until 31 January 2026 at the latest.

    Customers are increasingly opting for Jyske Bank
    Recently, we have seen a highly positive trend in customer satisfaction and business development.

    Customer satisfaction increased across all customer segments, and it is worth noting that for the first time since 2019, satisfaction among personal customers is above the average for comparable banks. Moreover, we are pleased that for the 9th year running, our customers have named Jyske Bank the best bank at Private Banking, while satisfaction of corporate customers also shows progress.

    In the fourth quarter of 2024, we saw the highest growth of mortgage loans to personal customers for more than five years, and we generally see increased meeting activity with our personal customers.

    In 2024, Jyske Bank’s assets under management grew by 17%. As in previous years, customers using Jyske Bank’s asset management solutions saw strong returns in 2024, with all mixed solutions beating their benchmarks in all risk profiles.
    We also saw an increase in the overall business volume with corporate customers, including growth in both lending and custody assets.

    Clear strategic direction
    Towards the end of 2024, Jyske Bank announced an updated strategy. The strategy builds on the Group’s strengths and should pave the way for a strong future market position. The strategy sets ambition and direction for the business and the organisation over the coming years as well as targets for improving underlying profitability up to 2028. The strategy involves tight cost management combined with increased investments in select customer segments and ensuring a solid, secure and attractive platform.

    We have clear-cut targets for stronger customer focus that will make Jyske Bank even more attractive to particularly slightly larger and more complex corporate and personal customers, and it is our ambition to help customers in their sustainable transition and to use digitisation offensively to the benefit of customers and to raise efficiency in the Group.

    A new and more customer-oriented organisation
    We organise ourselves in a customer-oriented way and bring the value chains together to better solve our customers’ needs and requirements.

    In 2024, Jyske Bank has changed its organisation to obtain stronger customer orientation in the entire value chain, stronger cross organisational collaboration, higher professionalisation of the Group’s control setup and higher development and implementation efficiency.

    In the same context, Erik Gadeberg and Jacob Gyntelberg in 2024 joined the Group Executive Board as new members, and in addition, a number of new members of the Group Executive Leadership Team has led to a strengthening of Jyske Bank.

    Jyske Bank invests in the development opportunities of competent employees and attracts some of the most talented profiles in the market. Our ambitions are to ensure a high level of competence in the Group.

    2024 was yet another busy year for Jyske Bank’s employees, due to the integration of Handelsbanken Danmark and PFA Bank, among other things. Against this background, it was very positive news that we managed to maintain a high level of job satisfaction among the Group’s employees in the annual employee survey. Thank you to the employees for excellent performance and dedicated results in 2024.

    2025 outlook
    The Danish economy remains robust although some uncertainty is involved in the global economic development. On this background, Jyske Bank anticipates a net profit in the range of DKK 3.8bn-4.6bn, corresponding to earnings per share in the range of DKK 60-73”, concludes Lars Mørch.

    Webcast and conference call
    Jyske Bank will host a conference call in English targeting investors and analysts today at 2.00 p.m. CET (link). Conference call and presentation will be available via jyskebank.com/investorrelations.

    Yours faithfully,
    Jyske Bank

    Contact:
    Lars Mørch, CEO and Member of the Executive Board, tel. +45 89 89 20 01
    Birger Krøgh Nielsen, CFO, tel. +45 89 89 64 44

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Jyske Bank initiates share repurchase programme

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The Supervisory Board of Jyske Bank A/S (Jyske Bank) has decided to exercise the authority to repurchase shares granted by the Annual General Meeting on 21 March 2024. The share repurchase programme covers shares at a maximum value of DKK 2.25 billion.

    The programme runs as from 26 February 2025 and up to and including 31 January 2026 at the latest. The share repurchase programme is initiated and structured in compliance with the EU Market Abuse Regulation and EU Commission Regulation No. 596/2014 of 16 April 2014.

    Conditions for the share repurchase programme

    • The purpose of the programme is to reduce the share capital of Jyske Bank.
    • Jyske Bank will enter into a contract with a financial adviser which will independently of and without influence from Jyske Bank handle all purchase decisions and execute the purchases within the framework published. Jyske Bank has appointed Goldman Sachs as financial adviser and lead manager for the programme.
    • The shares cannot be purchased at prices exceeding the higher of (i) the price of the latest independent trade and (ii) the price of the highest independent bid on Nasdaq Copenhagen at the time of the transaction.
    • The total number of shares that may be purchased on a single trading day may not exceed 25% of the average daily trading volume over the preceding 20 trading days on Nasdaq Copenhagen.
    • Jyske Bank will publish the amount of shares repurchased as well as the weighted average price per day and per venue in weekly corporate announcements during the programme.

                                                             
    Yours faithfully,
    Jyske Bank

    Contact: Birger Krøgh Nielsen, CFO, tel. +45 89 89 64 44.

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    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Notice of Annual General Meeting of Jyske Bank A/S

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    This is to give notice of an Annual General Meeting of Jyske Bank A/S, which will be held on Tuesday 25 March 2025, at 3.00 p.m. at Gl. Skovridergaard, Marienlundsvej 36, DK-8600 Silkeborg

    AGENDA of general meeting:

    a. Report of the Supervisory Board on Jyske Bank’s operations during the preceding year.
    b. Presentation of the annual report for adoption or other resolution as well as resolution as to the application of profit or cover of loss according to the financial statements adopted, including the Supervisory Board’s proposal for payment of dividend.
    c. Presentation of and consultative ballot on the remuneration report.
    d. Determination of remuneration to the Shareholders’ Representatives and the Supervisory Board:
      1 Determination of the remuneration of Shareholders’ Representatives for 2025, cf. Art.15(5) of the Articles of Association.
      2 Determination of the remuneration of Supervisory Board members for 2025, cf. Art.16(9) of the Articles of Association.
    e. Consideration of motion to the effect that the Supervisory Board authorises the Bank to acquire Jyske Bank shares on one or more occasions, until the next annual general meeting, of up to a nominal amount of DKK 64,272,095 and at amounts not deviating by more than 10% from the closing bid price listed on NASDAQ Copenhagen A/S at the time of acquisition.
    f. Motions.
      Motions proposed by the Supervisory Board:
      1 Reduction of Jyske Bank’s nominal share capital by DKK 27,651,180 (corresponding to 2,765,118 shares at a nominal value of DKK 10) from DKK 642,720,950 to DKK 615,069,770. With reference to S.188(1) of the Danish Companies Act we point out that the capital reduction takes place through cancellation of previously acquired own shares acquired by Jyske Bank in accordance with authorisation from members in general meeting. Hence, the capital reduction is spent on payment of capital owners.
    If the motion is adopted, Jyske Bank’s holding of own shares will be reduced by 2,765,118 shares of a nominal value of DKK 10 These shares have been bought back at a total amount of DKK 1,499,999,584 which implies that, apart from the nominal capital reduction, a total amount of DKK 1,472,348,404 has been paid to the capital owners in connection with the buy-backs. The capital reduction takes place at a share premium since it will be at 542.47 for each share of a nominal amount of DKK 10, corresponding to the average price at which the shares have been bought back.

    In consequence of the above, the following amendment to the Articles of Association is proposed:
    Art. 2 to be amended to the effect that Jyske Bank’s nominal share capital be DKK 615,069,770 distributed on 61,506,977 shares.
      2 Amendments to Art. 3(8), Art. 4(2) and (3), Art. 5(1) and (2) and Art. 24(2): “VP Securities Services” to be changed into “VP Securities A/S”.
      3 To replace the existing authorizations in the Articles of Association, the Supervisory Board is authorized to carry out capital increases with and without pre-emption rights and to raise convertible loans with and without pre-emption rights by amending Art. 4(2), (3) and (5), Art. 5(1), (2), (3) and (4) of the Articles of Association. The amendments are considered together and are proposed to be changed to the following wording:
        – Art. 4(2): As specified by the Supervisory Board in respect of time and terms and conditions, the share capital can be increased through the subscription of new shares without preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders. The increase may be in one or several issues by not more than a nominal amount of DKK 60 million (6 million shares of a face value of DKK 10). The increase may be effected through cash payment or through acquisition of existing businesses or specific assets. The increase must in every case be effected not below the market price. The increase cannot be effected through part payment. The authorisation will be effective until 1 March 2030.

