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Category: Business

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Summit set to attract new hotels, boost the economy and create jobs

    Source: City of Canterbury

    Home  »  Latest News   »   Summit set to attract new hotels, boost the economy and create jobs

    The district of Canterbury is the place to invest in new hotels – that’s the message behind the Canterbury Hotel Summit being held this Friday (9 May), designed to bring more investment to the district and boost jobs.

    Hosted by Canterbury City Council, the event is being paid for by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It is part of an ongoing collaboration with Locate in Kent, the county’s inward investment agency. The summit is being held at Canterbury Christ Church University, and will seek to:

    • Attract new hotel development
    • Build a strong project pipeline
    • Identify and overcome investment barriers
    • Support job creation and regeneration

    The council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Inclusion, Cllr Chris Cornell, said: “This summit is a unique opportunity to set the groundwork for Canterbury’s future in hospitality. With the Choose Canterbury initiative, we’re committed to fostering an environment that attracts quality hotel investments, supporting both our local economy and our growing visitor base.

    “By collaborating with partners across the public and private sectors, we can drive meaningful change and sustainable growth.”

    Business Development Manager for Locate in Kent, Charles Hutchings-Lawrence, said: “Locate in Kent is excited to work alongside Canterbury City Council to attract and support hotel investors looking to expand in Kent.

    “Canterbury’s combination of cultural appeal, academic excellence, and strategic location makes it a prime destination for the hotel industry. We look forward to collaborating on a long-term strategy that positions Canterbury as a key player in the hospitality sector.”

    The Canterbury Hotel Summit will bring together organisations key to driving future hotel investment in the district, including universities, local business leaders in hospitality and tourism, and strategic-site developers.

    Core partners including Visit Canterbury, Visit Kent and the award-winning Canterbury Business Improvement District (BID) will also join to explore what needs to be done to further grow the district’s visitor economy through hotel investment.

    Canterbury district, which includes the historic city of Canterbury and the vibrant coastal towns of Whitstable and Herne Bay and a host of picture postcard villages, is one of the most visited areas of Kent welcoming over 7.2 million visitors annually. Tourism accounts for 16% of total jobs and generates £392 million in visitor spend annually.

    With its rich heritage, vibrant arts and cultural scene – including year-round events and festivals – plus stunning coastline, it’s no surprise that investors are choosing Canterbury.

    Canterbury’s UNESCO World Heritage status and strong visitor numbers – for both the leisure and business markets – continue to drive demand.

    Several new hotels have opening or are in development across the Canterbury district. Recent arrivals include Hampton-by-Hilton with several other hotel projects in the pipeline, including both boutique and branded hotels.

    Published: 7 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI China: China announces fresh policy boost to fuel economic recovery

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

    BEIJING, May 7 — China’s monetary and financial authorities on Wednesday unveiled a raft of supportive measures, including policy rate and reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cuts, as the country stepped up efforts to stabilize markets and sustain economic recovery amid external headwinds.

    In one of its key policy actions, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, announced an RRR cut of 0.5 percentage points for eligible financial institutions from May 15. Notably, the RRR for auto financing and financial leasing companies will be slashed from 5 percent to 0 percent.

    PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng told a press conference that this move is expected to provide the financial market with roughly 1 trillion yuan (about 138.9 billion U.S. dollars) in long-term liquidity.

    PBOC on Wednesday also announced its decision to cut the rate for seven-day reverse repos by 0.1 percentage points starting Thursday to better implement the moderately loose monetary policy and enhance support for the real economy.

    Pan said this policy rate reduction is expected to result in the loan prime rate (LPR), a market-based benchmark lending rate, dropping by 0.1 percentage points.

    More financial support, meanwhile, will be given to sectors including tech innovation, service consumption and elderly care via relending — with relending rates lowered by 0.25 percentage points from Wednesday, the central bank said.

    These announcements followed a high-level meeting of Chinese policymakers in late April that called for faster implementation of more proactive and effective macro policies, ample liquidity and stronger support for the real economy, after an encouraging 5.4-percent GDP expansion witnessed in the first quarter of 2025.

    “The foundation for China’s sustained economic recovery needs to be further consolidated, and the country faces an increasing impact from external shocks,” said the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

    Pan said Wednesday’s policy decisions will steadily lower overall social financing costs, boost market confidence, and effectively support stable expansion of the real economy.

    CAPITAL MARKET BOOST

    Also speaking to the press, Wu Qing, head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), pledged efforts to keep capital markets stable and active, noting that the commission will help listed companies affected by tariffs cope with challenges.

    Relevant authorities will support listed companies in using various financing instruments such as equities, bonds and real estate investment trusts (REITs) to conduct direct financing, and encourage eligible domestic enterprises to pursue overseas listings in compliance with laws and regulations, Wu told the media.

    Financial institutions and tech firms, as well as private equity and venture capital firms, will be allowed to issue technological innovation bonds, with funds raised in this manner earmarked for investment and financing in the innovation sector, according to a statement jointly released by the PBOC and the CSRC on Wednesday.

    To further bolster the capital market, the central bank said it will combine the quotas of its two monetary policy tools to make them more convenient and flexible — thereby strengthening the inherent stability of the capital market.

    The Securities, Funds and Insurance companies Swap Facility (SFISF), with an initial scale of 500 billion yuan, and the 300-billion-yuan relending facility that supports stock buybacks and shareholding increases, will be operated under a shared quota of 800 billion yuan from Wednesday onwards.

    At the same press conference, Li Yunze, head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, said the administration will continue to expand the pilot program for long-term investment by insurance funds.

    An additional 60 billion yuan in quotas is expected to be approved in the near term, injecting fresh liquidity into the market, Li revealed.

    “We have solid economic fundamentals, sound macro policies, and reliable institutional guarantees, all injecting much-needed certainty into China’s economy and capital markets amid global uncertainties,” Wu said.

    PROPERTY MARKET CONSOLIDATION

    Chinese authorities will also expedite the rollout of a series of financing systems aligned with the new development model of its property sector, reinforcing efforts to stabilize the property market, Li said at the media conference.

    Loans approved for China’s “white list” real estate projects have reached 6.7 trillion yuan, which facilitated the construction and delivery of over 16 million homes, significantly stemming the property sector downturn and restoring market stability, Li said.

    An official survey covering 70 major Chinese cities showed that commercial home prices in March this year had risen in more cities compared with a month earlier, as transactions in the real estate market revealed greater vibrancy.

    To consolidate this trend, PBOC said it will lower interest rates on personal housing provident fund loans by 0.25 percentage points starting Thursday.

    This adjustment is expected to save homeowners more than 20 billion yuan per year in terms of interest payments, thus supporting the rigid demands of Chinese households, Pan told the press.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Half century on, China-EU economic ties deepen amid global uncertainties

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

    BEIJING, May 7 — As China and the European Union (EU) mark 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2025, their economic partnership is showing renewed strength and resilience, even against the backdrop of mounting global uncertainties.

    Bilateral trade has expanded more than 320-fold over the past five decades, now standing at around 780 billion U.S. dollars, according to China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).

    In the first quarter (Q1) of this year, trade between the two sides reached 1.3 trillion yuan (about 180.5 billion U.S. dollars), up 1.4 percent year on year. This translates to over 10 million yuan in trade every minute.

    Behind these figures lies not just massive trade volume, but increasingly diversified and innovation-led cooperation.

    In Q1, China’s imports of advanced equipment from the EU jumped 30.4 percent to 64 billion yuan, accounting for nearly a third of China’s total imports in this category. Meanwhile, China’s exports of industrial robots and high-end machine tools to the EU surged 81.9 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.

    For many European multinationals, these trends are translating into long-term investment decisions and expanded innovation footprints in China.

    Oliver Zipse, chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, told Xinhua in a recent interview that China is not only BMW’s largest single market but also a vital hub for innovation.

    Highlighting China’s growing role in innovation, particularly in AI, Zipse said BMW plans to integrate AI technology from Chinese startup DeepSeek into its latest models in China later this year.

    Likewise, European companies across various sectors are also strengthening their local presence.

    Earlier this year, German industrial giant Siemens opened its first industrial ecosystem hub in western China. Leading Danish energy efficiency solution provider Danfoss officially launched its new campus in Nanjing, the company’s very first carbon-neutral factory in China, in line with China’s green development drive.

    These moves came as China takes concrete steps to expand high-standard opening-up. Despite mounting protectionism and geopolitical tensions, the country has remained focused on building a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment for foreign firms.

    According to this year’s government work report, China will ensure national treatment for foreign-funded enterprises in areas such as access to production factors, license application, standards setting, and government procurement.

    Earlier this year, China released a new action plan to stabilize foreign investment. It includes 20 targeted measures to further expand market access, encourage foreign equity investment, and expand pilot programs to open up fields such as telecommunication and medical services.

    China’s unwavering efforts to open up, as well as the steady growth of the Chinese economy, have strengthened many European multinationals’ determination to tap win-win opportunities in the world’s second-largest economy.

    Danfoss President and CEO Kim Fausing told Xinhua that the company is confident in China’s market, citing its strong growth in sectors like data center, marine, and energy storage achieved last year.

    He added that the company looks forward to deepening cooperation with Chinese partners to accelerate the green transition in China, and at the same time for the purpose of shared wins.

    Wang Lingjun, deputy head of the GAC, said that China and the EU remain each other’s most important trading partners, with highly complementary economies and closely intertwined interests.

    “In a world marked by economic instability and growing uncertainties, China and the EU, with close communication and cooperation, jointly uphold free, open trade and investment, and maintain stable industrial and supply chains in the world, which will bring more stability and certainty to both sides and the global economy,” Wang said.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: The EBA updates technical standards on resolution planning reporting

    Source: European Banking Authority

    The European Banking Authority (EBA) today published its updated final draft implementing technical standards (ITS) on resolution planning reporting. This comprehensive review of the ITS on the provision of information for the purposes of resolution plans seeks to achieve full harmonisation of reporting requirements in the EU and avoid duplication of data requests, thus reducing the cost of compliance with resolution planning reporting obligations by institutions. Proportionality has been a key driver of this regulatory product.

    These ITS improve the usability of the data collected by resolution authorities reflecting the latest developments in resolution planning, crisis preparedness and policies, and delivering efficient practices. These ITS promote harmonisation, proportionality and simplification in resolution planning reporting by avoiding parallel data collections, and eliminating data points that are either redundant or of limited value. Proportionality has been enhanced with the streamlining of datapoints to avoid overlaps and the reporting requirements are based on the size and complexity of institutions. More specifically, measures to support simplification and proportionality include:

    • relieving entities from parallel data collections based on legal obligations coming from different authorities;
    • Implementing a modular core-plus-supplement approach that reduces the scope of reporting obligations for certain categories of reporting entities based on their size and complexity.;
    • removing duplications and overlapping data points with MREL/TLAC, CoRep and FinRep, where the reporting entity has already submitted this data.

    Next steps

    Following the mandate for the EBA to develop IT solutions, these ITS will repeal the Commission’s Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1624, with a view to making the technical standards more user-friendly for institutions. The IT solutions according to which supervisory reporting data has to be provided, including templates and instructions, can be found on the EBA website.

    During Q4 2025 the EBA will publish a technical package including the DPM, validation rules and taxonomy, that shall be used by institutions to submit this resolution planning reporting information to resolution authorities.

    Legal basis and background

    The Bank Recovery and Resolution Directive (BRRD) requires resolution authorities to draw up resolution plans that outline the actions to be taken in case an institution meets the conditions for resolution. The ITS on procedures, standard forms and templates for the provision of information for the purpose of resolution plans sets out a procedure that should be followed when resolution authorities require information about an institution for the purpose of drawing up a resolution plan. 

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI: Plantro Ltd. Releases Questions for Information Services Corporation’s 2025 First Quarter Earnings Call

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Plantro Ltd. (“Plantro”) a shareholder of Information Services Corporation (TSX: ISC) (“ISC” or the “Company”) today released questions it hopes ISC management will address to investors and the news media on its 2025 first quarter earnings call.

    1. ISC just reported one of its worst quarters of cash generation in many years. With cash expense levels remaining elevated, when can shareholders expect an improvement in non-adjusted cash flow?
    2. Achieving ISC’s 2028 management guidance for adjusted EBITDA will require annual growth of 16% -18% from 2025 to 2028. What organic growth rate is the Company targeting in 2026 – 2028 to help meet that guidance?
    3. How will ISC generate the cash required for the M&A the Company says it needs to meet its 2028 guidance without exceeding its commitment to continue deleveraging to its target of 2.0x to 2.5x EBITDA or without diluting shareholders by issuing equity?
    4. ISC’s valuation has been declining since its IPO and significantly lags its peers. Will ISC consider returning capital through repurchasing shares or increasing dividends, and/or reducing indebtedness as better uses of shareholder cash than additional non-accretive M&A?
    5. The majority of ISC’s workforce appears to be concentrated and growing in high-cost global hubs, such as Toronto and Dublin, Ireland. Will ISC consider establishing a center of excellence in Saskatchewan, that could offer enhanced operational performance and enable opportunities for margin expansion?

    About Plantro
    Plantro is a privately held company, with an established track record of making successful investments in undervalued and high quality legal, financial, and information services businesses.

    Media Contact: Gagnier Communications
    Riyaz Lalani / Dan Gagnier
    Email: Plantro@gagnierfc.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Rudy R. Miller Among Most Generous Donors to National Museum of the United States Army Campaign

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORT BELVOIR, Va., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Army Historical Foundation announced that Rudy R. Miller has presented a gift to the campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army that qualifies him for the Foundation’s One-Star Circle of Distinction. The Museum, which will debut a special Revolutionary War exhibit in June marking the 250th Birthday of the U.S. Army and next year’s 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding, has been praised as one of the top military museums in the nation.

    Rudy R. Miller stated, “I became a member and early supporter of The Army Historical Foundation and the National Museum of the United States Army a few years ago. In 2024, I was very proud to become a lifetime member of The 1814 Society, which shares a commitment and desire to see the Army’s history preserved and exhibited for future generations. I have great respect for our flag plus symbols of our nation’s freedom and independence.”

    Miller continued, “I was born in Tennessee and raised in Virginia. My grandfather, father, uncle, brother, and myself all served in the U.S. Army. I am a passionate, motivated individual, a serial entrepreneur, and a philanthropist. I’m inspired by the Foundation’s challenge coin which has the following words engraved, “ENGAGE * EDUCATE * INSPIRE * HONOR * PRESERVE!”

    The Army Historical Foundation serves as the official fundraising organization for the National Army Museum as part of its mission to preserve and present the history of the American Soldier. The Museum, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Army, is the first to tell the entire history of the nation’s oldest military service, immersing visitors in the Army story through compelling galleries, moving exhibits, a multisensory 300-degree theater, tranquil rooftop garden, and hundreds of historic artifacts rarely or never-before seen by the public.

    “Rudy Miller has led a lifetime of service to our great nation, and we are deeply grateful that he has made a defining gift toward the Foundation’s mission to preserve and present the history of the American Soldier,” said retired Brig. Gen. Burt Thompson, president of The Army Historical Foundation. “With Rudy’s support, we will be better able to remind the nation of all we owe those who wore the Army uniform, including Rudy himself and the members of his proud military family.”

    Rudy R. Miller’s contribution places him among the campaign’s most generous donors. Mr. Miller is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Miller Capital Corporation, a private equity firm and an affiliated company of The Miller Group of entities, established in 1972. Mr. Miller was Founder and Chairman of the Board of Miller Capital Markets, a FINRA member investment banking firm, from 2006 through 2012. He previously served over 20 years as a certified arbitrator for the NASD (now known as FINRA). He has years of executive-level experience owning, operating, and advising national and international corporations, from NYSE listed public companies to emerging-growth private companies, through varying economic climates. He has worked with various U.S. government contractors and possesses the ability to address crisis issues on behalf of his clients as one of his crucial skillsets. In 2025, Miller Capital was voted Best of Our Valley – Best Investment Firm for the sixth consecutive year by Arizona Foothills Magazine’s readers who responded with hundreds of thousands votes.

    Mr. Miller served in the United States Army, U.S. Army Reserve, and the U.S. Air Force Reserve, in the Vietnam era, and received honorable discharges as a Noncommissioned Officer. Mr. Miller also has an aviation background and is listed on the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Wall of Honor. Prior to his military service, he served as a fireman and first responder. Mr. Miller earned his Bachelor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Pacific Western University.

    President of the United States of America, Ronald W. Reagan, presented Mr. Miller the Medal of Merit in appreciation of his support and service as a member of a Presidential Task Force. Miller was honored to be the keynote speaker at a U.S. Navy Relinquishment of Command and Retirement Ceremony aboard the USS Midway Museum, San Diego, California in 2018. Mr. Miller accepted an invitation in 2014 to become a member of Thunderbird Field II Veterans Memorial, Inc., a non-profit organization for veterans and non-veterans. He was selected by the Board of Directors to be the Chairman of the Advisory Board where he developed and managed its Aviation Scholarship Program. Prior to retiring from Tbird2 in 2024, he served as Co-Chairman of the Scholarship Committee and a key fundraiser. He was the recipient of the first Tbird2 Leadership Award. Mr. Miller’s philanthropic endeavors include support for the non-profit arts community, athletic foundations, universities, community colleges, numerous non-profit entities, and veterans’ projects.

    In 2008, Mr. Miller instituted the annual Rudy R. Miller Business – Finance Scholarship in support of Arizona State University, in particular the W. P. Carey School of Business. His active involvement at the University also included having served as a member of ASU’s Dean’s Council of 100. In 2023, Mr. Miller was selected by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to join two influential advisory boards for both the College of Aviation (COA) and the College of Business, Security and Intelligence (CBSI). In addition to joining Embry-Riddle’s COA and CBSI advisory boards, Miller has established scholarships for students, both veterans and non-veterans, at both colleges. He also set up a fund to support COA simulator training to improve commercial pilot safety (ISCP) as well as a fund to support CBSI students with CompTIA Security+ courseware and exam fees.

    In January 2024, Mr. Miller accepted a position on the Advisory Board at CrossFirst Bank (Phoenix, Arizona), a subsidiary of CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. Effective March 1, 2025, First Busey Corporation (NASDAQ: BUSE), the holding company for Busey Bank, acquired by merger CrossFirst Bankshares, Inc. Mr. Miller agreed to continue to serve on the Busey Bank (Arizona) Advisory Board.

    For more information about Rudy R. Miller and The Miller Group of entities, please visit www.themillergroup.net.

    Individuals and organizations that wish to support the Foundation’s mission can make a gift through its website at armyhistory.org. The Foundation can also arrange for large group visits and special events at the Museum. The Museum is open every day, except December 25, with free admission and parking.

    About The Army Historical Foundation
    The Army Historical Foundation establishes, assists, and promotes programs and projects that preserve the history of the American Soldier and promote public understanding of and appreciation for the contributions by all components of the U.S. Army and its members. The Foundation serves as the Army’s official fundraising entity for the Capital Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army. The award-winning, LEED- certified Museum opened on November 11, 2020, at Fort Belvoir, Va., and honors the service and sacrifice of all American Soldiers who have served since the Army’s inception in 1775. For more information on the Foundation and the National Museum of the United States Army, visit www.armyhistory.org.

    Official photographer for The Miller Group and its affiliated entities – Gordon Murray, 480 205-9691 (www.flashpv.com)

       
    Contact: Contact:
    The Army Historical Foundation Miller Capital Corporation
    Lydia Pitea Kristina McDaniel
    Senior Donor Relations Manager Vice President Admin & Corporate Controller
    lydia.pitea@armyhistory.org kmcdaniel@themillergroup.net
    973.632.1244 602.225.0505
       

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ec64ce26-7579-48b1-9fe9-9388078f1411

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3b9eef90-f7c5-427f-9de6-05efa2a0daf5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf3a312d-a7fa-4374-9fb0-efebf75aa551

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e0d35d5a-9a50-4004-886c-a838fc8936c5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a0900908-b6ab-4d6f-bf2f-e3bc81e5ba64

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: EA steps up dry weather prep after driest spring start since 1956

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    EA steps up dry weather prep after driest spring start since 1956

    Driest start to spring in 69 years across England.

    The Environment Agency has urged water companies to do more to safeguard water supplies after the driest start to spring in 69 years. 

    The environmental regulator convened a meeting of the National Drought Group today (Wednesday 7 May 2025) and said more needed to be done to cut leakage and help customers use water more wisely. 

    In England, March was the driest since 1961 and April received just half its normal rainfall. Farmers have had to start irrigating crops earlier and reservoir levels are either notably low or exceptionally low across the North East and North West of England. Both these regions have seen their driest start to the year since 1929.   

    Representatives from the EA told the meeting – which includes the Met Office, government, regulators, water companies, farmers and conservation experts – that while no area is currently officially in drought there is a medium risk of one this summer without sustained rainfall.

    Chairing the meeting, Environment Agency Deputy Director of Water, Richard Thompson, said:   

    The changing climate means we will see more summer droughts in the coming decades.

    The last two years were some of the wettest on record for England but drier conditions at the start of this year mean a drought is a possibility and we need to be prepared.  

    It’s heartening to see more people looking to reduce their water use and we expect water companies to do more to cut leakage and rollout smart meters.

    Whilst there are currently no plans for hosepipe bans, if the prolonged dry weather continues, water companies may need to implement their dry weather plans in the weeks and months ahead.   

    The EA is closely monitoring water companies’ implementation of these plans, especially high-risk locations, as well as working with farmers to help them plan for irrigating their crops. It is also preparing dry weather advice and information for the public, including small steps they can take to reduce usage. 

    Water Minister, Emma Hardy, said:  

    Our water infrastructure is crumbling after years of underinvestment.

    Water companies must go further and faster to cut leaks and build the infrastructure needed to secure our water supply.

    The Government has secured over £104 billion of private sector investment to fund essential infrastructure, including nine new reservoirs to secure our future water supply into the decades to come.

    The National Drought Group will meet to discuss action regularly in the coming months. At today’s meeting, attendees heard about the current water resources situation:

    • A dry start to the year means farmers have had an earlier start to the irrigation season and have seen an increased demand on their on-site storage reservoirs.   
    • Reservoir storage across England is 84% of total capacity. This compares to 90% at the end of April in the 2022 drought year.
    • River flows are currently below normal or lower for this time of year across northern and central England.   
    • Chalk groundwater levels are generally in a good position.   
    • Wildfires have been reported in Cumbria, Derbyshire and Dorset as vegetation is dry.   

    The EA has called on the group’s membership to take action to ensure they are prepared for drought. This includes:  

    • Water companies stepping-up action on leakage and preparing their dry weather plans. 
    • Water companies communicating with customers about current risk and supporting them to use water wisely during this dry period.  
    • Farmers to work with NFU to assess their water needs this summer and take action now to ensure they have enough to last the summer  
    • EA to work with fishery owners to have ensure plans are in place to manage dry weather.  

     The public can play their part too by reducing individual water consumption, such as installing a water butt in the garden to harvest rainwater, taking shorter showers, and turning off taps when not in use.  

    According to EA figures, by 2050, England will need to find an additional 5 billion litres of water a day to meet demand for public water supply. This is more than a third of the 14 billion litres of water currently put into public water supply.  

    Note to editors  

    • Each water company produces a drought plan, including measures to take when drought triggers are hit following dry weather. This includes campaigns on water usage, changes to their abstraction permits, and temporary usage bans (TUBS) – also known as hosepipe bans.   
    • The last drought was in 2022, with five water companies imposing hosepipe bans on a total of 19 million customers to ensure drinking and wastewater services were prioritised. South West Water’s ban was lifted in September 2023.   
    • More about drought can be found here: Are we prepared for a drought? The water resilience challenge – Creating a better place

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to ARIA’s announcement on research projects in the Exploring Climate Cooling programme

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Scientists comment on new research projects as part of ARIA’s Exploring Climate Cooling programme. 

    Prof Stuart Haszeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage, School of School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, said:

    “Humans are losing the battle against climate change.  Engineering cooling is necessary because in spite of measurements and meetings and international treaties during the past 70 years, the annual emissions of greenhouse gases have continued to increase.  The world is heading towards heating greater than any time in our civilisation.

    “Many natural processes are reaching a tipping point, where the earth may jump into a different pattern of behaviour.  Geological records of the past 20,000 years around the UK and globally show that rapid changes can happen within a few years and can take tens to hundreds of years to recover.

    “Natural processes can cool the climate, notably volcanic eruptions can place tiny rock particles and sulphur gases high into the stratosphere.  In the geological and recent past, these have cooled earth temperatures by 1 or 2 degrees C for 2 to 5 years.  The scientific understanding of short timescale earth behaviour is not yet good enough to make reliable predictions.  So research is needed, together with testing of remedies in the real world not just in laboratories.

    “Projects in geo-engineering will be subject to unusually strong and transparent governance.  Strong public reactions have resulted from previous investigations.  And novel and appropriate communication is especially needed, to explain to citizens in urban and remote communities how and why this work is necessary.

    “In a world before satellites and computer models for weather forecasting – the best that humans could do was appeal to the weather gods.  Or look out of the window to watch the rainstorm approach.  Or the drought continue.  Now humans need more information to work out how the climate, not just the imminent weather, can be predicted and managed.  Before making big interventions, it’s necessary to make sure the modelling works in controlled experiments.  And also to understand who could be winners or losers during global geo-engineering.  Ignoring the problem is not an answer to a situation which humans have created.”

     

    Dr Naomi Vaughan, Associate Professor of Climate Change, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, UEA, said:

    Question: Lots of scientists, including many who research SRM, say they don’t want it to ever have to be deployed.  Why is that?

    “SRM methods do not address the causes of climate change – SRM methods seek to cool the climate by reflecting more sunlight back to space to offset the warming we are causing by increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere that come from the burning of coal, oil and gas and deforestation.

    “Deployment is a major issue for SRM ideas, because the way that SRM balances out the warming we’ve caused is not a perfect offset.  Deploying SRM would create a new risk to global society – the risk of stopping the SRM whilst greenhouse gas concentrations were still high, as it would cause very rapid warming.  To stop SRM once it had been deployed safely, would require global society to reach net zero emissions and pay to remove large amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere.

    “It’s for these reasons that many scientists are cautious about SRM research because of how it could be used or misused in the future.”

     

    Dr Phil Williamson, Honorary Associate Professor, UEA, said:

    “The ARIA research programme focuses on technical capabilities for five specific cooling approaches.  Progress will undoubtedly be made, with one or more indicating that we could abandon net-zero knowing there would be a safety net to avoid climate catastrophe.  Yet the most crucial component of the initiative is the one concerning ethics and governance: is there any chance at all that there could ever be international agreement on such action?  In our divided world, the answer is no.  We would then be faced with the intolerable situation of the global climate being controlled by the most powerful nations (maybe our friends, maybe our foes) with scant regard for worldwide human rights, despite ARIA’s stated concerns regarding “impacts on the Global South”.”

     

    Prof Mike Hulme, Professor of Human Geography, University of Cambridge, said:

    “£57m is a huge amount of tax-payers money to be spent on this assortment of speculative technologies intended to manipulate the Earth’s climate.  I say this because these technologies will always remain speculative, and unproven in the real world, until they are deployed at scale.  Just because they “work” in a model, or at a micro-scale in the lab or the sky, does not mean they will cool climate safely, without unwanted side-effects, in the real world.  There is therefore no way that this research can demonstrate that the technologies are safe, successful or reversible.  The UK Government is leading the world down what academic analysts call ‘the slippery slope’ towards eventual dangerous large-scale deployment of solar geoengineering technologies.  This is public money that would be far better invested in enhancing technologies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels or to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

     

     

     

    https://www.aria.org.uk/opportunity-spaces/future-proofing-our-climate-and-weather/exploring-climate-cooling

     

     

    Declared interests

    Prof Stuart Haszeldine: “Stuart Haszeldine has no competing interests.  His research on climate engineering is not funded by ARIA, or UKRI or commercial companies.”

    Dr Naomi Vaughan: “No industry links.  I worked on a NERC-funded geoengineering research project, which included SRM, in 2010-2014.”

    Dr Phil Williamson: “Formerly employed by Natural Environment Research Council, including as Science Coordinator of UK Greenhouse Gas Removal Programme (2016-2020); now retired, with no external funding.  Lead author of two reports (2012, 2016) on Climate Geoengineering for UN Convention on Biological Diversity.”

    Prof Mike Hulme: “I am a signatory to the international Solar Geoengineering Non-Use Agreement: https://www.solargeoeng.org/.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Competition Bureau advances an investigation into BWX Technologies’ proposed acquisition of Kinectrics

    Source: Government of Canada News

    May 7, 2025 – GATINEAU (Québec), Competition Bureau

    The Competition Bureau has obtained court orders to gather information to advance its investigation into BWX Technologies’ proposed acquisition of Kinectrics. BWX Technologies and Kinectrics operate in the nuclear medicine sector, among other nuclear sectors.

    BWX Technologies and Kinectrics, directly or through a joint venture or partnership, provide products and services at various stages of the medical isotope value chain.

    The Bureau is investigating whether the acquisition is likely to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in Canada’s nuclear medicine sector. The acquisition includes Kinectrics’ interest in Isogen, a company that enables the production of medical isotopes and is jointly owned with Framatome Canada.

    The court orders, granted by the Federal Court of Canada, require three market participants in the nuclear medicine sector to provide information and produce records and data related to but not limited to transaction agreements, capacity, sales, and competitive dynamics. The entities receiving court orders are Bruce Power, Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Framatome Canada.

    The Bureau also issued supplementary information requests to BWX Technologies and Kinectrics.

    BWX Technologies announced its plan to acquire Kinectrics on January 7, 2025.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: LPL Financial Welcomes Women-Led West Texas Investments

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN DIEGO, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LPL Financial LLC announced today that financial advisors Stephanie Stewart, Debra Hedgcoth, CFP®, RICP®, and Madison Wentland, CPA, of West Texas Investments have joined LPL Financial’s broker-dealer, Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) and custodial platforms. They reported serving approximately $170 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement plan assets* and join LPL from B. Riley Wealth Advisors, Inc.

    Based in Lubbock, Texas, Stewart founded West Texas Investments in 2012 with her late partner, David Barber. Hedgcoth joined the team in 2018 following a 25-year career with the IRS, and Wentland joined two years later in 2019. With more than 40 years of combined industry experience, the all-female team takes a holistic and team approach to helping clients work towards their fiscal goals.

    “We understand that finances are a deeply personal topic, and we use a ‘Discover, Design and Deliver’ approach to help our clients pursue their financial goals,” Hedgcoth said. “First, we take the time to understand our clients’ dreams, goals and values. Then we work with them to design a financial plan with those in mind. After we share their customized plan, we work with them every step of the way, making changes as necessary, to help them work towards realizing their short- and long-term financial vision.”

    Looking to enhance their offerings and provide an elevated client experience, the West Texas Investments team turned to LPL.

    “I was taught that you design your own life, and part of that means working towards a future that aligns with your values and aspirations. Moving our business to LPL will help us achieve that goal,” Wentland said. “With LPL’s impressive integrated and streamlined technology and their extensive back-office services, like Marketing and Paraplanning Solutions, I am confident we will be able to provide our clients with a next-level customer experience.”

    Stewart added, “Our transition to LPL has been seamless, and I have been impressed with the constant communication and step-by-step instructions we’ve received from our transition team as we move our accounts over and answer our clients’ questions. It’s been a best-in-class experience.”

    Scott Posner, LPL Managing Director, Business Development, said, “We welcome Stephanie, Debra and Madison to LPL and look forward to helping them with this next chapter of their business. Just as the West Texas Investments team walks in lockstep with their clients to help them meet their goals, we are committed to helping our advisors differentiate themselves and enhance the client experience. We look forward to supporting the West Texas Investments team for years to come.”

    Related
    Advisors, learn how LPL Financial can help take your business to the next level.

    About LPL Financial

    LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: LPLA) is among the fastest growing wealth management firms in the U.S. As a leader in the financial advisor-mediated marketplace, LPL supports nearly 29,000 financial advisors and the wealth management practices of approximately 1,200 financial institutions, servicing and custodying approximately $1.7 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets on behalf of approximately 6 million Americans. The firm provides a wide range of advisor affiliation models, investment solutions, fintech tools and practice management services, ensuring that advisors and institutions have the flexibility to choose the business model, services, and technology resources they need to run thriving businesses. For further information about LPL, please visit www.lpl.com.

    Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial LLC (“LPL Financial”), a registered investment advisor and broker-dealer, member FINRA/SIPC. West Texas Investments and LPL Financial are separate entities.

    Throughout this communication, the terms “financial advisors” and “advisors” are used to refer to registered representatives and/or investment advisor representatives affiliated with LPL Financial.

    We routinely disclose information that may be important to shareholders in the “Investor Relations” or “Press Releases” section of our website.

    *Value approximated based on asset and holding details provided to LPL from end of year, 2024.

    Media Contact: 
    Media.relations@LPLFinancial.com 

    Tracking #734052

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – [ALPHA GROUP INTERNATIONAL PLC – 06 05 2025] – (CGAML)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: CANACCORD GENUITY ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		 N/A
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 ALPHA GROUP INTERNATIONAL PLC
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 06 MAY 2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 N/A

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 0.2p ORDINARY
      Interests Short positions
    Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 1,502,500 3.5460    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        
    TOTAL: 1,502,500 3.5460    

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
    0.2p ORDINARY SALE 5,000 2890p

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
    NONE        

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
    NONE              

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
    NONE      

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
    Date of disclosure: 07 MAY 2025
    Contact name: MARK ELLIOTT
    Telephone number: 01253 376539

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: While AI makes writing code easier than ever, CodeAnt AI secures $2M to make it easy to review

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    California, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AI might be great at helping engineers write code, but it’s creating a new problem – all that code still needs to be reviewed by humans. CodeAnt AI is stepping in with a solution that uses AI to tackle the review process itself, raising $2 million in seed funding to help engineering teams move faster without sacrificing quality or security.

    The funding, CodeAnt AI’s first institutional round, values the company at $20 million. It will be used to expand the engineering and business development teams and to scale CodeAnt AI’s code quality and application security platform. For engineering teams already feeling the pressure to ship faster, the investment comes at the perfect time.

    The funding round was led by Y Combinator, VitalStage Ventures, and Uncorrelated Ventures, and with participation from DeVC, Transpose Platform, Entrepreneur First, and a number of marquee angel investors.

    CodeAnt AI founders: Amartya Jha and Chinmay Bharti.

    “As AI-driven coding becomes widespread, the real bottleneck isn’t writing code — it’s reviewing it,” said Amartya Jha, Co-founder and CEO of CodeAnt AI. “Today, when a developer submits a change request, it often sits idle for hours or even days waiting for peer review. And even when a reviewer does pick it up, they rarely have full context of the code change. This is a critical risk point: most software bugs and vulnerabilities slip through at the peer review stage, where issues could have been caught early and cheaply.”

    AI Code Review In Action with CodeAnt AI.

    CodeAnt AI’s platform plugs right into GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps, giving developers instant feedback on their code across more than 30 programming languages. More impressively, it doesn’t just find problems – it suggests fixes that developers can apply with a single click, turning reviews that used to take hours into proactive quick, five-minute sessions. For companies racing to get products out the door, this means fewer delays and higher quality code. It also means cost savings – fixing problems during code reviews costs 10x less compared to fixing them later during CI/CD or after production deployments. 

    CodeAnt AI dashboard. 

    “We now have a new team member: CodeAnt AI. It sees our entire codebase in seconds, catches what linters miss, and suggests optimizations, refactors, even typos. It’s fully integrated into our on-prem GitLab — and the whole team adopted it instantly” said Michel Naud, Head of IT Solutions, Autajon Group. While, Sundaraman Venkataramani, Tech Lead at Motorq added:“At Motorq, speed, quality and precision are paramount. CodeAnt AI’s Agile team mirrors our fast-paced environment, delivering rapid iterations and responsive support. Their AI-driven code reviews, real-time feedback and robust security features have streamlined our development process allowing us to focus on core domain challenges. With CodeAnt AI, We’ve already been able to enhance code quality, security and are pushing our boundaries of innovation”.

    The company was founded by Amartya Jha and Chinmay Bharti, who both saw the same problem from different angles. Jha worked on scaling infrastructure at Zeta and ShareChat, where he noticed how easily critical bugs slipped through when reviews weren’t thorough. Bharti, with a master’s specialising in AI from IIT Bombay, faced similar issues while building high-frequency trading software at Blu Analytics – where a single bug could have serious financial consequences. Together, they built CodeAnt AI and were accepted into Y Combinator.

    What makes CodeAnt AI different is the technology under the hood. The company built  a proprietary language-agnostic AST engine that actually understands how different parts of a codebase connect, letting it spot issues that isolated code reviews would miss. The platform also pulls in data from major security databases and lets companies set up their own rules based on their specific needs. For security-conscious organizations, CodeAnt AI can run entirely within their own infrastructure, ensuring code never leaves their environment.

    “In today’s AI-driven environment, enterprises need solutions that either replace aging systems or deliver clear productivity gains,” added Amartya Jha. “CodeAnt AI is built to do both — helping companies move faster and stay competitive without compromising on security or code quality.”

    Tom Blomfield, Partner at Y Combinator added: “With more and more code being generated by AI, code review has never been more important. CodeAnt fits into your CI/CD pipeline and ensures that only high-quality code makes it into production. Not AI-generated slop!”

    Pricing starts at $10 per developer per month for the basic AI code review features, with a full package including code quality, security, and compliance tools available for $40 per developer per month.

    As AI continues to transform how code gets written, CodeAnt AI is positioning itself as the bridge to a future where code can be both rapidly created and confidently deployed. The founders envision a world where AI doesn’t just help developers write code faster, but also ensures that every line shipped to production is secure, efficient, and ready for the real world – giving engineering teams the confidence to move at the speed their businesses demand.

    Meanwhile, early investor at Hubspot Brian Shin, Managing Partner for VitalStage Ventures, commented: “CodeAnt AI is redefining one of the most critical — and often overlooked — parts of modern software development: the code review. In a world where AI is rapidly democratizing code generation, the bottleneck has shifted to validation. CodeAnt’s platform slashes review time by over 50%, ensuring not just speed, but quality, security, and reliability at scale. This leap forward empowers engineering teams to ship faster while catching issues earlier — a foundational advantage in today’s software-driven economy.”

    Code review and code quality are becoming super critical for teams to measure, track and improve. Especially with the rapid pace of adoption of AI for code generation. CodeAnt AI has built a great product that many engineering leaders swear by already added Aakash Kumar, General Partner at DeVc.

    “I love that CodeAnt stands on the shoulders of giants such as Sonar,” said Salil Deshpande, General Partner at Uncorrelated Ventures. “CodeAnt not only integrates into enterprise environments to help deliver clean, consistent, and reliable code, but also dramatically speeds up code reviews by identifying and fixing issues early during the review process — one of the most manual and critical parts of software development today.”

    Alex Bangash, Partner at Transpose Platform commented: “CodeAnt is enabling software engineering focused on creativity and innovation, not time consuming mundane yet important tasks. The automation is slick but they are keeping human reviewers in the loop. For a future where many PRs will be written by coding assistants, having a software engineering “empowerment” platform like CodeAnt will become even more critical to ensure performant, secure, and innovative software solutions.”

    Ends 

    Media images can be found here.

    About CodeAnt AI
    CodeAnt AI is an AI code reviewer that fixes code quality issues and security vulnerabilities. It’s proven to help enterprises reduce manual code review time by over 50%. 

    CodeAnt AI integrates directly across the development workflow—from IDEs to pull requests to CI/CD—offering one-click fixes for code quality and security issues. CodeAnt AI does this via: 

    • AI Code Review: Automatically reviews each pull request, summarizes changes, flags issues, and offers one-click fixes.
    • Code Quality Platform: Continuously scans the entire codebase for code smells, dead/ duplicate/ complex code, adds docstrings, and provides real-time quality insights.
    • Code Security Platform: Continuously monitors code, infra, and dependencies, detects vulnerabilities and secrets, and offers real-time security insights.

    CodeAnt AI is SOC 2 & HIPAA compliant and trusted by teams ranging from small startups to large unicorns. For more information please visit https://www.codeant.ai/ or follow via X or LinkedIn.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: AssetMark Trust Marks $100 Billion Milestone with Continued Investment in Arizona

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PHOENIX, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AssetMark, a leading national wealth management solutions provider, is celebrating a major milestone for AssetMark Trust Company based in Phoenix. AssetMark Trust has surpassed $100 billion in assets under custody.

    This milestone comes alongside the company’s continued expansion in Arizona, underscoring its deep-rooted commitment to the local community. To commemorate this success, AssetMark Trust will unveil a new illuminated sign atop its midtown high-rise at 3200 North Central Avenue, symbolizing the company’s growth and dedication to the Phoenix region.

    AssetMark Trust Company started operating out of this office 18 years ago with about 15 employees. “We started with a strong focus on building a great business and providing exceptional service to Financial Advisors and their clients nationwide,” said Brad Wheeler, President of AssetMark Trust Company. “Today we have over 340 employees serving and have been growing each year. AssetMark Trust is mission-driven and exists to help financial advisors make a difference in their clients’ lives. Advisors choose AssetMark Trust because of our relentless focus on their success and serving them well. We’ve earned their trust over time, and that’s what has driven our growth.”

    Carrie Hansen, Chief Operating Officer of AssetMark and Board Chair of AssetMark Trust stated, “Our success is a direct reflection of the trust and dedication of the advisors we serve. This event highlights our unwavering commitment to supporting their success and the communities we’re privileged to be part of. We’ve long valued Arizona’s business climate and talent pool, and we continue to invest in expanding our footprint here. We look forward to further strengthening our presence in this region.”

    About AssetMark Trust

    AssetMark Trust Company is an Arizona-based financial institution that provides custody, recordkeeping, account administration and reporting to clients and financial advisors using the AssetMark, Inc. platform.

    About AssetMark Inc. (“AssetMark”)

    AssetMark, Inc. operates a wealth management platform whose mission is to help financial advisors and their clients. AssetMark, together with its affiliates AssetMark Trust Company, Voyant, and Adhesion Wealth Advisor Solutions, serves advisors at every stage of their journey with flexible, purpose-built solutions that champion client engagement and drive efficiency. Its ecosystem of solutions equips advisors with services and capabilities to help deliver better investor outcomes by enhancing their productivity, profitability, and client satisfaction.  

    With a history going back to 1996, AssetMark has over 1,000 employees, and its platform serves over 10,700 financial advisors and over 317,000 investor households. As of December 31, 2024, AssetMark had over $139 billion in platform assets. AssetMark is a registered investment adviser with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    For more information, please visit www.assetmark.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.

    IMPORTANT INFORMATION

    This is for informational purposes only, is not a solicitation, and should not be considered investment, legal or tax advice. The information has been drawn from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed, and is subject to change.

    Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

    AssetMark, Inc. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    2024 AssetMark, Inc. All rights reserved.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Micropolis Delivers on Vision of Robotics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Intelligent Systems at Make it in the Emirates 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DUBAI, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Micropolis Holding Co. (“Micropolis” or the “Company”) (NYSE American: MCRP), a UAE-based pioneering force in robotics, AI, and autonomous mobility, today announced its participation in Make it in the Emirates 2025, the UAE’s premier manufacturing event, taking place May 19-22, 2025 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). The event brings together manufacturers, innovators, policymakers, and global investors to explore industrial growth opportunities within the UAE.

    At the exhibition, a series of daily showcases will display two of Micropolis’s innovative robotics portfolios—an agriculture robot and a container cleaning robot—demonstrating the power of its autonomous mobile robots and AI to enhance productivity and lower customers’ operating costs.

    To take part in Micropolis’s display and experience the excitement of their robotic solutions, please visit the Company at ADNEC May 19-22 in Booth 6-AM30.

    For more information or to schedule a meeting with Micropolis’s management team, please email Micropolis@kcsa.com.

    About Micropolis Holding Co.
    Micropolis is a UAE-based company specializing in the design, development, and manufacturing of autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), AI systems, and smart infrastructure for urban, security, and industrial applications. The Company’s vertically integrated capabilities cover everything from mechatronics and embedded systems to AI software and high-level autonomy.

    For more information please visit www.micropolis.ai.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, “intend”, “believe”, “may”, “will”, “should”, “can have”, “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning. Forward-looking statements represent Micropolis’ current expectations regarding future events and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to uncertainties and risks including, but not limited to, the uncertainties related to market conditions and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the registration statement filed by the Company with the SEC. For these reasons, among others, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements in this press release. Additional factors are discussed in the Company’s filings with the SEC, which are available for review at www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof.

    Investor Contact:
    KCSA Strategic Communications
    Valter Pinto, Managing Director
    PH: (212) 896-1254
    Valter@KCSA.com

    Media Contact:
    Jessica Starman
    media@elev8newmedia.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/276fe904-a544-478a-ab28-f317c2a4065f

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Principal Protocol Announces Innovative RWA-DeFi Concept with 100% Asset-Backed Valuation

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Singapore, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Principal Protocol (PRN), a new project blending traditional RWA with Defi concepts, has announced an innovative approach to tokenizing real-world assets, including a 100% asset-backed valuation for the projects it offers. The company aims to disrupt the decentralized finance landscape and democratize access to RWA investments. An ongoing private sale for the PRINCIPAL token (PRN) should help fund the project’s expansion and development.

    Principal Protocol’s “Digitized Estates” concept focuses mainly on real estate assets, seeking to eliminate geographical barriers and provide greater liquidity. The project leverages blockchain technology and smart contracts to enable fractional ownership of real estate assets through digital NFT tokens.

    All PRN projects are tokenized into NFTs and issued to the buyers. The participants then access rewards depending on the RWA asset’s performance and potential returns. Principal Protocol has multiple safety nets in place to protect its RWA projects’ valuations. These safeguards include a bi-annual valuation of each project and a protocol-owned Crypto Reserve of various blue chip coins. This way, buyers can rely on several precautions guarding their participation in a tokenized RWA.

    PRN will periodically acquire real estate property and structure it into a fixed number of Non-fungible Tokens (NFT). The project will then distribute rewards via automatic airdrops to the NFT holders’ wallets every financial quarter. Also, Principal Protocol plans to integrate a DeFi platform, enabling NFT holders to stake their holdings as collateral on Defi platforms and protocols.

    PRN will place each acquired property project under an SPV company wholly owned by Principal Protocol to ensure actual ownership. Every property will benefit from proper accounting records published quarterly and accessible to the individual project NFT holders via specific channels. Lastly, PRN will distribute individual project net profits as rewards on the blockchain.

    Principal Protocol believes that its approach rewards participants with perks and benefits that are difficult to find in other projects, such as:

    Global Accessibility

    PRN makes participation in global real estate markets available, opening the doors to communities that didn’t previously have access to them.

    Liquidity

    The project relies on sturdy blockchain for easy token trading, potentially increasing liquidity better than traditional options.

    Fractional Ownership

    Principal Protocol lets participants own fractions of high-value properties, reducing the barrier to entry.

    Transparency

    PRN’s use of smart contracts ensures a transparent distribution of benefits and rewards.

    Efficiency

    PRN’s seamless blend of RWA and DeFi via blockchain technology creates a secure, decentralized environment. Reduced intermediaries and streamlined processes can lead to cost savings.

    The PRN Token is the backbone of Principal Protocol and its rapidly growing ecosystem. The team has set a maximum supply of 100,000,000 PRN tokens distributed as follows:

    – Ecosystem – 50,000,000 (50%)

    – Team – 10,000,000 (10%)

    – Advisors – 5,000,000 (5%)

    – Marketing – 5,000,000 (5%)

    – Reserves – 20,000,000 (20%)

    – Private Sales – 10,000,000 (10%)

    As Principal Protocol scales its platform, it aims to diversify its portfolio, integrate DeFi, and develop a Real Estate Attestation Chain. The latter will enable users globally to double-check the validity and authenticity of title deeds and various real estate documentation on the chain. The project has an ambitious roadmap ahead with several important milestones:

    – Mobile App beta test launch (June 2025)

    – Mobile App launch (July 2025)

    – Defi platform integration (August 2025)

    – Platform scaling (October 2025)

    – Asset class diversification (Jan 2026)

    – Development of Real Estate Attestation Chain (June 2026)

    – Initial Public Offering (Jan 2027)

    About Principal Protocol (PRN)

    Principal Protocol aims to bridge DeFi and RWA and democratize access to real estate assets via its Digitized Estates concept. Behind the project is a professional team with solid expertise in relevant industries and areas, including real estate, blockchain, marketing, and entrepreneurship.

    PRN’s web app beta is currently live at app.prnpl.io.

    You can contact Principal Protocol here to learn more about the ongoing PRN token private sale: jason@prnpl.io

    For ongoing updates and community engagement, follow Principal Protocol here: Website, X, and Telegram.

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

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: MKS Breaks Ground on New Chemical Manufacturing and TechCenter Facility in Thailand

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    ANDOVER, Mass., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MKS Instruments. Inc. (NASDAQ: MKSI) (“MKS”), a global provider of enabling technologies that transform our world, announced today the groundbreaking of its cutting-edge Atotech chemical manufacturing and TechCenter facility at the Asia Industrial Estate Suvarnabhumi, located east of Bangkok, Thailand. This strategic investment aligns with MKS’ commitment to grow alongside its customers and deliver localized expertise to accelerate technological advancements across the region. The new facility also underscores MKS’ dedication to fostering Thailand’s growing role within the printed circuit board (“PCB”) industry.

    “This facility represents a major milestone for MKS, as we expand our footprint in Southeast Asia,” said John T. C. Lee, President and CEO of MKS Instruments. “By bringing world-class manufacturing, cutting-edge technology, and specialized laboratory services to Thailand, we are reinforcing our ability to support Southeast Asia’s fast growing PCB manufacturing and semiconductor advanced packaging sectors, as well as the region’s top specialty industrial manufacturers. This investment demonstrates our long-term vision for growth and innovation in the global electronics and plating industries.”

    The facility will be located on a 11.7-acre plot, spanning approximately 27,000 square meters and just 30 minutes from Bangkok International Airport. The facility will feature:

    • A state-of-the-art manufacturing space dedicated to producing chemicals for surface treatments and plating, serving industries such as Electronics and Automotive.
    • A TechCenter featuring advanced Electronics and General Metal Finishing plating equipment, along with laser machinery for innovative applications.
    • Fully equipped laboratories for analytics, quality control, and material science, supporting customer ramp-ups, ensuring high standards and continuous innovation.
    • Comprehensive technical service capabilities, including maintenance, spare parts, and support for new IIoT and software solutions tailored to the region’s installed equipment base.
    • A modern main office building designed to efficiently support administrative and operational functions.

    Dedicated to driving innovation and operational excellence, the facility will focus on producing process chemicals, providing customer service and application work for advanced electronics and industrial markets. With a total production capacity of 18,500 tons per year, this new MKS site represents an investment of $40M+ and operations are set to begin in the second half of 2027.

    Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the 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, regarding MKS’ construction of a chemical manufacturing and TechCenter facility in Thailand, as well as the projected features and the projected timeline for completion of the facility. Any statements that are not statements of historical fact should be considered to be forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements set forth herein, including as a result of the factors described in MKS’ Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. MKS is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

    About MKS Instruments

    MKS Instruments enables technologies that transform our world. We deliver foundational technology solutions to leading edge semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and packaging, and specialty industrial applications. We apply our broad science and engineering capabilities to create instruments, subsystems, systems, process control solutions and specialty chemicals technology that improve process performance, optimize productivity and enable unique innovations for many of the world’s leading technology and industrial companies. Our solutions are critical to addressing the challenges of miniaturization and complexity in advanced device manufacturing by enabling increased power, speed, feature enhancement, and optimized connectivity. Our solutions are also critical to addressing ever-increasing performance requirements across a wide array of specialty industrial applications. Additional information can be found at www.mks.com.

    About the Atotech Brand

    Atotech is a brand within the Materials Solutions Division of MKS Instruments. Atotech’s portfolio consists of leading process and manufacturing technologies for advanced surface modification, electroless and electrolytic plating, and surface finishing. Applying a comprehensive systems-and-solutions approach, the Atotech portfolio includes chemistry, equipment, software, and services for innovative and high-technology applications. These solutions are used in a wide variety of end-markets, including datacenter, consumer electronics and communications infrastructure, as well as in numerous industrial and consumer applications such as automotive, heavy machinery, and household appliances.

    With its well-established innovative strength and industry-leading global TechCenter network, MKS delivers pioneering solutions through its Atotech brand – combined with unparalleled on-site support for customers worldwide. For more information, please visit us at www.atotech.com.

    Contacts:

    Bill Casey
    Vice President, Marketing Communications
    Telephone: +1 (630) 995-6384
    Email: press@mksinst.com

    Kelly Kerry, Partner
    Kekst CNC
    Email: kerry.kelly@kekstcnc.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: VERB CEO Rory J. Cutaia Interview Live from the Floor of the NY Stock Exchange on Cheddar TV’s Power Players

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LAS VEGAS, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Verb Technology Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERB) (“VERB” or the “Company”), Transforming the Landscape of Social Commerce, Social Telehealth and Social Crowdfunding with MARKET.live, VANITYPrescribed, GoodGirlRx, and the GO FUND YOURSELF TV Show, today announced that CEO Rory J. Cutaia was featured on Cheddar TV’s Power Players live from the floor of the NY Stock Exchange on an episode that airs Friday, May 9, 2025, at 8PM ET.

    Hosted by J.D. Durkin, Power Players dives deep with business leaders to uncover the motivations, strategies, and defining decisions that shape today’s most influential companies. In this segment, Cutaia discusses his motivation for creating the innovative crowd funding TV show GO FUND YOURSELF, VERB’s original television series that blends real-time interactivity with investment access and product discovery — ushering in a new era for retail investing and consumer engagement, currently airing its first season on Cheddar TV. He will also provide a candid look into VERB’s ambitious growth plans — including its recent acquisition of Lyvecom, the popular new AI technology social commerce innovator for big brands.

    Here’s a sneak peek at the segment on Cheddar.com.

    Broadcast Information
    Power Players featuring Rory J. Cutaia
    Friday, May 9, 2025, at 8PM ET on Cheddar TV
    Encore presentations to air throughout the weekend and following week.

    About VERB
    Verb Technology Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERB), is transforming the landscape of social commerce, social telehealth and social crowdfunding with MARKET.live, LyveCom, VANITYPrescribed, GoodGirlRx, and the GO FUND YOURSELF TV Show. The Company operates multiple business units, each of which leverages the Company’s social commerce technology and video marketing expertise.
    MARKET.live, together with recently acquired AI social commerce technology innovator LyveCom, is a multi-vendor, livestream social shopping platform that allows brands and merchants to deliver a true omnichannel livestream shopping experience across their own websites, apps, and social platforms. Advanced AI capabilities power real-time user-generated-content creation, automated video content repurposing for high conversion video ads, and AI-powered virtual live shopping hosts that are virtually indistinguishable from human hosts, capable of real-time audience engagement. Brands utilize the Company’s proprietary AI model trained on tens of thousands of video commerce interactions to automate content creation and intelligent tools designed to optimize merchandising strategies and increase conversion rates. 
    GO FUND YOURSELF TV show is a revolutionary interactive social crowd funding platform for public and private companies seeking broad-based exposure for their crowd-funded Regulation CF and Regulation A offerings. The platform combines a ground-breaking interactive national TV show with MARKET.live’s back-end capabilities allowing viewers to tap, scan or click on their screen to facilitate an investment, in real time, as they watch companies presenting before the show’s panel of “Titans”. Presenting companies that sell consumer products are able to offer their products directly to viewers during the show in real time through shoppable onscreen icons.
    VANITYPrescribed.com and GoodGirlRx.com are telehealth portals, intended to redefine telehealth by offering a seamless, digital-first experience that empowers individuals to take control of their healthcare needs. They were designed and developed to disrupt the traditional healthcare model by providing tailored healthcare solutions at affordable, fixed prices – without hidden fees, membership costs, or inflated pharmaceutical markups. GoodGirlRx.com, a partnership with Savannah Chrisley, a well-known lifestyle personality and advocate for health and wellness, offers customers access to convenient, no-hassle telehealth services and pharmaceuticals, including the new weight-loss drugs, with fixed pricing regardless of dosage, breaking away from the industry’s traditional model of excessive pricing and pharmaceutical gatekeeping.
    The Company is headquartered in Las Vegas, NV and operates full-service production and creator studios in the Los Angeles, California vicinity.
    For more information, please visit: www.verb.tech

    Follow VERB here:

    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VerbTechCo

    X: https://twitter.com/VerbTech_Co

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/verb-tech

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0eCb_fwQlwEG3ywHDJ4_KQ

    Sign up for E-mail Alerts here: https://ir.verb.tech/news-events/email-alerts

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    Statements contained in this press release that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements as defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “anticipate,” “designed,” “expect,” “may,” “will,” “should” and other comparable terms. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding VERB’s intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations and the other risk factors and other cautionary statements included in VERB’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, and its subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including subsequent periodic reports on Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. All forward-looking statements made in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of such date. Except as required by law, VERB undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events, changed conditions or otherwise after the date of this press release.

    Investor Relations Contact: investors@verb.tech
    Media Contact: info@verb.tech

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Conifers.ai Unveils Program to Transform SOC Operations for Managed Security Service Providers

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    DALLAS, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Conifers.ai, the agentic AI platform designed to transform security operations, today unveiled a new program designed to address the greatest challenges of managed security service providers (MSSPs). With industry-leading AI capabilities, disruptive pricing, and unique multi-tenancy features, Conifers improves service delivery, enabling MSSPs to scale and profitably expand their business.

    Threats have become more persistent and sophisticated as attackers leverage AI, leaving companies demanding more from MSSPs and managed detection and response (MDR) providers. These teams are under immense pressure to deliver services faster with more accuracy, while continuously growing their businesses and increasing revenue. Conifers’ MSSP program addresses these pain points with a strategic approach blending industry-leading technology, phased onboarding, seamless integration, and competitive, predictable pricing. With Conifers, service providers become more innovative, and they can scale to support more customers with less financial impact, ultimately increasing their margins and quality.

    “Our team has extensive experience working with service providers. We understand their pain points and the constant pressure to safeguard customers while growing their businesses,” said Tom Findling, co-founder and CEO of Conifers. “With this knowledge, we designed our patent-pending agentic AI platform to boost their effectiveness and efficiency with high-quality investigations so they can meet demand head-on, delivering excellence for customers and accelerating business growth.”

    Tackling Complex Threats at the Speed of AI
    The Conifers CognitiveSOC™ was designed with service providers’ unique needs in mind, empowering managed SOC teams to tackle complex, multi-tier security incidents with unparalleled speed, accuracy, and confidence. The platform continuously ingests security incidents and, in conjunction with tenant-based institutional knowledge, provides deep, contextual investigations for each client. Centralized tenant management and nested multi-tenancy capabilities with seamless integration to any tech stack facilitate expansion. Strategic, customer-specific dashboards deliver meaningful insights that translate tactical results into outcomes that prove value. With Conifers, managed SOC and MDR teams can be more proactive, expand incident coverage, reduce resolution times, and focus on higher-value tasks.

    While competitors focus on just solving low-tier incidents, Conifers provides solutions for all issues encountered by SOC teams — from basic tier one to complex tier three incidents and everything in between. It has been proven to reduce end-to-end investigation times by up to 87%, solving complex incidents and freeing up analysts responsible for these triage processes, enhancing both SOC effectiveness and efficiency. For service providers, this scalability allows them to handle more clients without increasing resources, directly improving margins and competitiveness. Other benefits include:

    • Expand customer contracts via multi-tier service offerings and support for a large variety of security products
    • Improve retention and increase revenue with more accuracy and consistency in incident resolution, which results in more predictable overall costs
    • Grow business overall by increasing productivity and efficiency through unique multi-tenancy features and the smart use of AI
    • Improve the ability to measure real impact and risk reduction to more effectively demonstrate ROI, which is key for retention and expansion and a critical differentiator for MSSPs
    • Expand profit margins more easily with predictable, MSSP-friendly pricing
    • Integrate seamlessly with existing tools and processes
    • Onboard many customers seamlessly and at your own pace with dedicated, white-glove support for MSSPs

    Conifers was recently listed as a Sample Vendor in a Gartner emerging trends report titled, “Emerging Tech: Emerging MDR Trends to Grow Your Security Service Revenue.” Topics discussed include the integration of advanced AI for managed detection and response, and use of AI for prioritization and enhanced effectiveness.

    The Benefits of Agentic AI for MSSPs
    “The Conifers platform’s ability to manage dozens of tenants, each with its own baseline and customer-specific knowledge base, has significantly improved the quality of our operations, reducing investigation times in a way that’s both efficient and effective.” – Rutger de Boer, CTO, Dutch Technology eXperts

    “Broader detection coverage can result in higher alert volumes and false positives, but reducing the noise can cause teams to miss real threats. AI presents an opportunity to eliminate the compromise between effectiveness and efficiency. With Conifers it’s possible to maintain comprehensive detection coverage while conducting deep, high-quality investigations, ensuring faster and more accurate responses to incidents.” – Randy Watkins, CTO, Critical Start

    “Conifers is transforming how we run our SOC. Instead of drowning in alerts or hiring more analysts, we now have agentic AI that acts with context, scales our expertise, and adapts in real time. It’s more than what automation provides—it’s intelligence we can trust. With Conifers, we’re delivering faster, smarter, and more precise security outcomes for every customer.” – Edmund How, Founder & CEO, ONESECURE

    Visit the website or the company blog to learn more about Conifers CognitiveSOC™ program for MSSPs.

    About Conifers.ai
    Conifers.ai is transforming security operations centers (SOCs) with its AI-native Conifers CognitiveSOC™ platform, enabling enterprises and managed security service providers (MSSPs) to achieve SOC excellence. By leveraging agentic AI, Conifers empowers security teams to investigate complex, multi-tier incidents at scale with confidence, efficiency, and accuracy. Led by seasoned industry veterans and supported by SYN Ventures, Conifers is committed to addressing critical SecOps challenges through innovative solutions that enhance operational effectiveness, advanced investigation reasoning, and decision-making capabilities. With its unique staged implementation framework and patent-pending architecture, Conifers.ai builds trust in AI adoption, delivering measurable ROI and business impact. Learn more at https://www.conifers.ai/.

    Media Contact
    Geena Pickering
    Look Left Marketing
    conifers@lookleftmarketing.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: First Pacific Bancorp Reports First Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WHITTIER, Calif., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — First Pacific Bancorp (the “Company”) (OTC Pink: FPBC), the holding company for First Pacific Bank (the “Bank”), today reported consolidated results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2025, marking its eighth consecutive quarter of profitability. The Company remains well-capitalized, with a healthy liquidity position supported by a stable core deposit base and access to substantial sources of liquidity.

    Highlights for the first quarter of 2025 include:

    • Total assets ended the first quarter 2025 at $456 million, up $23 million from $433 million at year end 2024.
    • Total deposits ended the first quarter 2025 at $390 million, up $39 million since year end 2024.
    • Total loans ended the first quarter 2025 at $294 million, up $17 million from year end 2024.
    • Asset quality remains excellent with minimal levels of classified or non-performing assets.
    • The Bank ended the first quarter with a strong capital position, with a leverage capital ratio of 9.0% and a total risk-based capital ratio of 12.7%.
    • As of March 31, 2025, cash and cash equivalents totaled $47 million, including funds invested overnight, up $6 million since year end 2024.
    • Unused borrowing capacity from credit facilities on March 31, 2025, totaled $187 million.

    For the first quarter ending March 31, 2025, the Company realized a pre-tax, pre-provision profit of $550 thousand, compared to a pre-tax, pre-provision profit of $702 thousand in Q4 2024 and $222 thousand in Q1 2024. Net income for the first quarter of 2025 was $393 thousand, up from $162 thousand in Q1 2024.    

    Asset quality remains excellent with minimal non-performing assets, an allowance for credit losses of 1.08% of total loans, and zero loan losses.

    “We are pleased with the momentum we’ve carried into 2025. Our diversified business model, prudent risk management, and focus on operational discipline continue to position us for sustained performance in a dynamic environment,” said Joe Matranga, Chairman of the Board.

    “We delivered strong first quarter results, driven by consistent performance across our markets and continued growth in both loans and deposits,” said Nathan Rogge, President and Chief Executive Officer. “As we execute our client-focused strategy and invest in infrastructure and technology, we are well positioned for long-term success. Our recent move to a larger San Diego regional office reflects our confidence in future growth and our ongoing commitment to serving our clients.”

    ABOUT FIRST PACIFIC BANK

    First Pacific Bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of First Pacific Bancorp (OTC Pink: FPBC) and is a growing community bank catering to individuals, professionals, and small-to-medium sized businesses throughout Southern California. Since opening in 2006, the Bank has offered a personalized approach, access to decision makers, a broad range of solutions, and a commitment to delivering an exceptional customer experience. First Pacific Bank operates locations in Los Angeles County, Orange County, San Diego County, and the Inland Empire. For more information, visit firstpacbank.com or call 888.BNK.AT.FPB.

    FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    This news release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and First Pacific Bancorp intends for such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Future events are difficult to predict, and the expectations described above are necessarily subject to risk and uncertainty that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely. Forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, our business plan, and strategies, and can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. They often include the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or “may” and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, nor should they be relied upon as representing management’s views as of any subsequent date. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: successfully realizing the benefits of our business strategy and plans,; changes in general economic and financial market conditions, either nationally or locally, in areas in which First Pacific Bank conducts its operations; effects of inflation and changes in interest rates; continuing consolidation in the financial services industry; new litigation or changes in existing litigation; increased competitive challenges and expanding product and pricing pressures among financial institutions; impact of any natural disasters, including earthquakes; effect of governmental supervision and regulation, including any regulatory or other enforcement actions; legislation or regulatory changes which adversely affect First Pacific Bank’s operations or business; loss of key personnel; and changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other regulatory agencies. The Company does not undertake, and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events, or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law.  

    — Summary Financial Tables Follow —

    First Pacific Bancorp 
    Consolidated Balance Sheets
    (Unaudited)
      Mar 31, 2025 Dec 31, 2024 Sep 30, 2024 Jun 30, 2024 Mar 31, 2024
    ASSETS          
    Cash and due from banks $ 8,042,164   $ 4,708,926   $ 23,584,084   $ 4,671,483   $ 7,317,500  
    Fed funds sold & int-bearing balances   39,250,000     36,290,000     25,520,000     37,860,000     37,575,000  
    Total cash and cash equivalents   47,292,164     40,998,926     49,104,084     42,531,483     44,892,500  
               
    Debt securities (AFS)   1,859,740     1,866,022     3,041,852     3,077,666     5,138,340  
    Debt securities (HTM)   99,099,346     100,257,560     101,260,391     102,202,926     103,474,749  
    Total debt securities   100,959,086     102,123,582     104,302,243     105,280,592     108,613,089  
               
    Construction & land development   25,245,823     23,320,351     23,067,204     24,651,513     25,480,398  
    1-4 Family residential   63,536,698     58,588,090     58,082,570     68,588,393     68,521,663  
    Multifamily residential   30,452,183     28,561,276     28,966,811     26,800,829     26,947,419  
    Nonfarm, nonresidential real estate   105,299,777     100,066,570     99,715,860     94,643,169     97,893,840  
    Commercial & industrial   64,956,570     62,322,690     57,342,017     53,504,969     54,785,564  
    Consumer & Other   4,572,607     4,525,108     780,639     1,831,036     1,123,918  
    Total loans   294,063,658     277,384,085     267,955,101     270,019,909     274,752,802  
    Allowance for credit losses (loans)   (3,179,637 )   (3,179,637 )   (3,109,975 )   (3,109,975 )   (3,109,975 )
    Total loans, net   290,884,021     274,204,448     264,845,126     266,909,934     271,642,827  
               
    Premises, equipment, and ROU net   2,822,403     1,328,964     1,452,886     1,714,833     1,992,588  
    Goodwill, core deposit & other intangibles   1,259,139     1,273,134     1,287,129     1,298,084     1,313,367  
    Bank owned life insurance   5,317,491     5,287,738     5,257,550     5,227,763     5,198,654  
    Accrued interest and other assets   7,703,693     7,755,355     7,505,380     7,476,554     7,415,609  
               
    Total Assets $ 456,237,997   $ 432,972,147   $ 433,754,398   $ 430,439,243   $ 441,068,634  
               
    LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY          
    Deposits:          
    Noninterest-bearing demand $ 143,205,484   $ 131,515,568   $ 129,473,091   $ 144,240,187   $ 133,945,262  
    Interest-bearing transaction accounts   39,203,360     28,454,639     24,660,000     24,797,108     28,166,207  
    Money market and savings   162,563,677     146,423,126     143,270,628     143,497,864     148,732,230  
    Time deposits   44,568,676     44,302,867     44,388,137     41,060,590     38,662,227  
    Total deposits   389,541,197     350,696,200     341,791,856     353,595,749     349,505,926  
               
    Borrowings   23,000,000     40,000,000     50,000,000     35,000,000     50,000,000  
    Accrued interest and other liabilities   3,952,095     3,122,902     3,430,132     3,781,444     3,936,909  
    Total liabilities   416,493,292     393,819,102     395,221,988     392,377,193     403,442,835  
               
    Shareholders’ Equity:          
    Capital stock and APIC   37,389,068     37,272,567     37,117,627     36,970,386     36,788,606  
    Retained earnings   3,043,502     2,650,877     2,151,305     1,902,788     1,705,174  
    Accum other comprehensive income   (687,865 )   (770,399 )   (736,522 )   (811,124 )   (867,981 )
    Total shareholders’ equity   39,744,705     39,153,045     38,532,410     38,062,050     37,625,799  
               
    Total Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity $ 456,237,997   $ 432,972,147   $ 433,754,398   $ 430,439,243   $ 441,068,634  
               
    First Pacific Bancorp
    Consolidated Income Statements – Quarterly
    (Unaudited)
               
      Mar 31, 2025 Dec 31, 2024 Sep 30, 2024 Jun 30, 2024 Mar 31, 2024
    INTEREST INCOME          
    Loans, including fees $ 4,788,107   $ 4,814,128   $ 4,817,174   $ 4,655,844   $ 4,700,535  
    Debt securities   462,472     484,508     499,268     514,613     543,857  
    Fed funds & int-bearing balances   339,864     419,597     450,166     573,022     410,685  
    Total interest income   5,590,443     5,718,233     5,766,608     5,743,479     5,655,077  
               
    INTEREST EXPENSE          
    Deposits   1,812,760     1,777,351     1,790,578     1,687,121     1,746,032  
    Borrowings   219,832     332,375     444,250     524,599     507,390  
    Total interest expense   2,032,592     2,109,726     2,234,828     2,211,720     2,253,422  
               
    Net interest income   3,557,851     3,608,507     3,531,780     3,531,759     3,401,655  
               
    Provision for credit losses   –     –     –     –     –  
               
    Net interest income after provision   3,557,851     3,608,507     3,531,780     3,531,759     3,401,655  
               
    NONINTEREST INCOME          
    Service charges, fees and other income   122,610     119,173     106,628     96,460     108,365  
    Sublease income   45,222     –     53,975     52,970     53,872  
    Gains (losses) on sale of assets   –     –     15,335     –     –  
    Gains on early payoff of debt   –     54,125     –     144,325     –  
    Total noninterest income   167,832     173,298     175,938     293,755     162,237  
               
    NONINTEREST EXPENSE          
    Salaries and benefits   2,119,302     1,984,774     2,154,290     2,182,674     2,178,486  
    Occupancy and equipment   259,480     258,180     374,069     363,695     368,816  
    Other expense   797,261     836,692     834,281     1,007,247     794,158  
    Total noninterest expense   3,176,043     3,079,646     3,362,640     3,553,616     3,341,460  
               
    Income before income tax expense   549,640     702,159     345,078     271,898     222,432  
               
    Income tax expense (benefit)   157,015     202,586     96,563     74,281     60,524  
               
    Net Income $ 392,625   $ 499,573   $ 248,515   $ 197,617   $ 161,908  
               
    Earnings per share basic (QTR) $ 0.09   $ 0.12   $ 0.06   $ 0.05   $ 0.04  
    Weighted average shares outstanding (QTR)   4,333,735     4,293,829     4,288,851     4,283,351     4,281,653  
               
    First Pacific Bancorp
    Quarterly Financial Highlights
    (Unaudited)
                 
        Quarterly
        2025 2024 2024 2024 2024
    ($$ in thousands except per share data)   1st Qtr 4th Qtr 3rd Qtr 2nd Qtr 1st Qtr
    EARNINGS            
    Net interest income $ 3,558   3,609   3,532   3,532   3,402  
    Provision for loan losses $ 0   0   0   0   0  
    Noninterest income $ 168   173   176   294   162  
    Noninterest expense $ 3,176   3,080   3,363   3,554   3,341  
    Income tax expense $ 157   203   97   74   61  
    Net income $ 393   500   249   198   162  
                 
    Earnings per share basic $ 0.09   0.12   0.06   0.05   0.04  
    Weighted average shares outstanding   4,333,735   4,293,829   4,288,851   4,283,351   4,281,653  
    Ending shares outstanding   4,335,088   4,294,500   4,291,927   4,283,351   4,283,351  
                 
    PERFORMANCE RATIOS            
    Return on average assets   0.37 % 0.47 % 0.23 % 0.18 % 0.15 %
    Return on average common equity   4.05 % 5.12 % 2.58 % 2.10 % 1.73 %
    Yield on loans   6.79 % 6.91 % 6.98 % 6.97 % 6.84 %
    Yield on earning assets   5.44 % 5.50 % 5.58 % 5.52 % 5.49 %
    Cost of deposits   2.00 % 1.98 % 2.05 % 1.96 % 2.05 %
    Cost of funding   2.12 % 2.18 % 2.32 % 2.28 % 2.35 %
    Net interest margin   3.46 % 3.47 % 3.42 % 3.40 % 3.31 %
    Efficiency ratio   85.2 % 81.4 % 90.7 % 92.9 % 93.8 %
                 
    CAPITAL            
    Tangible equity to tangible assets   8.46 % 8.77 % 8.61 % 8.57 % 8.26 %
    Book value (BV) per common share $ 9.17   9.12   8.98   8.89   8.78  
    Tangible BV per common share $ 8.88   8.82   8.68   8.58   8.48  
                 
    ASSET QUALITY            
    Net loan charge-offs (recoveries) $ 0   0   0   0   0  
    Allowance for credit losses (loans) $ 3,180   3,180   3,110   3,110   3,110  
    Allowance to total loans   1.08 % 1.15 % 1.16 % 1.15 % 1.13 %
    Nonperforming loans $ 849   672   991   77   160  
                 
    END OF PERIOD BALANCES            
    Total loans $ 294,064   277,384   267,955   270,020   274,753  
    Total assets $ 456,238   432,972   433,754   430,439   441,069  
    Deposits $ 389,541   350,696   341,792   353,596   349,506  
    Loans to deposits   75.5 % 79.1 % 78.4 % 76.4 % 78.6 %
    Shareholders’ equity $ 39,745   39,153   38,532   38,062   37,626  
    Full-time equivalent employees   46   49   44   44   46  
                 
    AVERAGE BALANCES (QTRLY)            
    Total loans $ 286,119   276,301   273,960   267,766   275,578  
    Earning assets $ 416,486   412,424   410,298   416,965   412,791  
    Total assets $ 430,891   425,750   424,199   430,830   426,592  
    Deposits $ 368,363   355,369   346,142   346,032   341,226  
    Shareholders’ equity $ 39,326   38,746   38,267   37,788   37,443  
                           

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Rate Supports Our Military Service Members and Veterans Beyond Offering Industry-Leading Mortgage Options

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In recognition of Military Appreciation Month, Rate, a leader in fintech mortgage solutions, is spotlighting its continued support for active-duty military members, veterans, and their families—support that extends well beyond the closing table.

    While Rate is nationally recognized for its industry-leading VA mortgage products and top-tier loan officers, the company’s dedication to the military community runs deeper. With no lender fee on VA loans, amounting to $65.3 million in waived fees, and no overlays, Rate delivers unmatched accessibility and affordability for eligible homebuyers. The company is also home to the #1 VA purchase loan officer in the country, supported by a team of specialized underwriters and credit experts dedicated to navigating the unique needs of VA borrowers.

    “Serving our military community is not a tagline. It’s a core part of who we are,” said Victor Ciardelli, CEO of Rate. “We’re proud to offer the most competitive VA loan options on the market, but just as important is how we show up for veterans and service members every day, through real outreach, education, and giving.”

    That commitment is evident in Rate’s year-round military initiatives:

    • $1.08 million raised for nine nonprofits benefiting military families in 2024.
    • VA loan education classes for service members at various points of their careers, including service members preparing to leave the barracks.
    • A 2025 clothing drive in partnership with Operation Deploy Your Dress, donating 1,000+ dresses and 200 suits for military community members.
    • A holiday toy and sweater drive benefiting families across multiple military bases.
    • A Military Appreciation Baseball Game hosted at Rate Stadium, honoring military spouses, recognizing a “Hero of the Game” servicemember, and welcoming parachuters delivering the White Sox game ball, complete with 500 tickets and concession vouchers donated to military families.

    At the heart of these efforts is HONOR, Rate’s internal employee resource group focused on military outreach and support. HONOR’s mission is to embrace the company’s proud community of active and retired service members, veterans, spouses, and their families through shared experiences and resources.

    “We are dedicated to educating Veterans as well as the real estate community about VA loans. VA loans are a true benefit and many veterans use their VA benefit to build generational wealth. I am honored to be part of their journey home as is every member of the Rate team,” said Jennifer Beeston, Rate’s EVP National Lending and the nation’s top VA purchase loan officer. “From planning to buying to 20 years from now, we’re here to make homeownership a reality for the people who’ve served our country.”

    As May marks Military Appreciation Month, Rate remains committed to honoring the sacrifices of our nation’s military community, not only with unmatched home financing solutions, but also through continued action, advocacy, and care.

    About Rate

    Rate Companies is a leader in mortgage lending and digital financial services. Headquartered in Chicago, Rate has over 850 branches across all 50 states and Washington D.C. Since its launch in 2000, Rate has helped more than 2 million homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances. The company has cemented itself as an industry leader by introducing innovative technology, offering low rates, and delivering unparalleled customer service. Honors and awards include: Top 5 Mortgage Lender by Inside Mortgage Finance for 2024; Best Mortgage Lender for First-Time Homebuyers by NerdWallet for 2023; HousingWire’s Tech100 award for the company’s industry-leading FlashClose℠ digital mortgage platform in 2020, MyAccount in 2022, and Language Access Program in 2023; the most Scotsman Guide Top Originators for 11 consecutive years; Chicago Agent Magazine’s Lender of the Year for seven consecutive years; and Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces list for seven straight years. Visit rate.com for more information.

    Press Contact

    press@rate.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: John Snow Labs Wins 2025 Oracle Excellence Award for AI Innovation

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    LEWES, Del., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — John Snow Labs, the AI for healthcare company, today announced it has won a 2025 Oracle Customer Excellence Award in the AI category for North America. The Oracle Customer Excellence Awards celebrate the very best of business innovation, showcasing how organizations around the world—and their leaders—use Oracle technology to help reinvent business practices, reimagine the workday, and boost sales. The AI category honors the most innovative and creative use of generative AI to drive innovation and address real-world challenges to make a measurable impact.

    John Snow Labs has transformed business operations by embedding AI-powered automation, predictive analytics, and real-time decision support into healthcare, life sciences, and insurance. By leveraging Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) AI infrastructure, the company has reduced costs, improved efficiency, and accelerated AI adoption across multiple sectors for its customers, reinforcing its leadership in AI-driven healthcare innovation.

    John Snow Labs has optimized several of its medical language models for OCI, including Medical LLM and Healthcare NLP, enabling customers to leverage OCI’s robust infrastructure securely and compliantly and to quickly deploy and scale these models. John Snow Labs also runs its Medical Chatbot Platform on OCI, which provides tools for biomedical literature reviews, query resolution, clinical case analysis, and clinical text summarization. Applications running on OCI include FunctionalMind™, which is a specialized AI solution for functional and integrative medicine, real-world data curation in specialties like oncology and mental health, and regulatory-grade medical data de-identification. As evidenced by peer-reviewed papers, these solutions deliver state-of-the-art performance for improved decision-making, increased compliance, and higher adoption and trust of AI-driven healthcare solutions. Additionally, by using OCI’s AI-optimized cloud compute services, customers can benefit from reduced AI compute costs and energy consumption.

    “OCI’s AI-optimized infrastructure and privacy-focused approach to the cloud makes it a strong choice to power healthcare AI applications,” said David Talby, CEO, John Snow Labs. “We are honored to be recognized as a GenAI innovator and are excited to continue making customers successful in putting it to good use.”

    This award comes on the heels of several significant milestones for John Snow Labs, including the release of the first commercially available medical reasoning LLM and the release of Generative AI Lab 7.0, an update enabling domain experts, such as healthcare professionals, to evaluate and improve custom-built LLMs with precision and transparency.

    For additional information on the Oracle 2025 Customer Excellence Awards, please visit: https://www.oracle.com/corporate/customers/awards/.

    To learn more about John Snow Labs, visit https://www.johnsnowlabs.com/.

    About John Snow Labs
    John Snow Labs, the AI for healthcare company, provides state-of-the-art software, models, and data to help healthcare and life science organizations put AI to good use. Developer of Medical LLMs, Healthcare NLP, Spark NLP, the Generative AI Lab No-Code Platform, and the Medical Chatbot, John Snow Labs’ award-winning medical AI software powers the world’s leading pharmaceuticals, academic medical centers, and health technology companies. Creator and host of The NLP Summit, the company is committed to further educating and advancing the global AI community.

    Trademarks
    Oracle, Java, MySQL and NetSuite are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation. NetSuite was the first cloud company—ushering in the new era of cloud computing.

    Contact
    Gina Devine
    Head of Communications
    John Snow Labs
    gina@johnsnowlabs.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Dino Psirogiannis, Former iCIMS SVP of Sales, Joins GoodTime as Chief Revenue Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GoodTime, a leader in human-centric AI for hiring, today announced the appointment of Dino Psirogiannis as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In his new role, Dino will lead GoodTime’s global revenue operations, bringing a strategic focus on scaling enterprise growth, expanding partnerships, and delivering exceptional value to customers.

    Advancing GoodTime’s vision for more efficient, human-centered hiring experiences

    Dino joins GoodTime after serving as Senior Vice President of North American Sales at iCIMS, where he played a key role in driving significant revenue growth and strengthening strategic partnerships. His deep background in enterprise software and human capital management — through leadership roles at Alight Solutions, Kronos, ADP, and Intuit — gives him a rich understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing today’s talent acquisition leaders.

    “Enterprise talent teams are under more pressure than ever to deliver results quickly while building strong, human-centered hiring experiences,” said Dino. “GoodTime’s focus on bringing human-centric AI to talent acquisition teams is exactly what the market needs right now. I’m thrilled to join a company that’s reimagining hiring in a way that elevates both efficiency and humanity in the hiring journey.”

    Empowering talent teams with a digital workforce of AI agents

    With Dino’s leadership, GoodTime is doubling down on its commitment to helping enterprise talent teams dramatically improve time-to-hire, reduce administrative burden, and create more meaningful candidate and interviewer experiences with the help of AI agents.

    “Dino deeply understands the world of enterprise talent teams — their goals, their challenges, and how to help them win,” said Ahryun Moon, CEO and Co-Founder of GoodTime. “With the rise of AI agents transforming the hiring process, his leadership is arriving at the perfect moment. Dino’s experience scaling enterprise solutions will be instrumental as we continue building the most advanced AI-powered hiring platform in the market.”

    About GoodTime
    GoodTime elevates the entire hiring experience with human-centric AI, powered by a digital workforce of intelligent AI agents. Trusted by global talent teams at companies like Hubspot, Spotify, Priceline, and Lyft, our platform not only automates interview scheduling but also keeps candidates and interviewers deeply engaged throughout the hiring journey. Gain access to powerful insights and AI-driven recommendations to streamline processes and ensure every interviewer is always well-prepared. The result? Exceptional hiring experiences that consistently land you top talent.

    Learn more at goodtime.io.

    Media Contact
    For more information or to arrange an interview with Ahryun Moon or Dino Psirogiannis, please contact:
    Jake Link
    press@goodtime.io

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Policy Statement: Framework for Formulation of Regulations

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    1. Introduction

    This Framework for Formulation of Regulations (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Framework’) lays down the broad principles for formulation and amendment of Regulations by the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter referred to as “the Bank”). The Framework seeks to standardize the process of making Regulations in a transparent and consultative manner after conducting impact analysis, as may be feasible.

    2. Definition:

    (1) For the purpose of this Framework, “Regulations” shall include all regulations, directions, guidelines, notifications, orders, policies, specifications, and standards as issued by the Bank in exercise of the powers conferred on it by or under the provisions of the Acts and Rules, given in Annex.

    (2) The Bank may also follow the process laid down in the Framework for any other regulation, direction, guideline, notification, order, policy, specification, or standard made pursuant to any other legal provisions, as deemed fit.

    3. Public Consultation

    (1) Before issuance of a Regulation, the Bank shall publish the draft of such Regulation along with a statement of particulars on the Bank’s official website (www.rbi.org.in) and seek public comments.

    (2) The statement of particulars shall, among others, include:

    1. the enabling provision(s) that empower the Bank to issue the Regulation;

    2. the objective(s) of the Regulation, including an impact analysis, to the extent feasible;

    3. guidance from the international standard setting bodies and best practices, if any;

    4. the manner of implementation of the Regulation; and

    5. the timelines for receiving comments from the public.

    (3) The Bank shall provide at least 21 days to the stakeholders and members of public to submit their comments.

    (4) The Bank shall consider the public feedback and provide a general statement of its response to the comments received, along with the final Regulation, on its website.

    (5) If the Bank decides to issue the final Regulation in a form substantially different from the draft that was issued for public comments, it may choose to repeat the process under this Framework.

    (6) The final Regulation shall be published promptly post the receipt of approval from the competent authority and its date of enforcement shall be from the date specified therein.

    (7) The Bank may explore additional mechanism(s) for engaging with stakeholder(s), as considered appropriate. In particular, it may, where deemed necessary, issue a discussion paper eliciting response to issues and questions for consultation, before preparing and publishing the draft of the Regulation.

    4. Impact Analysis of the Regulation

    Before finalizing the Regulation, the Bank shall conduct an impact analysis of the Regulation, to the extent feasible.

    5. Amendment to the Regulation

    Any significant amendments to the Regulation shall be subject to the process laid down in paragraphs 3 and 4 above.

    6. Review of the Regulation

    While the Bank shall update, amend or repeal the existing Regulations, as deemed necessary, it shall periodically undertake a review of the Regulations in force, keeping in view:

    1. the stated objective(s);

    2. experience gained through surveillance, supervision and enforcement actions;

    3. relevant orders passed by courts or tribunals;

    4. global best practices or standards prescribed by international standard setting bodies;

    5. its relevance in a changed environment;

    6. the scope for reducing redundancies; and

    7. any other factor considered relevant by the Bank.

    7. Non-applicability on certain matters

    (1) The provisions of this Framework shall not be applicable to any Regulation made or amended which pertain to:

    1. an internal, administrative or organizational matter as determined by the Bank, including those governing the conduct of its meetings, administration and service conditions of its officers and employees;

    2. a procedural matter which does not result in any substantive change or impact on any existing Regulation; and

    3. any Regulation issued to a specific entity or entities and is not general in nature.

    (2) The Bank may, after recording reasons, dispense with or suitably modify any or all provisions of this Framework in matters where –

    1. in the opinion of the Bank, confidentiality is to be maintained; or,

    2. following the procedure under this Framework would defeat the objective(s) or purpose of the proposed Regulation;

    3. for reasons of public interest, the Bank considers it expedient to do so; and

    4. any urgent intervention required.

    8. Savings

    (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Framework, a Regulation which is in force as on the date of issuance of this Framework shall continue remain valid, though future changes would be subject to the procedure envisaged herein.

    (2) No Regulation issued by the Bank, or any action taken under this Framework shall be invalid merely by reason of non-adherence to any provision specified herein.

    Annex

    Act Sections/Rules
    The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 28, 28A, 42(2), 45C, 45J, 45JA, 45K, 45L, 45MA, 45W, 58
    The Banking Regulation Act, 1949 21, 24(2A), 26A, 35A, 35AA, 35AB
    The National Housing Bank Act, 1987 30, 30A, 32, 33
    The Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 10, 18, 38
    The Credit Information Companies (Regulation) Act, 2005 10,11,13, 37
    The Factoring Regulation Act, 2011 6, 31A
    The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 12, 12A
    The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 10(4), 11, 47
    Government Securities Act, 2006 29, 32
    The Prevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance of Records) Rules 2005 9(14)
    The Special Economic Zones Act, 2005 17(3)

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Update on UK – Turkey trade talks

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    Update on UK – Turkey trade talks

    UK and Turkey agree on date to relaunch talks for an upgraded free trade agreement

    Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds and Minister of State for Trade Policy and Economic Security Douglas Alexander met today in London [Wednesday 7 May] with their Turkish counterparts, Minister of Trade Ömer Bolat and Deputy Minister of Trade, Mustafa Tuzcu, to discuss how to grow the UK economy by boosting trade. 

    The UK and Turkey have a strong economic relationship, with trade between the two totalling around £28 billion in 2024, making Turkey the UK’s 16th largest trading partner, with UK companies already exporting £9.3 billion of goods and services to its growing market of 86 million people.  

    Ministers affirmed the importance and strength of the UK-Turkey trading bilateral relationship, committed to continue to pursue closer cooperation and increased trade and investment, and underlined the importance of defending free trade.  

    They also confirmed their intention for the first round of Free Trade Agreement negotiations to take place by the end of July.  

    Ministers concluded the meeting by signing an upgraded Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) chapter, in the form of an amendment to the 2020 UK-Turkey Free Trade Agreement (FTA). This chapter closely aligns UK-Turkey TBT provisions with those found in the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), reducing costs and making it easier for businesses to trade.  

    Background 

    • The UK is the second largest services exporter in the world, but in 2024 only 34% of our exports to Turkey were services. 

    • UK exports to Turkey directly supported around 57,100 jobs across the UK in 2020, more than 68% of which were in services. 

    • More than 7,800 UK companies currently export goods to Turkey (2024). 

    • Turkey’s economy is currently the 17th largest in the world. By 2050 is expected to be the 12th-largest in the world and the fourth largest in Europe. 

    • The Turkish company, Eren Holding Group, recently invested £1 billion in the redevelopment of Shotton Mill in Deeside, North Wales. This investment is set to safeguard 147 jobs and create a further 220. The project is supported by nearly £13 million from the Welsh Government and £136 million from UK Export Finance.

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 May 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft volunteers improved more than 50 monuments to the heroes of the Great Patriotic War on the eve of the Victory Day anniversary

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    In anticipation of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, volunteers from Rosneft enterprises renovated and improved more than 50 monuments, memorials, obelisks, commemorative signs, and burial sites of heroes of the Great Patriotic War in different parts of Russia.

    In the regions where the Company operates, employees take an active part in commemorative events dedicated to the anniversary of the Great Victory.

    Volunteers from the Central Office and Moscow enterprises of Rosneft have landscaped the area around the monument to the workers of the Moscow Oil Depot who died on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. In 1941-1945, the oil depot, located on Sormovskaya Street in Moscow, played a key role in supplying the capital with fuel, ensuring uninterrupted supplies of fuel for military equipment. The Company’s employees installed new stone vases near the monument and planted flower beds. The wall of the oil depot was decorated with a mural dedicated to the contribution of oil workers to the Victory.

    Environmentalists and activists of the Novokuibyshevsky and Kuibyshevsky Oil Refineries, the Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company and the Novokuibyshevsky Oil and Additives Plant, together with volunteers from the EcoRavnovesie movement, improved the park in the village of Kryazh in the Samara urban district. There is a monument to soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War. Volunteers collected and removed household waste from the area, laid out flower beds and planted a rowan alley.

    Employees of the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery have improved more than a dozen burial sites of veterans of the Great Patriotic War in the Kuibyshev District of Samara. The oil workers cleaned the graves of the front-line soldiers after the winter and painted the fences.

    Volunteers of the Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery improved the Victory Alley and the area adjacent to the monument to home front workers. The memorial was erected in Novokuibyshevsk in 2022 on the initiative and with the support of the enterprise. In addition, the plant workers restored four burial sites of fellow countrymen – participants in the Great Patriotic War, installed new monuments, and improved the adjacent territories.

    Samaraneftegaz employees tidied up the monument to fallen heroes of the Great Patriotic War in the village of Mirny in the Samara Region. Volunteers cleaned up, painted the fences, and planted bushes and trees.

    In the Republic of Bashkortostan, in the city of labor valor Ishimbay, Bashneft volunteers together with activists of the Movement of the First improved the territory of the memorial to the Ishimbay oil workers who died in battles for the Motherland. The participants of the action collected and removed more than a ton of dead wood and household waste, painted the curbs and tree trunks.

    For several years, RN-Krasnodarneftegaz employees have been looking after the monument to the residents of the 2nd Zapadny farmstead in the Krymsky District of Krasnodar Krai. The fascist occupiers destroyed the farmstead along with all its residents in May 1943. Their memory is carefully preserved by Rosneft volunteers, who have taken patronage over the monument.

    In addition, RN-Krasnodarneftegaz volunteers tidied up the territory of the Monument to the Separate 16th Rifle Brigade in the village of Sputnik in the Seversky District of the Krasnodar Territory, the Memorial to those killed in the battles for the liberation of the village of Saratovskaya, the cultural heritage site “Mass grave of 52 Soviet soldiers killed in battles with the fascist invaders in 1943” in the Khankov farm in the Slavyansky District, the Victory Obelisk and the Worship Cross at the site of the death of Soviet citizens.

    According to a long-standing tradition, employees of the Tuapse Oil Refinery improved the monument to oil refiners who died during the Great Patriotic War and cleaned up the territory of Victory Park in Tuapse.

    Volunteers of the Ryazan NPK improved three memorial sites: a memorial in the village of Nikulichi in honor of the villagers who fought in the Great Patriotic War, a street named after the Hero of the Soviet Union and National Hero of Italy, a native of the Ryazan region, Fyodor Poletaev, and a monument to the pilots who died in an unequal battle with the enemy at the end of 1941.

    Udmurtneft employees together with activists of the Movement of the First improved the monument to those killed in the Great Patriotic War in the village of Svetloye in the Votkinsk district of Udmurtia. The company’s volunteers also participated in the arrangement of memorials in six settlements in the Sarapul, Sharkansky and Igrinsky districts of the republic.

    A large-scale volunteer initiative to improve war memorials was carried out by RN-Service employees. They tidied up the monuments to soldiers who died in Moscow hospitals and to fallen soldiers of the Kremlin Regiment. In Ufa, volunteers looked after individual burials in city and rural cemeteries. In Krasnoyarsk, oil workers improved the monument to “Soldiers-athletes of the Krasnoyarsk Territory – participants in the Great Patriotic War”. In Nefteyugansk, the monument to “Loyal Sons of the Fatherland” was renovated. In Buzuluk, work was carried out at the memorial to “Mass grave of soldiers of the Czechoslovak People’s Army” and at the burial sites of veterans. In the village of Kolva in the Komi Republic, the “Memorial sign to soldiers of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” was improved. In the village of Sernovodsk in the Samara Region, the monument to “Defenders of all generations” was tidied up. In all regions, the patriotic event ended with the ceremonial laying of wreaths and a minute of silence.

    Volunteers from Voronezhnefteprodukt organized the cleanup of the military burial ground in the village of Chertovitsy, Ramonsky District, Voronezh Region. 383 soldiers who died of wounds in hospitals in 1942-1943 are buried here.

    Workers of Kaluga Oil Products cleared and landscaped the area around the memorial sign to pilots near the village of Kosmachi in the Babyninsky District of the Kaluga Region. The sign was installed 10 years ago at the site of the heroic death of the Pe-2 aircraft crew in 1941.

    Employees of RN-North-West take care of the memorial to the sailors of the warship TShch-100 who died there, guarding the “Road of Life” during the siege of Leningrad. The memorial is located in the village of Vladimirovka in the Priozersky District of the Leningrad Region.

    For several years now, Orelnefteprodukt employees have been patronizing a mass grave in the village of Gnilets, Trosnyansky District, Oryol Region. Here are buried 427 soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 605th Infantry Regiment, 132nd Infantry Division, who died in the fiercest battles on the Northern Face of the Kursk Bulge on July 7, 1943. This year, in honor of the Victory anniversary, volunteers have decorated a flower bed in the form of a St. George ribbon on the territory of the Vyazhi military-historical complex in the Novosilsky District, Oryol Region, where the offensive operation to liberate Oryol began in July 1943.

    Rosneft supports projects and initiatives aimed at preserving the historical memory of the immortal feat of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War.

    Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft May 7, 2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: PubMatic Unveils AI-Powered Media Buying Platform

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NO-HEADQUARTERS/REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PubMatic, a leader in digital advertising technology, today announced the launch of its upgraded solution suite for buyers, powered by generative AI. PubMatic’s buyer platform streamlines every stage of the media buying process – from audience and inventory discovery and forecasting to curation, activation, and performance optimization. It is the only solution with direct access to nearly the entire open internet – 1,900 premium publishers, privacy-safe audience data from 190 data partners, and over 821 billion daily ad impressions.

    The buyer-facing platform combines proprietary supply-side intelligence with AI-powered buying tools, and by uniquely combining direct SSP access with seamless campaign activation capabilities, it offers supply-path transparency unavailable to DSPs. This is critical at a time when buyers demand greater control over and visibility into where and how their media dollars are spent.

    Announced on the two-year anniversary of PubMatic’s Activate product launch, this marks a milestone in PubMatic’s evolution from a traditional SSP into an innovative end-to-end technology company powering the future of programmatic advertising on the open internet. With Gen AI at its core, PubMatic’s buyer suite addresses an array of inefficiencies around supply paths, workflows, inventory discovery, audience strategy, and optimization.

    New Capabilities of the Upgraded Platform Include:

    • AI-Driven Efficiency: In PubMatic’s Gen AI-powered marketplace, buyers will describe their campaign goals, audience strategy, or inventory needs using natural language. The platform will instantly surface or create curated deals while built-in forecasting tools will recommend optimal budgets and bid CPMs to maximize performance, resulting in faster deal creation and more predictable, high-performing outcomes.
    • Unified Activation & Insights: Buyers will seamlessly activate curated deals through PubMatic’s Activate platform or their DSP of choice while benefiting from real-time supply insights.
    • Omnichannel Scale: Buyers will tap into premium streaming and omnichannel inventory across connected TVs, mobile apps and browsers, enriched with audience data from PubMatic’s Connect platform to drive better targeting and efficiency.
    • Real-Time, Always-On Optimization: PubMatic’s Gen AI monitoring agent will proactively track campaign and deal performance 24/7, surfacing actionable insights and optimization recommendations to ensure delivery goals are met. This always-on intelligence will reduce manual efforts, flag issues before they impact outcomes, and free up traders to focus on higher-value strategic tasks.
    • Privacy-First Approach: The platform will ensure compliance with privacy regulations while leveraging first-party data for precision targeting, addressing the growing demand for privacy-conscious advertising solutions.

    “Our goal is to give media buyers a smarter, faster path to campaign performance,” said Kyle Dozeman, Chief Revenue Officer, Americas, at PubMatic. “We’ve embedded Generative AI into the entire PubMatic experience, integrating the technology seamlessly into our proven tools – Activate, Connect, and our SSP – unlocking the full potential of data-driven decision-making, while bringing buyers closer to high-quality, performant supply that reaches across the breadth of the open internet. Early adopters of our buy-side tools have already seen remarkable improvements in campaign efficiency and ROI, and we’re excited to continue driving innovation in partnership with leading agencies and advertisers.”

    Currently in beta testing with long-standing partners, the combined suite has strong support from industry leaders. GroupM, a global partner and early adopter of PubMatic’s Activate platform, which delivered a 126% incremental sales lift for a client, implements PubMatic’s buy-side solutions worldwide. Andrew Meaden, Global Head of Investment at GroupM expressed enthusiasm for the new platform: “Our long-standing partnership with PubMatic is based on a shared commitment to privacy-first, AI-powered innovation and helps us stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry. PubMatic’s new unified platform will help us deliver smarter, more efficient campaigns for our clients, bringing together discovery, curation and activation in a single easy-to-use solution.”

    Publishers also stand to gain from the platform’s success. By leveraging machine learning and curated deals, the platform helps publishers maximize yield, increase fill rates, and maintain control over inventory quality and pricing. Integration with first-party data and commerce media networks empowers publishers to deliver targeted, privacy-compliant advertising experiences that drive incremental revenue and long-term growth. PubMatic’s integrated supply chain brings buyers and sellers closer together, reduces complexity, and ensures more value flows directly to publishers.

    As the industry moves toward a fully integrated supply chain, PubMatic’s buyer platform emerges as a critical nexus – scaling partnerships and AI-driven innovation across curation, activation and measurement to unlock ecosystem-wide collaboration. PubMatic’s curation partner Attain, whose transaction insights power precision targeting and will be available immediately to buyers on the platform, highlights the platform’s opportunity: “PubMatic’s AI-first platform represents an exciting vision for aligning ad spend with curated purchasing behavior”, said Dave Constantino, SVP at Attain. “By integrating real-time transaction data directly into deal curation and activation workflows, buyers gain an unprecedented ability to target high-intent audiences while measuring and optimizing for true business outcomes. This is the future of technology-first, performance-driven programmatic, and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

    To preview the new platform’s user experience, click to watch the video below:
     https://vimeo.com/1082017337/63a02d270b?ts=0&share=copy

    For more information about PubMatic’s enhanced buyer suite or partnership opportunities, please visit: www.pubmatic.com/buyers

    About PubMatic:
    PubMatic (Nasdaq: PUBM) is an independent technology company maximizing customer value by delivering digital advertising’s supply chain of the future. PubMatic’s sell-side platform empowers the world’s leading digital content creators across the open internet to control access to their inventory and increase monetization by enabling marketers to drive return on investment and reach addressable audiences across ad formats and devices. Since 2006, our infrastructure-driven approach has allowed for the efficient processing and utilization of data in real time. By delivering scalable and flexible programmatic innovation, we improve outcomes for our customers while championing a vibrant and transparent digital advertising supply chain.

    Press Contact:
    Ashley Jacobson, Director of Corporate Marketing, press@pubmatic.com
    Broadsheet Communications for PubMatic, pubmaticteam@broadsheetcomms.com

    A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a21bf614-d202-4e4f-a765-c3dca0defe02

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – [GLOBALDATA PLC – 06 05 2025] – (CGWL)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		 N/A
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 GLOBALDATA PLC
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 06 MAY 2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 N/A

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 0.01p ORDINARY
      Interests Short positions
    Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 11,085,810 1.3745    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        
    TOTAL: 11,085,810 1.3745    

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
    0.01p ORDINARY SALE 3,260 187.25p
    0.01p ORDINARY SALE 1,750 191.88p

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
    NONE        

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
    NONE              

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
    NONE      

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
    Date of disclosure: 07 MAY 2025
    Contact name: MARK ELLIOTT
    Telephone number: 01253 376539

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Form 8.3 – [ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC – 06 05 2025] – (CGWL)

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORM 8.3

    PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY
    A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE
    Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the “Code”)

    1.        KEY INFORMATION

    (a)   Full name of discloser: CANACCORD GENUITY WEALTH LIMITED (for Discretionary clients)
    (b)   Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a):
            The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named.    		 N/A
    (c)   Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates:
            Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree    		 ALLIANCE PHARMA PLC
    (d)   If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: N/A
    (e)   Date position held/dealing undertaken:
            For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure    		 06 MAY 2025
    (f)   In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer?
            If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state “N/A”    		 N/A

    2.        POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security.

    (a)      Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any)

    Class of relevant security: 1p ORDINARY
      Interests Short positions
    Number % Number %
    (1)   Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 11,170,178 2.0664    
    (2)   Cash-settled derivatives:        
    (3)   Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell:        
    TOTAL: 11,170,178 2.0664    

    All interests and all short positions should be disclosed.

    Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions).

    (b)      Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors’ and other employee options)

    Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists:  
    Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages:  

    3.        DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE

    Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in.

    The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated.

    (a)        Purchases and sales

    Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit
    1p ORDINARY SALE 760,175 64.5p

    (b)        Cash-settled derivative transactions

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. CFD    		 Nature of dealing
    e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position    		 Number of reference securities Price per unit
    NONE        

    (c)        Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options)

    (i)        Writing, selling, purchasing or varying

    Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type
    e.g. American, European etc.    		 Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit
    NONE              

    (ii)        Exercise

    Class of relevant security Product description
    e.g. call option    		 Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit

    (d)        Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities)

    Class of relevant security Nature of dealing
    e.g. subscription, conversion    		 Details Price per unit (if applicable)
    NONE      

    4.        OTHER INFORMATION

    (a)        Indemnity and other dealing arrangements

    Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer:
    Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (b)        Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives

    Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to:
    (i)   the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or
    (ii)   the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced:
    If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state “none”

    NONE

    (c)        Attachments

    Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO
    Date of disclosure: 07 MAY 2025
    Contact name: MARK ELLIOTT
    Telephone number: 01253 376539

    Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service.

    The Panel’s Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code’s disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129.

    The Code can be viewed on the Panel’s website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘aborted fetus debris’, as RFK Jr has claimed. Here’s the science

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the United States’ top public health official, recently claimed some religious groups avoid the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine because it contains “aborted fetus debris” and “DNA particles”.

    The US is facing its worst measles outbreaks in years with nearly 900 cases across the country and active outbreaks in several states.

    At the same time, Kennedy, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, continues to erode trust in vaccines.

    So what can we make of his latest claims?

    There’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine

    Kennedy said “aborted fetus debris” in MMR vaccines is the reason many religious people refuse vaccination. He referred specifically to the Mennonites in Texas, a deeply religious community, who have been among the hardest hit by the current measles outbreaks.

    Many vaccines work by using a small amount of an attenuated (weakened) form of a virus, or in the case of the MMR vaccine, attenuated forms of the viruses that cause measles, mumps and rubella. This gives the immune system a safe opportunity to learn how to recognise and respond to these viruses.

    As a result, if a person is later exposed to the actual infection, their immune system can react swiftly and effectively, preventing serious illness.

    Kennedy’s claim about fetal debris specifically refers to the rubella component of the MMR vaccine. The rubella virus is generally grown in a human cell line known as WI-38, which was originally derived from lung tissue of a single elective abortion in the 1960s. This cell line has been used for decades, and no new fetal tissue has been used since.

    Certain vaccines for other diseases, such as chickenpox, hepatitis A and rabies, have also been made by growing the viruses in fetal cells.

    These cells are used not because of their origin, but because they provide a stable, safe and reliable environment for growing the attenuated virus. They serve only as a growth medium for the virus and they are not part of the final product.

    You might think of the cells as virus-producing factories. Once the virus is grown, it’s extracted and purified as part of a rigorous process to meet strict safety and quality standards. What remains in the final vaccine is the virus itself and stabilising agents, but not human cells, nor fetal tissue.

    So claims about “fetal debris” in the vaccine are false.

    It’s also worth noting the world’s major religions permit the use of vaccines developed from cells originally derived from fetal tissue when there are no alternative products available.

    Are there fragments of DNA in the MMR vaccine?

    Kennedy claimed the Mennonites’ reluctance to vaccinate stems from “religious objections” to what he described as “a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles” in the MMR vaccine.

    The latter claim, about the vaccine containing DNA particles, is technically true. Trace amounts of DNA fragments from the human cell lines used to produce the rubella component of the MMR vaccine may remain even after purification.

    However, with this claim, there’s an implication these fragments pose a health risk. This is false.

    Any DNA that may be present in this vaccine exists in extremely small amounts, is highly fragmented and degraded, and is biologically inert – that is, it cannot cause harm.

    Even if, hypothetically, intact DNA were present in the vaccine (which it’s not), it would not have the capacity to cause harm. One common (but unfounded) concern is that foreign DNA could integrate with a person’s own DNA, and alter their genome.

    Introducing DNA into human cells in a way that leads to integration is very difficult. Even when scientists are deliberately trying to do this, for example, in gene therapy, it requires precise tools, special viral delivery systems and controlled conditions.

    It’s also important to remember our bodies are exposed to foreign DNA constantly, through food, bacteria and even our own microbiome. Our immune system routinely digests and disposes of this material without incorporating it into our genome.

    This question has been extensively studied over decades. Multiple health authorities, including Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, have addressed the misinformation regarding perceived harm from residual DNA in vaccines.

    Ultimately, the idea that fragmented DNA in a vaccine could cause genetic harm is false.

    The bottom line

    Despite what Kennedy would have you believe, there’s no fetal debris in the MMR vaccine, and the trace amounts of DNA fragments that may remain pose no health risk.

    What the evidence does show, however, is that vaccines like the MMR vaccine offer excellent protection against deadly and preventable diseases, and have saved millions of lives around the world.

    Hassan Vally 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. The MMR vaccine doesn’t contain ‘aborted fetus debris’, as RFK Jr has claimed. Here’s the science – https://theconversation.com/the-mmr-vaccine-doesnt-contain-aborted-fetus-debris-as-rfk-jr-has-claimed-heres-the-science-255718

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Indonesia’s ‘thousand friends, zero enemies’ approach sees President Subianto courting China and US

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Gilang Kembara, Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University

    Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto participates in a panel discussion in Antalya, Turkey, on April 11, 2025. Photo by Ahmet Serdar Eser/Anadolu via Getty Images

    For much of April and into May, a team of negotiators from Indonesia have been in Washington to discuss trading relations between the world’s largest economy and another forecast to be in the Top 5 within a generation.

    The Southeast Asian nation was among those hit hard by the across-the-board tariffs announced on April 2, 2025, by President Donald Trump, with a proposed 32% levy on its exports to the U.S. Trump subsequently backpedaled, putting in place a 90-day pause on any additional tariffs beyond a new 10% minimum.

    So far, Indonesia – whose-second largest export market is the United States – has signaled its intent to negotiate rather than respond with countermeasures like some other countries targeted by Trump, such as China and Canada.

    Indonesia may even offer to relax protectionist policies aimed at boosting domestic manufactures as a concession. “People who have known me for a long time would say I’m the most nationalist person … but we have to be realistic,” said President Prabowo Subianto.

    The issue of Trump’s tariff policy is a major early test for Subianto, a right-wing populist whose worldview was shaped by decades of military experience. He views Indonesia and its place in the broader world through a lens of realist power politics – wanting to ensure Indonesia possesses adequate hard military power and robust economic performance.

    Through pushing both, Subianto hopes to ensure that Indonesia is not easily swayed by foreign influence and can avoid domestic discontent due to any economic malaise. His approach to ruling the nation of over 280 million people is driven by a desire to retain friendly relations with the United States and China, retaining close economic and security cooperation with both.

    U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 16, 2025.
    Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

    Good neighbors, multilateral expansion

    Since declaring independence from the Netherlands almost 80 years ago, Indonesia’s foreign policy has been tied to a doctrine of “Bebas dan Aktif,” or “Free and Active.”

    Formulated by the country’s first president, Sukarno, at the onset of the Cold War, the policy intended to keep the country officially nonaligned from any major power bloc. While moving much closer to the West and the U.S. during the subsequent longtime authoritarian presidency of Suharto, Jakarta retained its official independent position in foreign policy.

    Subianto served in the military during the reign of Suharto, who was also at one point his father-in-law.

    As Indonesia’s leader, Subianto has pledged to enact a so-called foreign policy philosophy of “zero enemies, one thousand friends.” That approach stems from two main considerations. First, he seeks to secure economic agreements that will help fulfill his promise of 8% annual economic growth. Second, he aims to strengthen defense procurement and security cooperation to bolster Indonesia’s military position.

    Toward multilateralism

    As a part of his vision, Subianto has attempted to reframe some of the considerations that have long guided Jakarta’s foreign policy strategy.

    For decades, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, has served as Indonesia’s collective security buffer, forming a crucial component of its “Mandala” – or concentric circles – foreign policy perspective. However, the current administration has thus far appeared indifferent to using the regional body as a source of projecting power, as underscored by Indonesia’s absence from the ASEAN informal consultations on conflict-ridden Myanmar in December 2024.

    That is just one of several indications that Subianto is attempting to shift Indonesia’s role from a regional actor to an active global player.

    A crucial development in that more assertive approach came with the country’s accession in January 2025 to the BRICS groups of nations, the first time a Southeast Asian nation has been admitted.

    In a further bid to multilateral engagement, Indonesia has initiated plans to pursue membership in two transnational economic groupings: the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

    Much of this inclination toward multilateral engagement is rooted in Subianto’s worldview that can be summed up as this: “If you’re not at the table, you’re likely to end up on the menu.”

    The crucial China and US relationships

    And yet, despite Subianto’s broader multilateral ambitions, it is the U.S. and China that remain the critical relationships.

    During the early weeks of his presidency, Subianto made China his first overseas bilateral visit. It resulted in agreements between China and Indonesia worth up to US$10 billion, primarily focused on green energy and technology.

    The visit, which was especially notable given that Jakarta appeared to move closer to China’s position on conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea can be seen as part of a broader shift toward Beijing.

    China’s massive population already serves as a lucrative export destination for Indonesian goods. Since 2016, China has been Indonesia’s biggest export market, beating out Japan and the U.S.

    That shift is likely to pick up pace in light of Trump’s tariffs, with Jakarta seeking to offset the increasing cost of American trade. And though Jakarta has signaled neutrality regarding the wider U.S.-Chinese dispute, officials in Jakarta and Beijing agreed in mid-April to boost mutual defense cooperation in the South China Sea.

    At the same time, the U.S. holds a particularly important place in Subianto’s mind. As a young soldier, Subianto spent time at military bases in the U.S., where he underwent special forces and counterterrorism training.

    He was later subjected to a travel ban from the U.S. from 2000 to 2020 on account of myriad allegations of human rights abuses related to his time in Indonesia’s special forces unit, Kopassus, which led to his being forcibly discharged from the Indonesian military in 1998.

    Yet the ban was rescinded after then-President Joko Widodo appointed Subianto to be Indonesia’s defense minister, and he was subsequently invited to Washington in 2020 during the first Trump administration.

    Washington was Subianto’s second official presidential visit destination in November 2024. During his trip, Subianto met with President Joe Biden to discuss Indonesia-U.S. bilateral relations, regional security issues and various other global matters. Subianto also had a brief phone call with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his election victory.

    That relationship with Trump is likely to be a crucial one now, especially given the stakes of the mutual trading relationship.

    The U.S. is Indonesia’s second-biggest trading partner, after China. The value of trade between the two parties amounted to about $38.3 billion in 2024, with Indonesia exporting $28.1 billion to the U.S. while importing $10.2 billion. Seeking to avoid tariffs of 32%, an Indonesian trade delegation has been negotiating with Trump administration officials, signaling its intent to buy more American goods, make trade concessions and even lower local content requirements on Indonesian-made goods to allow more American-made components.

    Promoting pragmatism

    There are, of course, ongoing differences between Indonesia and the U.S. – not only the ongoing trade issue but also other areas, including the Israel-Hamas war. Indonesia, the largest majority Muslim country in the world, has been a staunch supporter of Palestinian rights and highly critical of Israeli policy.

    Yet even here, Subianto seemingly is open to pragmatism, with reports that the Indonesian government is floating the idea of normalizing ties with Israel in a bid to ease entry into the OECD.

    In a similar vein, one can expect that Subianto will opt for pragmatism in his dealings with Trump, prioritizing Indonesia’s security and defense cooperation with Washington, while sidestepping any issues that might divide them along the way.

    Under Subianto, Indonesia is embarking on a foreign policy that stresses the importance of maintaining robust and active bilateral ties with the U.S. At the same time, it is strengthening its China relationship. And away from both, it is asserting its own independence through bolstering its position in numerous multilateral bodies.

    How Subianto handles those various dynamics is likely to be a defining issue of his presidency.

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

    – ref. Indonesia’s ‘thousand friends, zero enemies’ approach sees President Subianto courting China and US – https://theconversation.com/indonesias-thousand-friends-zero-enemies-approach-sees-president-subianto-courting-china-and-us-252219

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –