Category: Economy

MIL-OSI Global: Palestine’s economy teeters on the brink after a year of war and unrelenting destruction

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dalia Alazzeh, Lecturer in Accounting and Finance, University of the West of Scotland

The Palestinian economy has been devastated beyond recognition. Israel’s intense military operations in Gaza have led to unprecedented destruction, wiping out much of the enclave’s essential infrastructure, private property and agricultural resources.

Meanwhile, the occupied West Bank is also under severe strain. Similar patterns of destruction, alongside rising settler violence, land confiscations and expanding settlements, have left its economy buckling under the pressure of mounting public debt, unemployment and poverty.

Gaza’s economy was being suffocated even before the war. A blockade imposed by Israel in 2007 has severely restricted the import and export of goods, while fishermen were limited to a six-mile zone, crippling their ability to earn a livelihood.

The blockade caused Gaza’s GDP per capita (a measure of the wealth of a country) to shrink by 27% between 2006 and 2022, with unemployment rising to 45.3%. This gave rise to a situation where 80% of the population depended on international aid.

In addition to the economic blockade, Gaza suffered massive physical destruction due to Israeli military operations in 2008–2009, 2012, 2014, 2021 and 2022. Yet the cumulative effects of 16 years of blockade and military attacks are minor compared to the sheer destruction caused by the current war.

A report by the UN’s trade and development wing (Unctad) has revealed that in the space of just eight months, between October 2023 and May 2024, Gaza’s GDP per capita was fell by more than half. The economic situation now is almost certainly worse.

According to the report, which was released in September 2024, Gaza’s GDP dropped by 81% in the final quarter of 2023 alone. The report concluded that the war had left Gaza’s economy in “utter ruin”, warning that even if there was an immediate ceasefire and the 2007–2022 growth trend of 0.4% returns, it will take 350 years just to restore the GDP levels of 2022.

The only sectors still functioning are health and humanitarian services. All other industries, including agriculture, are at a near standstill. The destruction of between 80% and 96% of agricultural assets has led to rampant food insecurity.

The scale of destruction in Gaza is unprecedented in modern times and is happening under the world’s gaze. From October 2023 to January 2024 alone, the total cost of damage reached approximately US$18.5 billion (£14.2 billion) – equivalent to seven times Gaza’s GDP in 2022.

A separate report by the UN Development Programme, which was published in May, predicts that it will take more than 80 years to rebuild just Gaza’s housing stock if it repeats the rate of restructuring seen after Israeli military operations in 2014 and 2021. Merely clearing the debris could take up to 14 years.

The war has displaced almost all of Gaza’s population, and has thrown people into dire poverty. Unemployment surged to 80%, leaving most households without any source of income. And prices of basic commodities have increased by 250%, which is contributing to famine across the Strip.

The Gaza Strip is in ruins after more than a year of relentless bombardment.
Anas-Mohammed / Shutterstock

The economic crisis has also extended to the West Bank, where GDP has fallen sharply. Military checkpoints, cement blocks and iron gates at the entrances to Palestinian towns and cities, as well as the denial of work permits for Palestinians in Israeli settlements, have resulted in more than 300,000 job losses since the start of the war.

The Unctad report reveals that the rate of unemployment in the West Bank has tripled to 32% since the start of the conflict, with labour income losses amounting to US$25.5 million. Poverty is rising rapidly.

Israeli forces have also continued to confiscate Palestinian homes and land. Over the past year alone, 24,000 acres of land in the West Bank have been seized, and over 2,000 Palestinians have been displaced.

This devastation has been exacerbated by Israel’s decision to withhold the tax revenue it collects for the Palestinian Authority, which typically accounts for between 60% and 65% of the Palestinian public budget, as well as a significant decline in international aid. Aid to Palestine has dropped drastically over the past decade or so, falling from the equivalent of US$2 billion in 2008 to just US$358 million by 2023.

The Palestinian Authority is facing a massive budget deficit, which is projected to increase by 172% in 2024 compared to the previous year. This financial strain has crippled the Palestinian government’s ability to provide essential services, pay salaries and meet the needs of a population battered by war, displacement and severe poverty.

The road to recovery

For the Palestinian economy to have any chance at recovery, several immediate steps are necessary.

First, international aid should flow into Gaza uninterrupted, and pressure must be applied to ensure that humanitarian aid – particularly food aid – reaches those in need. Data analysis by organisations working in Gaza suggests that Israel is currently blocking 83% of food aid from reaching Gaza.

Second, the destruction of homes, schools and infrastructure must cease. However, this seems improbable as Israel continues to pursue its military goal of destroying Hamas – an objective most analysts believe to be unachievable.

And third, the economic restrictions imposed on Gaza and the West Bank must be lifted. Sustainable development – and any prospect for recovery – cannot be achieved without granting the Palestinian people the right to self-determination and sovereignty over their resources.

This would require new peace agreements, an outcome that appears unlikely at present. But without these crucial interventions, the Palestinian economy will be completely devastated and the humanitarian crisis will worsen, making any future recovery within the lifetime of anyone currently living in Gaza virtually impossible to imagine.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Palestine’s economy teeters on the brink after a year of war and unrelenting destruction – https://theconversation.com/palestines-economy-teeters-on-the-brink-after-a-year-of-war-and-unrelenting-destruction-241607

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: Dmitry Patrushev: Roshydromet, as the main coordinating agency in its field, is among the top five services in the world

Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

October 29, 2024

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

October 29, 2024

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

October 29, 2024

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Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev during the opening of the VIII All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress in St. Petersburg, dedicated to the 190th anniversary of the founding of the Russian Hydrometeorological Service. This year, specialists from two industry areas – hydrology and meteorology – gathered at one venue for the first time. The central theme of the event was the feasibility of developing a new strategy for the activities of hydrometeorology and related areas.

Dmitry Patrushev noted that the sphere has come a long way almost two centuries long. All this time, the tools and methods of work have been improved. And today, of course, there are already significant results and reasons for pride.

“Roshydromet, as the main coordinating agency in its field, is one of the top five services in the world. Nevertheless, work should continue in all key areas. In particular, the Strategy for Activities in the Field of Hydrometeorology until 2030 is currently being implemented. However, given the new tasks set by the President, I believe that it is necessary to think in advance about updating the document in the planning horizon until 2036,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, first of all, it is necessary to improve the quality of forecasts and, in particular, increase the efficiency of emergency prevention. The uninterrupted functioning of a number of industries depends on this: the agro-industrial, fisheries and forestry complexes, the construction sector, energy and transport. But the main thing, of course, is the safety of people.

This requires further modernization of the state observation network, which is the main source of information. The government, for its part, is working on the possibility of allocating additional funding for this. Dmitry Patrushev emphasized that the integration of new regions of Russia into the national observation network system must be completed by 2030. 8 billion rubles are allocated for this.

Speaking about strategic tasks, the Deputy Prime Minister recalled that in accordance with the Presidential Decree on national development goals, the volume of harmful emissions in cities with the highest levels of air pollution should be halved. The relevant measures are aimed at this. At the same time, to assess their results, it is necessary to create a comprehensive system for analyzing the quality of the environment. Work is already underway within the framework of the national project “Ecology”. In 12 cities that became the first participants in the federal project “Clean Air”, the monitoring network has been completely modernized.

In addition, infrastructure is being updated in populated areas near Lake Baikal. In the future, measures are also envisaged in the new national project “Ecological Well-Being”. In the future, the system of comprehensive air pollution monitoring should cover the entire territory of our country.

Dmitry Patrushev also spoke about the work organized in the Arctic and Antarctic. Russia is implementing unique projects there that have no analogues in the world. This includes the ice-resistant platform “North Pole” and the new complex “Vostok” in Antarctica, which was put into operation in 2024. They allow expanding the geography of scientific research, using the most advanced technologies even in harsh polar conditions.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that the renewal of the research fleet will definitely continue. Thus, in the coming years, the expedition vessel Ivan Frolov, which was laid down at the Admiralty Shipyards, will join it.

As the Deputy Prime Minister noted, one of the most important areas of work of the hydrometeorological service is the analysis and forecasting of climate processes. A system for monitoring climate-active substances in the atmosphere is being created in Russia. Its full launch is expected by 2030. This will ensure a larger-scale collection and processing of data for an objective assessment of the state of the atmosphere and the Earth’s surface. The information obtained will be used in the implementation of measures aimed at adapting the economy to natural changes, including low-carbon transformation.

In general, further updating of computing capacities and expansion of the scale of space monitoring are required to improve the efficiency of work. Within the framework of the Federal Space Program, the launch of several satellites at once is planned in the interests of Roshydromet.

“You are facing very serious tasks. For our part, we are trying to do everything possible to improve the working conditions of specialists. This concerns not only the material and technical base, but also wages. On the instructions of the President, an additional 24 billion rubles will be allocated in the coming years to increase the wages of Roshydromet employees,” Dmitry Patrushev summed up.

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 –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Canada: Health System Impact Fellows work to bring changes to our health systems
Source: Government of Canada News (2)

News release

Canadians deserve access to high-quality health care. To achieve this, improvements often begin with research that examines how health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, and delivered.

45 highly skilled researchers join health system organizations to help address pressing priorities and improve care for people in Canada

October 29, 2024 | Ottawa, Ontario | Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Canadians deserve access to high-quality health care. To achieve this, improvements often begin with research that examines how health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, and delivered.

Today, the Honorable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced an investment of over $4.3M to help transform Canada’s health systems through the Health System Impact Program. This funding comes from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and partners, Michael Smith Health Research BC and the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé.

The Health System Impact Program focuses on health system transformation to ensure that people in Canada have access to the highest quality care. Through this initiative, PhD trainees, postdoctoral researchers and early-career researchers will collaborate with health organizations across the country to lead projects aimed at generating evidence to improve Canada’s health systems, services and policies. For the 2024 cycle, CIHR is supporting 25 PhD trainees and 20 postdoctoral researchers who are embedded in 34 health organizations and connected to 19 universities across Canada.

These researchers will address a variety of critical health system issues, including optimizing primary health care, improving quality in long-term care homes, supporting the health workforce, advancing equity in cancer care, leveraging digital health opportunities, predicting antimicrobial resistance using machine learning, mitigating the health impacts of climate change, ensuring cultural safety in health care, enhancing mental health services, and more.

Quotes

“I would like to congratulate the 2024 cohort of CIHR Health System Impact Fellows. It’s so exciting to see these future research leaders join health system organizations to help tackle pressing priorities and improve care for Canadians. Their dedication to evidence-informed health system improvement and improving access to care for all people in Canada is inspiring, and their skills will contribute to real-world solutions and stronger health systems.”

The Honourable Mark Holland
Minister of Health

“Each year, the contributions of Health System Impact Fellows invigorate our health systems with fresh insights and innovative solutions. It’s inspiring to see our next generation of health researchers thrive in this dynamic environment. They are not just advancing Learning Health Systems; they are helping to reshape the future of health care in Canada, ensuring it is more responsive, equitable, and driven by evidence.”

Dr. Tammy Clifford
Acting President, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

“Our long-standing partnership with CIHR on this fellowship is supporting researchers and strengthening evidence-informed policy throughout BC. The program equips PhD trainees and postdoctoral researchers to translate research into practice and drive positive outcomes in health care environments. That’s an important outcome — building both research and health system capacity.”

Dr. Bev Holmes
President & CEO, Michael Smith Health Research BC

Quick facts
- CIHR’s Health System Impact program began in 2017 and to date, 328 fellows (111 PhD trainees and 217 postdoctoral researchers) and 12 early-career researchers have been or are currently embedded within 139 health system organizations and connected to 25 universities.
- Through this program, fellows receive unparalleled mentorship from senior decision-makers from health system organizations and academic experts from across the country.
- The Health System Impact program is led by the CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research.
Associated links

Contacts

Matthew Kronberg
Press Secretary
Office of the Honourable Mark Holland
Minister of Health
343-552-5654

Media Relations
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada’s health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.

MIL OSI Canada News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Stopping schemes to illegally access super
Source: Australian Department of Revenue

How we are protecting super

We’re working to protect Australians’ retirement savings from schemes to illegally access super by:
- reviewing and assessing all new self-managed super funds (SMSFs) before they can receive a registered or complying status on Super Fund Lookup (SFLU)
- working closely with industry partners to strengthen the rollover process.
These approaches will help prevent the creation of an SMSF for the purpose of illegal access of super.

Find out more about illegal early release of super.

SMSF registration process

The SMSF registration process helps safeguard retirement savings by preventing the inappropriate establishment of SMSFs. It can take up to 56 days before an SMSF is shown on SFLU as a regulated fund.

Once a new SMSF is displayed on SFLU, it will initially be given a status of ‘Registered’. This status is allocated to all SMSFs on registration and will be updated within 7 days to ‘Complying’ when the SMSF receives its Notice of Compliance.

An Australian business number (ABN) for the fund will be issued before the election to be regulated is processed. This means that you can use the ABN to establish a bank account for the SMSF.

If we identify a problem with a new registration, we will immediately contact the authorised contact for the SMSF.

We have updated SFLU to provide clearer information about the complying and regulatory status of SMSFs and identify SMSFs that we have concerns about.

SMSF member verification system
When Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) regulated funds and SMSFs receive a request to rollover their member’s super balance to an SMSF, they must use the SMSF verification service (SVS) to confirm:
- the ABN in the request is registered as an SMSF
- SMSF status (complying or regulated)
- the tax file number (TFN) of the member requesting the rollover is associated with the SMSF
- the TFN of the member requesting the rollover is not compromised
- no verified date of death exists for that member
- SMSF bank details in the rollover request match those held by the ATO
- Electronic Service Address (ESA) in the rollover request matches that held by the ATO.
If a fund suspects fraud or illegal early access

When an APRA-regulated fund receives a transfer or rollover request and they suspect they’re dealing with fraud or illegal early access activity, you should:

We will investigate all reports of suspicious transactions.

Depending on the suspicious transaction, you may also have obligations to report to Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC)External Link and relevant law enforcement agencies.

Keep your SMSF details up to date with us

Keeping your details up to date with us will help reduce the risk of fraud and illegal early access.

It’s also important because when someone initiates a rollover request into an SMSF, the SVS will verify the fund and member details. If the SVS indicates the SMSF doesn’t have a ‘registered’ or ‘complying’ status, they will not be able to receive a rollover. If the transferring fund suspects any illegal activity, they will report it to us and may also be required to report it to relevant law enforcement agencies.

You need to ensure your SMSF membership details are recorded correctly and notify us of changes. This includes your fund’s:
- bank account
- electronic service address.
- trustees
- directors of the corporate trustee
- members
- contact details (contact person, phone, email address and fax numbers)
- address (postal, registered or address for service of fund notices)
- fund status.
Alerts for changes

To safeguard retirement savings and reduce the risk of fraud, we send an email or text alert (or both) when there is a change to the SMSF’s:
- financial institution account details
- ESA
- authorised contact
- members.
If you receive an alert and did not authorise or know about the changes outlined, you should take action immediately.

Phone us on 13 10 20 between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday if you’re concerned that without your consent or knowledge:
- an SMSF has been established, or
- changes have been made to your existing SMSF.
Have your TFN or ABN ready to establish your identity before you phone us.

MIL OSI News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI: World’s Lowest Fee Bitcoin and Ether ETPs (Ticker: BTC, Ticker: ETH) Garner $750,000,000 Inflows in First Three Months of Trading
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

STAMFORD, Conn., Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Grayscale Investments^®, an asset management firm with over a decade of expertise in crypto investing, offering more than 25 crypto investment products, and manager of Grayscale^® Bitcoin Mini Trust (NYSE Arca: BTC) and Grayscale^® Ethereum Mini Trust (NYSE Arca: ETH), today announced that its lowest-fee* Bitcoin and Ether ETPs – symbols: BTC and ETH – have together garnered more than $750,000,000 inflows since the products launched on July 31, 2024, and July 23, 2024, respectively, just three months ago.

Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (“BTC”) and Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (“ETH”), exchange traded products, are not registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (or the ’40 Act) and therefore are not subject to the same regulations and protections as 1940 Act registered ETFs and mutual funds.

“Crypto is still in the very early stages of adoption, and the success of BTC and ETH to-date is emblematic of strong client demand for low-cost ETPs that enable simple, convenient, flexible exposure to top crypto assets,” said John Hoffman Grayscale Managing Director, Head of Distribution and Partnerships. “Grayscale has long prioritized bridging the gap between traditional finance and the crypto ecosystem because we believe our clients deserve the ability to gain exposure to digital assets through the trusted ETP wrapper. The Grayscale team is focused on helping all investors navigate the digital asset class, as they seek to future-proof their financial portfolios and practices.”

Since July 2024:
- Grayscale^® Bitcoin Mini Trust (NYSE Arca: BTC) is the lowest-cost Bitcoin ETP in the world with over $2B AUM, as of October 24, 2024, at 0.15% (15bps) annually.
- Grayscale^® Ethereum Mini Trust (NYSE Arca: ETH) is the lowest-fee Ether ETP in the world with over $1B AUM, as of October 24, 2024, at 0.15% (15bps) annually.
- Combined, BTC and ETH, have generated net inflows of over $750,000,000 to-date.
Symbols: BTC and ETH are the most cost-effective financial products for investors looking to gain exposure to Bitcoin and Ether, the market-leading assets in the transformational blockchain technology industry.

The Grayscale team is pleased to provide industry-leading research, content, and no-cost resources for investors and financial professionals. If you’d like to learn more, please email info@grayscale.com or call 866-775-0313 to speak directly to a member of the Grayscale team.

For additional information about BTC, please visit: https://etfs.grayscale.com/btc

For additional information about ETH, please visit: https://etfs.grayscale.com/eth

* BTC is low cost based on gross expense ratio at 0.15%. ETH is low cost based on gross expense ratio at 0% for the first 6 months of trading for the first $2.0 billion. After the Trust reaches $2.0 billion in assets or after 6-month waiver period, the fee will be 0.15%. See prospectus for additional fee waiver information. Brokerage fees and other expenses may still apply.

Please read the prospectuses carefully before investing in BTC and ETH (the “Trusts”). Foreside Fund Services, LLC is the Marketing Agent for the Trusts.

An investment in the Trusts is subject to a high degree of risk and heightened volatility. Digital assets are not suitable for an investor that cannot afford the loss of the entire investment. An investment in the Trusts is not an investment in Ether or Bitcoin. Investing involves significant risk, including possible loss of principle.

About Grayscale Investments^®

Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a proven track record and deep expertise as the world’s largest crypto asset manager. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale for single asset, diversified, and thematic exposure.

Media Contact
Jennifer Rosenthal
press@grayscale.com

Client Contact
866-775-0313
info@grayscale.com

The MIL Network –
January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI: Eagle Bancorp Montana Earns $2.7 Million, or $0.34 per Diluted Share, in the Third Quarter of 2024; Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend of $0.1425 Per Share

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

HELENA, Mont., Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. (NASDAQ: EBMT), (the “Company,” “Eagle”), the holding company of Opportunity Bank of Montana (the “Bank”), today reported net income of $2.7 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $1.7 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the preceding quarter, and $2.6 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2023. In the first nine months of 2024, net income was $6.3 million, or $0.81 per diluted share, compared to $7.9 million, or $1.01 per diluted share, in the first nine months of 2023.

Eagle’s board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.1425 per share on October 17, 2024. The dividend will be payable December 6, 2024, to shareholders of record November 15, 2024. The current dividend represents an annualized yield of 3.49% based on recent market prices.

“We produced improved top and bottom line operating results during the third quarter of 2024, with net interest income and noninterest income both increasing compared to the second quarter of 2024,” said Laura F. Clark, President and CEO. “As in previous quarters, we continued to remain selective on the loans we added during the quarter, while adhering to disciplined loan pricing. The result was tempered loan growth during the third quarter of 1.1%, and 4.0% year-over-year. Total deposits increased 2.0% during the quarter over the linked quarter, as we continue to maintain our attractive deposit mix. With our strong deposit franchise, pristine credit quality, and ample capital levels, we are well positioned for growth throughout the remainder of the year and into 2025.”

Third Quarter 2024 Highlights (at or for the three-month period ended September 30, 2024, except where noted):

Net income was $2.7 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $1.7 million, or $0.22 per diluted share, in the preceding quarter, and $2.6 million, or $0.34 per diluted share, in the third quarter a year ago.
Net interest margin (“NIM”) was 3.34% in the third quarter of 2024, a seven basis point contraction compared to 3.41% in the preceding quarter and the third quarter a year ago.
Revenues (net interest income before the provision for credit losses, plus noninterest income) were $20.8 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $19.9 million in the preceding quarter and $21.6 million in the third quarter a year ago.
The accretion of the loan purchase discount into loan interest income from acquisitions was $167,000 in the third quarter of 2024, compared to accretion on purchased loans from acquisitions of $304,000 in the preceding quarter.
Total loans increased 4.0% to $1.53 billion, at September 30, 2024, compared to $1.48 billion a year earlier, and increased 1.1% compared to $1.52 billion at June 30, 2024.
Total deposits increased $35.0 million or 2.2% to $1.65 billion at September 30, 2024, compared to a year earlier, and increased $31.6 million or 2.0%, compared to June 30, 2024.
The allowance for credit losses represented 1.12% of portfolio loans and 356.7% of nonperforming loans at September 30, 2024, compared to 1.10% of portfolio loans and 209.3% of nonperforming loans at September 30, 2023.
The Company’s available borrowing capacity was approximately $348.1 million at September 30, 2024.

	September 30, 2024
(Dollars in thousands)	Borrowings Outstanding		Remaining Borrowing Capacity
Federal Home Loan Bank advances	$	219,167	$	219,365
Federal Reserve Bank discount window		–		28,734
Correspondent bank lines of credit		–		100,000
Total	$	219,167	$	348,099

The Company paid a quarterly cash dividend in the second quarter of $0.1425 per share on September 6, 2024, to shareholders of record August 16, 2024.

Balance Sheet Results

Eagle’s total assets increased 4.0% to $2.15 billion at September 30, 2024, compared to $2.06 billion a year ago, and increased 2.2% compared to $2.10 billion three months earlier. The investment securities portfolio totaled $307.0 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $308.8 million a year ago, and $306.9 million at June 30, 2024.

Eagle originated $58.0 million in new residential mortgages during the quarter and sold $51.0 million in residential mortgages, with an average gross margin on sale of mortgage loans of approximately 3.31%. This production compares to residential mortgage originations of $60.6 million in the preceding quarter with sales of $53.2 million and an average gross margin on sale of mortgage loans of approximately 3.01%. Mortgage volumes remain low as rates have continued to be elevated relative to rates on existing mortgages.

Total loans increased $58.9 million, or 4.0%, compared to a year ago, and $17.2 million, or 1.1%, from three months earlier. Commercial real estate loans increased 5.2% to $644.0 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $612.0 million a year earlier. Commercial real estate loans were comprised of 69.3% non-owner occupied and 30.7% owner occupied at September 30, 2024. Agricultural and farmland loans increased 5.8% to $290.0 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $274.1 million a year earlier. Residential mortgage loans increased 6.7% to $156.8 million, compared to $146.9 million a year earlier. Commercial loans increased 10.2% to $143.2 million, compared to $130.0 million a year ago. Commercial construction and development loans decreased 17.3% to $125.3 million, compared to $151.6 million a year ago. Home equity loans increased 12.5% to $93.6 million, residential construction loans increased 8.5% to $52.2 million, and consumer loans decreased 1.3% to $29.4 million, compared to a year ago.

“Our deposit mix continued to shift towards higher yielding deposits due to the higher interest rate environment. However, we anticipate deposit rates will continue to stabilize or improve following the recent Fed rate cuts,” said Miranda Spaulding, CFO.

Total deposits increased to $1.65 billion at September 30, 2024, compared to $1.62 billion at September 30, 2023, and at June 30, 2024. Noninterest-bearing checking accounts represented 25.4%, interest-bearing checking accounts represented 12.7%, savings accounts represented 12.9%, money market accounts comprised 21.3% and time certificates of deposit made up 27.7% of the total deposit portfolio at September 30, 2024. Time certificates of deposit include $22.1 million in brokered certificates at September 30, 2024, compared to $40.0 million at September 30, 2023, and $26.2 million at June 30, 2024. The average cost of total deposits was 1.76% in the third quarter of 2024, compared to 1.70% in the preceding quarter and 1.28% in the third quarter of 2023. The estimated amount of uninsured deposits was approximately $307.0 million, or 18% of total deposits, at September 30, 2024, compared to $284.0 million, or 17% of total deposits, at June 30, 2024.

Shareholders’ equity was $177.7 million at September 30, 2024, compared to $157.3 million a year earlier and $170.2 million three months earlier. Book value per share increased to $22.17 at September 30, 2024, compared to $19.69 a year earlier and $21.23 three months earlier. Tangible book value per share, a non-GAAP financial measure calculated by dividing shareholders’ equity, less goodwill and core deposit intangible, by common shares outstanding, was $17.23 at September 30, 2024, compared to $14.55 a year earlier and $16.25 three months earlier.

Operating Results

“Our core NIM declined slightly during the third quarter, compared to the preceding quarter, due to relatively flat yields on interest earning assets and cost of funds expansion,” said Clark. “We anticipate continued stabilization and eventual improvement in our cost of funds as we continue through this rate cycle.”

Eagle’s NIM was 3.34% in the third quarter of 2024, a seven basis point contraction compared to 3.41% in both the preceding quarter and the third quarter a year ago. The interest accretion on acquired loans totaled $167,000 and resulted in a three basis-point increase in the NIM during the third quarter of 2024, compared to $304,000 and a seven basis-point increase in the NIM during the preceding quarter. Funding costs for the third quarter of 2024 were 2.89%, compared to 2.78% in the second quarter of 2024 and 2.37% in the third quarter of 2023. Average yields on interest earning assets for the third quarter of 2024 increased to 5.66%, compared to 5.64% in the second quarter of 2024 and 5.27% in the third quarter a year ago. For the first nine months of 2024, the NIM was 3.36% compared to 3.57% for the first nine months of 2023.

Net interest income, before the provision for credit losses, increased to $15.8 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $15.6 million in both the second quarter of 2024, and in the third quarter of 2023. Year-to-date, net interest income decreased 1.3% to $46.6 million, compared to $47.3 million in the same period one year earlier.

Revenues for the third quarter of 2024 increased 4.4% to $20.8 million, compared to $19.9 million in the preceding quarter and decreased 3.9% compared to $21.6 million in the third quarter a year ago. In the first nine months of 2024, revenues were $59.9 million, compared to $64.2 million in the first nine months of 2023. The decrease compared to the first nine months a year ago was largely due to lower volumes in mortgage banking activity.

Total noninterest income increased 16.7% to $5.0 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $4.3 million in the preceding quarter, and decreased 17.4% compared to $6.0 million in the third quarter a year ago. The increase from the preceding quarter was largely due to income from bank owned life insurance of $724,000. Net mortgage banking income, the largest component of noninterest income, totaled $2.6 million in the third quarter of 2024, compared to $2.4 million in the preceding quarter and $4.3 million in the third quarter a year ago. This decrease compared to the third quarter a year ago was largely driven by a decline in net gain on sale of mortgage loans. This was impacted by lower mortgage loan volumes. In the first nine months of 2024, noninterest income decreased 21.9% to $13.2 million, compared to $16.9 million in the first nine months of 2023. Net mortgage banking income decreased 36.0% to $7.2 million in the first nine months of 2024, compared to $11.3 million in the first nine months of 2023. These decreases were driven by a decline in net gain on sale of mortgage loans.

Third quarter noninterest expense was $17.3 million, which was unchanged compared to the preceding quarter and a 3.4% decrease compared to $17.9 million in the third quarter a year ago. Lower salaries and employee benefits contributed to the decrease compared to the year ago quarter. In the first nine months of 2024, noninterest expense decreased 3.0% to $51.6 million, compared to $53.2 million in the first nine months of 2023.

For the third quarter of 2024, the Company recorded income tax expense of $529,000. This compared to income tax expense of $444,000 in the preceding quarter and $524,000 in the third quarter of 2023. The effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2024 was 16.3%, compared to 16.6% for the third quarter of 2023. The year-to-date effective tax rate was 17.5% for 2024 compared to 19.5% for the same period in 2023.

Credit Quality

During the third quarter of 2024, Eagle recorded a provision for credit losses of $277,000. This compared to a $412,000 provision for credit losses in the preceding quarter and $588,000 in the third quarter a year ago. The allowance for credit losses represented 356.7% of nonperforming loans at September 30, 2024, compared to 330.8% three months earlier and 209.3% a year earlier. Nonperforming loans were $4.8 million at September 30, 2024, $5.1 million at June 30, 2024, and $7.8 million a year earlier.

Net loan charge-offs totaled $17,000 in the third quarter of 2024, compared to net loan charge-offs of $2,000 in the preceding quarter and net loan charge-offs of $108,000 in the third quarter a year ago. The allowance for credit losses was $17.1 million, or 1.12% of total loans, at September 30, 2024, compared to $16.8 million, or 1.11% of total loans, at June 30, 2024, and $16.2 million, or 1.10% of total loans, a year ago.

Capital Management

The ratio of tangible common shareholders’ equity (shareholders’ equity, less goodwill and core deposit intangible) to tangible assets (total assets, less goodwill and core deposit intangible) was 6.56% at September 30, 2024, from 5.75% a year ago and 6.33% three months earlier. As of September 30, 2024, the Bank’s regulatory capital was in excess of all applicable regulatory requirements and is deemed well capitalized. The Bank’s Tier 1 capital to adjusted total average assets was 9.87% as of September 30, 2024.

About the Company

Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Helena, Montana, and is the holding company of Opportunity Bank of Montana, a community bank established in 1922 that serves consumers and small businesses in Montana through 29 banking offices. Additional information is available on the Bank’s website at www.opportunitybank.com. The shares of Eagle Bancorp Montana, Inc. are traded on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “EBMT.”

Forward Looking Statements

This release may contain certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and may be identified by the use of such words as “believe,” “will” “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “planned,” “estimated,” and “potential.” These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to statements of our goals, intentions and expectations; statements regarding our business plans, prospects, mergers, growth and operating strategies; statements regarding the asset quality of our loan and investment portfolios; and estimates of our risks and future costs and benefits. These forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and expectations of our management and are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control. In addition, these forward-looking statements are subject to assumptions with respect to future business strategies and decisions that are subject to change. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in laws or government regulations or policies affecting financial institutions, including changes in regulatory fees and capital requirements; general economic conditions and political events, either nationally or in our market areas, that are worse than expected including the ability of the U.S. Congress to increase the U.S. statutory debt limit, as needed, as well as the impact of the 2024 U.S. presidential election; the emergence or continuation of widespread health emergencies or pandemics including the magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including but not limited to vaccine efficacy and immunization rates, new variants, steps taken by governmental and other authorities to contain, mitigate and combat the pandemic, adverse effects on our employees, customers and third-party service providers, the increase in cyberattacks in the current work-from-home environment, the ultimate extent of the impacts on our business, financial position, results of operations, liquidity and prospects, continued deterioration in general business and economic conditions could adversely affect our revenues and the values of our assets and liabilities, lead to a tightening of credit and increase stock price volatility, and potential impairment charges; the impact of volatility in the U.S. banking industry, including the associated impact of any regulatory changes or other mitigation efforts taken by governmental agencies in response thereto; the possibility that future credit losses may be higher than currently expected due to changes in economic assumptions, customer behavior, adverse developments with respect to U.S. economic conditions and other uncertainties, including the impact of supply chain disruptions, inflationary pressures and labor shortages on economic conditions and our business; an inability to access capital markets or maintain deposits or borrowing costs; competition among banks, financial holding companies and other traditional and non-traditional financial service providers; loan demand or residential and commercial real estate values in Montana; the concentration of our business in Montana; our ability to continue to increase and manage our commercial real estate, commercial business and agricultural loans; the costs and effects of legal, compliance and regulatory actions, changes and developments, including the initiation and resolution of legal proceedings (including any securities, bank operations, consumer or employee litigation); inflation and changes in the interest rate environment that reduce our margins or reduce the fair value of financial instruments; adverse changes in the securities markets that lead to impairment in the value of our investment securities and goodwill; other economic, governmental, competitive, regulatory and technological factors that may affect our operations; our ability to implement new technologies and maintain secure and reliable technology systems including those that involve the Bank’s third-party vendors and service providers; cyber incidents, or theft or loss of Company or customer data or money; our ability to appropriately address social, environmental, and sustainability concerns that may arise from our business activities; the effect of our recent or future acquisitions, including the failure to achieve expected revenue growth and/or expense savings, the failure to effectively integrate their operations, the outcome of any legal proceedings and the diversion of management time on issues related to the integration.

Because of these and other uncertainties, our actual future results may be materially different from the results indicated by these forward-looking statements. All information set forth in this press release is current as of the date of this release and the company undertakes no duty or obligation to update this information.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to results presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles utilized in the United States, or GAAP, the Financial Ratios and Other Data contains non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP financial measures include: 1) core efficiency ratio, 2) tangible book value per share and 3) tangible common equity to tangible assets. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s operational performance and performance trends, and to enhance investors’ overall understanding of such financial performance. In particular, the use of tangible book value per share and tangible common equity to tangible assets is prevalent among banking regulators, investors and analysts.

The numerator for the core efficiency ratio is calculated by subtracting acquisition costs and intangible asset amortization from noninterest expense. Tangible assets and tangible common shareholders’ equity are calculated by excluding intangible assets from assets and shareholders’ equity, respectively. For these financial measures, our intangible assets consist of goodwill and core deposit intangible. Tangible book value per share is calculated by dividing tangible common shareholders’ equity by the number of common shares outstanding. We believe that this measure is consistent with the capital treatment by our bank regulatory agencies, which exclude intangible assets from the calculation of risk-based capital ratios and present this measure to facilitate the comparison of the quality and composition of our capital over time and in comparison, to our competitors.

Non-GAAP financial measures have inherent limitations, are not required to be uniformly applied, and are not audited. Because non-GAAP financial measures are not standardized, it may not be possible to compare these financial measures with other companies’ non-GAAP financial measures having the same or similar names. Further, the non-GAAP financial measure of tangible book value per share should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for book value per share or total shareholders’ equity determined in accordance with GAAP, and may not be comparable to a similarly titled measure reported by other companies. Reconciliation of the GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures are presented below.


Balance Sheet
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)					(Unaudited)
		September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
			2024			2024			2023

Assets:
	Cash and due from banks	$	22,954		$	22,361		$	19,743
	Interest bearing deposits in banks		19,035			1,401			1,040
	Federal funds sold		200			–			–
	Total cash and cash equivalents		42,189			23,762			20,783
	Securities available-for-sale, at fair value		306,982			306,869			308,786
	Federal Home Loan Bank (“FHLB”) stock		11,218			10,136			10,438
	Federal Reserve Bank (“FRB”) stock		4,131			4,131			4,131
	Mortgage loans held-for-sale, at fair value		13,429			10,518			17,880
	Loans:
	Real estate loans:
	Residential 1-4 family		156,811			157,053			146,938
	Residential 1-4 family construction		52,217			50,228			48,135
	Commercial real estate		644,019			627,326			611,963
	Commercial construction and development		125,323			137,427			151,614
	Farmland		145,356			142,353			143,789
	Other loans:
	Home equity		93,646			93,213			83,221
	Consumer		29,445			29,118			29,832
	Commercial		143,190			143,641			129,952
	Agricultural		144,645			137,134			130,329
	Total loans		1,534,652			1,517,493			1,475,773
	Allowance for credit losses		(17,130	)		(16,830	)		(16,230	)
	Net loans		1,517,522			1,500,663			1,459,543
	Accrued interest and dividends receivable		14,844			13,195			13,657
	Mortgage servicing rights, net		15,443			15,614			15,738
	Assets held-for-sale, at cost		257			257			–
	Premises and equipment, net		100,297			98,397			92,979
	Cash surrender value of life insurance, net		52,852			48,529			47,647
	Goodwill		34,740			34,740			34,740
	Core deposit intangible, net		4,834			5,168			6,264
	Other assets		26,375			26,976			30,478
	Total assets	$	2,145,113		$	2,098,955		$	2,063,064

Liabilities:
	Deposit accounts:
	Noninterest bearing	$	419,760		$	400,113		$	435,655
	Interest bearing		1,230,752			1,218,752			1,179,823
	Total deposits		1,650,512			1,618,865			1,615,478
	Accrued expenses and other liabilities		38,593			35,804			31,597
	FHLB advances and other borrowings		219,167			215,050			199,757
	Other long-term debt, net		59,111			59,074			58,962
	Total liabilities		1,967,383			1,928,793			1,905,794

Shareholders’ Equity:
	Preferred stock (par value $0.01 per share; 1,000,000 shares
	authorized; no shares issued or outstanding)		–			–			–
	Common stock (par value $0.01; 20,000,000 shares authorized;
	8,507,429 shares issued; 8,016,784, 8,016,784 and 7,988,132
	shares outstanding at September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024 and
	September 30, 2023, respectively		85			85			85
	Additional paid-in capital		109,040			108,962			109,422
	Unallocated common stock held by Employee Stock Ownership Plan		(4,154	)		(4,297	)		(4,727	)
	Treasury stock, at cost (490,645, 490,645 and 519,297 shares at
	September 30, 2024, June 30, 2024 and September 30, 2023, respectively)		(11,124	)		(11,124	)		(11,574	)
	Retained earnings		98,979			97,413			94,979
	Accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of tax		(15,096	)		(20,877	)		(30,915	)
	Total shareholders’ equity		177,730			170,162			157,270
	Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	2,145,113		$	2,098,955		$	2,063,064

Income Statement			(Unaudited)						(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)			Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
			September 30,		June 30,		September 30,		September 30,
				2024		2024		2023		2024		2023
Interest and dividend income:
	Interest and fees on loans		$	23,802	$	22,782	$	21,068	$	68,526	$	57,942
	Securities available-for-sale			2,598		2,631		2,794		7,953		8,586
	FRB and FHLB dividends			266		264		212		777		480
	Other interest income			94		145		20		268		66
		Total interest and dividend income		26,760		25,822		24,094		77,524		67,074
Interest expense:
	Interest expense on deposits			7,190		6,884		5,152		20,622		11,767
	FHLB advances and other borrowings			3,084		2,625		2,672		8,206		5,993
	Other long-term debt			684		681		683		2,048		2,035
		Total interest expense		10,958		10,190		8,507		30,876		19,795
Net interest income				15,802		15,632		15,587		46,648		47,279
Provision for credit losses				277		412		588		554		1,186
		Net interest income after provision for credit losses		15,525		15,220		14,999		46,094		46,093

Noninterest income:
	Service charges on deposit accounts			430		428		447		1,258		1,313
	Mortgage banking, net			2,602		2,417		4,338		7,196		11,252
	Interchange and ATM fees			662		640		643		1,865		1,861
	Appreciation in cash surrender value of life insurance			1,038		320		382		1,646		1,165
	Net loss on sale of available-for-sale securities			–		–		–		–		(222	)
	Other noninterest income			251		464		225		1,239		1,541
		Total noninterest income		4,983		4,269		6,035		13,204		16,910

Noninterest expense:
	Salaries and employee benefits			9,894		10,273		10,837		29,885		31,614
	Occupancy and equipment expense			2,134		2,104		1,956		6,337		6,100
	Data processing			1,587		1,382		1,486		4,494		4,270
	Advertising			277		316		340		846		930
	Amortization			337		348		386		1,054		1,201
	Loan costs			385		412		517		1,195		1,426
	FDIC insurance premiums			295		284		301		878		862
	Professional and examination fees			438		423		408		1,345		1,484
	Other noninterest expense			1,923		1,765		1,644		5,576		5,311
		Total noninterest expense		17,270		17,307		17,875		51,610		53,198

Income before provision for income taxes				3,238		2,182		3,159		7,688		9,805
Provision for income taxes				529		444		524		1,343		1,913
Net income			$	2,709	$	1,738	$	2,635	$	6,345	$	7,892

Basic earnings per common share			$	0.35	$	0.22	$	0.34	$	0.81	$	1.01
Diluted earnings per common share			$	0.34	$	0.22	$	0.34	$	0.81	$	1.01

Basic weighted average shares outstanding				7,836,921		7,830,925		7,784,279		7,830,947		7,787,987

Diluted weighted average shares outstanding				7,860,138		7,845,272		7,791,966		7,848,196		7,792,593

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION					(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)		Three or Nine Months Ended
		September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
			2024			2024			2023

Mortgage Banking Activity (For the quarter):
	Net gain on sale of mortgage loans	$	1,691		$	1,600		$	3,591
	Net change in fair value of loans held-for-sale and derivatives		159			12			(71	)
	Mortgage servicing income, net		752			805			818
	Mortgage banking, net	$	2,602		$	2,417		$	4,338

Mortgage Banking Activity (Year-to-date):
	Net gain on sale of mortgage loans	$	4,705					$	8,551
	Net change in fair value of loans held-for-sale and derivatives		(2	)					234
	Mortgage servicing income, net		2,493						2,467
	Mortgage banking, net	$	7,196					$	11,252

Performance Ratios (For the quarter):
	Return on average assets		0.51	%		0.33	%		0.51	%
	Return on average equity		6.56	%		4.30	%		6.63	%
	Yield on average interest earning assets		5.66	%		5.64	%		5.27	%
	Cost of funds		2.89	%		2.78	%		2.37	%
	Net interest margin		3.34	%		3.41	%		3.41	%
	Core efficiency ratio*		81.47	%		85.22	%		80.89	%

Performance Ratios (Year-to-date):
	Return on average assets		0.41	%					0.53	%
	Return on average equity		5.19	%					6.54	%
	Yield on average interest earning assets		5.59	%					5.07	%
	Cost of funds		2.78	%					1.94	%
	Net interest margin		3.36	%					3.57	%
	Core efficiency ratio*		84.47	%					81.01	%

* The core efficiency ratio is a non-GAAP ratio that is calculated by dividing non-interest expense, exclusive of acquisition
costs and intangible asset amortization, by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income.


ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL INFORMATION
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)
					(Unaudited)
Asset Quality Ratios and Data:		As of or for the Three Months Ended
		September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
			2024			2024			2023

	Nonaccrual loans	$	3,859		$	4,012		$	7,753
	Loans 90 days past due and still accruing		944			1,076			–
	Total nonperforming loans		4,803			5,088			7,753
	Other real estate owned and other repossessed assets		4			4			–
	Total nonperforming assets	$	4,807		$	5,092		$	7,753

	Nonperforming loans / portfolio loans		0.31	%		0.34	%		0.53	%
	Nonperforming assets / assets		0.22	%		0.24	%		0.38	%
	Allowance for credit losses / portfolio loans		1.12	%		1.11	%		1.10	%
	Allowance for credit losses/ nonperforming loans		356.65	%		330.78	%		209.34	%
	Gross loan charge-offs for the quarter	$	22		$	12		$	122
	Gross loan recoveries for the quarter	$	5		$	10		$	14
	Net loan charge-offs for the quarter	$	17		$	2		$	108


		September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
			2024			2024			2023
Capital Data (At quarter end):
	Common shareholders’ equity (book value) per share	$	22.17		$	21.23		$	19.69
	Tangible book value per share**	$	17.23		$	16.25		$	14.55
	Shares outstanding		8,016,784			8,016,784			7,988,132
	Tangible common equity to tangible assets***		6.56	%		6.33	%		5.75	%

Other Information:
	Average investment securities for the quarter	$	305,730		$	306,207		$	319,308
	Average investment securities year-to-date	$	308,688		$	310,168		$	335,898
	Average loans for the quarter ****	$	1,547,246		$	1,513,313		$	1,476,584
	Average loans year-to-date ****	$	1,519,951		$	1,506,303		$	1,417,291
	Average earning assets for the quarter	$	1,874,669		$	1,837,418		$	1,812,610
	Average earning assets year-to-date	$	1,847,468		$	1,833,867		$	1,768,361
	Average total assets for the quarter	$	2,116,839		$	2,077,448		$	2,052,443
	Average total assets year-to-date	$	2,086,951		$	2,072,013		$	1,999,864
	Average deposits for the quarter	$	1,622,254		$	1,625,882		$	1,602,770
	Average deposits year-to-date	$	1,624,936		$	1,625,826		$	1,596,201
	Average equity for the quarter	$	165,162		$	161,533		$	158,933
	Average equity year-to-date	$	163,106		$	162,084		$	160,917

** The tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP ratio that is calculated by dividing shareholders’ equity,
less goodwill and core deposit intangible, by common shares outstanding.
*** The tangible common equity to tangible assets is a non-GAAP ratio that is calculated by dividing shareholders’
equity, less goodwill and core deposit intangible, by total assets, less goodwill and core deposit intangible.
**** Includes loans held for sale

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Core Efficiency Ratio						(Unaudited)						(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands)			Three Months Ended									Nine Months Ended
			September 30,			June 30,			September 30,			September 30,
				2024			2024			2023			2024			2023
Calculation of Core Efficiency Ratio:
	Noninterest expense		$	17,270		$	17,307		$	17,875		$	51,610		$	53,198
	Intangible asset amortization			(337	)		(348	)		(386	)		(1,054	)		(1,201	)
		Core efficiency ratio numerator		16,933			16,959			17,489			50,556			51,997

	Net interest income			15,802			15,632			15,587			46,648			47,279
	Noninterest income			4,983			4,269			6,035			13,204			16,910
		Core efficiency ratio denominator		20,785			19,901			21,622			59,852			64,189

	Core efficiency ratio (non-GAAP)			81.47	%		85.22	%		80.89	%		84.47	%		81.01	%

Tangible Book Value and Tangible Assets			(Unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share data)			September 30,			June 30,			September 30,
				2024			2024			2023
Tangible Book Value:
	Shareholders’ equity		$	177,730		$	170,162		$	157,270
	Goodwill and core deposit intangible, net			(39,574	)		(39,908	)		(41,004	)
		Tangible common shareholders’ equity (non-GAAP)	$	138,156		$	130,254		$	116,266

	Common shares outstanding at end of period			8,016,784			8,016,784			7,988,132

	Common shareholders’ equity (book value) per share (GAAP)		$	22.17		$	21.23		$	19.69

	Tangible common shareholders’ equity (tangible book value)
		per share (non-GAAP)	$	17.23		$	16.25		$	14.55

Tangible Assets:
	Total assets		$	2,145,113		$	2,098,955		$	2,063,064
	Goodwill and core deposit intangible, net			(39,574	)		(39,908	)		(41,004	)
		Tangible assets (non-GAAP)	$	2,105,539		$	2,059,047		$	2,022,060

	Tangible common shareholders’ equity to tangible assets
		(non-GAAP)		6.56	%		6.33	%		5.75	%

Contacts:	Laura F. Clark, President and CEO
	(406) 457-4007
	Miranda J. Spaulding, SVP and CFO
	(406) 441-5010

The MIL Network –

January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI: New CINQ by Coinstar™ Digital Wallet Launches Crypto and Stablecoin Capabilities Powered by Zero Hash
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

CHICAGO, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Zero Hash, the leading crypto and stablecoin infrastructure platform, today announced its partnership with Coinstar®, LLC, a global financial services leader, to embed crypto payments capabilities within CINQ by Coinstar™, a new digital wallet designed to expand how consumers use and manage their finances. This collaboration allows up to 9,500 of Coinstar’s 17,000+ network of kiosks across the U.S. to facilitate cash-to-crypto transactions.

Through a partnership with Zero Hash, CINQ by Coinstar has launched with the initial ability to purchase cryptocurrency and stablecoins with cash at more than 9,500 Coinstar kiosks across the U.S., or through the CINQ by Coinstar mobile app. Users of the CINQ by Coinstar app, powered by Zero Hash, can seamlessly move in, out and between cash, stablecoins and crypto. A broader range of digital payment services for the CINQ by Coinstar wallet are expected to follow in 2025 as recently announced by Coinstar.

The overarching objective of the partnership is to provide a seamless mechanism of dollar digitalization to the large percentage of underbanked and underserved households within the United States. Specifically: 
- The unbanked who now have access to an electronic cash account
  - 6% of Adult Americans are unbanked; 24.6 million Americans are underbanked (Source: Fed Reserve, 2024)
- The immigrant remitting money home
  - About half of all remittances are cash-based among the most common users (Source: Visa, 2023)
“Zero Hash is delighted to partner with Coinstar, a household brand in money transformation for more than 30 years. Its vast network of self-serve kiosks and mobile apps will help further expand access to the underbanked and immigrants looking to remit funds. Upwards of 50% of remittances are cash-based and the multiple “hops” in remittance often mean these transfers incur high fees. Linking this cash infrastructure to the “network of networks” which is crypto and stablecoins, provides a key unlock for cheaper and quicker remittances for example,” said Edward Woodford, CEO and Founder at Zero Hash. “ CINQ by Coinstar has been able to seamlessly embed our regulatory compliant infrastructure to support new ways for cash-preferred customers to move safely and seamlessly between fiat and crypto use cases.”

Powered by Zero Hash’s identity verification service, every customer is validated before cash can be entered into the kiosk for crypto, stablecoin and fiat transactions. Additional controls include Documentary Verification and Liveness Verification before certain services may be enabled. Users can buy over 25 crypto and stablecoin assets with paper currency at Coinstar kiosks in major grocery stores across North America as well as through the CINQ by Coinstar mobile app. Users can also connect multiple bank accounts, with Zero Hash’s platform facilitating USD deposits via ACH, allowing users to hold balances in cash or crypto and easily manage their financial needs.

“Zero Hash has been an incredible partner in helping us extend our trusted services into the digital world,” said Kevin McColly, CEO of Coinstar. “Their secure and industry leading crypto and stablecoin infrastructure has allowed us to seamlessly bridge the gap between cash and cryptocurrency, making it easier for our customers to access and manage their finances.” 

There are two ways to get started buying cryptocurrency through Zero Hash at Coinstar kiosks:
1. Download the CINQ by Coinstar app, verify your account and visit a Coinstar kiosk with your cash. Or connect your bank account in the app and get started immediately.
2. Visit a Coinstar kiosk, select cryptocurrency from the options and choose CINQ by Coinstar to get started with your crypto purchase through Zero Hash. Enter your mobile number at the kiosk and last 4 SSN or Date of Birth, then download the CINQ by Coinstar app and complete your account setup.
To learn more about CINQ by Coinstar and follow along for additional product innovations, visit www.cinqwallet.com, or to find a CINQ by Coinstar enabled kiosk, visit our kiosk finder here.¹ 

1: The CINQ by Coinstar wallet is available in all 50 states. However, Zero Hash enabled Kiosks are not currently available in all states, including the state of New York.  Transactional limits may also apply.

About Zero Hash
Zero Hash is the leading crypto and stablecoin infrastructure provider that seamlessly connects fiat, crypto and stablecoins in one platform, enabling a better way to move and transfer money and value globally.

Through its embeddable infrastructure, start-ups, enterprises and Fortune 500 companies build a diverse range of use cases: cross-border payments, commerce, trading, remittance, payroll, tokenization, wallets and on and off-ramps.

Zero Hash Holdings is backed by investors, including Point72 Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, and NYCA.

Zero Hash LLC is a FinCen-registered Money Service Business and a regulated Money Transmitter that can operate in 51 US jurisdictions. Zero Hash LLC and Zero Hash Liquidity Services LLC are licensed to engage in virtual currency business activity by the New York State Department of Financial Services. In Canada, Zero Hash LLC is registered as a Money Service Business with FINTRAC.

Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is registered with AUSTRAC as a Digital Currency Exchange Provider, with DCE registered provider number DCE100804170-001.  This registration enables Zero Hash to offer its crypto services in Australia.  Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is registered on the New Zealand register of financial service providers, with Financial Service Provider (FSP)  number FSP1004503.  A FSP in New Zealand is a registration and does not mean that Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd. is licensed by a New Zealand regulator to provide crypto services.  Zero Hash Australia Pty Ltd.’s registration on the New Zealand register of financial service providers does not mean that Zero Hash Australia is subject to active regulation or oversight by a New Zealand regulator.  Zero Hash Europe B.V. is registered as a Virtual Asset Services Provider (VASP) registration by the Dutch Central Bank (Relation number: R193684).  Zero Hash Europe Sp. Zoo is registered as a VASP by the Tax Administration Chamber of Poland in Katowice (Registration number RDWW – 1212).

Connect with Zero Hash
Website | Twitter | LinkedIn | Medium

Zero Hash Contact

Shaun O’keeffe

(855) 744-7333

media@zerohash.com

Zero Hash Disclosures
Zero Hash services and product offerings, including the availability of kiosk services, may not be available in all jurisdictions. Zero Hash accounts are not subject to FDIC or SIPC protections, or any such equivalent protections that may exist outside of the US. Zero Hash’s technical support and enablement of any asset is not an endorsement of such asset and is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any crypto asset. The value of any cryptocurrency, including digital assets pegged to fiat currency, commodities, or any other asset, may go to zero. Zero Hash is not registered with the SEC or FINRA. Zero Hash does not provide any securities services and is not a custodian of securities, including security tokens, on behalf of customers. 

About Coinstar, LLC
Coinstar® is a global leader in money transformation and the largest physical self-serve financial network with a digital wallet, CINQ by Coinstar. Through its digital wallet, mobile app and network of 24,000 kiosks in North America and Europe, Coinstar offers a wide range of financial services which enable users to transform their physical currency. Its reliable payment solutions offer one-stop shopping experiences at convenient kiosk locations including coin conversion to cash, NO FEE eGift cards and charitable donations as well as account transfer services powered by our bank partners. Users can also move money and transact more seamlessly in the digital world through CINQ by Coinstar with the ability to buy, sell and transfer cryptocurrencies in its initial rollout. For brand advertisers, Coinstar offers adPlanet™ Retail Media Group, which enables lead generation on the interactive kiosk screen and a digital out of home network that delivers advertising via high-definition screens on top of Coinstar kiosks at select retail and grocery locations. For more information on Coinstar, visit www.coinstar.com.

The MIL Network –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: A test of resolve: credible resolution following the 2023 banking turmoil

Source: Bank for International Settlements

Introduction

I would like to welcome you all to the Resolution Conference 2024, the first that has been co-organised by the BIS Financial Stability Institute (FSI), the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI). This event is motivated by the banking turmoil in March 2023. The 18 months that have passed since those events have given time to reflect seriously on it and derive some lessons. This conference provides an opportunity to take stock, compare notes and try to identify a productive way forward.

Scene-setting

It is now commonplace to say that the March 2023 failures of several US regional banks, followed a week later by the near failure of Credit Suisse, were the first meaningful test of the international resolution framework that was put in place following the Great Financial Crisis (GFC).

The headline message is that large bank failures did not lead to a systemic crisis. Authorities managed them in an orderly manner with no ultimate loss to public funds. Creditors and shareholders bore losses. In the case of Credit Suisse, there was a significant writedown of loss-absorbing instruments. This is a noteworthy achievement, and stands in stark contrast to the GFC.

The extensive work to put in place cross-border cooperative arrangements has demonstrably strengthened the financial system. The outcomes might have been very different without the planning and coordination that took place between home and host authorities, and the understanding and trust that have been developed.

However, work remains to be done. The reports published last year by the FSB and IADI set out lessons learned for resolution and deposit insurance.¹ They include the risk of faster failures, accelerated by digital technologies; the scope of resolution planning and requirements for loss-absorbing capacity (LAC); and flexibility in resolution strategies. Other reports, including by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, elaborate on the supervisory shortcomings and the vulnerabilities arising from large quantities of uninsured deposits. Work on all these issues is ongoing.

In any case, I would like to concentrate my remarks on two elements of the bank resolution framework that I think must be tackled as we go forward. The first is the power to bail-in creditors as a key element of resolution strategies. The second is the need to put in place effective facilities for providing liquidity in resolution. The events of March 2023 highlighted the importance of both. They are also among the elements of a resolution framework that are most challenging to implement.

The credibility of bail-in

Bail-in powers are core to the resolution framework adopted after the GFC. Bail-in allows a systemically important bank to be recapitalised without the need to find a buyer for its business or to split up its operations, at least in the short term. Appropriate liabilities absorb losses without putting a failing bank into insolvency. Crucially, it is designed to ensure that a bank’s owners and investors, rather than depositors or taxpayers, bear the costs of resolution costs.

In practice, a bail-in is a highly complex transaction involving multiple parties, and a huge amount of work has been carried out on how to execute it. A typical bail-in would involve multiple valuations; a mechanism to write down and cancel instruments, which are likely to be traded; and the issuance of new shares to the bailed-in debt holders. The process has been mapped out in detail by resolution authorities. However, a full bail-in strategy remains untested.

Credit Suisse had a resolution strategy based on bail-in, and FINMA and key host authorities had prepared extensively to execute that strategy.

In the end, the Swiss authorities chose not to follow the resolution playbook because they had another option that achieved their objectives: a state-brokered commercial merger of Credit Suisse and UBS. Nevertheless, the contractual writedown of all the outstanding Additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital instruments issued by Credit Suisse was a key element of the transaction. The writedown extinguished liabilities amounting to CHF 16 billion from the bank’s balance sheet.²

Although the writedown was more limited than that planned under the full bail-in strategy for Credit Suisse, it demonstrates that bail-in is a core instrument in the crisis management framework. Contrary to what some commentators have feared, a substantial debt writedown is possible and can be executed without significant systemic disruption.

Nevertheless, there are a few lessons to draw from this to reinforce that bail-in is credible and feasible.

Flexible resolution toolkits

First, authorities need flexibility. Planning is essential, but it cannot be prescriptive. We cannot know with absolute confidence in advance how a failure will happen and what actions will best safeguard financial stability. Accordingly, authorities need options so that they can shape their response to the circumstances of a failure. This implies a toolkit approach under which authorities can combine the use of different tools.

The Credit Suisse transaction demonstrated that, even in the case of a global systemically important bank (G-SIB), bail-in may not be an exclusive strategy, but debt writedown could be a core element. Moreover, bail-in is not a tool exclusively for G-SIBs. For other banks, the writedown of liabilities in resolution can finance transfers of business and reduce the demands on industry-funded sources such as deposit insurance funds.

Flexibility of this kind brings operational complexities. A toolbox approach means that authorities and firms need to accommodate different options in resolution planning. Banks will need the systems and capabilities to support those options. Key aspects of resolvability such as structure and LAC may become even more complex. However, an effective toolbox approach will further reduce the residual risk that public funds will be needed in crisis management.

Loss-absorbing capacity

Second, for bail-in to be credible banks must have liabilities that can be written down with legal certainty and without systemic impact. The FSB’s TLAC standard ensures this for G-SIBs. Some jurisdictions have extended similar requirements for LAC to other banks that could be systemic in failure.

For example, the EU requirement for resolution-related LAC, the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities (MREL) – applies to all banks. The amount above the regulatory minimum required for individual banks is based on their resolution strategy. It aims to ensure that any bank that is expected to be resolved rather than wound up maintains LAC in sufficient quantity and quality to absorb losses and recapitalise it in resolution.

The US financial regulators have consulted on a proposal to require banks with $100 billion or more in assets to maintain a layer of long-term debt. This additional LAC would be used, in the event of a bank’s failure, to absorb losses and increase the resolution options. It should also foster depositor confidence among uninsured deposits.

The three US regional banks that failed in 2023 had little or no outstanding long-term debt. It has been observed elsewhere that if the proposed requirement had applied to Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, they might have been resolved within the FDIC’s normal funding constraints, without a systemic risk exception being required.³

If bail-in is to help fund resolution transfers, there need to be instruments that can be written down. The amounts are lower than that needed to recapitalise the bank and finance restructuring in a “pure” bail-in. Nevertheless, calibrating those requirements may be challenging.

Moreover, meeting LAC requirements should not put banks’ legitimate business models in jeopardy. This is particularly relevant for banks that are predominantly deposit funded. A pragmatic way to alleviate the challenges for those banks is to take account of the resolution funding available from external sources, such as deposit insurance or resolution funds, when setting LAC requirements.⁴

Liquidity for crisis management

Let me turn now to liquidity for crisis management. Resolution powers can recapitalise a failing bank through bail-in. However, capital is not enough on its own. Without liquidity, the resolution will fail.

Market funding will almost certainly not be available to a bank following its resolution until counterparty confidence can be restored. Resolution frameworks therefore require a credible source of liquidity, at the necessary scale and for a sufficient period of time to allow a resolved firm to return to market-based funding.

This is recognised by the FSB, which has published two sets of guidance on funding in resolution. However, the arrangements in place vary considerably across jurisdictions and in many cases are not designed for the resolution needs of systemically important banks.

The liquidity arrangements that were needed in the case of Credit Suisse support this point. The Swiss government had been working on a public liquidity backstop, but this was not yet in place in March 2023. Accordingly, the authorities had to adopt emergency legislation to enable the Swiss National Bank (SNB) to provide a liquidity facility of up to CHF 200 billion. Part of that lending was uncollateralised and coupled with a privileged bankruptcy status for the SNB and part was backed by a guarantee from the Swiss state.

This case illustrates that ordinary central bank lending arrangements, including emergency liquidity assistance, may not be sufficient for resolution. The amount of liquidity needed by a systemically important bank will be considerable and required over an extended period. Moreover, lending may need to be secured against a wider range of assets or, in extreme circumstances, be uncollateralised. Arrangements for resolution funding must meet these needs. This implies a fiscal backstop to increase the firepower where that is needed.

A fiscal backstop might appear to introduce a risk to public funds, something that the framework for ending “too big to fail” was designed to avoid. But the risks of loss to public funds should be low. It’s worth noting that all lending in relation to Credit Suisse was repaid, and no losses were incurred by the SNB or the Swiss state under its indemnity. If resolution is effective, the bank will be viable and the borrowing should be repaid.

Concluding remarks

I will end where I began. Financial crises provide a good opportunity to identify flaws or shortcomings in the policy framework. The March 2023 banking turmoil was the most significant banking crisis since the GFC and the subsequent policy reforms. Therefore, we should grasp this opportunity to draw lessons.

Overall, authorities managed to preserve financial stability. In Switzerland, that was accomplished, despite the failure of a G-SIB, without any cost to the taxpayer. This was a remarkable achievement, and the resolution framework developed after the GFC contributed to that.

But we also need to take note of the obstacles encountered in the process. In particular, it is clear that maximising the potential of bail-in and the provision of liquidity in resolution are pending tasks that need to be addressed.

Work to do that is ongoing, and this conference is a small but significant part of that process. I am delighted that so many people have come to Basel to participate, and I expect productive discussions during the day.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Frank Elderson: Finance and Biodiversity Day of 16th United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity (COP16) – transcript of video recording

Source: Bank for International Settlements

The global economy and finance need nature to survive. Analysis by the ECB shows that the economy depends critically on nature: 72% of non-financial businesses in the euro area – around 4.2 million individual companies – would experience significant problems as a result of ecosystem degradation. These businesses rely on ecosystem services like fertile soils, timber and clean water. And 75% of bank loans are tied to these businesses. So, if they run into trouble, the banks that finance them will too. This interdependence underscores why the ECB made nature one of the focus areas of its climate and nature plan for 2024 and 2025. It is also why we push banks under our supervision to manage all material nature-related risks.

The ECB does not stand alone in recognising this threat. The value of nature for the economy is acknowledged by the global Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System, which has 141 members worldwide. Additionally, a recent stocktake by the Financial Stability Board showed that a growing number of policy authorities around the world are considering the potential implications of nature-related risks for financial stability.

In recognition of the vital importance of nature for the economy, international fora must ensure that nature considerations are fully integrated into regulation and supervision, alongside ongoing efforts to account for climate-related considerations. This starts with identifying exposures and vulnerabilities to nature-related risks.

While central banks and supervisors are not nature policymakers, we must take nature into account to fulfil our mandate of price stability and safe and sound banks. Otherwise, we risk failing to deliver on our mandate.

My message on this Finance and Biodiversity Day is clear: if you destroy nature, you destroy the economy. The right conditions must be established for nature – and consequently the economy – to thrive. The economy needs nature to survive. Financial stability needs nature to survive. To deliver on our mandate, we need nature to survive. And the survival of nature requires financing. Therefore, your success here in Cali is vitally important.

Thank you. Buena suerte.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Andrew Bailey: Michael D Gill Memorial Society Lecture

Source: Bank for International Settlements

Quite simply, I wish I was not giving this lecture today. Or, perhaps better, I wish I was giving it with Mike Gill here to participate. But, only one of those is possible due to his tragic and senseless killing. I am sure I am not alone in thinking that when these events happen to people we do not know, we find a sort of anesthetised isolation by resorting to commenting on the public policy implications in a rather dehumanised way. But when it happens to someone we knew, hugely liked and respected, who was without question a good person, then it is almost natural to be lost for words. It has taken me a long time to compose thoughts on someone to and about whom I could say so much in life.

There is an old saying that someone is a pillar of society. They are the people who support and hold society together. Well, Mike was without question a pillar of society. He was generous, kind, thoughtful and very supportive. Kristina, Sean, Brian, and Annika, as you know even better than us, he was an outstanding person.

But Mike was not a pillar of society in the sense of that term of someone who was stuck in the past, holding together a world that was lost. He was a moderniser, and that was why it was so appropriate that he served at the CFTC, which has its history but also is at one of the cutting edges of finance. Mike loved that. He talked at length about visiting farms with Chris and about the technology changing farms and agricultural markets. But he was also an enthusiast to find an appropriate treatment of cryptocurrency in derivatives markets.

The second thing about Mike and his work here at the CFTC that naturally brought us together was that he was a passionate internationalist. And he always seemed happy to visit London, and it was always good to see him there. Our international travel went further. There is a memorable, for me certainly, picture of the two of us on a boat trip in Sydney Harbour in 2019.

It wasn’t just the travel. Mike was, like Chris, an internationalist through and through. I spent time with Mike after the UK’s Brexit Referendum in 2016. I am strictly neutral on Brexit as a public official. I knew then that our job was to work out how to implement something that, let’s be honest, had not been planned. In the area of financial services, clearing was going to be probably the hardest area for us, because – and I will come back to this point – it is inherently international in many parts, and particularly the parts we do in London. I knew immediately after the Referendum that it was critical for the UK not to become isolated and certainly not isolationist. That would be the road to a very bad outcome for the City of London. We needed friends, both in deeds and words, those who would be prepared to stand by us, and put up with uncertainty while we worked out the best course. Chris, you and Mike were those people – friends when we were in some need.

Now, it is the case that, as a internationalist, Mike arrived in the world of clearing at the right time. It is a fairly esoteric activity, always important, but also often in the background. We quite like it to be humming away safely in the background. But the Global Financial crisis had emphasised that we had undervalued its importance, that the world would have been safer if we had put It more into the centre of the financial system.

But, to do that it must be done safely and soundly. Unsafe clearing would be worse than no clearing, it would amount to concentrating the risk in one unsafe house.

And so, if we are asked to list the very big financial system changes post financial crisis, we should naturally start by saying that we have put clearing at the heart of the system. Central Counterparties (CCPs) are a key to mitigating counterparty credit risk, which has become even more relevant following the crisis and, in so doing, bring significant financial stability benefits. The experience of the collapse of Lehman Brothers demonstrated that CCPs should be able to dampen the shock of a major counterparty credit failure. One of my abiding memories of the Lehman weekend was the attempt to organise an ad-hoc trade position compression exercise, to net down the positions. It wasn’t possible, and the hard lesson was that only permanent institutional structures with clearing houses at their heart can achieve the ends we desired.

But, of course, we know that CCPs, can pose significant risks to the stability of the financial system if they are not properly managed. A consequence of central clearing is that CCPs themselves become a financial network which can bring about the contagion of financial instability if they are not robustly established and operated. In line with G20 commitments following the Financial Crisis, the introduction of mandatory clearing for various classes of over-the-counter derivatives has driven an increase in the systemic importance of CCPs.

In the banking world, that tendency for banks to grow and become more globally systemic led to hostility to allowing very large banks which could be too big to fail. Clearing is different. Its not just that clearing didn’t cause the crisis, though just to be clear, it didn’t. Rather, its more than that. Up to some point, and that point can naturally be large, there are benefits of scale and scope in clearing. Yes, there is contagion risk if a CCP fails, and especially where it is large in its market, but there are real benefits of scope and scale.

And, this naturally leads to the international dimension that Mike so much emphasised. The global nature of many financial markets means that clearing is naturally a
cross-border activity. Cross-border clearing also brings significant benefits. A single CCP operating across multiple jurisdictions and currencies can provide efficiencies and reduce risk through multilateral settling of exposures across counterparties in different jurisdictions.

This puts an obligation on us as regulators of clearing houses. We have a duty to enable the safe operation of the global financial system. Public authorities have risen to this duty, supervising standards on CCPs have been strengthened and new international standards have driven the establishment of credible CCP resolution regimes. We also have a deep sense of responsibility for the impact of our actions on other countries. And, we take this very seriously, as we must. In the UK, as the regulator we are required in any exercise of our rule-making power to consider the effects of these rules on the financial stability of any country where one of our clearing houses provides services, and we must act in a way that does not favour one jurisdiction over another.

This is of course all common sense. We all recognise that the interconnectedness of global markets means that any shocks in one part of the world can quickly reverberate and cause stress elsewhere. But common sense though it is, I can tell you that it’s a lot easier to put into practice when you are working with someone like Mike Gill, who wants to get things done and is at heart an internationalist.

And, so it should be no surprise that during the period Mike was here at the CFTC, things did get done, and they continue to get done building on his legacy.

There is another feature of clearing that is distinctive. As I said earlier, by its very nature it concentrates the risks associated with the trades being cleared. That’s how and why CCPs are such crucial nodes in the financial system. But it also means that if a CCP doesn’t manage its risk well, the concentration magnifies the impact of the problem. Moreover, CCPs tend to be highly interconnected because the instruments they clear are likewise interconnected – think about the different ways to trade interest rate risk. A small number of CCPs provide most of the capacity in over the counter derivatives clearing. And, a small number of clearing members provide the majority of clearing services to clients at all of these big CCPs. These firms are also providing key services to the CCPs, such as settlement, custody and liquidity backstops.

We can take a few points from this. Clearing is quite complicated and technical as an activity. I’m going to stick my neck out and suggest that here in Washington, conversations in bars are not of the sort: “tell me how does margining in a clearing house work”. Its notoriously a dry subject, but important, hugely so. But therein lies a risk – even at international meetings there can seem to be other things to talk about, happily so, and that can lead to problems of neglect.

Except, onto the scene came Mike Gill and Chris Giancarlo. The enthusiasts had arrived. Suddenly, it seemed a pleasure to talk about clearing. The fun kids talked about clearing. The serious point is that supervising big CCPs requires deep cooperation between authorities across multiple jurisdictions. It requires cooperation not fragmentation. We knew how to do that, but it always seemed harder to put in practice than it should have done. We don’t like economic fragmentation in the world, rightly so, but somehow arguments are made that its ok to do so for clearing. No it isn’t as a matter of fact, because such a view defies the logic of how financial markets work. Supervising and regulatory cooperation is a key part of the right approach.

I want to finish by looking forwards. I think that is what Mike would want, because it was very much as I remember him. There was always something new and interesting, whether it was drones overseeing crop production or crypto assets.

The importance and role of clearing continues to grow rapidly. A few facts help to illustrate the importance of clearing. I will focus on UK-US clearing facts. The notional amount of OTC derivatives cleared by UK CCPs with US counterparties continues to be greater than that cleared with any other jurisdiction. Across the three UK CCPs, 38% of margin is derived from US clearing members, and volumes have been larger this year than last, which was also up on previous years.

Overall, one thing that lies behind this growth is a rise in non-bank financial intermediation versus bank intermediation. We should not be surprised at this. But let me go back to 2008 and the Lehman weekend for a moment. The attempt to put in place an ad-hoc trade compression process – to net down exposures – reflected in the main banks having – sloppily – built up very large derivative books, and not managed them effectively. I remember several CEOs told me at the time that it just had not occurred to them that they needed to manage these books efficiently.

Indeed, it was very clear that for quite a few, there was very little awareness of the problem that was building up. It was too easy to pile trade upon trade with little regard for the need to risk manage these books throughly.

And then the music stopped, and suddenly what had been out of sight and out of mind in the good times became a problem. Outsized books had to be managed down by banks. Today that legacy is behind us. But the scale of derivative activity has nonetheless grown much further. That growth has provided important hedging benefits, and it has enabled much larger position limits to exist, concentrated more in the non-bank sector, but inevitably with links into the banking system. The so-called basis trade is a good example of this.

These developments leave us with major puzzles. Is there a scale of activity beyond which stress sets in when it has to be unwound quite suddenly? What would be the effects of that stress? And how do we model such a fluid landscape, where stress could emerge in several places at once? Better tools of diagnosis are important here.

At the Bank of England we have designed and run something we call the System Wide Exploratory Scenario, which seeks to synthesise the effects of some severe but plausible shocks passing through the financial system. Over 50 firms have participated, as have the clearing houses that support the activity. This is not a stress test in the now quite traditional individual bank by bank sense. It is a market-wide test designed to simulate shocks – it’s a flow test, designed to find obstructions and concentrations of risks and correlated positions that might otherwise be opaque. It is I think an important step forward in testing behavioural reactions to stress including how risks might cascade across markets. And, it will give us a better answer in terms of the effectiveness of CCPs in managing market-wide risks. The results should be published by the end of the year. It’s the sort of new thing that I think Mike would have appreciated, and been enthusiastic about.

The Bank of England and the CFTC have a longstanding relationship of cooperation on CCPs. Mike added his special qualities to that relationship. Its our duty to carry his work forward, but even more so to do it in his spirit, the one we enjoyed and miss so much.

Thank you.

I would like to thank Sarah Breeden, Karen Jude, Harsh Mehta, Ruth Smith, Sam Woods, Shane Scott, Sasha Mills, Deborah Potts, Thomas Ferry, Konstantina Drakouli, Marc Ledroux, Barry King and Priya Mistry for their help in the preparation of these remarks.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Four reasons weight-loss jabs alone won’t help get people back to work

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Lucie Nield, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics, Sheffield Hallam University

Weight-loss injectables don’t address the many core reasons for why weight gain and unemployment occur in the first place. oleschwander/ Shutterstock

Prime Minister Keir Starmer and health secretary Wes Streeting have recently discussed plans to trial weight-loss injections for around 250,000 people with obesity who are unemployed in a bid to get them back into work, ease pressure on the NHS and boost the economy.

Obesity is estimated to cost UK society around £35 billion annually. This is due to lower productivity and higher NHS treatment costs.

Around 26% of the English adult population (approximately 15 million) are considered obese. However, it’s not known what proportion of unemployed people are obese.

While weight-loss injections have proven to be very effective in helping people who are obese to lose weight and lower their risk of certain chronic diseases, there are many reasons why these drugs alone won’t help tackle obesity and unemployment rates in the UK.

1. Lack of capacity

The majority of UK people who are obese are likely to meet the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s eligibility criteria for weight-loss injections.

But prescribing these drugs is just one part of the equation. Eligible patients will require support from specialist services who provide guidance in making the appropriate lifestyle changes (such as to their diet) to successfully lose weight while on these drugs. This is crucial, as all of the weight-loss injection trials to date have involved a behaviour change component. This may potentially be key to the successful weight losses observed in these studies.

However, current demand for weight-loss services is already outstripping capacity. Nearly half of eligible patients in England are unable to get an appointment with a specialist team. Weight-loss injections can only be prescribed through such services currently. If the government is to roll out the proposed programme, they will need to rethink the way weight-loss services are delivered so all eligible patients can access support.

2. Won’t work for everyone

Weight-loss jabs don’t necessarily work for everyone. One study found that 9-15% of participants who took the drug tirzepatide (Mounjaro) did not lose clinically significant amounts of weight.

Weight-loss jabs may also cause intolerable side-effects for some. Trials have shown between 4-8% of participants couldn’t tolerate the side-effects, causing them to drop out of the study. Constipation, diarrhoea and nausea are some of the most commonly reported.

People with certain health conditions may be unable to use weight-loss injections – such as those with inflammatory bowel disease and pancreatitis. In such cases, weight-loss jabs may worsen symptoms or interact with the prescription drugs used to manage these conditions, increasing risk of harm.

There are many reasons why weight-loss jabs may not work for a person.
Douglas Cliff/ Shutterstock

Additionally, some people may not want to take an injection – whether that’s simply due to personal preference or even fear of needles.

3. Obesity is a complex issue

There are many complex factors that contribute to weight gain – such as opportunities for physical activity, access to healthy foods and levels of deprivation in a community. Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help people lose weight may not be effective long-term if the rest of these factors are not also addressed.

A more effective way of seeing significant, sustainable reductions in obesity levels across a population is by using a “whole systems approach”. This would address to the multiple environmental, social and economic factors that contribute to obesity.

Where whole systems approaches have been embedded in healthcare design and delivery, they have led to improvements in services and patient outcomes – including obesity-related metrics (such as patients making healthier food choices and being more active).

However, one limitation to whole systems approaches is challenges in measuring impact. This can reduce political will to implement these approaches.

4. Obesity stigma

Obesity stigma in the workplace is a huge barrier to satisfactory employment and leads to poor wellbeing and burnout.

Obesity stigma in the workplace perpetuates harmful weight-based stereotypes that overweight and obese people are lazy, unsuccessful, unintelligent and lack willpower. As a result, people with obesity are more likely to be in insecure and lower-paid jobs than those who may be considered of a healthy weight.

It’s also well-evidenced that regular exposure to stigmatising, isolating and degrading prejudices has long-term consequences on physical and mental health – and may lead to problems such as binge eating and depression.This can lead to a loss of productivity, absenteeism and loneliness.

Prescribing weight-loss jabs to help a person lose weight doesn’t address the core reasons for why they may have been absent from work or unemployed in the first place. Nor does it help to address the mental health struggles they may still harbour as a result of discrimination they might have experienced.

5. Barriers to employment

Weight loss alone does not begin to address the complex physical and mental health reasons for why a person might be unemployed. A person may also be unemployed due to factors such as caring responsibilities or disability.

Current prescribing restrictions also limit some injections to a maximum of 24 months (although further trials are ongoing). This means that even if a person has successfully lost weight, they may regain that weight again when they stop using the drug. This could mean any health problems they experienced prior to losing weight (and which may have prevented them from being in employment) could reemerge.

There are better ways of getting people back into work than prescribing weight-loss jabs. Flexible working approaches, for instance, may make it easier for someone who is unemployed due to caring responsibilities or health problems to transition back into employment. Supportive policies and workplace wellbeing programmes may be a more cost-effective way of helping people to overcome barriers, improve their health and transition back into work.

Lucie Nield has received funding from The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for evaluation of children’s weight management services.

Lucie Nield sits on the Board of Trustees for Darnall Wellbeing (a local community service organisation).

– ref. Four reasons weight-loss jabs alone won’t help get people back to work – https://theconversation.com/four-reasons-weight-loss-jabs-alone-wont-help-get-people-back-to-work-241835

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Deputy Secretary-General’s remarks at the 110th Meeting of the Development Committee

Source: United Nations secretary general

Chair,

Excellencies,

Let me begin by acknowledging the inspired leadership of Ajay and Kristalina, and thanking them for their support at the UN High-Level Week.

This week, our global economy has been diagnosed as suffering from low growth, and high debt.

This toxic combination further exacerbates a sustainable development crisis for millions of people across the world.

With only 17 per cent of SDG targets on track, hunger is rising, global temperatures are soaring, conflicts are spreading, and the fight for gender equality is floundering.

Financing challenges are at the heart of this crisis.

Financing gaps are growing.

Debt service is crowding out investments.

And economies are repeatedly rocked by external shocks that our financial system cannot contain.

Last month, against geopolitical tensions, Heads of States from the Global North and South agreed a Pact for the Future.

The Pact lays the foundations for a future-ready world.

It commits to deepen multilateralism to rescue the SDGs;

To guide us through a new era of technology;

to renew our approach to restoring and keeping peace;

and to accelerate reform of the international financial architecture to reflect today’s world and meet today’s challenges.

Here, the Pact urges specific actions:

To raise the voice and representation of developing countries…

To scale up development finance…

To promote sustainable borrowing, and resolve debt crises as and before they occur…

And to strengthen the global safety net.

Agreements reached at the United Nations cannot deliver change overnight. But they provide a powerful political signal for action in other fora – including this one.

Over the last two weeks, we have seen important steps forward.

The World Bank’s reduction of its equity to loan ratio frees up an additional $30 billion in lending.

And the IMF’s overhaul of its surcharge policy will lessen the penalty borne by countries most dependent on support.

We must now build on these steps, with urgency, to meet the needs and expectations of Member States and their people.

This brings me to one commitment that we must deliver this year.

IDA is the largest and most powerful instrument of financial assistance to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries.

That’s why the Pact for the Future urges Member States to deliver a robust 21st replenishment, to enable IDA to continue its vital work.

The Secretary-General and I wholeheartedly endorse this.

Another commitment is to seize the opportunity approved by the Fund to rechannel SDRs to acquire hybrid capital in our multilateral development banks. Champions of this initiative believe we can get this done by next month’s G20 summit.

I look forward to working with the Bank and Fund to deliver other commitments in the Pact: from reviewing the sovereign debt architecture, to improving access to concessional finance.

With next year’s Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, we have a once-in-a-decade opportunity to transform financing for sustainable development to deliver the SDGs.

To do this for a future ready World Bank, we must work better together at the country level surging combined expertise and resources in support of our commitments to countries and their people.

Let’s work together to deliver this.

Thank you.

MIL OSI United Nations News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI: MEF’s Enterprise Leadership Council Triples in Size, Driving Key Initiatives in Service Automation, Cybersecurity, and AI-Ops
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

DALLAS, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — MEF, a global industry association of network, cloud, security, and technology providers accelerating enterprise digital transformation, today announced the expansion of its Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC) from four founding members to 14 leaders representing a diverse range of industries. Formed one year ago, the ELC now includes executives from sectors such as entertainment, financial services, banking, retail, technology, healthcare, and consulting.

This expansion highlights MEF’s commitment to providing real value to enterprises exploring Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) opportunities, reinforcing its role as an independent platform where enterprises, service providers, cloud, technology companies, and other key stakeholders, collaborate on initiatives shaping the future of the digital ecosystem. With expanded enterprise participation, the organization is poised to drive impactful projects that address cloud, network, and security challenges head-on, propelling innovation across industries.

The ELC’s growth also reflects the increasing importance of enterprise perspectives in shaping MEF’s NaaS-related work. By tripling its membership in just one year, the council now offers a broader and more comprehensive view of enterprise needs across various sectors and has begun shaping strategic initiatives in areas such as service automation, cybersecurity services, compliance, and AI-Ops.

The ELC includes:
- Francisco Artes, Vice President, Product & Enterprise Security, Roku
- Nabil Bitar, Chief Technology Officer & Head of Network Architecture, Bloomberg LP
- Maxime Bruynbroeck, Head of Network, Decathlon
- Chris Carmody, Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President, Information Technology Division, UPMC
- Daniel Foo, Head of Grabber Technology Solutions (GTS), Grab
- Michael Jenkins, Strategic Negotiator, Google Enterprise Network
- Amin Jerraya, Senior Vice President, Head of IT Digital Engagement and Infrastructure, Siemens Healthineers
- Mark Looker, Managing Director and Head of Voice & Data Network Service, Morgan Stanley
- Raleigh Mann, Senior Vice President of Technology, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
- Amo Mann, Chief Architect for Cloud and Network, Accenture
- Chema San José, Head of Data & AI Architecture – CTO Global, Santander Digital Services
- Neal Secher, Vice President, Head of Network Services, TD Bank
- Jonathan Sheldrake, Vice President of IT – Infrastructure & Services, Burberry
- Alejandro Tozer, Independent
“The expansion of the Enterprise Leadership Council marks a pivotal moment in MEF’s evolution,” said Sunil Khandekar, Chief Enterprise Development Officer, MEF. “By amplifying the enterprise voice, we’re not only responding to current industry needs, but anticipating future ones. The ELC’s diverse expertise is already shaping MEF’s NaaS initiatives, which will drive real solutions for today’s challenges and lay the foundation for tomorrow’s innovations. This level of collaboration sets a new standard for how industry associations can lead meaningful progress.”

A first initiative for the ELC is MEF’s recently launched Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Circuit Impairment & Maintenance (CIM) Service API, designed to enable service providers to automate and standardize how network circuit impairments and scheduled maintenance are communicated to enterprises. The CIM Service API will be showcased during a live demonstration at MEF’s Global NaaS Event (GNE) this week in Dallas, highlighting how enterprises can collaborate with service providers to proactively identify and address impairments and streamline network maintenance.

As ELC-led initiatives continue to advance, MEF is attracting more enterprises eager to collaborate with technology, cloud, and service providers on MEF’s independent platform. Together, they contribute to and benefit from solutions that address critical needs in cloud, network, and cybersecurity infrastructure, accelerating digital transformation across sectors.

Learn More
Enterprises interested in joining MEF and contributing to projects that directly address their needs are encouraged to visit www.mef.net for more information on membership and engagement opportunities.

About MEF
MEF is a global consortium of service, cloud, cybersecurity, and technology providers collaborating to accelerate enterprise digital transformation. It delivers standards-based frameworks, services, technologies, APIs, and certification programs to enable Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) across an automated ecosystem. MEF is the defining authority for certified Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) business and operational APIs and Carrier Ethernet, SASE, SD-WAN, Zero Trust, and Security Service Edge (SSE) technologies and services. MEF’s Global NaaS Event (GNE) convenes industry leaders building and delivering the next generation of NaaS solutions. For more information about MEF, visit MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Melissa Power
MEF
pr@mef.net

The MIL Network –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: SBA Stands Ready to Assist Havasupai Tribe Businesses and Residents Affected by the Flooding

Source: United States Small Business Administration

“As communities across the Southeast continue to recover and rebuild after Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the SBA remains focused on its mission to provide support to small businesses to help stabilize local economies, even in the face of diminished disaster funding,” said Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman. “If your business has sustained physical damage, or you’ve lost inventory, equipment or revenues, the SBA will help you navigate the resources available and work with you at our recovery centers or with our customer service specialists in person and online so you can fully submit your disaster loan application and be ready to receive financial relief as soon as funds are replenished.”

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Low-interest federal disaster loans are now available to Havasupai Tribe businesses and residents as a result of President Biden’s major disaster declaration, U.S. Small Business Administration’s Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman announced.

The declaration covers the Havasupai Tribe as a result of the flooding that occurred Aug. 22-23.

Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets.

For small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations of any size, SBA offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by the disaster. Economic injury assistance is available to businesses regardless of any property damage.

“SBA’s disaster loan program offers an important advantage–the chance to incorporate measures that can reduce the risk of future damage,” said Francisco Sánchez, Jr., associate administrator for the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience at the Small Business Administration. “Work with contractors and mitigation professionals to strengthen your property and take advantage of the opportunity to request additional SBA disaster loan funds for these proactive improvements.”

Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles.

Interest rates can be as low as 4 percent for businesses, 3.25 percent for private nonprofit organizations and 2.813 percent for homeowners and renters with terms up to 30 years. Loan amounts and terms are set by SBA and are based on each applicant’s financial condition.

Interest does not begin to accrue until 12 months from the date of the first disaster loan disbursement. SBA disaster loan repayment begins 12 months from the date of the first disbursement.

On October 15, 2024, it was announced that funds for the Disaster Loan Program have been fully expended. While no new loans can be issued until Congress appropriates additional funding, we remain committed to supporting disaster survivors. Applications will continue to be accepted and processed to ensure individuals and businesses are prepared to receive assistance once funding becomes available.

Applicants are encouraged to submit their loan applications promptly for review in anticipation of future funding.

As soon as Federal-State Disaster Recovery Centers open throughout the affected area, SBA will provide one-on-one assistance to disaster loan applicants. Additional information and details on the location of disaster recovery centers is available by calling the SBA Customer Service Center at (800) 659-2955.

###

About the U.S. Small Business Administration

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

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI Economics: New Azure OpenAI Service updates enable companies to deploy and optimize AI models at scale

Source: Microsoft

Headline: New Azure OpenAI Service updates enable companies to deploy and optimize AI models at scale

With the new enhancements to Azure OpenAI Service Provisioned offering, we are taking a big step forward in making AI accessible and enterprise-ready.

In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, enterprises need more than just powerful AI models—they need AI solutions that are adaptable, reliable, and scalable. With upcoming availability of Data Zones and new enhancements to Provisioned offering in Azure OpenAI Service, we are taking a big step forward in making AI broadly available and also enterprise-ready. These features represent a fundamental shift in how organizations can deploy, manage, and optimize generative AI models.

With the launch of Azure OpenAI Service Data Zones in the European Union and the United States, enterprises can now scale their AI workloads with even greater ease while maintaining compliance with regional data residency requirements. Historically, variances in model-region availability forced customers to manage multiple resources, often slowing down development and complicating operations. Azure OpenAI Service Data Zones can remove that friction by offering flexible, multi-regional data processing while ensuring data is processed and stored within the selected data boundary.

This is a compliance win which also allows businesses to seamlessly scale their AI operations across regions, optimizing for both performance and reliability without having to navigate the complexities of managing traffic across disparate systems.

Leya, a tech startup building genAI platform for legal professionals, has been exploring Data Zones deployment option.

“Azure OpenAI Service Data Zones deployment option offers Leya a cost-efficient way to securely scale AI applications to thousands of lawyers, ensuring compliance and top performance. It helps us achieve better customer quality and control, with rapid access to the latest Azure OpenAI innovations.“—Sigge Labor, CTO, Leya

Data Zones will be available for both Standard (PayGo) and Provisioned offerings, starting this week on November 1, 2024.

Industry leading performance

Enterprises depend on predictability, especially when deploying mission-critical applications. That’s why we’re introducing a 99% latency service level agreement for token generation. This latency SLA ensures that tokens are generated at a faster and more consistent speeds, especially at high volumes

The Provisioned offer provides predictable performance for your application. Whether you’re in e-commerce, healthcare, or financial services, the ability to depend on low-latency and high-reliability AI infrastructure translates directly to better customer experiences and more efficient operations.

Lowering the cost of getting started

To make it easier to test, scale, and manage, we are reducing hourly pricing for Provisioned Global and Provisioned Data Zone deployments starting November 1, 2024. This reduction in cost ensures that our customers can benefit from these new features without the burden of high expenses. Provisioned offering continues to offer discounts for monthly and annual commitments.

Deployment option	Hourly PTU	One month reservation per PTU	One year reservation per PTU
Provisioned Global	Current: $2.00 per hour November 1, 2024: $1.00 per hour	$260 per month	$221 per month
Provisioned Data Zone^New	November 1, 2024: $1.10 per hour	$260 per month	$221 per month

We are also reducing deployment minimum entry points for Provisioned Global deployment by 70% and scaling increments by up to 90%, lowering the barrier for businesses to get started with Provisioned offering earlier in their development lifecycle.

Deployment quantity minimums and increments for Provisioned offering

Model	Global	Data Zone ^New	Regional
GPT-4o	Min: 50 15 Increment 50 5	Min: 15 Increment 5	Min: 50 Increment 50
GPT-4o-mini	Min: 25 15 Increment: 25 5	Min: 15 Increment 5	Min: 25 Increment: 25

For developers and IT teams, this means faster time-to-deployment and less friction when transitioning from Standard to Provisioned offering. As businesses grow, these simple transitions become vital to maintaining agility while scaling AI applications globally.

Efficiency through caching: A game-changer for high-volume applications

Another new feature is Prompt Caching, which offers cheaper and faster inference for repetitive API requests. Cached tokens are 50% off for Standard. For applications that frequently send the same system prompts and instructions, this improvement provides a significant cost and performance advantage.

By caching prompts, organizations can maximize their throughput without needing to reprocess identical requests repeatedly, all while reducing costs. This is particularly beneficial for high-traffic environments, where even slight performance boosts can translate into tangible business gains.

A new era of model flexibility and performance

One of the key benefits of the Provisioned offering is that it is flexible, with one simple hourly, monthly, and yearly price that applies to all available models. We’ve also heard your feedback that it is difficult to understand how many tokens per minute (TPM) you get for each model on Provisioned deployments. We now provide a simplified view of the number of input and output tokens per minute for each Provisioned deployment. Customers no longer need to rely on detailed conversion tables or calculators.

We are maintaining the flexibility that customers love with the Provisioned offering. With monthly and annual commitments you can still change the model and version—like GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini—within the reservation period without losing any discount. This agility allows businesses to experiment, iterate, and evolve their AI deployments without incurring unnecessary costs or having to restructure their infrastructure.

Enterprise readiness in action

Azure OpenAI’s continuous innovations aren’t just theoretical; they’re already delivering results in various industries. For instance, companies like AT&T, H&R Block, Mercedes, and more are using Azure OpenAI Service not just as a tool, but as a transformational asset that reshapes how they operate and engage with customers.

Beyond models: The enterprise-grade promise

It’s clear that the future of AI is about much more than just offering the latest models. While powerful models like GPT-4o and GPT-4o-mini provide the foundation, it’s the supporting infrastructure—such as Provisioned offering, Data Zones deployment option, SLAs, caching, and simplified deployment flows—that truly make Azure OpenAI Service enterprise-ready.

Microsoft’s vision is to provide not only cutting-edge AI models but also the enterprise-grade tools and support that allow businesses to scale these models confidently, securely, and cost-effectively. From enabling low-latency, high-reliability deployments to offering flexible and simplified infrastructure, Azure OpenAI Service empowers enterprises to fully embrace the future of AI-driven innovation.

Get started today

As the AI landscape continues to evolve, the need for scalable, flexible, and reliable AI solutions becomes even more critical for enterprise success. With the latest enhancements to Azure OpenAI Service, Microsoft is delivering on that promise—giving customers not just access to world-class AI models, but the tools and infrastructure to operationalize them at scale.

Now is the time for businesses to unlock the full potential of generative AI with Azure, moving beyond experimentation into real-world, enterprise-grade applications that drive measurable outcomes. Whether you’re scaling a virtual assistant, developing real-time voice applications, or transforming customer service with AI, Azure OpenAI Service provides the enterprise-ready platform you need to innovate and grow.

Start today with Azure OpenAI Service

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Welsh Secretary sees plans for a new clean energy hub
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
English

Cymraeg

The Secretary of State for Wales has visited Associated British Ports and Dow in Barry as part of the UK Government’s mission to deliver economic growth.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens at ABP Barry.

The Secretary of State for Wales has visited two major employers in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan as part of the UK Government’s mission to deliver economic growth.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens was given a tour of the Port of Barry and heard about Associated British Ports (ABP) and px Group’s plan for a Clean Growth Hub which aims to establish a cutting-edge facility where businesses can attract direct investment and create jobs.

The plan aims to transform a large area of the operational port into an area of green, high-growth infrastructure investment. It is designed to attract companies involved in innovative industries such as battery materials, rare earth metal processing and green energy manufacturing.

Earlier the same day the Welsh Secretary also visited Dow, a material sciences company, based on Cardiff Road, Barry. The site manufactures silicones for use in automotive, aerospace, energy infrastructure, construction and other industries across the UK and Europe. It employs more than 600 people with the majority living in the Vale of Glamorgan, as well as partnering with hundreds of suppliers – many based in and around Barry and South Wales.

The Welsh Secretary heard about how Dow contributes to the growth of the regional economy and about the company’s plans for the future.

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said:

My number one mission is to deliver investment and jobs to Wales so it was fantastic to hear about the Port of Barry’s exciting plans for the Clean Energy Hub which will attract business and investors while helping achieve our mission of making Britain a clean energy superpower.

We want to work in partnership with business to drive growth, opportunity and prosperity, so it was also great to spend time at Dow and see the work that they do to realise these ambitions in South Wales.

Ralph Windeatt, ABP Group Head of Business Development, said:

I was delighted to welcome the Secretary of State for Wales to our Port of Barry to discuss our plans for a Clean Growth Hub.

Associated British Ports’ five ports in South Wales are already becoming hubs at the heart of the green energy transition. With our partners px Group, we want to transform the Port of Barry to expand low-carbon, high-growth infrastructure investment. These plans will build on the low-carbon infrastructure we already have in place, including solar and wind power and green hydrogen production with our partners at EDF Hynamics and ESB International.

Our plans for a Clean Growth Hub will create jobs, mobilise inward investment and boost local prosperity and opportunity.

Andrew Laney, Senior Site Manufacturing Director at Dow, Barry said:

Dow is a business that plays a key role in South Wales, both socially and economically. The silicones we manufacture for so many industrial sectors across Wales, UK and Europe are proudly ‘Made in Barry’.

We were pleased to show the Secretary of State the operations on site and discuss how South Wales manufacturing can be well-recognised in the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy consultation.

ENDS

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Published 29 October 2024
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Councillors asked to endorse new ‘social contract’ to eradicate poverty
Source: Scotland – City of Perth

Despite being a relatively affluent area, Perth and Kinross has around 30,000 people living below the poverty line, with approximately 27,200 in deep or very deep poverty.

Tackling poverty is one of the Council’s main priorities and the local authority helped establish the Anti-Poverty Taskforce jointly chaired by the Chief Executives of PKAVS and Giraffe to address poverty across Perth and Kinross. The Taskforce brings together a range of partners, including the Council, to work together on addressing poverty.

Councillors will also discuss the sixth Annual Child Poverty Action report, which reveals there are still 5,750 children living in poverty in Perth and Kinross and sets out the actions that are being taken to reduce this number.

Council leader Councillor Grant Laing said: “Many people view Perth and Kinross as an affluent area but the truth is poverty is a real and growing problem for many of our residents.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis have both contributed to a situation that requires dedicated and co-ordinated action to solve.

“For those living in poverty every day is a struggle and things that are an inconvenience to many of us – an unexpected bill or a spell of cold weather – can lead to a crisis for those on or close to the breadline. It is vitally important we support those people who find themselves in poverty.

“Those living in rural areas, as many do in Perth and Kinross, also face additional challenges regarding employment, housing, transport and more.”

Councillor Laing added: “The actions we are taking are showing results – there are now around 200 fewer children living in poverty now than there were last year. But that still leaves nearly 6,000 in poverty.”

The social contract sets out four key principles that will guide the Council, and its partners, as they strive to lift residents out of poverty.

These are:
- No one should be in deep poverty:
- Those unable to work should not be in poverty:
- People should try to increase their earnings:
- Low earners should not be in poverty: Commitment to Collaboration:
As part of these efforts, the Council is being asked to renew its commitment to collaborating with community partners, the third sector, and local communities to secure extra resources and support for those in deep poverty and provide addition resources for those unable to work due to health, disability or caregiving responsibilities.

It is also being asked to support job seekers and those wanting to work more hours and help those on low incomes to achieve a better standard of living.

Shaheena Din, joint chair of the Anti-Poverty Taskforce said: “Change happens when we come together.

“By working as one, we can make a real difference in lifting people out of poverty, because no one person or organisation can tackle this challenge alone.”

She added the Anti-Poverty Taskforce supports a range of people who are struggling to make ends meet. These include:
- People facing ongoing hardship: Those on low incomes, whether they are receiving benefits or not, and may not be getting the support they’re entitled to.
- People in deep poverty: Including single individuals without children, people from ethnic minorities, and households where someone has a disability.
- Those on or just below the poverty line: those struggling to make ends meet.
- People just getting by: managing on their own but often have little or no money left at the end of the month.
- Asset rich but cash poor: Homeowners with limited savings and financial assets that are hard to access and facing hardship.
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia Celebrates EPA Grant for Port Houston’s PORT SHIFT Initiative
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29)

Houston, TX – Congresswoman Sylvia R. Garcia (D-TX-29) announced today that Port Houston’s innovative PORT SHIFT program has been selected to receive $2,983,457 in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program. This grant, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, is a critical investment in cleaner air, reduced emissions, and green job opportunities for the region.

“I’m thrilled that Port Houston has been chosen for this Environmental Protection Agency grant, which will bring real, lasting benefits for our environment, economy, and the health of all families in the region. With its ambitious PORT SHIFT program, Houston is taking a bold step toward a cleaner, more sustainable future, and I’m proud to have helped make this possible by voting for the Inflation Reduction Act,” said Congresswoman Garcia.

“PORT SHIFT is about more than moving cargo—it’s about building a port that’s prepared for the future and a community that’s healthier and stronger. With investments in zero-emission trucks, cleaner cargo handling, workforce training, and community engagement, Port Houston is setting the standard for what ports across America can accomplish. The Inflation Reduction Act is already paying off for the greater Houston region, and I’m excited to see Houston lead the charge toward a sustainable, greener future that benefits all,” concluded Congresswoman Garcia.

“Port Houston is vital to our local, state, and national economy. This funding from the Environmental Protection Agency will support moving towards a more sustainable way of conducting port operations through the deployment of new zero-emission technology and ensure shore power readiness at all seven wharves at the Bayport Container Terminal,” said Houston City Council Member Joaquin Martinez.

“More importantly, near port communities will benefit from the grant’s plan to focus on climate and air quality planning. I’m grateful to Congresswoman Garcia for her leadership in securing this funding from the EPA and look forward to our continued partnership towards achieving carbon neutrality by 2050,” concluded Martinez.

The grant funding announced today will support climate and air quality efforts at Port Houston, including:
- Emissions inventory
- Emissions reduction strategy analysis including truck route analysis, infrastructure cost assessment, climate action planning, and developing a performance measurement framework
- Stakeholder collaboration with communities, trucking industry, and workforce
- Resiliency planning
Congresswoman Garcia in May led a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan alongside her colleagues, urging support for Port Houston’s grant applications. The letter emphasized how PORT SHIFT’s climate and zero-emission technology initiatives would transform the freight sector, reduce diesel pollution, and engage and empower nearby communities, particularly low-income and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated $3 billion to the EPA’s Clean Ports Program to fund zero-emission port equipment and climate planning at U.S. ports. This program aims to build a zero-emissions foundation across the port sector, improve public health, and set a new standard for environmental engagement in near-port communities.

MIL OSI USA News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Monica Pasillas Appointed IAM Grand Lodge Auditor

Source: US GOIAM Union

IAM General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes has appointed longtime IAM activist Monica Pasillas as a Grand Lodge Auditor, effective Oct. 1, 2024.

Pasillas, a 13-year IAM member, initiated into IAM Chicago Local 2339O in 2011 as an ExpressJet flight attendant. She later transferred to Newark Local 2339N. She had taken on leadership roles in both locals including conductor sentinel, recording secretary, grievance representative and secretary-treasurer. In these capacities, she effectively advocated for the needs of members, played an integral role in ensuring their rights were upheld, participated in organizing and strike campaigns, and served on the Aviation Safety Action Program (ASAP) Event Review Committee.

“Monica is as well-rounded an IAM activist as we have in our organization,” said IAM General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes. “She has a tireless commitment to serving our membership, and will be a huge help in ensuring the safe stewardship of our membership’s resources.”

Pasillas, a fluent Spanish speaker with proficiency in French, expanded her leadership skills with her involvement in the Spanish Leadership at the IAM’s Winpsinger Center, where she helped promote education and support for Spanish-speaking members.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Monica into her role as a Grand Lodge Auditor,” said Paul Kendall, IAM Assistant Secretary to the General Secretary-Treasurer. “Our Grand Lodge Auditing Team continues to adapt to the needs of our membership and assist every local across North America.”

In 2018, Pasillas transitioned to the National IAM Benefit Trust Fund (BTF) as an education representative, gaining valuable insights into the health and welfare needs of the participants. The following year, she joined the General Secretary-Treasurer’s Office as an administrative staff secretary, where she has held key roles in the Central Files Department, Pension Department, and currently, the Auditing Department.

“Monica brings a unique skill set and experience level to her new role as a Grand Lodge Auditor,” said Bryan Pinette, IAM Special Assistant to the General Secretary-Treasurer. “Our members will continue to be well-served by her determination to defend and protect our organization and the causes we care about.”

Pasillas holds a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences with a concentration in commercial French studies and supporting coursework in finance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a first-generation Mexican American growing up in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Pasillas developed a strong sense of community and resilience. With a focus on empowering others by providing them with the resources and tools they need to thrive in their roles, she will continue to champion the voices of those like her, ensuring a bright future for all.

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MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NASA Group Amplifies Voices of Employees with Disabilities

Source: NASA

Kathy Clark started her career at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland straight out of high school, and when offered either a job as an accountant or a job in training, the choice was crystal clear.
“I started in training, I’ve stayed in training, and I’ll probably retire in training,” said Clark, now a human resources specialist and program manager of NASA Glenn’s mentoring program, Shaping Professionals and Relating Knowledge (SPARK). “I just love people.”
Celebrating 41 years at NASA this October, Clark has long been an advocate for employees. For over 12 years, she served as chair of the center’s Disability Awareness Advisory Group (DAAG), which works to help provide individuals with disabilities equal opportunities in all aspects of employment. The group also strives to identify and eliminate workplace barriers, raise awareness, and ensure accessible facilities.
After recently stepping down, Clark reflects on her legacy of creating change with the group and looks to the next generation of leadership, including longtime member and new chair Ryan D. Brown, to continue its important mission.
“Don’t Let a Disability Stop You”
Clark joined DAAG around 12 years into her career, after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She was later asked to serve as chair after she helped bring a traveling mural to the center that showcased Ohio artists with disabilities.
During Clark’s time as chair, the group helped secure reserved parking spaces for employees with disabilities, instead of just relying on a first-come first-serve system for accessible spots. She recalls DAAG championing other facility issues, such as fixing a broken elevator and faulty door that presented challenges for folks with disabilities. The group has also worked with human resources to compile best practices for interviews, hosted various speakers, and offered a space for members to share about their disabilities.
“I was honored to be the chair and just be there for the people and to try to make a difference, to let them know, if you need something, reach out,” Clark said. “Don’t let a disability stop you.”

Kathy clark

“Let’s Go Above and Beyond”
When it was time to choose Clark’s successor, she said, another supportive and vocal member stood out: Brown.
Thanks to an Ohio program for individuals with disabilities, Brown was placed at NASA as an intern in 2006, later completing a co-op that led to a full-time accounting position at the center, where he now works as a lead in the financial systems branch.
More than one in four adults in the United States have some type of disability, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and some are not always easy to see, Brown says. For instance, Brown has an invisible disability: a learning disability related to reading and writing. After connecting with a coworker early in his career who was a member of DAAG, Brown reached out to Clark to join.
“Everyone has their challenges, regardless of if you have a disability or not, so making people comfortable talking about it and bringing it up is always good,” he said. “I think I’ve always liked speaking up for individuals and trying to spread that awareness, which has been great with DAAG.”
Now the chair, Brown has supported the group in developing a job aid to help employees understand how to self-identify as having a disability. They’ve also recently organized awareness events to help other employees understand the experiences and challenges of individuals with disabilities.
DAAG also continues to champion facility updates. For example, the group is currently working to get automatic door openers installed for bathrooms in buildings at the center where many employees gather.
“Let’s try to go above and beyond and really make it easier on individuals,” Brown said.

ryan D. brown

“Make a Difference”
Membership in the group is growing, and Clark looks forward to its future.
“I could not have turned over the chair role to a better person than Ryan,” she said.
Brown’s vision is to continue spreading the word that the group is available as a resource for employees, and for others throughout the center to be more aware of the experiences of individuals with disabilities. The work he does to help others inspires him every day, he says.
“We’re here for individuals that don’t want to speak up, we’re here for individuals if they run into issues – they can always contact us,” Brown said. “It’s all about getting up there and trying to make a difference.”

MIL OSI USA News –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Trade finance resilience and low credit risk persist amid global challenges, confirms ICC

Source: International Chamber of Commerce

Headline: Trade finance resilience and low credit risk persist amid global challenges, confirms ICC

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), along with partners Global Credit Data (GCD) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has released its 2024 Trade Register Report, reaffirming the resilience of trade finance instruments and the continued low credit risk across products despite ongoing geopolitical and economic challenges .

The 2024 report confirms that trade, supply chain and export finance continue to exhibit low risk, with default rates remaining low across all regions and asset classes overall. When defaults do occur, they are generally idiosyncratic, stemming from well-known commercial, geopolitical or macroeconomic factors. As global trade faces ongoing geopolitical and economic pressures, these financial products continue to serve as vital tools for mitigating risk and maintaining liquidity, supporting the stability of trade flows.

The ICC Trade Register remains the leading, authoritative global source on credit risk and broader market dynamics in trade and supply chain finance. Its data set represents nearly a quarter of all global trade finance transactions. This 2024 edition includes extended market insights and data on global trade and trade finance. New features include insights from ICC and BCG’s practitioner survey on key trends and opportunities in trade and supply chain finance as well as a comprehensive data pack with analysis on credit risk in trade finance, available for member banks or for separate purchase through ICC.

This year, ICC and GCD demonstrated the value of high-quality, representative data in shaping trade finance regulations through their contributions to emerging regulation on Basel III capital treatment. Krishan Ramadurai, outgoing Chair of the ICC Trade Register Project, encourages more banks to participate in the project and says that more data will only reinforce the point that trade finance is a low default asset class.

The ICC Trade Register continues to look beyond credit risk, with detailed analysis on market trends and competitive dynamics across the trade and supply chain finance market.

Ravi Hanspal, Partner at BCG, said:

“Despite ongoing headwinds, we are seeing the trade and supply chain finance market continue to evolve rapidly. Banks are observing that customers are now prioritising leading service and digital capabilities more than ever, driving a step-change in investment by banks in technology to accelerate seamless trade.”

Marilyn Blattner-Hoyle, Global Head of Trade Finance and Working Capital Solutions at Swiss Reinsurance Company, said:

“ICC’s Trade Register and its deep data over many cycles is perhaps the most critical publication in the trade industry. The Register’s role in sharing quantitative and qualitative statistics underpins the power of trade as well as the stability of trade-related credit risks. It helps us to get comfortable insuring more trade with our bank clients, thus making trade and the world more resilient together. We use the Register in our actuarial assessments as well as our internal/external advocacy. We are proud to be the first insurance sponsor of the publication, affirming the important role of insurance in the global trade ecosystem.”

Christian Hausherr, Product Manager for SCF at Deutsche Bank and member of ICC Trade Register Steering Committee, said:

“In its thirteenth year after being established, the ICC Trade Register proves its relevance and importance to the trade finance community. Since then, the data approach as well as the scope of the Trade Register have been materially enhanced by the team managing the publication process on an annual basis. As of today, the Trade Register offers unique insights not only into trade finance risk, but also provides valuable macro-economic insights to its readers.”

ICC Policy Manager Tomasch Kubiak thanks member banks for their ongoing contributions.

“ICC is very appreciative of all the efforts member banks are putting in yet again for an enhanced version of the ICC Trade Register. This year’s project provides a full insight into meaningful trends in global trade finance as well as complete data collected from our members, which is now available on demand,”

he said.

Read or purchase the full ICC Trade Register Report.

MIL OSI Economics –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: WARNER, KAINE, AND SCOTT APPLAUD $380 MILLION IN INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDING FOR PORT OF VIRGINIA
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Bobby Scott (3rd District of Virginia)

Headline: WARNER, KAINE, AND SCOTT APPLAUD $380 MILLION IN INFLATION REDUCTION ACT FUNDING FOR PORT OF VIRGINIA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) and U.S. Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA-03) announced $380,000,000 in federal funding for the Port of Virginia to accelerate its plan to become carbon-neutral by 2040. Warner, Kaine, and Scott advocated for this funding and sent a letter of support for this grant. The funding was awarded through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program, which was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act that the members helped pass.

“The Port of Virginia is one of the largest and busiest ports on the eastern seaboard, and it’s critical to Virginia’s economy and offshore wind industry. As the Port of Virginia continues to grow thanks to investments we’re making, we must also ensure we’re reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which result in negative health and environmental impacts for our communities,” said the lawmakers. “That’s why we’re thrilled that this federal funding, which was made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act we supported, will accelerate the Port’s efforts to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and further cement Virginia’s place as a leader in clean energy.”

The Inflation Reduction Act made historic investments to support clean energy projects. It included clean energy tax credits that have incentivized a series of corporate investments in Virginia, including:
- A $681 million investment by LS GreenLink to build a state-of-the-art facility to manufacture high-voltage subsea cables used for offshore wind farms in Chesapeake, which will create over 330 jobs in Virginia.
- An investment of over $400 million by Topsoe to build a new manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, which will create at least 150 new jobs in Virginia.
- An investment of $208 million by Mack and Volvo Trucks—in addition to a federal grant award of over $208 million for the company—to sustain 7,900 union jobs and create 295 new jobs in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Volvo Trucks is the second largest employer in the New River Valley, sustaining 3,600 jobs in Dublin, including 3,200 United Automobile Workers (UAW) jobs. In September 2024, Warner and Kaine visited Volvo’s New River Valley plant to celebrate the investment.
Today’s announcement builds on other transformational investments made to the Port of Virginia by the Biden-Harris administration with the backing of Warner, Kaine, and Scott. That includes $225.4 million to fully fund the Norfolk Harbor Deepening and Widening Project, which will improve navigation and expand capacity by deepening and widening Norfolk Harbor’s shipping channels, allowing for two-way traffic in and out of the harbor. Of this amount, $141.7 million was made available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and $83.7 million was provided through the Fiscal Year 2022 omnibus appropriations bill.

The Port also previously received $20 million in federal funding from the Department of Transportation for improvements to Portsmouth Marine Terminal that will allow it to serve as a staging area to support the manufacturing and movement of offshore wind goods to support the 2.6 gigawatt Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project and other commercial offshore wind projects up-and-down the East Coast. Warner, Kaine, and Scott led a Virginia Congressional Delegation letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in support of the Port’s application for that funding.

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MIL OSI USA News –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Climate change is making it harder for people to get the care they need

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Maria S. Floro, Professor Emerita of Economics, American University

The world is witnessing the consequences of climate change: long-lasting changes in temperature and rainfall, and more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, flooding and drought. All make it harder for families and communities to meet their care needs.

Climate change affects care systems in various ways. First, sudden illnesses and unexpected disabilities heighten the need for care. Second, it reduces access to important inputs for care such as water, food and safe shelter. Third, it can damage physical and social care infrastructures.

It can also lead to breakdowns of traditional units of caregiving such as households and communities. And it creates new situations of need with the increase in displaced person settlements and refugee camps.

Climate change creates sudden spikes in the demand for care, and serious challenges to meeting the growing need for care. All this has immediate and long lasting effects on human well-being.

The size of the current unmet care needs throughout the world is substantial. In childcare alone, about 23% of children worldwide – nearly 350 million – need childcare but do not have it. Families in low- and lower-middle-income countries are the most in need.

Similarly, as the world’s population ages rapidly, only a small proportion of the elderly who need assistance are able to use formal care (in an institution or paid homecare). Most are cared for by family members or other unpaid caregivers. Much of this unpaid care and formal care work is provided by women and girls.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world struggle to get healthcare. Expansion of access to essential health services has slowed compared to pre-2015 . And healthcare costs still create financial hardship.

Without comprehensive public and global support for care provision and the integration of care in the climate agenda, unmet care needs will only grow and inequalities will widen.

Impact

Climate change interacts with human health in complex ways. Its impact is highly uneven across populations. It depends on geographical region, income, education, gender roles, social norms, level of development, and the institutional capacity and accessibility of health systems.

In 2018-22, Africa experienced the biggest increase in the heat-related mortality rate since 2000-05. This is not surprising as the continent has more frequent health-threatening temperatures than ever before and a growing population of people older than 65.

Africa is also the region most affected by droughts in 2013-22, with 64% of its land area affected by at least one month of extreme drought per year on average. It was followed by Oceania (55% of its land area) and South and Central America (53%).

Scientific evidence also points to increases in health inequalities caused by climate change. The health effects of climate change are not uniformly felt by different population groups.

Exposure, severity of impact, and ability of individuals to recover depend on a variety of factors. Physiological characteristics, income, education, type of occupation, location, social norms and health systems are some of them.

For example, older people and young children face the greatest health risks from high temperatures.

There is also evidence of the disproportionate effect of climate change on the health of people living in poverty and those who belong to disadvantaged groups.

Women of lower social and economic status and with less education are more vulnerable to heat stress compared to women in wealthier households and with higher education or social status. They are exposed to pollution in the absence of clean cooking fuel, and to extreme heat as they walk to gather water and fuel, or do other work outdoors.

Bad sanitation in poor urban areas increases the incidence of water-borne diseases after heavy rains and floods.

Lack of access to healthcare services and the means to pay for medicines make it difficult for women and men in low-income households to recover from illness, heat strokes, and air pollution-related ailments.

Mental health problems are being attributed to climate change as well. Studies show that the loss of family or kin member, home, livelihood and a safe environment can bring about direct emotional impacts.

These adverse impacts increase the demand for caregiving and the care workload. Climate-induced health problems force family and community caregivers, particularly women, to spend more time looking after the sick and disabled, particularly frail elderly people and children.

Effect on food and water

Climate change threatens the availability of food, clean water and safe shelter. It erodes households’ and communities’ care capacity and hence societies’ ability to thrive.

Fluctuations in food supply and rising food prices as a result of environmental disasters, along with the inadequacy of government policies, underscore the mounting challenge of meeting food needs.

The threat of chronic shortage of safe drinking water has also risen. Water scarcity is an area where structural inequalities and gender disparities are laid bare.

Care for the sick and disabled, the young and the elderly is compromised when water is scarce.

Effects on providing care

Extreme weather events disrupt physical care infrastructures. It may be hard to reach hospitals, clinics, daycare centres, nursery schools and nursing homes. Some facilities may be damaged and have to close.

Another type of care system that can break down is family networks and support provided by friends and neighbours. These informal care sharing arrangements are illustrated in a study of the three large informal settlements in Nairobi.

About half (50.5%) of the sampled households reported having had a sick member in the two weeks before the survey. The majority relied on close friends and family members living nearby for care and support.

Studies have shown that climate change eventually leads to livelihood loss and resource scarcity, which can weaken social cohesion and local safety nets in affected communities.

Heightened risks and uncertainty and imminent changes in socio-economic and political conditions can also compel individuals or entire households to migrate. Migration is caused by a host of factors, but it has increasingly been a climate-related response.

The World Bank’s Groundswell Report released in 2018, for example, projected that climate change could force 216 million people to move within their countries by 2050 to avoid the slow-onset impacts of climate change.

A possible consequence of migration is the withdrawal of care support provided by the migrating extended kin, neighbours or friends, increasing the caregiving load of people left behind.

In the case of forced displacements, the traditional social networks existing in communities are disrupted entirely.

What’s needed

There are compelling reasons to believe that meeting care needs can also help mitigate the effects of climate change. And actions to meet carbon-zero goals, prevent biodiversity loss and regenerate ecosystems can reduce the care work burden that falls heavily on families, communities and women.

Any effort to tackle these grave problems should be comprehensive in scope and must be based on principles of equality, universality, and responsibility shared by all.

This article is part of a series of articles initiated through a project led by the Southern Centre for Inequality studies, in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre and a group of feminist economists and climate scientists across the world.

– Climate change is making it harder for people to get the care they need
– https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-it-harder-for-people-to-get-the-care-they-need-240557

MIL OSI Africa –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Africa: Brics+ could shape a new world order, but it lacks shared values and a unified identity
Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, Professor of International and Diplomacy Studies, Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, University of South Africa

The last two summits of Brics countries have raised questions about the coalition’s identity and purpose. This began to come into focus at the summit hosted by South Africa in 2023, and more acutely at the recent 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia.

At both events the alliance undertook to expand its membership. In 2023, the first five Brics members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – invited Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to join. All bar Saudi Arabia have now done so. The 2024 summit pledged to admit 13 more, perhaps as associates or “partner countries”.

On paper, the nine-member Brics+ strikes a powerful pose. It has a combined population of about 3.5 billion, or 45% of the world’s people. Combined, its economies are worth more than US$28.5 trillion – about 28% of the global economy. With Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE as members, Brics+ produces about 44% of the world’s crude oil.

Based on my research and policy advice to African foreign policy decision-makers, I would argue that there are three possible interpretations of the purpose of Brics+.
- A club of self-interested members – a kind of global south cooperative. What I’d label as a self-help organisation.
- A reforming bloc with a more ambitious goal of improving the workings of the current global order.
- A disrupter, preparing to replace the western-dominated liberal world order.
Analysing the commitments that were made at the meeting in Russia, I would argue that Brics+ sees itself more as a self-interested reformer. It represents the thinking among global south leaders about the nature of global order, and the possibilities of shaping a new order. This, as the world moves away from the financially dominant, yet declining western order (in terms of moral influence) led by the US. The move is to a multipolar order in which the east plays a leading role.

Read more: Russia’s Brics summit shows determination for a new world order – but internal rifts will buy the west some time

However, the ability of Brics+ to exploit such possibilities is constrained by its make-up and internal inconsistencies. These include a contested identity, incongruous values and lack of resources to convert political commitments into actionable plans.

Summit outcomes

The trend towards closer trade and financial cooperation and coordination stands out as a major achievement of the Kazan summit. Other achievements pertain to global governance and counter-terrorism.

When it comes to trade and finance, the final communiqué said the following had been agreed:
- adoption of local currencies in trade and financial transactions. The Kazan Declaration notes the benefits of faster, low cost, more efficient, transparent, safe and inclusive cross-border payment instruments. The guiding principle would be minimal trade barriers and non-discriminatory access.
- establishment of a cross-border payment system. The declaration encourages correspondent banking networks within Brics, and enabling settlements in local currencies in line with the Brics Cross-Border Payments Initiative. This is voluntary and nonbinding and is to be discussed further.
- creation of an enhanced roles for the New Development Bank, such as promoting infrastructure and sustainable development.
- a proposed Brics Grain Exchange, to improve food security through enhanced trade in agricultural commodities.
All nine Brics+ countries committed themselves to the principles of the UN Charter – peace and security, human rights, the rule of law, and development – primarily as a response to the western unilateral sanctions.

Read more: South Africa walks a tightrope of international alliances – it needs Russia, China and the west

The summit emphasised that dialogue and diplomacy should prevail over conflict in, among other places, the Middle East, Sudan, Haiti and Afghanistan.

Faultlines and tensions

Despite the positive tone of the Kazan declaration, there are serious structural fault lines and tensions inherent in the architecture and behaviour of Brics+. These might limit its ambitions to be a meaningful change agent.

The members don’t even agree on the definition of Brics+. President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa calls it a platform. Others talk of a group (Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi) or a family (Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jianan).

So what could it be?

Brics+ is state-driven – with civil society on the margins. It reminds one of the African Union, which pays lip service to citizens’ engagement in decision-making.

One possibility is that it will evolve into an intergovernmental organisation with a constitution that sets up its agencies, functions and purposes. Examples include the World Health Organization, the African Development Bank and the UN general assembly.

But it would need to cohere around shared values. What would they be?

Critics point out that Brics+ consists of democracies (South Africa, Brazil, India), a theocracy (Iran), monarchies (UAE, Saudi Arabia) and authoritarian dictatorships (China, Russia). For South Africa this creates a domestic headache. At the Kazan summit, its president declared Russia a friend and ally. At home, its coalition partner in the government of national unity, the Democratic Alliance, declared Ukraine as a friend and ally.

Read more: When two elephants fight: how the global south uses non-alignment to avoid great power rivalries

There are also marked differences over issues such as the reform of the United Nations. For example, at the recent UN Summit of the Future the consensus was for reform of the UN security council. But will China and Russia, as permanent security council members, agree to more seats, with veto rights, on the council?

As for violent conflict, humanitarian crises, corruption and crime, there is little from the Kazan summit that suggests agreement around action.

Unity of purpose

What about shared interests? A number of Brics+ members and the partner countries maintain close trade ties with the west, which regards Russia and Iran as enemies and China as a global threat.

Some, such as India and South Africa, use the foreign policy notions of strategic ambiguity or active non-alignment to mask the reality of trading with east, west, north and south.

The harsh truth of international relations is there are no permanent friends or enemies, only permanent interests. The Brics+ alliance will most likely cohere as a global south co-operative, with an innovative self-help agenda, but be reluctant to overturn the current global order from which it desires to benefit more equitably.

Trade-offs and compromises might be necessary to ensure “unity of purpose”. It’s not clear that this loose alliance is close to being able to achieve that.

– Brics+ could shape a new world order, but it lacks shared values and a unified identity
– https://theconversation.com/brics-could-shape-a-new-world-order-but-it-lacks-shared-values-and-a-unified-identity-242308

MIL OSI Africa –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Ambitious Mobility Strategy to be considered by councillors

Source: Scotland – City of Perth

This strategy, developed with feedback from the public, will be discussed when Climate Change and Sustainability Committee meets on 23 October 2024.

The Mobility Strategy is one of three critical place-based strategies designed to shape the long-term development of Perth and Kinross, alongside the Local Housing Strategy and the Local Development Plan.

Together, these strategies are instrumental in realising the Council’s vision of “a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality.”

The Mobility Strategy outlines Perth and Kinross Council’s vision for managing and developing the transport and active travel network over the next 15 years.

It considers all modes of transport for the movement of people and goods across both rural and urban areas, addressing the impacts of emerging technologies, digital services, housing, inclusion, poverty, health, climate adaptation, economic growth, air quality, and place making.

Aligned with the priorities set out in the Scottish Government’s National Transport Strategy 2 (February 2020), the Mobility Strategy adopts four key priorities: Reducing Inequalities, Taking Climate Action, Delivering Inclusive Economic Growth, and Improving Health and Wellbeing.

These priorities are fundamental to the development and delivery of the strategy, ensuring it meets both national targets and local goals.

Councillors will also be asked to approve the next priorities for the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES) and Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) for the upcoming 12-18 months.

The Perth and Kinross LAEP envisions the area as a leading example of affordable and equitable access to sustainable energy for all residents, businesses, and organisations.

By 2045, the area aims to achieve an integrated, net-zero local energy system. Similarly, the Perth and Kinross LHEES aims to make homes and buildings more energy efficient and equipped with decarbonised heat sources, providing more affordable warmth and reduce climate impact, all contributing to achieving our goal of Net Zero by 2045.

In line with these initiatives, committee members will be asked to approve the Council’s Public Body Climate Change Duty report. The report outlines the Council’s actions and progress in addressing climate change within its own operations, with a 31% reduction in its overall emissions. The decrease is primarily attributed to improvements in waste processing and the transition from waste to energy. Additionally, there were modest reductions in emissions from on-site energy production, business travel and employee commuting.

Councillor Richard Watters, Convenor of Climate Change and Sustainability Committee said: “We are deeply grateful to the public for their active involvement and valuable feedback throughout the development of the Mobility Strategy. Their participation has been crucial in shaping a strategy that is robust, relevant, and adaptable to the diverse needs of our community.

“We also want to recognise the outstanding work made through the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES), the Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) and the Council’s own initiatives in tackling climate change. It is truly encouraging to see the Council’s substantial reduction in overall emissions, equivalent to 12.5 kilotonnes of C02, between 2022/23 and 2023/24.

“Despite facing financial challenges, we are striving forward with new priorities for the next 12 to 18 months. Together, we are paving the way for a sustainable and prosperous future for Perth and Kinross.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: NREL’s Commercial Electric Vehicle Cost-of-Ownership Tool Is Best in Class—And Free
Source: US National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Researchers from NREL have released a new version of the Transportation Technology Total Cost of Ownership tool, known as T3CO—the most sophisticated open-source commercial vehicle TCO tool available today. Photo from Toyota Motor North America

Commercial vehicle owners stand to gain a lot from the transition to zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). With lower maintenance and energy costs and the potential for generous tax credits and rebates, ZEVs can save businesses money over the long run.

Unfortunately, the math behind a transition to ZEVs gets complicated quickly. Unlike diesel vehicles, which have long provided a “one size fits most” solution for commercial fleets, ZEVs are much less standardized. Their total cost of ownership (TCO) can change based on a wide array of variables, from the size of their battery to the price of electricity and the time it takes to recharge their batteries. Fleets and manufacturers can be left wondering which vehicle is the right fit for their operations—and how much it really costs.

Now, researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have released a new version of the Transportation Technology Total Cost of Ownership tool, known as T3CO—the most sophisticated open-source commercial vehicle TCO tool available today.

T3CO enables fast analyses that can provide comprehensive insights into the life-cycle costs of decarbonized vehicles, from upfront investments and operating costs to the opportunity costs that can be presented by zero-emissions commercial vehicles. As fleets worldwide accelerate their transitions to electric vehicles, T3CO is ready to guide cost-effective purchasing decisions.

“I believe in realism,” said Alicia Birky, an NREL commercial vehicles researcher who led the tool’s most recent developments. “When researchers, manufacturers, and fleet owners are making decisions about what vehicles to invest in, they need a total cost of ownership analysis with a level of detail that hasn’t been possible in the past.”

T3CO, Birky said, “is our way of giving researchers and other decision makers the best possible tools for understanding how to meet a fleet’s needs with new vehicle powertrains and what trade-offs they might see with different technologies.”

T3CO Is Fast, Accessible, and Free

While T3CO has been in use at NREL for more than 15 years, a rebuilt, user-friendly version is now available to the public as a free, open-source tool. The full model documentation is available online, and a new quick-start guide can help users rapidly begin generating results.

T3CO has been in use at NREL for more than five years. Now, a rebuilt, user-friendly version is widely available to the public. Image by NREL

“Anyone with Python knowledge can install T3CO and begin to create their own analyses,” said NREL’s Harish Panneer Selvam, a commercial vehicle technologies researcher who designed the tool’s new technical features. “We’ve restructured the whole tool to make it as useable and accessible as possible.”

T3CO has always provided powerful cost capabilities tailored to a vehicle’s specifications, thanks to its integration with NREL’s Future Automotive Systems Technology Simulator (FASTSim), a rapid powertrain simulation model. Now, it has a host of new features.

Among them is a batch mode capability, which allows T3CO to run tens of thousands of vehicle simulations in a short period—without requiring the use of a supercomputer. In addition, a built-in optimization module allows users to size vehicle components to meet performance and operational requirements at minimum cost.

“T3CO’s optimization toolbox trades off the value of different energy saving approaches, like aerodynamics and lightweighting, against the cost of larger motors and batteries,” Panneer Selvam said. “It’s able to consider thousands of vehicle specifications to find the least expensive combination that meets the user’s needs.”

This means users can simultaneously assess a vehicle’s performance and analyze its life-cycle costs to find a custom solution. T3CO’s flexible framework allows users to define a “scenario” of their choosing, including the vehicle model, operational conditions, and financial circumstances.

Most importantly, T3CO’s ability to estimate opportunity costs has been significantly refined.

The tool includes three categories of costs:
- Capital costs, or upfront expenses such as purchasing a vehicle and paying taxes
- Operating costs, or ongoing expenses such as maintaining, insuring, and recharging or refueling a decarbonized vehicle
- Opportunity costs, or the less obvious, “soft” expenses of operating a decarbonized vehicle—such as lost productivity when vehicles are charging or fueling, and the possibility of reduced payload capacity due to the weight of an advanced vehicle.
It is the last category—opportunity costs—that makes T3CO unique. NREL’s pioneering approach to estimating the costs of operating a decarbonized vehicle is novel compared to other TCO tools.

“It’s easy to figure out how much it costs to repair a vehicle and how much it costs for fuel, and then add it up and provide a TCO. That’s not what T3CO does,” Panneer Selvam said. “We estimate a customized TCO for a specific vehicle, in a specific location, and for its specific operations.”

T3CO can help determine the most cost-effective path to fleet decarbonization. Photo from Getty Images

Those operations, Birky and Panneer Selvam emphasized, include not just a vehicle’s typical use, but also its use on unusually high-intensity days. In other words, T3CO can capture the full variety of operations a vehicle might need to perform over a life cycle and calculate its cost accordingly.

To accomplish this, the model leverages NREL’s Fleet Research, Energy Data, and Insights (FleetREDI) platform and flagship Fleet DNA database, which serves as the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) largest body of real-world, in-use, high-resolution vehicle operational data. Being able to account for unusual operating days can completely change the TCO calculations, Birky said, and can help identify the right decarbonized vehicle for a specific application.

While the calculations can quickly get complex, according to Panneer Selvam, “For us, ‘complex’ is not a bad word.”

In fact, these complex challenges are perfect for national laboratories like NREL. Providing easy-to-use tools that can address highly complex problems is one way the laboratory continues to accelerate the transition to sustainable technologies.

T3CO Is Ready for Action

Decarbonizing entire commercial fleets takes time—but it can be accomplished faster when the most cost-effective strategy possible is applied, because every dollar stretches further. T3CO is primed to guide manufacturers, fleet operators, and researchers through the process.

T3CO can:
- Provide insights into the relative merits of ZEV technologies for a particular use case. For example, it can help users determine whether a hybrid, battery-electric, or hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle is the best fit for certain operations, identify the right ZEV battery size, and even find the ideal cost for individual ZEV components in order to reach cost parity with conventional vehicles.
- Identify how a vehicle’s operations affect its TCO. Rather than using “representative” data to approximate how a vehicle is driven, T3CO can use real-world data on vehicle duty cycles. These insights into a ZEV’s actual range of operations can allow users to fine-tune their understanding of a ZEV’s TCO.
- Determine how new technologies might affect vehicle TCO. As new charging technologies like dynamic wireless charging pick up speed, T3CO can help users understand the cost implications. For instance, users with access to in-road charging may be able to purchase a less expensive ZEV equipped with a smaller battery.
- Chart out a phased approach for vehicle decarbonization. T3CO can pinpoint the vehicles in a fleet or specific routes that can be easily replaced with today’s ZEVs. On the other hand, using technology progress projections, it can also help users determine whether they should hold off on electrifying other vehicles until new technologies hit the market.
This information can prove valuable for commercial fleets making long-term investments into new fleets, as well as researchers focused on finding the best pathways to widespread ZEV adoption.

After all, while the math is complex, the conclusion is simple: Making the best insights available to the widest user base possible will only help accelerate the clean vehicle transition.

Learn more about NREL’s sustainable transportation and mobility research and its specific focus on commercial vehicle decarbonization. And sign up for NREL’s quarterly transportation and mobility research newsletter, Sustainable Mobility Matters, to stay current on the latest news.

Interested in providing feedback on T3CO or ideas for future collaborations? Direct your input to T3CO@nrel.gov. Bug reports and feature requests are welcome through GitHub.

MIL OSI USA News –
January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI: Coco Pool Corp. and Viridian Metals Corp. Announce TSXV Conditional Acceptance and Filing of Filing Statement for Their Qualifying Transaction

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Not for distribution to U.S. news wire services or for dissemination in the United States

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Coco Pool Corp. (“Coco”) (TSXV: CCPC.P), a capital pool company, is pleased to announce that it has received conditional acceptance from the TSX Venture Exchange (“TSXV”) for the closing of its proposed amalgamation transaction with Viridian Metals Corp. (“Viridian”) which transaction (the “Transaction”) is intended to constitute Coco’s Qualifying Transaction (within the meaning of Policy 2.4 – Capital Pool Companies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange”).

Coco has filed a filing statement that is dated effective October 28, 2024 (the “Filing Statement”) and certain additional documents, including a 43-101 Technical Report on Viridian’s Kraken Project with the TSXV and on Coco’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Further to its comprehensive news release dated August 2, 2024, Coco will acquire Viridian by way of a three cornered amalgamation of Coco, 16217494 Canada Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Coco, and Viridian under the Canada Business Corporations Act. In connection with the Qualifying Transaction, Coco will change its name to Viridian Metals Inc. (the “Resulting Issuer”). It is anticipated that the common shares of the Resulting Issuer will trade under the ticker “VRDN”.

All details of the Transaction as disclosed in Coco’s comprehensive news release dated August 2, 2024 remain the same other than Viridian is currently conducting an additional non-brokered private placement (the “Viridian Private Placement”) of between 714,286 and 1,428,571 units of Viridian (“Viridian Units”), at a price of $0.35 per Viridian Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of a minimum of $250,000 and a maximum $500,000. Each Viridian Unit is comprised of one common share of Viridian (each a “Viridian Share”) and one half of one common share purchase warrant, with each whole warrant (each a “Viridian Warrant”) entitling the holder thereof to acquire one Viridian Share at a price of $0.45 for a period of 60 months from the date of issuance.

“Receiving conditional approval for our TSXV listing marks an important step in Viridian’s growth strategy. We are excited about the future as we move closer to unlocking the potential of our assets and bringing value to our shareholders. We look forward to continuing our journey as a publicly traded company on such a respected exchange,” said Tyrell Sutherland, CEO, Viridian Metals.

The Viridian Private Placement is expected to close prior to the completion of the Transaction and the Viridian Shares and Viridian Warrants comprising the Viridian Units will be exchanged for common shares and common share purchase warrants of the Resulting Issuer, as applicable, pursuant to the terms of the amalgamation agreement entered into between the parties as described in the Filing Statement. The closing of the Viridian Private Placement is a condition precedent to the closing of the Transaction.

It is now currently anticipated that, immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, there will be approximately between 46,619,224 and 47,333,509 Viridian Shares issued and outstanding (including Viridian Shares issued pursuant to the Viridian Private Placement) and between 9,022,081 and 9,379,224 Viridian Warrants issued and outstanding (including Viridian Shares issued pursuant to the Viridian Private Placement). The value of the consideration for the Viridian Shares pursuant to the Transaction is between $12,120,998.20 (assuming completion of the minimum amount of the Viridian Private Placement) and $12,306,712.30 (assuming completion of the maximum amount of the Viridian Private Placement).

The fully diluted capitalization of the Resulting Issuer is expected to be as follows:

Description of Issue	Number of Resulting Issuer Shares After Giving Effect to the Transaction Assuming Minimum Viridian Private Placement	Percentage of Total	Number of Resulting Issuer Shares After Giving Effect to the Transaction Assuming Maximum Viridian Private Placement	Percentage of Total
Outstanding Coco Consolidated Shares prior to the Amalgamation	2,852,000	4.84%	2,852,000	4.75%
Issuable to the Viridian Shareholders	46,619,224	79.13%	47,333,509	78.91%
Issuable on the exercise of existing Coco stock Options	285,196	0.48%	285,196	0.48%
Issuable on the exercise of existing Coco Warrants	138,000	0.23%	138,000	0.23%
Issuable on the exercise of Viridian Warrants	9,022,081	15.31%	9,379,224	15.64%
Fully diluted share capital	58,916,501	100.00%	59,987,929	100.00%

Additional information in respect of the Transaction, Coco, Viridian and the Resulting Issuer can be found in the Filing Statement. In accordance with the policies of the TSXV, Coco’s common shares are currently halted from trading and will remain so until such time as required by TSXV policies.

Coco Shareholder Meeting

Coco was required to hold a meeting to seek approval of the shareholders of Coco (the “Coco Shareholders”) of certain matters in respect of the Transaction.

Coco held its annual general and special meeting on September 12, 2024 where, along with resolutions commonly placed before shareholders at an annual general meeting, the Coco Shareholders approved, conditional upon the completion of the Transaction:

(ii) the name change of Coco to “Viridian Metals Inc.”;
(iii) the consolidation of the common shares of Coco on the basis of 0.46 of a post consolidation common share for each pre consolidation common share;
(iv) the election of directors of the Resulting Issuer following the closing of the Transaction as agreed between Viridian and Coco and as set out in the Filing Statement; and
(v) the adoption of a new omnibus equity incentive plan of the Resulting Issuer.

The completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, the required approvals of the shareholders of Viridian, receipt of all required regulatory approvals, including final Exchange approval, and satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Assuming all conditions for closing are satisfied, closing of the Transaction is expected to occur on or about November 4, 2024 or such other date as Coco and Viridian may determine.

Further Information

Coco will provide further details in respect of the Transaction in due course by way of a subsequent news release, however, Coco will make available to the Exchange, all information, including financial information, as may be requested or required by the Exchange.

For further information, please contact:

All information contained in this news release with respect to Coco and Viridian was supplied by the respective party, for inclusion herein, without independent review by the other party, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party.

Completion of the Transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange Requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the Transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the Transaction, any information released or received with respect to the Transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not in any way passed upon the merits of the proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

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

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Information

This news release contains statements which constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements regarding the plans, intentions, beliefs and current expectations of Coco and Viridian with respect to future business activities and operating performance.

Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information includes information regarding: (i) expectations regarding whether the Transaction will be consummated, including whether conditions to the consummation of the Transaction will be satisfied including, but not limited to, the necessary regulatory approvals and the timing associated with obtaining such approvals, if at all; (ii) the business plans and expectations of the Resulting Issuer; and (iii) expectations for other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Viridian, Coco or the Resulting Issuer, as applicable, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Viridian, Coco and the Resulting Issuer, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Investors are cautioned that forward-looking information is not based on historical facts but instead reflect Viridian and Coco’s respective management’s expectations, estimates or projections concerning future results or events based on the opinions, assumptions and estimates of management considered reasonable at the date the statements are made. Forward-looking information reflects Viridian’s and Coco’s current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Viridian and Coco and on assumptions it believes to be not unreasonable in light of all of the circumstances. In some instances, material factors or assumptions are discussed in this news release in connection with statements containing forward-looking information. Such material factors and assumptions include, but are not limited to:, Viridian, Coco or the Resulting Issuer; completion of the Transaction; satisfying the conditions precedent and covenants in the Amalgamation Agreement; satisfying the requirements of the Exchange with respect to the Transaction; meeting the minimum listing requirements of the Exchange, and anticipated and unanticipated costs and other factors referenced in this news release and the Filing Statement, including, but not limited to, those set forth in the Filing Statement under the caption “Risk Factors”. Although Viridian and Coco have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Forward-looking information contained herein is made as of the date of this news release and, other than as required by law, Viridian and Coco disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. There can be no assurance that forward-looking information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Although Viridian and Coco have attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Viridian and Coco do not intend, and do not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.

The MIL Network –

January 25, 2025

MIL-OSI: Nicola Wealth Real Estate and Townline Celebrate Completion of Meridian Residential Project in Coquitlam, B.C.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Vancouver, BC, Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nicola Wealth Real Estate (NWRE) and Townline are pleased to announce the completion of Meridian, a landmark 37-storey residential rental apartment project located at 515 Cottonwood Avenue in Coquitlam, B.C. The project, a joint venture between NWRE and Townline, brings 267 thoughtfully designed rental homes to the thriving Burquitlam neighbourhood, including nine units leased to BC Housing to support affordable housing. The 267 homes include a mix of market rental units and units which are dedicated to supporting middle-income households.

Situated just a four-minute walk from the Burquitlam SkyTrain Station on the Evergreen Line, Meridian offers convenient access to public transit, nearby amenities like SFU, Burnaby Lake, Burnaby Mountain, and Douglas College, as well as popular recreational spots such as Rocky Point Park.

“We are thrilled to have partnered with Townline on this significant project. Their expertise in development and construction has been invaluable, and together we’ve delivered a high-quality residential community that will meet the needs of renters in the lower mainland,” said Mark Hannah, Executive Managing Director and Head of Real Estate at Nicola Wealth.

Rick Ilich, Founder and CEO of Townline, added, “We are proud to partner with Nicola Wealth to bring these amenity-rich homes to a growing, transit-oriented community. We look forward to building on Meridian’s success and partnering on future projects with the industry leaders at Nicola Wealth Real Estate.”

Meridian is set to welcome its first residents in November 2024. Designed with renters in mind, Meridian offers 1-3 bedroom homes, including townhomes, all equipped with premium finishes and a wide range of modern conveniences.

Retail Component

In addition to its residential offering, Meridian boasts approximately 10,000 square feet of commercial retail space, which is fully leased to popular tenants including Dos Bros, Pur&Simple, and Anytime Fitness.

With modern interiors, generous outdoor spaces, and a host of amenities designed to enhance residents’ quality of life, Meridian is poised to be a vibrant community hub in Burquitlam.

Building Features and Amenities

Residents of Meridian will enjoy exclusive access to a variety of high-end amenities located on the 3rd and 37th floors, including:
- A state-of-the-art fitness room, yoga studio, and strength area
- Rooftop Sky Lounge with panoramic views of Metro Vancouver and Burnaby Mountain
- Outdoor patios with grilling stations, a firepit lounge, and terrace dining area
- Co-working spaces, study rooms, games rooms, and lounges
- A dog run, parcel lockers, secure underground parking with EV-ready stalls, and keyless entry systems for enhanced security and convenience
About Nicola Wealth Real Estate

Nicola Wealth Real Estate (NWRE) is the in-house real estate team of Nicola Wealth, a premier Canadian financial planning and investment firm with over $16.4 billion (CAD) of assets under management as at October 29, 2024. NWRE has an experienced and innovative team that sources and asset manages a growing portfolio of properties in major markets across North America spanning a diversified range of asset classes which include industrial, self-storage, multi-family rental apartment, retail, seniors housing, and office. The Nicola Wealth Real Estate portfolio now exceeds $10 billion gross asset value. For more information, please visit realestate.nicolawealth.com.

About Townline

Townline is known for its innovative living solutions and unparalleled attention to detail. For over 40 years, every Townline project – from single-family homes and townhomes to concrete high-rise towers and mixed-use communities – has been defined by a strong focus on homeowner and tenant experience, purposeful design, and an unwavering commitment to enriching the cities and communities we build in. This is the Townline Way.

The Townline Way is defined by our honesty, attention to detail, and thoughtfulness in all that we do. Our strong relationships are an important part of this – with our customers, our tenants, our partners, and our communities. Townline is deeply involved at each stage of every project, with in-house development, finance, construction, marketing, sales and leasing, asset management, property management and customer care teams.

Attachments
- Nicola Wealth Real Estate and Townline are pleased to announce the completion of Meridian, a landmark 37-storey residential rental apartment project located at 515 Cottonwood Avenue in Coquitlam, B.C.
- Nicola Wealth Real Estate and Townline Celebrate Completion of Meridian Residential Project in Coquitlam
The MIL Network –
January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI: County Federal Becomes Mirastar Federal Credit Union

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Santa Clara County Federal Credit Union, also known as County Federal, is excited to introduce its new brand, Mirastar Federal Credit Union. With a mission of bringing better banking to the people in Santa Clara and San Benito Counties, the new brand amplifies how the credit union supports strong, vibrant communities and members who are collectively on the rise. With courage and confidence, Mirastar champions a better world and tomorrow for all.

“We’re incredibly proud of our nearly 75-year history serving our members and local communities,” says Rebecca Reynolds Lytle, President & CEO of Mirastar Federal Credit Union. “Our new brand represents both our steadfast commitment to county employees, retirees, and family and our broader vision for the future. Mirastar welcomes everyone looking to build a prosperous life and signals a bright new day—not just for our credit union but all our members and the communities we serve. “From branch signage to social media and a new website, members will see a new logo, colors, iconic patterns, and photography that depict the vibrant, real people that make up the heart of the credit union. While the new Mirastar Federal Credit Union brand provides a fresh and focused perspective, the exceptional, personalized experience the credit union is known for remains steadfast. All digital banking and in-person services will be updated with the new Mirastar logo and colors, but this will not change members’ account information, day-to-day interactions, or level of service in any way.

“We’re excited to see the Mirastar brand come to life,” says Simran Gyani, Chief Brand Officer for Mirastar Federal Credit Union. “This brand reflects a core belief that prosperity is in reach for everyone. Our members will see this change in our branding, starting with our signage, website, social channels, advertising, and printed materials. Our in-branch experiences will be fully refreshed, too. Altogether, the brand will tell the story of an organization committed to our communities, where people rise each day with a vision of a better tomorrow.”

The Mirastar name is full of meaning, with “Mira” translating into words like wondrous and admirable, in multiple languages. In Spanish, the word means “to look” and when united with star, Mirastar can be understood as “look to the stars.” Since “Mira” is the name of a real star in the night sky, everyone can look to the skies for this aspirational symbol of the future.

Mirastar Federal Credit Union, a federally insured, member-owned, not-for-profit financial cooperative, has proudly served its members and community as a trusted provider of financial services since 1950 and currently serves over 47,000 members. Mirastar is proud to be a place where people from diverse backgrounds can access affordable, quality financial products and services to help them achieve their financial goals and dreams. Its extensive community outreach program provides free financial education, volunteer support, and resources to various regional non-profit organizations.

Teresa Caseras
VP Brand Marketing
408-769-8496
tcaseras@sccfcu.org

The MIL Network –

January 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Climate change is making it harder for people to get the care they need

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Maria S. Floro, Professor Emerita of Economics, American University

The world is witnessing the consequences of climate change: long-lasting changes in temperature and rainfall, and more intense and frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, hurricanes, typhoons, flooding and drought. All make it harder for families and communities to meet their care needs.

Climate change affects care systems in various ways. First, sudden illnesses and unexpected disabilities heighten the need for care. Second, it reduces access to important inputs for care such as water, food and safe shelter. Third, it can damage physical and social care infrastructures.

It can also lead to breakdowns of traditional units of caregiving such as households and communities. And it creates new situations of need with the increase in displaced person settlements and refugee camps.

Climate change creates sudden spikes in the demand for care, and serious challenges to meeting the growing need for care. All this has immediate and long lasting effects on human well-being.

The size of the current unmet care needs throughout the world is substantial. In childcare alone, about 23% of children worldwide – nearly 350 million – need childcare but do not have it. Families in low- and lower-middle-income countries are the most in need.

Similarly, as the world’s population ages rapidly, only a small proportion of the elderly who need assistance are able to use formal care (in an institution or paid homecare). Most are cared for by family members or other unpaid caregivers. Much of this unpaid care and formal care work is provided by women and girls.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world struggle to get healthcare. Expansion of access to essential health services has slowed compared to pre-2015 . And healthcare costs still create financial hardship.

Without comprehensive public and global support for care provision and the integration of care in the climate agenda, unmet care needs will only grow and inequalities will widen.

Impact

Climate change interacts with human health in complex ways. Its impact is highly uneven across populations. It depends on geographical region, income, education, gender roles, social norms, level of development, and the institutional capacity and accessibility of health systems.

In 2018-22, Africa experienced the biggest increase in the
heat-related mortality rate since 2000-05. This is not surprising as the continent has more frequent health-threatening temperatures than ever before and a growing population of people older than 65.

Africa is also the region most affected by droughts in 2013-22, with 64% of its land area affected by at least one month of extreme drought per year on average. It was followed by Oceania (55% of its land area) and South and Central America (53%).

Scientific evidence also points to increases in health inequalities caused by climate change. The health effects of climate change are not uniformly felt by different population groups.

Exposure, severity of impact, and ability of individuals to recover depend on a variety of factors. Physiological characteristics, income, education, type of occupation, location, social norms and health systems are some of them.

For example, older people and young children face the greatest health risks from high temperatures.

There is also evidence of the disproportionate effect of climate change on the health of people living in poverty and those who belong to disadvantaged groups.

Women of lower social and economic status and with less education are more vulnerable to heat stress compared to women in wealthier households and with higher education or social status. They are exposed to pollution in the absence of clean cooking fuel, and to extreme heat as they walk to gather water and fuel, or do other work outdoors.

Bad sanitation in poor urban areas increases the incidence of water-borne diseases after heavy rains and floods.

Lack of access to healthcare services and the means to pay for medicines make it difficult for women and men in low-income households to recover from illness, heat strokes, and air pollution-related ailments.

Mental health problems are being attributed to climate change as well. Studies show that the loss of family or kin member, home, livelihood and a safe environment can bring about direct emotional impacts.

These adverse impacts increase the demand for caregiving and the care workload. Climate-induced health problems force family and community caregivers, particularly women, to spend more time looking after the sick and disabled, particularly frail elderly people and children.

Effect on food and water

Climate change threatens the availability of food, clean water and safe shelter. It erodes households’ and communities’ care capacity and hence societies’ ability to thrive.

Fluctuations in food supply and rising food prices as a result of environmental disasters, along with the inadequacy of government policies, underscore the mounting challenge of meeting food needs.

The threat of chronic shortage of safe drinking water has also risen. Water scarcity is an area where structural inequalities and gender disparities are laid bare.

Care for the sick and disabled, the young and the elderly is compromised when water is scarce.

Effects on providing care

Extreme weather events disrupt physical care infrastructures. It may be hard to reach hospitals, clinics, daycare centres, nursery schools and nursing homes. Some facilities may be damaged and have to close.

Another type of care system that can break down is family networks and support provided by friends and neighbours. These informal care sharing arrangements are illustrated in a study of the three large informal settlements in Nairobi.

About half (50.5%) of the sampled households reported having had a sick member in the two weeks before the survey. The majority relied on close friends and family members living nearby for care and support.

Studies have shown that climate change eventually leads to livelihood loss and resource scarcity, which can weaken social cohesion and local safety nets in affected communities.

Heightened risks and uncertainty and imminent changes in socio-economic and political conditions can also compel individuals or entire households to migrate. Migration is caused by a host of factors, but it has increasingly been a climate-related response.

The World Bank’s Groundswell Report released in 2018, for example, projected that climate change could force 216 million people to move within their countries by 2050 to avoid the slow-onset impacts of climate change.

A possible consequence of migration is the withdrawal of care support provided by the migrating extended kin, neighbours or friends, increasing the caregiving load of people left behind.

In the case of forced displacements, the traditional social networks existing in communities are disrupted entirely.

What’s needed

There are compelling reasons to believe that meeting care needs can also help mitigate the effects of climate change. And actions to meet carbon-zero goals, prevent biodiversity loss and regenerate ecosystems can reduce the care work burden that falls heavily on families, communities and women.

Any effort to tackle these grave problems should be comprehensive in scope and must be based on principles of equality, universality, and responsibility shared by all.

This article is part of a series of articles initiated through a project led by the Southern Centre for Inequality studies, in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre and a group of feminist economists and climate scientists across the world.

Maria S. Floro 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. Climate change is making it harder for people to get the care they need – https://theconversation.com/climate-change-is-making-it-harder-for-people-to-get-the-care-they-need-240557

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 25, 2025

Category: Economy

The road to recovery

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

Dmitry Patrushev at the opening of the Eighth All-Russian United Meteorological and Hydrological Congress

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Introduction

Scene-setting

The credibility of bail-in

Flexible resolution toolkits

Loss-absorbing capacity

Liquidity for crisis management

Concluding remarks

1. Lack of capacity

2. Won’t work for everyone

3. Obesity is a complex issue

4. Obesity stigma

5. Barriers to employment

Industry leading performance

Lowering the cost of getting started

Deployment quantity minimums and increments for Provisioned offering

Efficiency through caching: A game-changer for high-volume applications

A new era of model flexibility and performance

Enterprise readiness in action

Beyond models: The enterprise-grade promise

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T3CO Is Fast, Accessible, and Free

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Effect on food and water

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