    The new shares shall when issued and transferred be registered in the names of their holders at VP Securities A/S and in the Bank’s register of shareholders. The new shares are negotiable instruments, and there are no restrictions in their negotiability except for the provisions laid down in Art. 3 of the Articles of Association. Shareholders shall be under no obligation to have their shares redeemed in full or in part.
        – Art. 4(3): As specified by the Supervisory Board in respect of time and terms and conditions, the share capital can be increased through the subscription of new shares with preferential subscription rights for existing shareholders. The increase may be in one or several issues by not more than a nominal amount of DKK 120 million (12 million shares of a face value of DKK 10). The increase may be effected through cash payment or in any other manner. The increase may be offered at a favourable price. The increase cannot be effected through part payment. The authorisation will be effective until 1 March 2030.

    The new shares shall when issued and transferred be registered in the names of their holders at VP Securities A/S and in the Bank’s register of shareholders. The new shares are negotiable instruments, and there are no restrictions in their negotiability except for the provisions laid down in Art. 3 of the Articles of Association. Shareholders shall be under no obligation to have their shares redeemed in full or in part.
        – Art. 4(5): To be deleted.
        – Art. 5(1): The Bank may, following resolution by the Supervisory Board, up to 1 March 2030, on one or more occasions raise loans against bonds or other instruments of debt which bonds or instruments of debt shall entitle the lender to convert his claim into shares (convertible loans) and the Supervisory Board is authorised to carry out the related capital increase. Convertible loans may be raised with a conversion right to a maximum number of shares with a total nominal value corresponding to the maximum nominal amount at the time of raising the convertible loans by which the share capital may be increased using the remaining authorization in Art. 4(3), calculated in relation to the conversion price determined at the time of raising the convertible loans. Exercising the authorisation to increase the share capital in Art. 4(3), will hence reduce the authorisation to raise convertible loans in accordance with this provision. The Bank’s shareholders shall have a preferential subscription right to convertible loans. Where the Supervisory Board decides to raise convertible loans, when exercising the authorization in this provision, the authorisation to increase the share capital, cf. Art. 4(3), shall be considered to be utilised by an amount corresponding to the maximum conversion right. The term allowed for conversion may be fixed at a period exceeding five years after the raising of the convertible loan. For shares which shall be issued on the basis of the convertible loans mentioned in this provision, the Supervisory Board shall decide – with due regard to the time of subscription or utilisation of the conversion right – the time from when such new shares shall carry a right to receive dividend and other terms and conditions of the share issue. Shares issued on the basis of the convertible loans mentioned in this provision cannot be paid in by partial payment, are registered shares and are registered in the name of the holder in VP Securities A/S and the Bank’s register of shareholders upon issuance and transfer. The new shares are negotiable instruments, and the same rules as apply to the existing shares in respect of rights and duties, redeemability and transferability shall apply.
        – Art. 5(2): The Bank may, following resolution by the Supervisory Board, up to 1 March 2030, on one or more occasions raise loans against bonds or other instruments of debt which bonds or instruments of debt shall entitle the lender to convert his claim into shares (convertible loans) and the Supervisory Board is authorised to carry out the related capital increase. Convertible loans may be raised with a conversion right to a maximum number of shares with a total nominal value corresponding to the maximum nominal amount at the time of raising the convertible loans by which the share capital may be increased using the remaining authorization in Art. 4(2), calculated in relation to the conversion price determined at the time of raising the convertible loans. Exercising the authorisation to increase the share capital in Art. 4(2), will hence reduce the authorisation to raise convertible loans in accordance with this provision. The Bank’s shareholders shall not have a preferential subscription right to convertible loans which are offered at a subscription price and a conversion price to the effect that the right of conversion corresponds to the market price of the shares at the time the resolution to raise convertible loans by using the authorisation of this provision was passed by the Supervisory Board. The convertible bonds or other instruments of debt may be issued as payment upon the Bank’s acquisition of existing businesses or specific assets corresponding to the value of the convertible bonds or other instruments of debt. Where the Supervisory Board decides to raise convertible loans, when exercising the authorization in this provision, the authorisation to increase the share capital, cf. Art. 4(2), shall be considered to be utilised by an amount corresponding to the maximum conversion right. The term allowed for conversion may be fixed at a period exceeding five years after the raising of the convertible loan. For shares which shall be issued on the basis of the convertible loans mentioned in this provision, the Supervisory Board shall decide – with due regard to the time of subscription or utilisation of the conversion right – the time from when such new shares shall carry a right to receive dividend and other terms and conditions of the share issue. Shares issued on the basis of the convertible loans mentioned in this provision cannot be paid in by partial payment, are registered shares and are registered in the name of the holder in VP Securities A/S and the Bank’s register of shareholders upon issuance and transfer. The new shares are negotiable instruments, and the same rules as apply to the existing shares in respect of rights and duties, redeemability and transferability shall apply.
        – Art. 5(3): To be deleted.
        – Art. 5(4): To be deleted.
    g. Election of members:
      1 Election of Shareholders’ Representatives, cf. Art. 14(4) of the Articles of Association. The proposed candidates and further information about them are available as from Friday 28 February 2025 at Jyske Bank’s website.
      2 Election of Supervisory Board members, cf. Art. 16(1)(b) of the Articles of Association.
    The Supervisory Board proposes re-election of Lisbeth Holm, CEO, Vejle and Consultant and Professional Board Member, Glenn Söderholm, Vejbystrand (Sweden).
    h. Election of auditors:
      1 The Supervisory Board proposes the re-election of EY Godkendt Revisionspartnerselskab. The motion is in accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee to the Supervisory Board. The recommendation of the Audit Committee is free from influence by any third parties and is not – and has not been – subject to any agreement with a third party who in any way limits the appointment of specific auditors or audit firms by members in general meeting.
      2 The Supervisory Board proposes the re-election of EY Godkendt Revisionspartnerselskab for verification of statutory information on sustainability. The motion is in accordance with the recommendation of the Audit Committee to the Supervisory Board. The recommendation of the Audit Committee is free from influence by any third parties and is not – and has not been – subject to any agreement with a third party who in any way limits the appointment of specific auditors or audit firms by members in general meeting.
    i. Any other business.

    Reference to Jyske Bank’s website for further information
    Where in this notice of a General Meeting, reference is made to Jyske Bank’s website for further information, this link can be used: https://jyskebank.com/investorrelations/generalmeetings.

    Adoption of motions – special requirements
    Motions to amend the Bank’s Articles of Association at annual general meetings shall only be adopted where not less than 90 per cent of the voting share capital is represented at the annual general meeting and only where adopted by both three fourth of the votes cast and by three fourth of the voting share capital represented at the general meeting, cf. Art. 12 of the Articles of Association. Where less than 90 per cent of the voting share capital is represented at the annual general meeting, but the said motion obtains both three fourth of the votes cast and three fourth of the voting share capital represented at the annual general meeting, the said motion may be adopted at a new general meeting by the said qualified majority irrespective of the proportion of the share capital represented.

    Size of the share capital, voting rights of the shareholders and registration date
    Jyske Bank’s share capital is DKK 642,720,950, comprising shares at a face value of DKK 10. Any share amount of DKK 10 shall carry one vote, provided always that 4,000 votes are the highest number of votes any one shareholder may cast on his own behalf. Voting rights can only be exercised by shareholders or their proxies. For the voting right of a share to be exercised, the share shall be registered in the name of the holder in Jyske Bank’s register of shareholders not later than on the day of registration, which is Tuesday, 18 March 2025, or the title to such share shall be notified and documented to the Bank within that same time limit.

    Proxy and postal vote
    Shareholders may as from Friday, 28 February up to and including Friday, 21 March 2025 give voting instructions, appoint Jyske Bank’s Supervisory Board or a third party as proxy either electronically or by means of the Power of Attorney form.

    Shareholders may attend the General Meeting by proxy and cast their votes by proxy.

    In addition, shareholders may as from Friday, 28 February to Monday 24 March 2025 at 10.00 a.m. cast postal votes either electronically or by means of a form.

    Proxies may be appointed, or postal votes may be cast electronically at the Investor Portal via Jyske Bank’s website. A form for the appointment of proxies or for casting postal votes is available at one of Jyske Bank’s branches or can be downloaded from Jyske Bank’s website. Where the form is used, please forward the completed and signed form either by post to Euronext Securities (VP Securities A/S) at the address Nicolai Eigtveds Gade 8, 1402 Copenhagen K or by email to CPH-investor@euronext.com. The form must reach Euronext Securities (VP Securitas A/S) by the above-mentioned deadlines, and proxies must have been appointed or postal votes must have been cast electronically by the same deadlines.

    Custodian bank
    Jyske Bank’s shareholders may choose Jyske Bank A/S as their custodian bank in order to exercise their financial rights through Jyske Bank A/S.

    Questions from shareholders
    Shareholders are recommended to ask questions in writing before the general meeting about the items of the agenda or Jyske Bank’s financial position. Please send questions to Jyske Bank A/S, Juridisk Afdeling, Vestergade 8-16, DK-8600 Silkeborg or by email to Juridisk@jyskebank.dk. Questions and answers will be presented at the general meeting, and shareholders who have asked questions will receive replies directly from Jyske Bank. At the General Meeting, the management will also answer questions from the shareholders about matters of importance for the financial situation of Jyske Bank and questions for consideration at the General Meeting.

    Additional information
    The following documents and information can be downloaded from Jyske Bank’s website from Friday, 28 February 2025:

    1. Notice of General Meeting.
    2. The total number of shares and voting rights at the date of the notice.
    3. Agenda and full wording of motions.
    4. Annual Report and the consolidated financial statements with the auditor’s report and the management’s review.
    5. Remuneration report
    6. List of candidates and further information about the proposed candidates with respect to election of Shareholders’ Representatives and the Supervisory Board.
    7. The forms to be used when voting by proxy or by postal vote.

    Notification of participation
    Shareholders who wish to attend and cast their votes at the General Meeting may register for the General Meeting at the Investor Portal via Jyske Bank’s website as from Friday 28 February 2025 up to and including Friday 21 March 2025.
    Confirmation of registration and QR code for the general meeting portal will be submitted by email (also in case of powers of attorney to third parties), and therefore it is important that you register your email address at the Investor Portal.
    At the entrance to the general meeting, you press the submitted QR code in the email to register your attendance which is why you must bring your smart phone or your tablet. Any votes will also take place via the General Meeting Portal. Additional guidelines for using the General Meeting Portal will be available at the entrance to the general meeting.
    If you are unable to receive confirmation of registration to the general meeting by email, you may register for the general meeting by means of the sign-up form available at Jyske Bank’s website or by contacting one of Jyske Bank’s branches. If so, you must contact and confirm your attendance at the entrance to the general meeting which requires that you produce valid identification.

    Live webcast
    The general meeting will be live webcasted via InvestorPortalen. The transmission will comprise images and sound. In order to follow the general meeting shareholders must log on to InvestorPortalen with their MitIDs or VP-IDs. Registration to the general meeting is not required in order to follow the webcast. It will not be possible to ask questions or make presentations and/or cast votes during the process.

    Before commencement of the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting, coffee/tea etc. will be served from 1.30 p.m.

    Silkeborg, 26 February 2025

    The Supervisory Board

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Elevating Road Safety and Autonomous Driving: LeddarTech to Demonstrate Innovative Solutions at Three Key European Events

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    QUEBEC CITY, Canada, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LeddarTech® Holdings Inc. (“LeddarTech”) (Nasdaq: LDTC), an automotive software company that provides patented disruptive AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception software technology, LeddarVision™, for ADAS, AD and parking applications, is set to bring its transformative solutions to Europe. LeddarTech will participate in three key industry events this March and April—Embedded World, Tech.AD Europe and Hannover Messe 2025—offering an opportunity to showcase how its technologies are enhancing safety, performance and efficiency in automotive systems.

    Following a recently announced significant milestone—the selection of LeddarVision by a global commercial vehicle OEM for its ADAS program in model year 2028 vehicles—LeddarTech’s participation in these events reinforces its expanding influence and commitment to driving technological excellence and safety innovation in Europe.

    Event Highlights

    1. Embedded World

    • Dates: March 11-13, 2025
    • Location: NürnbergMesse, Nuremberg

    At Embedded World, a premier event dedicated to embedded technologies, LeddarTech will present its advancements in perception, sensor fusion and real-time processing. Through live demonstrations of LeddarVision, attendees will witness firsthand how LeddarTech’s solutions contribute to the SOAFEE ecosystem with a new blueprint. Utilizing Arm technology on AWS G5g, LeddarVision Surround offers adaptable, scalable perception solutions that meet the evolving standards of the automotive industry.

    2. Tech.AD Europe

    • Dates: March 16-18, 2025
    • Location: Hotel Titanic Chaussee, Berlin
    • Booth: # 7

    Tech.AD Europe is a leading conference for ADAS and AD technologies. LeddarTech will not only showcase its solutions but also provide immersive experiences with live LeddarNavigator demonstrations. Participants will join on-road demonstrations to experience the real-time performance of LeddarVision “Full Surround” (LVS-2+), offering an authentic view of how LeddarTech’s AI-driven software navigates complex driving environments. This demonstration builds on the success of the LeddarNavigator’s showcase at CES 2025 in Las Vegas, where it received significant industry recognition.

    3. Hannover Messe 2025

    • Dates: March 31 – April 4, 2025
    • Location: Messegelände Hannover
    • Booth: # 44 A, Hall 17

    As Canada takes the spotlight as the host country at Hannover Messe, LeddarTech will be part of the Canadian delegation showcasing innovations in green, digital and resilient technologies. Visitors to LeddarTech’s booth will experience 360° virtual reality demonstrations, detailed product presentations and customer meetings. This event is a strategic platform to engage with industry leaders and demonstrate how LeddarVision technology supports advanced manufacturing and drives the adoption of autonomous systems across diverse sectors.

    A Vision for the Future of Automotive Technology

    “With our recent first OEM design win and our strategic collaboration with Texas Instruments, LeddarTech is solidifying its leadership in sensor fusion and perception software for ADAS and autonomous driving,” said Frantz Saintellemy, President and CEO of LeddarTech. “These milestones, coupled with our strong market momentum, reflect the increasing adoption of our LeddarVision technology. Our presence at Embedded World, Tech.AD Europe and Hannover Messe 2025 presents a valuable opportunity to demonstrate our innovative approach to enhancing safety, performance and cost efficiency in ADAS and AD systems—both in Europe and globally.”

    About LeddarTech

    A global software company founded in 2007 and headquartered in Quebec City with additional R&D centers in Montreal and Tel Aviv, Israel, LeddarTech develops and provides comprehensive AI-based low-level sensor fusion and perception software solutions that enable the deployment of ADAS, autonomous driving (AD) and parking applications. LeddarTech’s automotive-grade software applies advanced AI and computer vision algorithms to generate accurate 3D models of the environment to achieve better decision making and safer navigation. This high-performance, scalable, cost-effective technology is available to OEMs and Tier 1-2 suppliers to efficiently implement automotive and off-road vehicle ADAS solutions.

    LeddarTech is responsible for several remote-sensing innovations, with over 170 patent applications (87 granted) that enhance ADAS, AD and parking capabilities. Better awareness around the vehicle is critical in making global mobility safer, more efficient, sustainable and affordable: this is what drives LeddarTech to seek to become the most widely adopted sensor fusion and perception software solution.

    Additional information about LeddarTech is accessible at www.leddartech.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter (X), Facebook and YouTube.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements contained in this Press Release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (which forward-looking statements also include forward-looking statements and forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws), including, but not limited to, statements relating to LeddarTech’s selection by the OEM referred to above, anticipated strategy, future operations, prospects, objectives and financial projections and other financial metrics. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend” and other similar expressions among others. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: (i) our ability to continue to maintain compliance with Nasdaq continued listing standards following our transfer to the Nasdaq Capital Market; (ii) the risk that LeddarTech and the OEM referred to above are unable to agree to final terms in definitive agreements; (iii) the volume of future orders (if any) from this OEM, actual revenue derived from expected orders and timing of revenue, if any; (iv) our ability to timely access sufficient capital and financing on favorable terms or at all; (v) our ability to maintain compliance with our debt covenants, including our ability to enter into any forbearance agreements, waivers or amendments with, or obtain other relief from, our lenders as needed; (vi) our ability to execute on our business model, achieve design wins and generate meaningful revenue; (vii) our ability to successfully commercialize our product offering at scale, whether through the collaboration agreement with Texas Instruments, a collaboration with a Tier 2 supplier or otherwise; (viii) changes in our strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs and plans; (ix) changes in general economic and/or industry-specific conditions; (x) our ability to retain, attract and hire key personnel; (xi) potential adverse changes to relationships with our customers, employees, suppliers or other parties; (xii) legislative, regulatory and economic developments; (xiii) the outcome of any known and unknown litigation and regulatory proceedings; (xiv) unpredictability and severity of catastrophic events, including, but not limited to, acts of terrorism, outbreak of war or hostilities and any epidemic, pandemic or disease outbreak, as well as management’s response to any of the aforementioned factors; and (xv) other risk factors as detailed from time to time in LeddarTech’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the risk factors contained in LeddarTech’s Form 20-F filed with the SEC. The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Except as required by applicable law, LeddarTech does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

    Contact:
    Maram Fityani, Media and Public Relations, LeddarTech Holdings Inc.
    Tel.: + 1-418-653-9000 ext. 623, maram.fityani@leddartech.com

    Leddar, LeddarTech, LeddarVision, LeddarSP, VAYADrive, VayaVision and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of LeddarTech Holdings Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.

    LeddarTech Holdings Inc. is a public company listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LDTC.”

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: BW Energy Limited: Annual report 2024  

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Annual report 2024  

    BW Energy today published its annual report for the financial year ended 31 December 2024. BW Energy also published the Board-approved report on payments to governments and the annual statement of reserves for 2024. Please find the reports attached.  

    The reports are also available at: www.bwenergy.no/investors/reports-and-presentations 

    For further information, please contact: 

    Brice Morlot, CFO BW Energy, +33.7.81.11.41.16 

    ir@bwenergy.com  

    About BW Energy:  

    BW Energy is a growth E&P company with a differentiated strategy targeting proven offshore oil and gas reservoirs through low risk phased developments. The Company has access to existing production facilities to reduce time to first oil and cashflow with lower investments than traditional offshore developments. The Company’s assets are 73.5% of the producing Dussafu Marine licence offshore Gabon, 100% interest in the Golfinho and Camarupim fields, a 76.5% interest in the BM-ES-23 block, a 95% interest in the Maromba field in Brazil, a 95% interest in the Kudu field in Namibia, all operated by BW Energy. In addition, BW Energy holds approximately 6.6% of the common shares in Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. and a 20% non-operating interest in the onshore Petroleum Exploration License 73 (“PEL 73”) in Namibia. Total net 2P+2C reserves and resources were 599 million barrels of oil equivalent at the start of 2025.  

    This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.

    Attachments

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: New report skewers Coalition’s contentious nuclear plan – and reignites Australia’s energy debate

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland

    Debate over the future of Australia’s energy system has erupted again after a federal parliamentary inquiry delivered a report into the deployment of nuclear power in Australia.

    The report casts doubt on the Coalition’s plan to build seven nuclear reactors on former coal sites across Australia should it win government. The reactors would be Commonwealth-owned and built.

    The report’s central conclusions – rejected by the Coalition – are relatively unsurprising. It found nuclear power would be far more expensive than the projected path of shifting to mostly renewable energy. And delivering nuclear generation before the mid-2040s will be extremely challenging.

    The report also reveals important weaknesses in the Coalition’s defence of its plan to deploy nuclear energy across Australia, if elected. In particular, the idea of cheap, factory-built nuclear reactors is very likely a mirage.

    A divisive inquiry

    In October last year, a House of Representatives select committee was formed to investigate the deployment of nuclear energy in Australia.

    Chaired by Labor MP Dan Repacholi, it has so far involved 19 public hearings and 858 written submissions from nuclear energy companies and experts, government agencies, scientists, Indigenous groups and others. Evidence I gave to a hearing was quoted in the interim report.

    The committee’s final report is due by April 30 this year. It tabled an interim report late on Tuesday, focused on the timeframes and costs involved. These issues dominated evidence presented to the inquiry.

    The findings of the interim report were endorsed by the committee’s Labor and independent members, but rejected by Coalition members.

    What did the report find on cost?

    The report said evidence presented so far showed the deployment of nuclear power generation in Australia “is currently not a viable investment of taxpayer money”.

    Nuclear energy was shown to be more expensive than the alternatives. These include a power grid consistent with current projections: one dominated by renewable energy and backed up by a combination of battery storage and a limited number of gas peaking plants.

    The Coalition has identified seven coal plant sites where it would build nuclear reactors. Some 11 gigawatts of coal capacity is produced on those sites. The committee heard replacing this capacity with nuclear power would meet around 15% of consumer needs in the National Electricity Market, and cost at least A$116 billion.

    In contrast, the Australian Energy Market Operator estimates the cost of meeting 100% of the National Electricity Market’s needs – that is, building all required transmission, generation, storage and firming capacity out to 2050 – is about $383 billion.

    What about the timing of nuclear?

    On the matter of when nuclear energy in Australia would be up and running, the committee found “significant challenges” in achieving this before the mid-2040s.

    This is consistent with findings from the CSIRO that nuclear power would take at least 15 years to deploy in Australia. But is it at odds with Coalition claims that the first two plants would be operating by 2035 and 2037 respectively.

    The mid-2040s is well beyond the lifetime of Australia’s existing coal-fired power stations. This raises questions about how the Coalition would ensure reliable electricity supplies after coal plants close. It also raises questions over how Australia would meet its global emissions-reduction obligations.

    Recent experience in other developed countries suggests the committee’s timeframe estimates are highly conservative.

    Take, for example, a 1.6GW reactor at Flamanville, France. The project, originally scheduled to be completed in 2012, was not connected to the grid until 2024. Costs blew out from an original estimate of A$5.5 billion to $22 billion.

    The builder, Électricité de France (EDF), was pushed to the edge of bankruptcy. The French government was forced to nationalise the company, reversing an earlier decision to privatise it.

    EDF is also building two reactors in the United Kingdom – a project known as Hinkley C. It has also suffered huge cost blowouts.

    Recent nuclear reactor projects in the United States have also fallen victim to cost overruns, sending the owner, Westinghouse, bankrupt.

    What does the Coalition say?

    The committee report included dissenting comments by Coalition members.

    As the Coalition rightly points out, global enthusiasm for nuclear power remains steady. The UK, France and the US all signed a declaration in 2023 at the global climate change conference, COP28, pledging to triple nuclear power by 2050.

    And in the UK and France, advanced plans are afoot to construct new nuclear reactors at existing sites.

    But even there, progress has been glacial. The UK’s Sizewell C project has been in the planning stage since at least 2012. The French projects were announced by President Emmanuel Macron in 2022. None of these projects have yet reached a final investment decision. Delays in Australia would certainly be much longer.

    The Coalition also draws a long bow in claiming Australia’s existing research reactor at Lucas Heights, in New South Wales, means we are “already a nuclear nation”.

    At least 50 countries, including most developed countries, have research reactors. But very few are contemplating starting a nuclear industry from scratch.

    At least one issue seems to have been resolved by the committee’s inquiry. Evidence it received almost unanimously dismissed the idea small modular reactors (SMRs) will arrive in time to be relevant to Australia’s energy transition – if they are ever developed.

    The Coalition’s dissenting comments did not attempt to rebut this evidence.

    Looking ahead

    Undoubtedly, existing nuclear power plants will play a continued role in the global energy transition.

    But starting a nuclear power industry from scratch in Australia is a nonsensical idea for many reasons – not least because it is too expensive and will take too long.

    In the context of the coming federal election, the nuclear policy is arguably a red herring – one designed to distract voters from a Coalition policy program that slows the transition to renewables and drags out the life of dirty and unreliable coal-fired power.

    The Conversation

    John Quiggin is a former member of the Climate Change Authority. His submission to the nuclear electricity generation inquiry was cited in the interim report

    – ref. New report skewers Coalition’s contentious nuclear plan – and reignites Australia’s energy debate – https://theconversation.com/new-report-skewers-coalitions-contentious-nuclear-plan-and-reignites-australias-energy-debate-250912

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s mechanism for small, micro firms’ financing generates results

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China’s efforts to promote financing coordination for small and micro companies are already bearing fruit, official data showed.

    Since a coordination mechanism for supporting small and micro enterprises in obtaining financing was established in October 2024, total credit granting has exceeded 10 trillion yuan (about 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars), the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) said at a meeting on Tuesday.

    Over 50 million business entities, including small and micro firms, and self-employed businesses, have been visited since the initiation of the working mechanism, which was led jointly by the NFRA and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), according to the NFRA.

    The two departments emphasized at the meeting the need to eliminate various hidden barriers that impede financing for the private sector and small and micro companies and called for all-out effort to support these businesses to overcome challenges and achieve healthy development.

    Looking ahead, it was agreed that the mechanism should play a more substantial role and guide banking institutions to increase resource investment and improve service levels to assist companies in increasing orders and expanding markets. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Grassley Pushes for Answers on UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare Advantage Billing Practices

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley

    Read more from the Wall Street Journal HERE

    WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a former Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, sent a letter to UnitedHealth Group Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty demanding detailed information on the company’s Medicare billing practices.

    Grassley’s letter cited reports of apparent fraud, waste and abuse at UnitedHealth Group, including efforts to diagnose enrollees with obscure revenue-generating diagnoses that were irrelevant or inaccurate. According to reporting, this resulted in $8.7 billion in extra payments in 2021 alone.

    “Despite these oversight efforts, [Medicare Advantage Organizations] continue to defraud the American taxpayer, costing them billions of dollars a year … The apparent fraud, waste, and abuse at issue is simply unacceptable and harms not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also the American taxpayer,” Grassley wrote.

    In the letter, Grassley requested UnitedHealth provide its training manuals, guidance documents, compliance program details, audit results and other documents.

    Since 2015, Grassley has pressed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Justice to recover improper payments made to Medicare Advantage Organizations, including UnitedHealth Group.

    Text of the letter to UnitedHealth Group follows:

    February 24, 2025

    VIA ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

    Mr. Andrew Witty

    Chief Executive Officer

    UnitedHealth Group, Inc.

    Dear Mr. Witty:

    Twenty-five years ago, I helped shepherd Medicare Part C into law, and I have repeatedly advocated for the program.[1]  Further, since 2015, I have pressed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to recover improper payments made to Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAO), including UnitedHealth Group.[2]  Despite these oversight efforts, MAOs continue to defraud the American taxpayer, costing them billions of dollars a year.[3] 

    On February 21, 2025, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, “DOJ Investigates Medicare Billing Practices at UnitedHealth,” which reported that the DOJ launched an investigation into UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare billing practices.[4]  According to the Journal, UnitedHealth Group used in-home health risk assessments (HRA) and chart reviews to diagnose enrollees with obscure revenue-generating diagnoses that were irrelevant or inaccurate.[5]  Further, according to the reporting, the inappropriate diagnoses resulted in extra payments of $8.7 billion in just 2021.[6] 

    On October 24, 2024, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) released a report titled, Medicare Advantage: Questionable Use of Health Risk Assessments Continues To Drive Up Payments to Plans by Billions.[7]  The HHS OIG found that UnitedHealth Group received more money from CMS for diagnoses only made during in-home HRAs and chart reviews than any other MAO.[8]  The OIG, which reviewed all MAO enrollees, noted that, “the lack of any other follow-up visits, procedures, tests, or supplies for these diagnoses…raises concerns that either: (1) the diagnoses are inaccurate and thus the payments are improper or (2) enrollees did not receive needed care for serious conditions reported only on HRAs or HRA-linked chart reviews.”[9]  In this context, UnitedHealth Group benefited financially more than any other MAO, which raises serious questions about its practices.  The apparent fraud, waste, and abuse at issue is simply unacceptable and harms not only Medicare beneficiaries, but also the American taxpayer.  

    For Congress and the American public to better understand UnitedHealth Group’s billing practices, please provide answers to the following questions no later than March 10, 2025:

    1. What steps has UnitedHealth Group taken to review all diagnoses submitted to CMS for its Medicare Advantage enrollees (“enrollees”) that were identified only by HRAs or chart reviews (either manual or artificial intelligence) and to identify all submitted diagnoses that are obscure, irrelevant, or inaccurate?  Quantify the number and amount of inappropriate payments identified as a result of these actions.  Provide all records.[10]
    1. Provide all records that relate to the compliance program that UnitedHealth Group had in place from 2019-2024 to monitor the accuracy and appropriateness of the diagnosis codes submitted to CMS for enrollees, including the design and results of all audits conducted.
    1. Provide all training manuals and guidance documents for conducting HRAs and manual chart reviews, a list of all software used during the course of an HRA and a manual chart review, and the logic rules for all electronic decision support tools embedded in the software.  Does UnitedHealth Group use artificial intelligence to conduct the aforementioned processes?  Are all diagnoses identified by artificial intelligence confirmed by a trained medical record reviewer?
    1. Provide all policies and procedures for obtaining diagnostic confirmation from an enrollee’s primary care provider and ensuring the receipt of treatment for a new diagnosis identified by an HRA or a chart review.  Provide all documentation related to compliance audits of this process.

    Thank you for your prompt review and response.  If you have any questions, please contact Tucker Akin with my Committee staff at (202) 224-5225.

    Sincerely,

    Charles E. Grassley

    Chairman

    Committee on the Judiciary

    -30-

    [1] Thomas Oliver, Philip Lee, and Helene Lipton, A Political History of Medicare and Prescription Drug Coverage, The Millbank Quarterly (June 2004), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2690175/; Webpage, Cuts to the Medicare Advantage Program, Off. of Senator Charles E. Grassley (Feb. 27, 2014), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/video/watch/cuts-to-the-medicare-advantage-program; Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Comm. on Finance, to Seema Verna, Administrator, Cntrs. for Medicare & Medicaid Srvcs. (Mar. 29, 2019), https://www.finance.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/03292019%20Medicare%20Advantage%20Letter.pdf.

    [2] Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Member, Senate Comm. on the Budget, to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator, Cntrs. for Medicare & Medicaid Srvcs. (Dec. 16, 2024), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/grassley_to_cms_-_radv_final_rule.pdf;

    Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, to Seema Verna, Administrator, Cntrs. for Medicare & Medicaid Srvcs. (Apr. 17, 2017), https://www.grassley.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/2017-04-17%20CEG%20to%20CMS%20(Risk%20Score%20Follow%20Up).pdf; Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, to Andrew Slavitt, Administrator, Cntrs. for Medicare & Medicaid Srvcs. (May 19, 2015), https://media.npr.org/documents/2015/may/grassley_cms.pdf; Letter from Senator Charles E. Grassley, Chairman, Senate Comm. on the Judiciary, to Loretta Lynch, Attorney General, Dept. of Justice (May 19, 2015), https://media.npr.org/documents/2015/may/grassley_doj.pdf.  

    [3] Medicare Advantage Provider Independent Health to Pay Up To $98M to Settle False Claims Act Suit, Dept. of Justice (Dec. 20, 2024), https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/medicare-advantage-provider-independent-health-pay-98m-settle-false-claims-act-suit; Oak Street Health Agrees to Pay $60M to Resolve Alleged False Claims Act Liability for Paying Kickbacks to Insurance Agents in Medicare Advantage Recruitment Scheme, Dept. of Justice (Sep. 18, 2024), https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/oak-street-health-agrees-pay-60m-resolve-alleged-false-claims-act-liability-paying-kickbacks.

    [4] Christopher Weaver and Anna Wilde Mathews, DOJ Investigates Medicare Billing Practices at UnitedHealth, The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 21, 2025), https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/unitedhealth-medicare-doj-diagnosis-investigation-66b9f1db?msockid=1979114121c76140288a04d6207560b1.

    [5] Id.; Christopher Weaver, Anna Wilde Mathews, and Tom McGinty, UnitedHealth’s Army of Doctors Helped It Collect Billions More From Medicare, The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 29, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/unitedhealth-medicare-payments-doctors-c2a343db?msockid=1979114121c76140288a04d6207560b1; Anna Wilde Mathews et al., The One-Hour Nurse Visits That Let Insurers Collect $15 Billion From Medicare, The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 4, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/medicare-extra-payments-home-visits-diagnosis-057dca8b?msockid=1979114121c76140288a04d6207560b1; Christopher Weaver et al., Insurers Pocketed $50 Billion From Medicare for Diseases No Doctor Treated, The Wall Street Journal (July 8, 2024), https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/medicare-health-insurance-diagnosis-payments-b4d99a5d?msockid=1979114121c76140288a04d6207560b1.

    [6] Weaver & Mathews, supra note 4.

    [7] U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Medicare Advantage: Questionable Use of Health Risk Assessments Continues To Drive Up Payments to Plans by Billions, OEI-03-23-00380 (Oct. 24, 2024), https://oig.hhs.gov/documents/evaluation/10028/OEI-03-23-00380.pdf.

    [8] Id.

    [9] Id.

    [10] Records” include any written, recorded, or graphic material of any kind, including letters, memoranda, reports, notes, electronic data (e-mails, email attachments, and any other electronically-created or stored information), calendar entries, inter-office communications, meeting minutes, phone/voice mail or recordings/records of verbal communications, and drafts (whether or not they resulted in final documents).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: $1b set aside for AI R&D institute

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    In his 2025-26 Budget Speech this morning, Financial Secretary Paul Chan outlined that Hong Kong is committed to cultivating new quality productive forces in accordance with national strategies, and to leveraging the economic potential of innovation and technology (I&T), including the development and adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

    In particular, he announced that a Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute will be set up to promote the application of research outcomes.

    Mr Chan highlighted that the Government will strive both to develop AI as a core industry and to empower traditional industries to upgrade and transform through AI adoption.

    Announcing that $1 billion has been set aside for the establishment of a Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute, he explained that it will spearhead both research and development (R&D) and industrial applications of AI, with the Digital Policy Office being given responsibility for the institute’s formulation.

    Mr Chan also reported that computing power at Cyberport’s AI Supercomputing Centre is on schedule to reach 3,000 petaFLOPS this year, and that two pilot lines at the Hong Kong Microelectronics Research & Development Institute will begin operating at the Microelectronics Centre in Yuen Long next year.

    To boost Hong Kong’s international standing in the industry, the finance chief revealed that the Hong Kong Investment Corporation will host the first International Young Scientist Forum on Artificial Intelligence, and the first International Conference on Embodied AI Robots.

    In addition, he said the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, with support from the Securities & Futures Commission, will take forward the establishment of a dedicated “technology enterprises channel” to help specialist technology and biotechnology companies, especially those listed in the Mainland, raise funds and expand their business. Meanwhile, the Government will review tax deduction arrangements for various expenditures incurred by firms in obtaining intellectual property rights.

    Mr Chan reported that the Government’s New Industrialisation Funding Scheme has now part-funded the setting up of more than 100 new smart production lines by local manufacturing enterprises across industries ranging from biotechnology and nanofibre materials to new energy. Additionally, the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme, launched in September to help firms build smart production facilities, recently approved its first project, awarding $200 million to an enterprise in the life and health technology sector.

    Complementing these initiatives, Mr Chan said the Government plans to launch a two-year Pilot Manufacturing & Production Line Upgrade Support Scheme this year, and has earmarked $100 million for it. The scheme will provide funding of up to $250,000 to enterprises, on a one-to-two matching basis, to support their adoption of advanced production technologies.

    The Government will also set up a $10 billion I&T Industry‑Oriented Fund to channel more market capital towards investing in emerging and future industries of strategic importance. It is inviting organisations to submit expressions of interest and aims to seek funding approval from the Legislative Council in the middle of this year.

    Moreover, the Government is preparing to launch a $180 million I&T Accelerator Pilot Scheme. It will provide up to $30 million in funding, on a one‑to‑two matching basis, to professional start-up service agencies, with a view to enriching Hong Kong’s I&T start-up ecosystem.

    Mr Chan also shared that the Government will invite proposals, imminently, for the establishment of a third InnoHK research cluster, to be focused on advanced manufacturing, materials, energy and sustainable development.

    Furthermore, the Financial Secretary said the Commerce & Economic Development Bureau and the Office of the Communications Authority are together exploring a set of streamlined procedures for vetting licence applications for the operation of Low Earth Orbit satellites.

    Highlighting that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster was ranked as the world’s second top science and technology cluster for a fifth consecutive year by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in its Global Innovation Index 2024, Mr Chan mentioned that WIPO will hold the launch event for the publication of this year’s index in Hong Kong. He said this underlined the importance of Hong Kong as a core city in the Greater Bay Area and in China’s overall I&T development.

    With regard to life and health technology, the finance chief said the Innovation & Technology Commission is inviting local universities to submit proposals to obtain funding to set up life and health technology research institutes. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation is studying the sector’s demand for manufacturing facilities that comply with the Good Manufacturing Practices.

    Mr Chan also revealed that an interdepartmental Working Group on Developing Low‑altitude Economy, established at the end of last year, is examining applications for a first batch of Regulatory Sandbox pilot projects and will announce the results soon. In addition, the Government is reviewing the regulatory regime in relation to Hong Kong’s low‑altitude economy and plans to introduce amendments to the Small Unmanned Aircraft Order in the second quarter of this year. It will also consider enacting legislation with regard to Advanced Air Mobility.

    The Financial Secretary pledged that the Government will provide more support for local technology companies to promote their products. For example, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council will add a thematic pop-up display area at the Hong Kong Design Gallery, and at venues hosting major exhibitions, to showcase local I&T products.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Boosting Australia’s economic ties with India

    Source: Minister for Trade

    The Albanese Government has today launched A New Roadmap for Australia’s Economic Engagement with India, to maximise Australia’s trade opportunities, benefit our businesses and consumers, secure our supply chains, and create jobs.

    India’s economy is on track to be the world’s third largest by 2030, and Australia is working to realise the enormous trade and investment opportunities that come with this.

    The Roadmap sets out a pathway to focus our ongoing efforts, including to boost two-way investment, and work with Indian-Australian communities and businesses. It identifies four ‘superhighways of growth’ in sectors where we have natural strengths and a competitive edge: clean energy, education and skills, agribusiness, and tourism.

    It also identifies nearly 50 specific opportunities to focus and accelerate our engagement across fields such as defence industries, sports, culture, space, and technology.

    To help kick start this ambitious plan, we are investing $16 million for a Australia-India Trade and Investment Accelerator Fund, which will help Australian business unlock new commercial opportunities in India.

    We are also investing an extra $4 million for our Maitri (‘friendship’) Grants program, enhancing our people-to-people, business-to-business and cultural links.

    Our free trade agreement with India, has saved Australian businesses hundreds of millions of dollars and is on track to save exporters around $2 billion in tariffs by the end of the year.

    The savings are having a direct impact for Australians, reducing costs at the checkout and creating local jobs.

    Australia continues to make progress in its negotiations with India on a new free trade agreement, which will unlock even more trade opportunities for Australian business.

    The Roadmap is informed by over 400 consultations across every state and territory, as well as in India.

    Imagery will be available from Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Media Library, and a live stream of remarks on Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Youtube channel.

    Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese:

    “India is an essential partner as we diversify our trade links to boost prosperity for all Australians.

    “This Roadmap is critical to helping us fully realise our potential with India, which will be a boon to Australia’s economy, our businesses and jobs, and our prosperity”

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Penny Wong:

    “Growing Australia’s economic security and diversifying our partnerships is a key element of our statecraft and central to our national interest.

    “By boosting our economic ties with India, we are not only creating more jobs and opportunities for Australians, we are advancing our shared interest in a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific”

    Quotes attributable to Minister for Trade and Tourism, Senator Don Farrell:

    “Australia has a rich and diverse Indian community, with strong personal and economic ties.

    “The potential of our relationship with India is almost unmatched, opening a fast growing market of over 1.4 billion people.

    “The Roadmap, the result of significant consultation with businesses and the community, offers a blueprint for Australian businesses to seize this extraordinary opportunity”

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Church hymns and social beers: how Australia is reviving the magic of singing together

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wendy Hargreaves, Senior Learning Advisor, University of Southern Queensland

    State Library of Victoria

    It was 2009. John Farnham walked on stage at the disaster relief concert for the most devastating bushfires in Australian history. He belted out You’re The Voice to 36,000 people at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Then, as he lowered his microphone, 36,000 voices belted it right back.

    Farnham knew the real star that day was not himself, but the thousands of everyday Australians singing in solidarity with their hurting nation.

    Singing together is electrifying, but can Australians tap into this magic without the tragedy?

    We’re all the voice.

    The science behind the magic

    Group singing has a proven ability to produce positive social bonding and help us tune in to others’ feelings.

    That sense of connecting and relating can boost our mental health; particularly crucial given many Australians seriously neglect self-care.

    After taking part in a year-long community singing program, Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander adults reported reduced depression, increased resilience and a greater sense of social connection.

    Physiologically, research shows group singing can increase the hormone oxytocin which helps us bond with people and feel good. It can decrease cortisol levels to positively modulate our immune system. Making music together may also release endorphins that help our tolerance of pain.

    Rewinding on Australian singing

    Australia’s identity as a singing nation has never quite matched countries like Wales, “the land of song”. Centuries-old singing traditions are well-suited to huddling indoors in snowy northern hemisphere villages.

    Indeed, the tradition of singing Christmas carols was devised as a cure for the European winter blues. Our warmer Australian climate, in contrast, coaxes us outdoors for other activities in wide open spaces.

    Hymn singing at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building in 1882.
    State Library of Victoria

    Australia’s choral tradition grew initially through church music; printed on tiny 12x7cm pages, books from the early 1800s provide a glimpse at the hymns church choirs and congregations once sang.

    Music researcher Dianne Gome reports these books were also used for official state occasions and in the home. They were so popular, Australians began to create their own versions.

    Singing was part of 19th century Australian life. At home, pianos were treasured for family singalongs and a sign of wealth and culture. Choirs blossomed, such as the The Brisbane Musical Union (now The Queensland Choir) which formed in 1872 with 112 members. Singing was valued, and local journals critiqued technique. Even The Wireless Weekly reported a radio poll “to decide the worst singer” in 1942.

    Work songs – morale boosters as workers labour through repetitive tasks – also showed our early singing culture. One Queensland man recently described life as a 14-year-old in a 1930s tram track foundry:

    Every night I came home exhausted. It was hard work, but we used to sing […] How many people sing at their work today?

    Alongside its presence in churches, work places and social gatherings, singing became a pillar of Australian education.

    A book on education history in Victoria reports singing was introduced in the 1850s for “harmonising and refining the mind” and as a “most favourable influence […] on the moral associations of the goldfields”.

    While some traditions in schools continue today, claims of a crowded curriculum and de-valuing of the arts have pushed school singing from essential to optional.

    There also exists a social pressure on Australian boys to play sport rather than sing in choirs.

    Today’s Aussie group singing style

    A fair dinkum Aussie singing style is well established in sporting circles.

    The 1978 World Cricket Series jingle C’mon Aussie C’mon was so simple and catchy its tune still rings through stadiums today. Likewise, Mike Brady’s Up There Cazaly – inspired by the 1910s footballer whose name was used in World War II battle cries – has been a favourite crowd singalong at AFL Grand Finals for decades.

    Footy club theme songs aside, Brisbane Lions fans will be particularly familiar with a modern opportunity for sports singing: goal songs. After every goal at a Lions’ home game, a snippet from a player-chosen track blares across the stands.

    Not all of these song selections make successful singalongs, but Charlie Cameron’s choice of Take Me Home Country Roads is a clear favourite. Tellingly, the crowd keeps singing after the music stops.

    At the other end of the spectrum of group size and vocal expertise is the small Australian-bred a capella group The Idea of North. Their expert musical arrangements and blended sound perfectly encapsulates collaborative singing with unity, harmony and joy.

    For a quirky Australian choral option, a group of men from Mullumbimby formed the “fake” Russian choir, Dustyesky (a wordplay on the famous Russian writer Dostoevsky). They don’t speak the language, yet their energy and passion for singing made them a hit in Russia and brought about an invitation to sing in Moscow.

    With millions of internet views, another highly successful Australian response to group singing came from Astrid Jorgensen, creator of Pub Choir. With laughter and a drink, members of the public meet at a licensed venue to learn a song in three-part harmony.

    Jorgensen’s tailored musical arrangements of popular songs suit untrained singers, don’t require music reading skills and make singing in harmony with complete strangers easy and fun. Jorgensen found the key to motivating Aussies to sing together is crowds, humour and a social beer.

    Wendy Hargreaves 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. Church hymns and social beers: how Australia is reviving the magic of singing together – https://theconversation.com/church-hymns-and-social-beers-how-australia-is-reviving-the-magic-of-singing-together-250254

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tom Rogers calls for national digital literacy campaign and more civics teaching

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra

    We see the political parties’ frantic election campaigns, but behind the scenes the Australian Electoral Commisison is working just as hard.

    An often overlooked part of Australia’s democracy, the AEC is vital in ensuring our elections are both efficient and fair, a task full of challenges.

    We’re joined today by Tom Rogers, recently retired as Electoral Commissioner. As commissioner, Rogers oversaw three federal elections and the Voice referendum. He is now a member of the advisory board of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance and provides his expertise on elections globally.

    Rogers describes running a modern Australian election as

    the largest peacetime logistic exercise in the life of Australia […] it’s so complex administratively to run these events.

    It’s a bit like setting up a fortune 500 company in four weeks, running it, then dismantling it a couple of weeks after the event. It is just phenomenally complex. And the amazing thing is that because we’ve got good systems in place, it works pretty well.

    The agency goes from, I’ll use very rough figures here, about a thousand people all over Australia during the non-electoral period up to about 105,000 people during that very short period.

    There are a lot of calls for truth in advertising laws and some calls for it to be managed by the AEC. Rogers insists the AEC should not be involved,

    I was a firm believer that that would be very inappropriate for the AEC. It’s one of those rare things where we were very, very proactive in talking to people about that. And one of the reasons is because I think it would ruin the AEC’s reputation for neutrality. It’s as simple as that.

    It will impact on the AEC’s level of trust with the community.[…] given trust is so important, that people trust electoral outcomes, I think it’s incredibly dangerous.

    While not wanting to be involved with truth in advertising, Rogers does see the importance in the AEC countering misinformation on Australia’s electoral process,

    We’ve established a ‘defending democracy unit’. We ran a national campaign called Stop and Consider to get people to think about the source of information.

    But I think the bit that we can do and that’s still missing is we really need a national digital literacy campaign for our citizens. When you correct disinformation about electoral matters, there’s a whole body of research that shows that it’s kind of effective. What is more effective rather than debunking is ‘prebunking’ and what is more effective again, is giving citizens the skills they need to make up their own mind about the accuracy of information.

    The Stop and Consider campaign, I might be wrong, but is still the only national campaign focussed on giving citizens skills. We need to run something like that all the time. I think there’s a real need for this in the modern era and that’s what we should be doing.

    Rogers also highlights the importance of civics education

    It’s critical. The AEC is already doing good work in this space. Up until I left at the end of last year, generally speaking the AEC was getting about 100,000 kids a year through the Electoral Education Centre in Canberra, which is excellent. They are in the process of digitising much of the materials so that that could be spread to schools that are unable to visit Canberra.

    I do think we need to do more.

    Michelle Grattan 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. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Tom Rogers calls for national digital literacy campaign and more civics teaching – https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-tom-rogers-calls-for-national-digital-literacy-campaign-and-more-civics-teaching-250901

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: ADB Approves $200 Million Loan to Expand Urban Services in Kolkata, India

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    NEW DELHI, INDIA (26 February 2025) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $200 million loan to enhance the development of climate- and disaster-resilient sewerage and drainage infrastructure in Kolkata, aiming to improve the city’s livability.

    These interventions, which are part of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Sustainability, Hygiene, and Resilience (Sector) Project, will improve living conditions and health outcomes, particularly for vulnerable groups including women and children, by reducing exposure to waterborne and vector-borne diseases, while also addressing flood risks.

    “The project builds on ADB’s 25-year partnership with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), working to make Kolkata a more livable city through phased, integrated investments to improve urban services, operational efficiency, institutional effectiveness, and long-term sustainability,” said ADB Water and Urban Development Portfolio Management Unit Head Hikaru Shoji.  “As the next phase of our urban development efforts in Kolkata, this project builds on earlier initiatives to expand sewerage and drainage infrastructure, improve hygiene conditions, and strengthen KMC’s governance and revenue generation efforts.”

    Kolkata, one of India’s most populous and densely populated cities, faces significant challenges due to inadequate drainage and sewerage systems, causing urban floods and unhygienic environment. These issues are exacerbated by increased heavy rains due to climate change.

    To address these challenges, the project will construct 84 kilometers (km) of combined trunk and secondary sewerage and drainage pipelines, 176 km of combined lateral sewerage and drainage pipelines up to customer connections, and 50,000 household sewer connections. It will construct one sewage treatment plant and five pumping stations. The project will benefit over 277,000 residents.

    In addition, the project will support KMC in developing a comprehensive IT-based asset management system, enhance property tax revenue, expand the early flood warning system developed through an earlier ADB intervention, raise community awareness on water, sanitation, and hygiene and support women’s employment through skills training and internship program.

    ADB is a leading multilateral development bank supporting sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth across Asia and the Pacific. Working with its members and partners to solve complex challenges together, ADB harnesses innovative financial tools and strategic partnerships to transform lives, build quality infrastructure, and safeguard our planet. Founded in 1966, ADB is owned by 69 members—49 from the region.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Video: Opening Session of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting

    Source: Republic of South Africa (video statements-2)

    President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses the Opening Session of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22PG3-6ZLoA

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jason Bohrer Named Communications Director for Senator Kevin Cramer

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND)

    ***Click here to download audio.***

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) has named Jason Bohrer, former President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lignite Energy Council, to serve as Communications Director in his Washington, D.C. office. 

    Bohrer is leaving the Lignite Energy Council after nearly 12 years with the trade association headquartered in Bismarck, N.D. A graduate of North Dakota State University and the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School, Bohrer previously held Capitol Hill positions as a Chief of Staff, Legislative Counsel/Director and Director of Constituent Communications for members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.  

    “My team and I started working with Jason shortly after we went to Congress,” said Cramer. “He was working for Congressman Raul Labrador, who is now Idaho’s Attorney General and a good friend of mine. We worked closely together on natural resources and energy issues, but many others as well.  When Jason came to North Dakota to be president of the Lignite Energy Council I was happy to be a strong advocate for that. Now, after 12 years in the state, I’m thrilled he’s coming back to Washington and will continue working for North Dakota and North Dakotans in my office. He’s a great communicator, organizer, and manager. He’s also a team leader and will be a tremendous asset to the people of North Dakota. I’m honored he’s chosen to come to work for us and help us in this very new and important session of Congress.” 

    “I met Senator Cramer when he was first elected to Congress in 2012,” said Bohrer. “I was impressed by his authenticity, consistency and dedication to his principles. Obviously, from my work at the Lignite Energy Council I am familiar with his national leadership on energy policy. But I have also watched him rise to become one of the nation’s strongest voices for other common sense and constitutionally-consistent solutions. Senator Cramer has been a huge part of the North Dakota success story, and I’m excited to join him as he continues to take proven North Dakota policies to Washington, D.C., to unleash American energy and return to sound federalist principles of law and order.”

    Elected to his second term in the U.S. Senate in November, Cramer’s Senate committee assignments are Armed Services; Environment and Public Works; Veterans’ Affairs, and Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. An energy policy expert, in 2003 he began serving nearly a decade as a North Dakota Public Service Commissioner and helped oversee the most dynamic economy in the nation.

    Bohrer will begin his position on April 7.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Energy – ELECTRIFY QUEENSTOWN: POWERING INNOVATION, COST SAVINGS AND DECARBONISATION

    Source: Electrify Queenstown

    Wednesday 26 February 2025 (Queenstown, New Zealand) — Queenstown businesses and households are invited to explore practical ways to save money, become more energy efficient, and decarbonise with the return of Electrify Queenstown in May.

    Building on the success of last year’s inaugural event, Destination Queenstown, with support from Queenstown Business Chamber of Commerce, will present a three-day programme designed to innovate and inspire change in the Queenstown Lakes.

    With principal sponsor Aurora Energy onboard for the second year, Electrify Queenstown promises to deliver an electric experience for the Queenstown community.

    Mat Woods, Destination Queenstown Chief Executive, says this year’s expanded programme caters to tourism operators, business owners, homeowners and anyone curious about making the switch to enable fully electric heating, cooking and transport.

    “Electrify Queenstown will share ideas and innovations to support businesses and households to electrify, save money and decarbonise. We’re excited about the win-win potential of electrification in supporting a vibrant, growing economy while protecting the environment for future generations,” he said.

    The opening day on Monday 26 May will take stage at Skyline Queenstown, a trailblazer in tourism innovation and electrification.

    Queenstown Lakes District Mayor, Glyn Lewers, will open with a welcome address followed by keynote speaker Saul Griffith — globally acclaimed author and entrepreneur sharing insights on why we must electrify and switch to renewable technology. An inspirational line up of speakers includes industry experts, policy makers and innovators who will present both the challenges and the vast potential of electrification from an economic, environmental and social perspective.

    Sharon Fifield, Queenstown Business Chamber Chief Executive, said, “It’s important, in what has recently been a tough economic climate, that any changes made in your business don’t sacrifice your bottom line. We’re thrilled to have experts joining Electrify Queenstown to share the benefits and opportunities that come with electrifying a business including cost savings, improved productivity, and emissions reductions.”

    On the second day, a full programme at the Queenstown Events Centre will spark conversations about the opportunities for businesses and households with electrification, and innovations in electric transport. A tradeshow exhibition will display new technology, low rate loans and exclusive deals, plus the opportunity to join interactive workshops led by experts in electrification and renewable energy. The community evening session from 6pm will focus on the energy transition, how to electrify your home and the role of electrification in community resilience.

    The third and final day will involve immersive electric experiences, sharing the very best in tourism innovation and technology, from local operators and global leaders.

    Lines company Aurora Energy is proud to once again be the principal sponsor of the Electrify Queenstown event.

    Richard Fletcher, Aurora Energy Chief Executive, said, “The growth of this event from one day to three days highlights the increasing demand and interest in electrification within our region. Aurora Energy is committed to ensuring that our network is ready to enable the future electricity and technology choices of consumers.

    “In supporting events such as these we hope we can play a part helping local businesses and communities be informed about the benefits of electricity, whether it is supplied from the national grid or generated and stored locally. We look forward to meeting with those attending, and discussing how we can work together towards a sustainable, efficient, and resilient future.” Richard said.

    Electrify Queenstown will take place over three days from 26 – 28 May 2025. Registrations are open for individual sessions, a day pass, or for the full three-day event.  

    For more information visit: electrifyqueenstown.co.nz

    Electrify Queenstown programme summary

    Monday 26 May 2025: Setting the stage for electrification (Skyline Queenstown)
    Tuesday 27 May 2025: Electrification in action (Queenstown Events Centre)
    Wednesday 28 May 2025: Electric experiences (Details coming soon)

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: HK to gain more strategic enterprises

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    While unveiling his Budget speech today, Financial Secretary Paul Chan highlighted the bold steps the Government is taking to strengthen Hong Kong’s foundation with the aim of accelerating the city’s development.

    He explained that Hong Kong’s economy has recorded moderate growth for two consecutive years as the Government has been active in promoting innovation and technology (I&T) development, while striving to attract more enterprises, capital and investment institutions through diversified business promotion activities.

    He pointed out that the Government’s efforts to build a vibrant economy and compete for enterprises and talent have yielded considerable results, including the city’s buoyant stock market.

    Mr Chan said: “The sentiment and trading performance of the local stock market improved last year. Since the beginning of this year, trading has been even more active, with average daily turnover exceeding $200 billion recently, up by more than 50% over last year’s average. Total market capitalisation reached $40 trillion.”

    When it comes to vibrant initial public offering (IPO) activities, he emphasised that enterprises are increasingly confident about Hong Kong’s financing prospects.

    “Funds raised from new listings in Hong Kong amounted to $88 billion last year, a year-on-year increase of nearly 90% and ranking fourth globally. Over 100 new IPO applications are being processed by the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing.”

    In addition to noting that Hong Kong’s expertise in wealth management is excellent, Mr Chan underlined that the city is expected to become the world’s largest cross‑boundary wealth management centre by 2028.

    “Hong Kong is Asia’s largest hedge‑fund centre and the second‑largest centre for private equity management after the Mainland. There are more than 470 open‑ended fund companies in Hong Kong, double that of a year ago, and over 1,050 registered limited partnership funds, a year‑on‑year increase of about 40%.”

    Additionally, Hong Kong is poised to attract enterprises, capital and talent on all fronts, the Financial Secretary said.

    “Since its establishment, the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) has attracted 66 strategic enterprises, 80% of which have established or planned to establish their global or regional headquarters in Hong Kong. Many are I&T enterprises with a market valuation of over $10 billion and engaging in cutting-edge technologies.

    “In addition, Invest Hong Kong successfully attracted over 500 Mainland and overseas enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong last year, representing an increase of over 40%. These enterprises are expected to bring in direct investment of over $67.7 billion.”

    When it comes to attracting capital, Mr Chan revealed that at the end of last year, total deposits in Hong Kong amounted to more than $17 trillion, a year‑on‑year increase of 7%. As for attracting capital from emerging markets, two exchange-traded funds tracking Hong Kong stocks were listed on the Saudi Exchange last year, with asset size exceeding $13 billion.

    The Government is also making a concerted effort to trawl for talent, he added.

    “As at the end of last year, various talent admission schemes have received a total of over 430,000 applications and approved more than 270,000, bringing some 180,000 talents to Hong Kong.”

    The Financial Secretary highlighted five examples of how the Government is proactively introducing additional measures to attract more enterprises or organisations to establish their presence in Hong Kong, bringing more mega events and visitors to the city.

    OASES will announce a new batch of more than ten strategic enterprises next month. Together with those previously announced, they will invest a total of about $50 billion in Hong Kong and create more than 20,000 jobs over the next few years.

    Mr Chan stated that the Government will strive to attract enterprises from the Mainland and around the world to set up headquarters or corporate divisions in Hong Kong.

    “We have submitted a bill to the Legislative Council (LegCo) for the introduction of a company re‑domiciliation mechanism to provide facilitation for companies domiciled overseas to re‑domicile in Hong Kong.”

    Furthermore, he announced that the headquarters of the International Organization for Mediation (IOMed) will open by the end of this year at the earliest.

    “As the first international inter‑governmental organisation to set up its headquarters in Hong Kong, IOMed is also the first of its kind in the world that specialises in resolving international disputes by means of mediation. It is conducive to affirming the positioning of Hong Kong as the capital for international mediation.”

    Another fine example is Kai Tak Sports Park, which is set to open officially in three days. In addition to providing a world‑class venue for hosting international mega events, taking forward the development of culture, sports and tourism as an industry in Hong Kong, it is also one of the event venues of the National Games.

    Moreover, Mr Chan indicated that the World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF)’s 2025 WTCF Fragrant Hills Tourism Summit will be held in Hong Kong for the first time in April. The summit is expected to attract representatives from some 40 countries and regions.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –