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Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI Russia: From January to June, Muscovites applied for government services in the property sector more than 60 thousand times

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    In the first half of 2025, Muscovites applied for government services in the property sector more than 60 thousand times. Over 70 percent of applications came through the mos.ru portal. This was reported by the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Urban Development Policy and Construction Vladimir Efimov.

    “Several years ago, the capital transferred state services in the property sector to digital form, making interaction with the city as convenient as possible. As a result, it became possible to request the necessary documents, conclude contracts and additional agreements to them, as well as perform other transactions with real estate and land plots online through the mos.ru portal. From January to June 2025, individuals and legal entities applied for state services 61.9 thousand times. More than 45 thousand applications were submitted electronically,” the deputy mayor said.

    Metropolitan Department of City Property provides 21 public services in the property and land sphere. Since 2021, they have been provided exclusively in electronic form, mainly to legal entities. In the housing sphere, Muscovites can apply for seven public services that are most often used by individuals. Two of them can only be obtained on the mos.ru portal, and five more – in paper and electronic form.

    “The most popular government service in the land and property sector for the first six months of 2025 was the assignment of an address to real estate, as well as its change and cancellation. In the first half of 2025, the number of requests for it exceeded 9.4 thousand. Next come “Provision of a land plot for rent to owners of buildings, structures located on a land plot” – over 4.2 thousand requests – and “Issue of copies of title, title documents”, for which citizens applied more than 2.7 thousand times,” she noted.

    Ekaterina Solovieva, Minister of the Moscow Government, Head of the Department of City Property.

    In the housing sphere, Muscovites applied for government services more than 32 thousand times. Among the most popular are government services that allow obtaining certificates and copies of archival documents on housing rights registered before January 31, 1998 — they were applied for more than 12 thousand times. Almost 11 thousand more applications were received for the conclusion of a social tenancy agreement and about 6.5 thousand — for the privatization of residential premises.

    The development and modernization of electronic services is carried out by the Department of City Property together withDepartment of Information Technology and the State Budgetary Institution “New Management Technologies” on behalf of Sergei Sobyanin.

    The creation, development and operation of the e-government infrastructure, including the provision of mass socially significant services, as well as other services in electronic form, corresponds to the objectives of the national project “Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State” and the regional project of the city of Moscow “Digital Public Administration”.

    Get the latest news quicklyofficial telegram channel the city of Moscow.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: GDS Releases 2024 ESG Report

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SHANGHAI, China, July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GDS Holdings Limited (“GDS Holdings”, “GDS” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698), a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China, today announced the release of its 2024 Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) report, detailing the Company’s ongoing sustainability efforts and its ESG performance.

    In 2024, we achieved renewable energy usage rate of 40% through a comprehensive renewable energy transition strategy. Out of all the renewable energy sources, 64% came from directly purchased green power, representing more than 100% increase over 2023. In addition, 87% of our self-developed data centers are designed, constructed, and operated in compliance with green building standards, with 42 data centers now been certified as green data centers. Furthermore, through continuous operational excellence and upgrades on the basis of state-of-the-art design, we have improved our average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) from 1.28 in 2023 to 1.24 this year. All these initiatives have led to a notable reduction in our carbon intensity, resulting in a 15.8% decrease compared to 2023.

    We have also made breakthroughs in ESG ratings. Our MSCI ESG rating has been upgraded from BBB to A. We received a B rating in our first CDP assessment. We were included in the S&P CSA Rating 2024 Yearbook which recognizes our leadership in the industry. In collaboration with Moody’s Rating, we have obtained the NZA-2 (Net Zero Assessment) rating, which validates our performance in Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Ambition, Implementation, and Governance, making us the only data center company in the world to successfully pass this assessment. These achievements not only enhance our ability to manage climate risks but also reinforce stakeholder trust.

    “Over the past year, we have continued to drive forward on our path to carbon neutrality by 2030,” said Mr. William Huang, Chairman and CEO of GDS. “We are dedicated to evolving into a green intelligent infrastructure platform that paves the way for a sustainable future. Our strategy is anchored in a deep commitment to ESG principles, which permeate every aspect of our operations and define our corporate ethos. By integrating sustainability into our core activities, we ensure that our approach not only enhances operational excellence but also upholds responsible corporate governance. I am excited about the future we are forging, and am confident that our innovative practices will foster enduring growth for our Company and continue to lead our industry forward.”

    To view the report in full, please visit the ESG section on the GDS corporate website or access the report at:
    https://c.gds-services.com/esg2024/docs/2024_ESG_Report_EN.pdf

    About GDS Holdings Limited

    GDS Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698) is a leading developer and operator of high-performance data centers in China. The Company’s facilities are strategically located in and around primary economic hubs where demand for high-performance data center services is concentrated. The Company’s data centers have large net floor area, high power capacity, density and efficiency, and multiple redundancies across all critical systems. GDS is carrier and cloud-neutral, which enables its customers to access the major telecommunications networks, as well as the largest PRC and global public clouds, which are hosted in many of its facilities. The Company offers co-location and a suite of value-added services, including managed hybrid cloud services through direct private connection to leading public clouds, managed network services, and, where required, the resale of public cloud services. The Company has a 24-year track record of service delivery, successfully fulfilling the requirements of some of the largest and most demanding customers for outsourced data center services in China. The Company’s customer base consists predominantly of hyperscale cloud service providers, large internet companies, financial institutions, telecommunications carriers, IT service providers, and large domestic private sector and multinational corporations. The Company also holds a non-controlling 35.6% equity interest in DayOne Data Centers Limited which develops and operates data centers in International markets.

    For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

    GDS Holdings Limited
    Laura Chen
    Phone: +86 (21) 2029-2203
    Email: ir@gds-services.com

    Piacente Financial Communications
    Ross Warner
    Phone: +86 (10) 6508-0677
    Email: GDS@tpg-ir.com

    Brandi Piacente
    Phone: +1 (212) 481-2050
    Email: GDS@tpg-ir.com

    GDS Holdings Limited

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft employees took an active part in the Water of Russia campaign

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

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

    Rosneft employees are actively participating in the All-Russian campaign “Water of Russia”. Oil workers are holding campaigns in the regions to clean the banks of water bodies from garbage and household waste, and measures to develop natural sources.

    Preserving the environment for future generations is an integral part of Rosneft’s strategy. The company and its subsidiaries aim to achieve leadership positions in minimizing environmental impact, improving the environmental friendliness of production, and preserving ecosystems.

    As part of the Water of Russia campaign in the Samara Region, employees of Samaraneftegaz, Rosneft’s largest oil producing enterprise in the region, cleaned up a section of the coastline near the Volga embankment in Samara. The enterprise also provides support to municipalities in restoring and improving the infrastructure of natural springs. Oil workers tidied up the territories of springs and natural springs in the Bezenchuksky, Krasnoyarsk, Kinelsky districts and other natural sites. Volunteers from the enterprises of the Samara production site of Rosneft also regularly participate in the ecological expedition Springs of the Samara Region. The goal of the project is to preserve spring water sources, which play an important role in the ecosystem of the region – from providing the population with clean drinking water and feeding reservoirs to maintaining the overall water balance. Thus, with the participation of representatives of the Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery, three natural springs were revived and the territory of several springs in remote settlements was improved.

    Volunteers from the Kuibyshev Oil Refinery, together with colleagues from other Rosneft enterprises and activists from the regional movement EcoRavnovesie, cleared 2.5 hectares of the coastline at the confluence of the Volga and Sok rivers of garbage, collected and sent for recycling about five cubic meters of household and current-borne waste – plastic bottles and bags, cans and broken glass.

    Employees of the Novokuibyshevsk Petrochemical Company implement various environmental activities to preserve the cleanliness of the Volga banks and islands, local lakes, natural springs, and coastal areas of the Kriushi and Tatyana rivers. In June, the plant workers held an eco-cleanup day on the Volga bank near the village of Granny. Volunteers cleared 2,000 square meters of the coastline and adjacent forest belt of household waste. The petrochemists also care for Lake Berezovoye in Chapayevsk, where the company’s volunteers hold an annual environmental run. Employees of the Novokuibyshevsk Oil Refinery and the Novokuibyshevsk Oil and Additives Plant, together with activists of the “Movement of the First,” cleared about 6.5 hectares of the Volga coastline of waste.

    In the cities of Buzuluk and Sorochinsk in the Orenburg region, volunteers from Orenburgneft, activists from the Movement of the First, and schoolchildren from Rosneft Classes held a joint environmental campaign on the banks of reservoirs. They cleaned up more than 1 hectare of coastal territory, collecting 10 cubic meters of garbage.

    In Bashkortostan, workers of the Bashneft-Novoil plant removed household waste from almost 22 km of the coast of Lake Aslikul, the largest in the republic. Volunteers helped reduce the anthropogenic load on the ecosystem of the lake, which is very popular with tourists.

    In the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra, RN-Nyaganneftegaz workers cleaned 1.5 hectares of the Nyagan-Yugan River coastline, collecting about three tons of garbage. This is the second environmental action by oil workers on water bodies since the beginning of summer.

    In the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, employees of SevKomNeftegaz and the RN-Service branch, together with representatives of organizations in the city of Gubkinsky, took part in a clean-up day on the bank of the Pyaku-Pur River. During the eco-action, 6.8 tons of garbage were collected and more than six kilometers of coastal territory were cleaned.

    More than a hundred employees of RN-Uvatneftegaz, Tyumenneftegaz, the corporate scientific center in Tyumen, as well as activists of the Movement of the First, came out for an environmental cleanup day at the largest water body in the Tyumen Region – Lake Andreyevskoye. Volunteers cleaned almost 10 hectares of the shoreline and collected about 2.5 tons of household waste. The participants of the action set up a stand on the shore with information about the water body, as well as rare species of birds and animals living in its vicinity.

    In the Leningrad Region, RN-North-West workers carried out a cleanup on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, clearing a section of the coastline of household waste.

    Reference:

    The All-Russian campaign “Water of Russia” has been held since 2014. It is part of the national project “Ecological Well-being”.

    The campaign promotes environmental literacy among the population and attracts the attention of the public and the younger generation to the protection and improvement of the quality of water resources.

    Department of Information and AdvertisingPJSC NK RosneftJuly 29, 2025

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: North West allocates over R36 million to boost red meat industry

    Source: Government of South Africa

    The North West Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has committed R36.856 million to the Red Meat Industry Development and Enhancement Programme, to reposition the province as a key player in South Africa’s red meat economy.

    Agriculture and Rural Development MEC, Madoda Sambatha announced the funding during his department’s policy and budget speech at the North West Provincial Legislature. 

    The programme is expected to directly benefit 7 242 farmers, including 4 728 men, 2 219 women, 252 youth, and 43 people with disabilities. 

    The initiative will provide structured production support, access to value chains, and market integration.

    “The initiative will be implemented through the beef beneficiation aggregation model, a framework designed to enhance farmer coordination, improve processing capacity, and establish sustainable linkages to commercial markets.” 

    The provincial department announced that the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District will be prioritised due to its high concentration of beef farming operations and its important role in the provincial livestock value chain.

    In addition to boosting production, the programme is expected to create 321 temporary jobs and 87 permanent jobs, particularly in areas such as aggregation, logistics, technical extension, and feedlot operations.

    The department believes that this move aligns with its broader goals of advancing rural development, increasing household incomes, and reducing unemployment in underserved communities.

    Sambatha has declared the R36.8 million injection into the red meat industry, a decisive turning point for the North West agricultural sector. 

    “This is more than just funding; it is a bold statement of intent. We are transforming the red meat value chain, unlocking opportunities for emerging farmers, and positioning the province as a powerhouse in livestock production,” said Sambatha.

    The MEC is of the view that this investment is a clear demonstration of the province’s steadfast commitment to building a transformed, competitive, and inclusive red meat industry. 

    “Through this programme, we are not only empowering our farmers, but also driving economic growth, boosting job creation, and laying a solid foundation for long-term food security and agro-industrial development,” Sambatha added.

    The Red Meat Industry Development and Enhancement Programme forms part of the department’s strategy to broaden participation, enhance local beneficiation, and stimulate growth across rural economies, while contributing meaningfully to the provincial and national gross domestic product (GDP). – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: European Health Insurance Card: keeping you safe while travelling abroad

    Source: European Union 2

    Have you ever injured yourself while surfing in France and needed stitches? Sprained your ankle while hiking the Alps? Needed to see a doctor because of your pre-existing diabetes while on holiday in Greece? Perhaps not, but in case something like this does happen while you’re abroad, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) has you covered. 

    The EHIC allows you to receive necessary and urgent medical care abroad, including for chronic or existing illnesses, as well as pregnancy and childbirth. It’s not an alternative to travel insurance, and it does not cover any private healthcare costs or planned medical treatments. EHIC is valid in any EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. 

    By presenting the card, you can obtain healthcare services directly from a public or contracted provider under the same conditions and at the same cost as people insured in the country you are visiting. Each country’s healthcare system is different, and services that cost nothing at home might not be free in another country. You can claim reimbursement for the costs you incur from the national institution whilst still in the country and get reimbursement directly there or ask for reimbursement from your health insurer when you get home.

    More than half of the EU population has the EHIC. Applying for one is easy and free – simply contact your health insurance institution before your trip. You’ll typically receive it by mail within a few days. If you’re going to travel before obtaining the card, you can apply for an EHIC replacement certificate.

    Travel with peace of mind, knowing the EHIC is there to support your healthcare needs abroad.

    For more information

    European Health Insurance Card

    How to use the card

    Unplanned healthcare

    Travelling in Europe 2024

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Treasures of the Divine World. Exhibition of Hiroko Kozuki’s icons in Kolomenskoye

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    An exhibition has opened in the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve “Treasures of the Divine World: Japanese Icons by Hiroko Kozuki”.

    Orthodox icons created by a Japanese artist – at first glance, this seems surprising. After all, in order to paint icons, it is believed that it is not enough to simply know and follow the rules and canons – true faith is necessary. Hiroko Kozuki proves by her example that sacred art can exist outside of prejudices and strict religious beliefs. According to Mrs. Kozuki, the icon is the subject of her inspiration and the path to achieving happiness. When in Orthodox churches, she feels the serenity, spirituality and grandeur of these places. And her works are an example of universal spiritual search.

    The Path to the Icon

    Mrs. Hiroko Kozuki, the wife of the former Japanese ambassador to Russia, lived in our country for many years. An art historian by education, she first studied French medieval art in depth. Once in Russia, Mrs. Kozuki sincerely fell in love with the local culture and immersed herself in the world of icon painting tradition. Getting acquainted with the grandeur of ancient Russian monuments, she visited many museums, monasteries and churches. The starting point for her was the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. According to her recollections, upon seeing the monastery, she experienced awe comparable to the feelings of a true pilgrim.

    “During the Soviet period, a large number of icons were lost, destroyed and sold to other countries. However, ordinary people continued to keep them at home and pray. This, at first glance, paradoxical situation made me want to learn more about the religion and art of Russian people. And that is why I began to paint icons,” recalls Hiroko Kozuki.

    Fate brought her together with the icon painter Sergei Tarasyan, then she created her first icon – the image of the Archangel Michael. Later, Hiroko Kozuki met a member of the Union of Artists of Russia Elena Antonova and under her mentorship began to develop her skills. In more than twenty years, Mrs. Kozuki has reached incredible heights, and today her works are already in several monasteries and churches in Russia. Over these years, she has acquired a recognizable style, in which traditional canons of iconography are subtly intertwined with elements of Japanese aesthetics.

    The artist emphasizes that her favorite icon painter is Andrei Rublev. For her, his works are the absolute perfection of beauty. One of the icons presented at the exhibition is “Holy Trinity”, the source of inspiration for the creation of which was, of course, Rublev’s famous “Trinity”. “I always wanted to paint the image of the Holy Trinity, inspired by the most perfect and elegant icon of all time. It reminds me of the captivating final scene of my favorite film by Andrei Tarkovsky “Andrei Rublev”, when the black and white picture suddenly changes to color and a full-screen image of the icon “Trinity” appears,” says Hiroko Kozuki.

    Between religions

    If you look at Kozuki’s icons from afar and know nothing about the author, it is difficult to even imagine that they were created by a person who grew up in a different culture. When you get closer, you begin to discern details, coloristic features and amazing fineness of lines, which reveal to the experienced eye a slight resemblance to Japanese engravings. Created in strict accordance with the Byzantine and Old Russian canons, Mrs. Kozuki’s icons not only demonstrate the highest mastery of technique, but also contain something elusive – additional depth and a sense of calm (probably that same slight response to Buddhist philosophy).

    In Japan, where the artist was born and raised, the traditional religions are Buddhism and Shintoism. Thanks to a certain Japanese “liberalism” in matters of faith, Hiroko Kozuki did not have any serious religious contradictions with her passion: her attitude to Christianity is deeply sincere. She celebrates Christmas along with the New Year, can pray in front of an icon and believes in a guardian angel. She says: “The mission of a guardian angel is to protect a specific person, family, community or country… I am inspired by the idea of having my own icon of a guardian angel as my protector, who guides me in life.”

    Space of spiritual unity

    At the exhibition in the Alexei Mikhailovich Palace, the works of the Japanese artist are displayed together with 10 beautiful examples of Russian icon painting of the 17th–19th centuries from the collection of the museum-reserve. The curators pursued two goals: on the one hand, to show the sources of inspiration of Hiroko Kozuki, on the other, to create a dialogue between two cultures and demonstrate that spiritual heritage is not limited to one era or tradition. According to the curators, this is a meeting of two worlds, where respect for the canon becomes the basis for mutual enrichment, and beauty and harmony are part of the code of human unity.

    The exhibition presents 23 works by the artist. Among them are icons of the Holy Trinity, the Nativity, the Transfiguration, the Annunciation, the Ascension, the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands, the images of the Virgin Mary “Throne”, “Kazan”, “Leaping of the Child”, St. Nicholas of Myra, Archangel Michael, as well as “The Miracle of the Great Martyr George and the Dragon”. They are supplemented with detailed explications, sometimes with comments by the artist herself, texts about religions in Japan, including Christianity, as well as photographs from Hiroko Kozuki’s travels to Orthodox monasteries and shrines. All this ensures complete immersion in the material and creates a special feeling of a capsule in the three small halls of the exhibition – a closed space of spirituality and beauty beyond time, linguistic, geographical and cultural boundaries.

    The exhibition “Treasures of the Divine World: Japanese Icons by Hiroko Kozuki” at the palace of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich will last until October 26. Tickets can be purchased using the service “Mosbilet”.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: What traditions does the Moscow Estates festival revive?

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Five forgotten city traditions are re-entering the life of the modern capital thanks to the festival “Moscow Estates” project “Summer in Moscow”This season, city residents and tourists are offered to attend performances at the open-air summer theatre, learn to play croquet, try writing with a goose quill, create a flower arrangement in the style of the 18th century and attend a costume ball.

    Open-air performances

    The everyday life of the nobility was strictly regulated by the rules of etiquette – the display of violent emotions was considered indecent. But on the stage – be it a home performance or a production in an estate theater – one could give free rein to feelings: play passion, despair and even cruelty. For high society, bored in their own estates, it was the theater that became a real outlet.

    Preparations for such home productions took weeks: plays were selected, roles were assigned, rehearsals took place, sets were made, and costumes were sewn. Although many amateur noblemen had extraordinary talent, the professional stage remained closed to them, because acting was considered an unworthy occupation in high society. However, home performances among family, neighbors, and friends were the order of the day. In wealthy estates, serfs were often involved in productions: gifted peasants played on par with their masters, and sometimes surpassed them in skill.

    The Moscow Estates Festival continues the tradition of summer theaters and estate performances, turning them into unique walks that take viewers back to the 19th century. On August 16, the Bauman Garden of the Basmanny estate cluster will host a summer theatrical performance, Walk with the Heroes of the Great Russian Writers’ Novels. Participants will meet actors dressed as Alexander Pushkin, the heroes of the novel Eugene Onegin, and the merchant Stakheev. The latter will tell about the history of the Basmanny District estates. One of the shows will take place at night. Accompanied by professional actors, guests will walk through Moscow at night, and the light of an old lantern will show the way, reminding us of past eras.

    History buffs will also be interested in the performance “Cultural and Social Life of the Arbat in the 19th Century.” The show will take place on August 30 on Arbat. The artist in the image of the legendary hussar Denis Davydov will tell about the meaning of the street’s name and its life two centuries ago. This excursion will also take place at night.

    Vorontsovo Estate. From Boyar Estates to the Summer in Moscow ProjectGuests of the Moscow Estates festival will be able to unravel the mysteries of the old Arbat in a new quest

    Forgotten Amusements of Russian Estates

    A colorful folk game that will captivate even modern youth is burners. The rules are simple: an odd number of players (more than 11) gather on the lawn, choose a driver (who will “burn”), and pair up. The players join hands and line up in pairs behind the burner. The participants sing “Burn, burn brightly, so that it doesn’t go out,” and as soon as they finish singing, the last pair unclasps their hands and runs along the column. When they reach the driver, the pair shouts to him: “One, two, don’t be a crow, run like fire!” and runs on. The main thing is to dodge the burner, stand in front of him and join hands again. If the burner tags a player, he and he form a new pair and stand in front of the column, and the participant who is left alone becomes the driver.

    Another popular summer pastime is cerso, or flying ring game. This entertainment was invented in the early 19th century in France, and it was also popular in Russia in the century before last. Two players must throw a light hoop to each other and catch it on wooden swords. It is hard to imagine summer leisure in any noble estate without this game.

    At the festival “Moscow Estates” visitors are told about the rules of various ancient games and offered to master them. From August 2 to September 14, guests are offered to play trinkets, croquet, badminton, gorodki in the N.E. Bauman Garden and Lianozovsky Park. Masters will not only tell about these amusements, but also help to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of noble leisure.

    For guests from all over Moscow. How the count’s name day was celebrated in Kuskovo in the 18th centuryCity residents will choose the best sites for the festival “Moscow Estates”

    Fine handicrafts

    Noblewomen were masters of embroidery and miniature painting, often learning these arts from the best masters of their time. Beadwork was especially popular, becoming a kind of encyclopedia of aristocratic life. Russian embroidery reached an incredible level and could become a worthy gift even for a monarch. From an early age, children were taught needlework: they were presented with special boxes with needles, threads and other tools. By the way, men did not disdain handicrafts either.

    Everyone is invited to try making something with their own hands at the festival venues. For example, in Lianozovsky Park on August 9, 17, 30 and September 7 there will be a master class “Noble accessories. Fans”. There will also be a master class “Noble accessories. Brooches” on August 2, 10, 23, 31 and September 13.

    Visitors to the Moscow Estates festival can take quizzes in the Russpass gameImprovement of the Vinogradovo estate in north-east Moscow has begun

    Transformations at the masquerade

    “Let them talk, but what business is it of ours? Under the mask all ranks are equal…” – perhaps these lines from Lermontov’s famous “Masquerade” best reflect the essence of the costume balls that the Russian nobility loved so much. For the upper class, a masquerade was not just entertainment, but a special game where the impossible became possible. For example, a countess could become a peasant, and an important dignitary could temporarily turn into a jester. The tradition of such balls was established by Peter I, and under Catherine II, masquerades became an integral part of the festivities both in the capital and in family estates.

    The main rule of the masquerade was simple: a costume and a mask gave a person the right to enter the world of reincarnation. By trying on a different image, a guest of the ball seemed to be freed from conventions: a young lady could allow herself daring jokes, and an official – confessions unthinkable in ordinary life. Women especially valued this freedom, for whom the masquerade became a space for risky adventures.

    For those who can no longer attend the old ball today, there are opportunities to feel the spirit of a bygone era and become a participant in the game of transformations. For example, from August 2 to September 14, a retro studio is open in Lianozovsky Park and the N.E. Bauman Garden: here, anyone can put on a historical costume of a 19th-century nobleman and take a photo in this image as a keepsake.

    Theater and film actors voiced audio guides for the “Moscow Estates” projectSergei Sobyanin: 90% of Muscovites live within walking distance of green areas

    The art of correspondence

    In the 19th century, post stations were important points of estate life: mailmen stopped here to exchange letters, travelers changed horses, and most importantly, correspondence was sent and received from here. The nobility treated the epistolary genre with reverence: letters were written on special paper with a coat of arms, sealed with sealing wax, and often dried flowers were specially left between the pages, covered in impeccable handwriting. They waited for a reply with trepidation, and took care of each envelope.

    The atmosphere of the old post office was recreated at the Moscow Estates festival. Guests can learn to write with a quill pen, master the art of wax seals and even send a postcard in a vintage style. Until September 14, the post office is open at the Vasilchikov Estate (Military Uniform Museum) and the Khrushchev-Seleznev Estate (A.S. Pushkin State Museum). On August 2 and 3, you can send a letter at the Valuevo and Sviblovo estates, and on August 9 and 10, the postman is waiting for everyone at the Lopukhins-Stanitskaya Estate.

    The festival “Moscow Estates” corresponds to the initiative “Tourist attractiveness of the country” of the national project “Tourism and Hospitality” and helps residents and visitors to learn about the city’s cultural and historical heritage in a modern format.

    Tourism Committee of Moscow forms a sustainable brand of the capital as one of the main tourist destinations in Russia. All year round, Mosturism creates events that unite residents and guests of the city, and replenishes the city’s program with new events. In winter and summer, Muscovites and tourists can immerse themselves in another era at the historical sites of the “Moscow Estates” festival, join the capital’s tea traditions at the “Moscow Tea Party,” or try the “Moscow Breakfast” dishes at one of the hundreds of restaurants participating in the project.

    Project “Summer in Moscow”— the main event of the season. It brings together the most vibrant events of the capital. Every day, charity, cultural and sports events are held in all districts of the city, most of which are free. The Summer in Moscow project is being held for the second time, and the new season will be more eventful: new, original and colorful festivals and events will be added to the traditional ones.

    Rediscover Moscow: Russpass Invites You to Family WalksFree stretching training sessions are held at the venues of the Summer in Moscow project

    Get the latest news quicklyofficial telegram channel the city of Moscow.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: 2025 youthfest@HK programme officially kicks off

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region – 4

    The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, today (July 29) officiated at the 2025 youthfest@HK (festival) Kick-off Ceremony to unveil a series of exciting and diversified youth activities.
     
    Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Chan remarked that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government released the Youth Development Blueprint in 2022, outlining the policy goals for the healthy growth and diversified development of young people. The Government continues to update the youth initiatives in view of the latest situation of society and young people. Since the release of the Blueprint, the Government has put forward about 250 specific actions and measures to nurture a new generation of young people with an affection for the country and Hong Kong, to equip them with global perspectives, an aspiring mindset and positive thinking.

    The theme of the festival is “Nurture Positive Thinking, Promote Innovation and Inspire Creativity”. Mr Chan said that the festival offered a great opportunity for young people to develop their potential, enhance their knowledge, and share their experiences. Under the tripartite collaboration among the Government, the business sector and the community, the festival has organised more than 400 all-encompassing activities and attracted over 400 000 participants in the past two years. Special appreciation goes to the principal funder, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, for its support. Mr Chan encouraged young people to participate in this year’s various festival activities and appealed to all sectors of the community to support and take part in the festival.
     
    This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory of Chinese people’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (80A). Mr Chan encouraged youth organisations to organise youth activities to commemorate the 80A as partner events of the festival with a view to deepening young people’s understanding about the historical events of the Mainland and Hong Kong, and foster their sense of patriotism.

    Also officiating at the Kick-off Ceremony were the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; the Permanent Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Ms Shirley Lam; the Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mr Clarence Leung; the Commissioner for Youth, Mr Eric Chan; the Vice-Chairman of the Youth Development Commission, Mr Kenneth Leung; the Convenor of the Action Group on Youth Festival, Youth Development Commission, Mr Victor Pang; and Steward of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Mr Lester Huang. Representatives from various festival participating organisations also attended the event.
     
    Organisations may submit applications for partner events of youthfest@HK for inclusion of their events in the official event calendar and on the official webpage. For the latest updates of the events under the festival programme, please visit the HYAB homepage or the “HKYouth+” mobile application.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Spain: EIB lends €50 million to Iberdrola to rebuild and climate-proof flood-hit power infrastructure in Valencia

    Source: European Investment Bank

    Iberdrola

    • The financing will back investments from il.lumina, Iberdrola’s project to reconstruct and modernise the power distribution grid affected by devastating floods in 2024. 
    • The project includes the implementation of resilience and digitalisation measures benefiting over 650 000 clients and improving electricity supply security.
    • The EIB financing is sourced from its own resources and the Regional Resilience Fund put in place by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed two €25 million loans with Iberdrola to finance the reconstruction, redesign, climate change adaptation and digitalisation work that the electricity company is carrying out on the power distribution grid damaged by the devastating floods that hit Valencia in October 2024.

    These investments are part of Iberdrola’s il.lumina project to build the power grid of the future. Measures will include rebuilding damaged infrastructure, expanding facility automation, installing smart transformers to improve supply quality, moving overhead power lines underground, and raising and downsizing transformer substations.

    These operations are expected to benefit more than 650 000 clients, according to the electric company, improving electricity supply security against a backdrop of extreme weather events and increasing integration of renewable energy production.

    The project will strengthen the EIB’s role as the climate bank, one of the eight strategic priorities set out in the EIB Group’s Strategic Roadmap for 2024-2027. The operation is also part of the EIB action plan to support REPowerEU, the programme to increase energy security and speed up the energy transition by reducing the European Union’s dependence on fossil fuel imports.

    The financing includes €25 million from EIB own resources and a further €25 million from the Regional Resilience Fund created to facilitate access to NextGenerationEU loans under Spain’s recovery, transformation and resilience plan. The Regional Resilience Fund aims to drive investment and develop projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing; urban renewal; transport and sustainable tourism; the energy transition; water and waste management; the care economy; research, development and innovation; and the competitiveness of industry and small and medium companies. The fund is led by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, with the EIB Group as a strategic management partner.

    EIB support for power grids

    EIB support for energy security and power grids is one of its main priorities to accelerate the green transition, contribute to EU energy autonomy and ensure access to a more secure and sustainable energy supply for all Europeans. In 2024, the EIB Group directed €8.5 billion to financing power grid and storage projects in all of its operational areas, double the 2023 figure. In Spain alone, €1.5 billion went to grid and storage projects in 2024, again doubling 2023 investment. This financing is helping to expand, modernise and digitalise power grids, making them more resilient and enabling greater and better integration of renewable energy.

    More information on EIB support for the energy sector is available here.

    EIB commitment to those impacted by the DANA

    Following the DANA, the EIB moved quickly to make a €1.4 billion package available to the regions impacted (Valencia and Castilla-La Mancha) to help finance reconstruction work and support the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. The EIB Group has also made contributions to NGOs operating in the area, such as Save the Children, SOS Aldeas Infantiles and Casa Caridad.

    il-lumina, Iberdrola’s commitment to Valencia

    This financing is part of Iberdrola’s strategy to promote a more robust electricity grid that is better prepared for extreme weather events, while reinforcing its commitment to the energy transition and green financing. With il·lumina, Iberdrola is not only responding to the damage, but also anticipating the future, committing to a safer, more efficient electricity infrastructure that is aligned with European climate objectives.

    The il·lumina project involves the renovation of substations, transformer stations and the medium and low voltage network, with the aim of redesigning the electricity network affected by the DANA. The company has created a team of 35 people who are working exclusively on developing the construction plan for the electricity network of the future, coordinating the work of approximately 1,000 operators, most of whom are locally based.

    Background information  

    EIB 

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, high-impact investments outside the European Union, and the capital markets union.  

    The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.  

    All projects financed by the EIB Group are in line with the Paris Climate Agreement, as pledged in our Climate Bank Roadmap. Almost 60% of the EIB Group’s annual financing supports projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and a healthier environment.  

    In Spain, the EIB Group signed €12.3 billion of new financing for more than 100 high-impact projects in 2024. This financing is contributing to the country’s green and digital transition, economic growth, competitiveness and improved services for residents.

    High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.

    Regional Resilience Fund

    The Regional Resilience Fund (RRF) was created to facilitate access to NextGenerationEU loans from the Spanish Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan for the autonomous communities, with the aim of boosting investments and developing projects in eight priority areas: social and affordable housing; urban renewal; transport and sustainable tourism; the energy transition; water and waste management; the care economy; research, development and innovation; and the competitiveness of industry and SMEs.

    The fund is led by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, which takes input from the autonomous communities and cities for investment decision-making and looks to the EIB Group as a strategic management partner

    The initial phase of the RRF includes the activation of up to €3.4 billion in financing via:

    • a direct financing mechanism, to co-finance EIB-supported operations in sectors like renewable energy, clean transport and sustainable infrastructure;
    • an intermediated mechanism managed by financial intermediaries selected by the EIB, to support projects in urban development and sustainable tourism;
    • two instruments intermediated by the European Investment Fund that will facilitate SME financing for innovation, sustainability and competitiveness.

    Iberdrola

    With more than 100,000 million euros in capitalisation, Iberdrola is the largest electricity company in Europe and one of the two largest in the world. The Group serves more than 100 million people worldwide and has a workforce of more than 44,000 employees and assets of more than 160,000 million euros. In 2024, Iberdrola recorded revenues of almost 50,000 million euros, a net profit of 5,600 million euros. The company contributes nearly 10,300 million euros in tax contributions in the countries in which it operates and supports more than 500,000 jobs in its suppliers thanks to purchases that exceeded 18,000 million euros in 2024.

    Since 2001, Iberdrola has invested more than 175,000 million euros in renewable energies, electricity grids and energy storage to contribute to the creation of an energy model based on electrification.  The company has more than 57,000 megawatts (MW) of capacity worldwide, of which more than 45,000 MW are renewable.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Your Graduation”: Polytechnic University Graduates at Russia’s Main Student Festival

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    There are never too many graduations. When the ceremonies at the universities were over, more than 450 active, goal-oriented graduates of 2025 who had distinguished themselves in their studies, social activities and creativity met at the National Center “Russia” in Moscow to once again celebrate this important event in their lives.

    Polytechnic University was represented at the All-Russian student festival by Elizaveta Kuznetsova, a graduate of the Higher School of Linguistics and Pedagogy of the Humanitarian Institute, and Kristina Shakhova, a graduate of the Higher School of Public Administration of the Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade.

    “I learned about the All-Russian Student Graduation and immediately decided to apply to try my hand,” said Elizaveta. “I wrote that I graduated from the university with honors, indicated the publication of scientific articles and volunteer work in the student association TutorForces. In this organization, I was lucky enough to become the deputy head of the SMM department, volunteer in the Unified Center for Registration of Foreign Citizens of SPbPU, participate in organizing events for foreign students and much more! I think that’s why I was invited to the All-Russian Student Graduation.”

    “I became the owner of a unique invitation to the All-Russian Student Graduation!” shared Kristina. “I sent an application, where I noted my achievements in scientific activities: participation in Olympiads, competitions, scientific conferences, publication of articles, defense of competition works in other cities, case championships. I got into the Science section. It was a real celebration, which combined education, creativity and the energy of youth! Honorary speakers spoke, shared valuable knowledge and inspiring stories. Each of us had the opportunity to ask questions and get answers from experts in various fields. In addition to lectures, there was a rich concert program. And at the end of the evening, I received a diploma from the Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of Russia, which was a bright end to this unforgettable event.”

    The “Your Graduation” celebration included many activities: several educational sessions, meetings with mentors and speakers, master classes, the “Letter to a First-Year Student” campaign, and the opening of the “Russian Student Faces” art object. The guests were treated to a performance by musicians Zhenya Trofimov and Roma Rudyka from the “Room of Culture” group, winners of the 2025 Muz-TV award in the “Breakthrough of the Year” nomination.

    The organizers of the All-Russian Student Graduation in 2025 were the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs “Rosmolodezh”, the All-Russian student project “Your Move”, the Presidential Platform “Russia – the Land of Opportunities”, the Russian Society “Knowledge” with the support of the National Center “Russia” and the All-Russian public and state movement of children and youth “Movement of the First”.

    By the way, in 2022, the All-Russian Student Graduation Ceremony will be held from St. Petersburg took place in the Polytechnic University television studio.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: Air-dropping food into Gaza is a ‘smokescreen’ – this is what must be done to prevent mass starvation

    Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Amra Lee, PhD candidate in Protection of Civilians, Australian National University

    Israel partially lifted its aid blockade of Gaza this week in response to intensifying international pressure over the man-made famine in the devastated coastal strip.

    The United Arab Emirates and Jordan airdropped 25 tonnes of food and humanitarian supplies on Sunday. Israel has further announced daily pauses in its military strikes on Gaza and the opening of humanitarian corridors to facilitate UN aid deliveries.

    Israel reports it has permitted 70 trucks per day into the strip since May 19. This is well below the 500–600 trucks required per day, according to the United Nations.

    The UN emergency relief chief, Tom Fletcher, has characterised the next few days as “make or break” for humanitarian agencies trying to reach more than two million Gazans facing “famine-like conditions”.

    A third of Gazans have gone without food for several days and 90,000 women and children now require urgent care for acute malnutrition. Local health authorities have reported 147 deaths from starvation so far, 80% of whom are children.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed – without any evidence – “there is no starvation in Gaza”. This claim has been rejected by world leaders, including Netanyahu ally US President Donald Trump.

    Famine expert Alex de Waal has called the famine in Gaza without precedent:

    […] there’s no case of such minutely engineered, closely monitored, precisely designed mass starvation of a population as is happening in Gaza today.

    While the UN has welcomed the partial lifting of the blockade, the current aid being allowed into Gaza will not be enough to avert a wider catastrophe, due to the severity and depth of hunger in Gaza and the health needs of the people.

    According to the UN World Food Programme, which has enough food stockpiled to feed all of Gaza for three months, only one thing will work:

    An agreed ceasefire is the only way to reach everyone.

    Airdrops a ‘distraction and a smokescreen’

    Air-dropping food supplies is considered a last resort due to the undignified and unsafe manner in which the aid is delivered.

    The UN has already reported civilians being injured when packages have fallen on tents.

    The Global Protection Cluster, a network of non-governmental organisations and UN agencies, shared a story from a mother in Al Karama, east of Gaza City, whose home was hit by an airdropped pallet, causing the roof to collapse:

    Immediately following the impact, a group of people armed with knives rushed towards the house, while the mother locked herself and her children in the remaining room to protect her family. They did not receive any assistance and are fearful for their safety.

    Air-dropped pallets of food are also inefficient compared with what can be delivered by road.

    One truck can carry up to 20 tonnes of supplies. Trucks can also reach Gaza quickly if they are allowed to cross at the scale required. Aid agencies have repeatedly said they have the necessary aid and personnel sitting just one hour away at the border.

    Given how ineffective the air drops have been – and will continue to be – the head of the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine has called them a “distraction” and a “smokescreen”.

    Malnourished women and children need specialised care

    De Waal has also made clear how starvation differs from other war crimes – it takes weeks of denying aid for starvation to take hold.

    For the 90,000 acutely malnourished women and children who require specialised and supplementary feeding, in addition to medical care, the type of food being air-dropped into Gaza will not help them. Malnourished children require nutritional screening and access to fortified pastes and baby food.

    Gaza’s decimated health system is also not able to treat severely malnourished women and children, who are at risk of “refeeding syndrome” when they are provided with nutrients again. This can trigger a fatal metabolic response.

    Gaza will take generations to heal from the long-term impacts of mass starvation. Malnourished children suffer lifelong cognitive and physical effects that can then be passed on to future generations.

    What needs to happen now

    The UN has characterised the limited reopening of aid deliveries to Gaza as a potential “lifeline”, if it’s upheld and expanded.

    According to Ciaran Donnelly from the International Rescue Committee, what’s needed is “tragically simple”: Israel must fully open the Gaza borders to allow aid and humanitarian personnel to flood in.

    Israel must also guarantee safe conditions for the dignified distribution of aid that reaches everyone, including women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities. The level of hunger and insecurity mean these groups are at high risk of exclusion.

    The people of Gaza have the world’s attention – for now. They have endured increasingly dehumanising conditions – including the risk of being shot trying to access aid – under the cover of war for more than 21 months.

    Two leading Israeli human rights organisations have just publicly called Israel’s war on Gaza “a genocide”. This builds on mounting evidence compiled by the UN and other experts that supports the same conclusion, triggering the duty under international law for all states to act to prevent genocide.

    These obligations require more than words – states must exercise their full diplomatic leverage to pressure Israel to let aid in at the scale required to avert famine. States must also pressure Israel to extend its military pauses into the only durable solution – a permanent ceasefire.

    Amra Lee 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. Air-dropping food into Gaza is a ‘smokescreen’ – this is what must be done to prevent mass starvation – https://theconversation.com/air-dropping-food-into-gaza-is-a-smokescreen-this-is-what-must-be-done-to-prevent-mass-starvation-262053

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Submissions: France is set to recognise the state of Palestine and the UK may follow – but what does it really mean?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Malak Benslama-Dabdoub, Lecturer in law, Royal Holloway University of London

    Emmanuel Macron’s pledge to formally recognise the state of Palestine will make France the first G7 country and member of the UN security council to do so. The question is whether others will follow suit. The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, is coming under mounting pressure from many of his MPs, and has recalled his cabinet from their summer recess to discuss the situation in Gaza.

    Starmer is expected to announce a peace plan for the Middle East this week that will include British recognition of Palestinian statehood. Downing Street sources said recognition was a matter of “when, not if”.

    Recognition of statehood is not merely symbolic. The Montevideo convention of 1933 established several criteria which must apply before an entity can be recognised as a sovereign state. These are a permanent population, a defined territory, an effective government and the ability to conduct international relations.

    The process involves the establishment of formal diplomatic relations, including the opening of embassies, the exchange of ambassadors, and the signing of bilateral treaties. Recognition also grants the recognised state access to certain rights in international organisations. For Palestinians, such recognition will strengthen their claim to sovereignty and facilitate greater international support.

    Macron’s announcement was met with enthusiasm in many Arab capitals, as well as among Palestinian officials and supporters of the two-state solution. It was also praised by a number of European leaders as well as several journalists and other analysts as a long-overdue step toward a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    However, the reaction from other major powers was swift and critical. The US called it “a reckless decision” while the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he “strongly condemned” it. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called it “counterproductive”.

    Within hours, it was clear that Macron’s announcement had both shifted diplomatic discourse and reignited longstanding divisions.

    France’s decision is significant. It signals a departure from the western consensus, long shaped by the US and the EU, that any recognition of Palestinian statehood must be deferred until after final-status negotiations. The move also highlights growing frustration in parts of Europe with the ongoing violence in Gaza and the failure of peace talks over the past two decades.

    Yet questions remain: what does this recognition actually entail? Will it change conditions on the ground for Palestinians? Or is it largely symbolic?

    So far, the French government has offered no details on whether this recognition will be accompanied by concrete measures. There has been no mention of sanctions on Israel, no indication of halting arms exports, no pledges of increased humanitarian aid or support for Palestinian governance institutions. France remains a key military and economic partner of Israel, and Macron’s announcement does not appear to alter that relationship.

    Nor is this the first time a western country has taken a symbolic stance in support of Palestinian statehood. Sweden recognised the state of Palestine in 2014, becoming the first western European country to do so. It was followed by Spain in 2024.

    However, both moves were largely symbolic and did not significantly alter the political or humanitarian situation on the ground. The risk is that recognition, without action, becomes a gesture that changes little.

    Macron’s statement also raised eyebrows for another reason: his emphasis on a “demilitarised Palestinian state” living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security. While such language is common in diplomatic discourse, it also reflects a deeper tension.

    Palestinians have long argued that their right to self-determination includes the right to defend themselves against occupation. Calls for demilitarisation are often seen by critics as reinforcing the status quo, where security concerns are framed almost exclusively in terms of Israeli needs.

    In the absence of a genuine political process, some analysts have warned that recognition of this kind risks formalising a state in name only – a fragmented, non-sovereign entity without control over its borders, resources or defence. Without guarantees of territorial continuity, an end to the expansion of Israeli settlements and freedom of movement, statehood may remain an abstract concept.

    What would meaningful support look like?

    If France wishes to go beyond symbolism, it has options. It could suspend arms exports to Israel or call for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes. It could use its influence within the EU to push for greater accountability regarding illegal settlements and the blockade of Gaza. It could also support Palestinian institutions directly and engage with Palestinian civil society.

    Without such steps, recognition risks being viewed as a political message more than a policy shift. For Palestinians, the daily realities of occupation, displacement and blockade will not change with diplomatic announcements alone. What is needed, many argue, is not just recognition but support for justice, rights and meaningful sovereignty.

    France’s recognition of Palestine marks a shift in diplomatic tone and reflects broader unease with the status quo in the Middle East. It has stirred debate at home and abroad, and raised expectations among those hoping for more robust international engagement with the conflict.

    Whether this recognition leads to meaningful changes in policy or conditions on the ground remains to be seen. Much will depend on the steps France takes next – both at the United Nations and through its actions on trade, security and aid.

    Malak Benslama-Dabdoub 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. France is set to recognise the state of Palestine and the UK may follow – but what does it really mean? – https://theconversation.com/france-is-set-to-recognise-the-state-of-palestine-and-the-uk-may-follow-but-what-does-it-really-mean-262095

    MIL OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Massive rescue efforts continue in Beijing after heavy rains kill 30

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    BEIJING, July 29 (Xinhua) — Beijing authorities have launched a rescue operation as heavy rains have killed 30 people as of midnight Monday, damaged roads, disrupted power supplies and forced mass evacuations.

    The fatalities were recorded in the northern mountainous areas of the Chinese capital, with 28 people killed in the Miyun district and two in the Yanqing district.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping gave an important instruction on flood control and disaster relief on Monday, calling for all-out efforts to ensure the safety of people’s lives and property in the fight against rain-induced floods and geological disasters affecting some parts of China.

    Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said all aspects of search and rescue and flood control work should be properly organized, urgent measures should be taken to combat natural disasters, all efforts should be made to search for missing people and rescue those trapped, and people in danger should be resolutely evacuated to minimize casualties.

    The downpours forced more than 80,000 people to evacuate in Beijing alone, damaged 31 sections of roads and caused power outages in 136 villages.

    “Several houses in our community were flooded as a result of heavy rain on Saturday night,” said Cui Di, deputy head of the Shicheng Township People’s Government, located in Beijing’s hardest-hit Miyun District. She worked tirelessly throughout the night to help residents move to safer areas.

    “In such emergency situations, it is difficult for everyone. We are doing everything possible to make temporary places of stay a little more comfortable for people and thus alleviate their anxiety,” the official noted.

    According to her, local authorities also prepared mattresses, blankets, bread, eggs and other necessary materials for the evacuees.

    At the Miyun resettlement center, fourth-grader Zhao Zixuan sits on her bed reading a book. She was evacuated from the flooded village on a speedboat. “It’s very safe here, and I can read in peace,” she said.

    In recent days, extreme and strong convective phenomena caused by warm and humid air from the edge of a subtropical anticyclone have been recorded in Miyun and other metropolitan areas.

    At 8:00 p.m. Monday, the Beijing Municipal Flood Control Headquarters launched the highest-level emergency response mechanism for the floods.

    Due to continued heavy rains, the Beijing branch of China Railways suspended some trains on the Beijing-Harbin High-Siberian Railway on Tuesday.

    China’s Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management on Tuesday allocated 350 million yuan (about 48.94 million U.S. dollars) from the central budget to provide aid to nine provincial-level regions hit by floods, including Beijing.

    These funds will be used primarily to carry out emergency rescue operations and provide assistance to residents of these regions affected by natural disasters.

    Also on Tuesday, China’s National Development and Reform Commission announced it would allocate 200 million yuan to provide disaster relief assistance in Beijing. -0-

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: Radware Expands U.S. Presence with New Managed Security Service Provider Partnerships

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    MAHWAH, N.J., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Radware® (NASDAQ: RDWR), a global leader in application security and delivery solutions for multi-cloud environments, today announced it signed managed security service provider (MSSP) agreements with Epcom World Industries, Inc., GLESEC, North Atlantic Networks and Tech Pro. The four U.S. based companies are adding Radware’s Cloud Application Protection Services to their managed services portfolios to scale their businesses and expand their security offerings for customers. North Atlantic Networks is also offering Radware’s Cloud DDoS Protection Services.

    “MSSPs are constantly looking for more innovative ways to defend customers as they deal with growing budget constraints, limited in-house security staff, and bigger more complex cyber threats,” said John Eisenbarger, vice president of carriers and service providers for Radware. “Applications are facing increasing exposure from bots, API abuse, web-layer DDoS attacks and credential misuse. To enable MSSPs to respond where customer risk is expanding fastest, Radware offers a fully managed AppSec-as-a-Service platform that is ready to quickly deploy, scale, and monetize, without having to build a backend.”

    Epcom World Industries, GLESEC, North Atlantic Networks, and Tech Pro add to the growing list of MSSPs that have chosen Radware’s cloud network and application security solutions to speed time to market, scale their businesses, and deliver high-value services.

    “We selected Radware as our partner because of its comprehensive offering, overall excellent product design, support, and customer first approach. The partnership process with Radware has been seamless. They listened, understood, and supported our needs. Together we are equipping clients—whether they be in healthcare, finance, pharmaceutical, non-profit, or government—with mission-critical security tools that not only defend networks, web assets, and environments, but also comply with strict regulatory requirements.”
    – Rudy V. Pancaro, CEO, Epcom World Industries

    “Becoming an MSSP partner is a natural extension of our long-standing collaboration with Radware and a key milestone in delivering our SKYWATCH™ Cybersecurity Operating System. By fully integrating Radware’s industry-leading application protection into our Device-Centric Model and real-time risk management workflows, we deliver a unified, fully managed solution that reduces exposure, accelerates remediation, and ensures compliance. This partnership enables us to protect mission-critical environments—especially in healthcare, finance, and government—with the agility, intelligence, and depth of defense they require.”
    – Sergio Heker, CEO and founder, GLESEC

    “Our mission is to deliver best-in-class managed security services that are both proactive and adaptive. By integrating Radware’s solutions into our MSSP stack, we’re able to offer our clients deeper protection against increasingly complex cyber threats—especially in the areas of DDoS attacks, application-layer security, and zero-day threats. This partnership enhances our ability to deliver scalable, intelligent protection without compromising performance, helping our clients stay ahead of the threat landscape while supporting their digital transformation and cloud migration goals.”
    – Carolyn Smith, senior vice president, strategic accounts, North Atlantic Networks

    “Radware’s technology aligns with our commitment to deliver secure, resilient, and high-performing digital experiences to our clients, especially in today’s increasingly complex threat landscape. By integrating Radware’s solutions into our offering, we increase the value proposition to our customers: stronger protection, smarter automation, and peace of mind. Together, we bring a synergistic approach that helps organizations not only defend against threats but also accelerate their growth safely and confidently.”
    – Lidia Israyelyan, CEO, Tech Pro

    Radware offers a variety of cloud network and application security solutions and services that cater to the needs of pure play MSSPs and ISPs. This includes a fully branded and managed AppSec-as-a-Service platform that can be deployed without added infrastructure investment, operational lift, or headcount requirements. The platform offers:

    • Rapid market entry without a technical buildout.
    • Managed services that align MSSPs to areas where cyber threats and client risk are expanding fastest (i.e. bots, APIs, SaaS-layer abuse).
    • The monetization of application layer threats as an alternative to flat service bundles.
    • An expanded security portfolio that fills gaps in protection in competitive solutions that clients often assume are already covered.

    Radware has been recognized by numerous industry analysts for its application and network security solutions. This includes Aite-Novarica Group, Forrester, Gartner, KuppingerCole, and QKS Group.

    About Radware
    Radware® (NASDAQ: RDWR) is a global leader in application security and delivery solutions for multi-cloud environments. The company’s cloud application, infrastructure, and API security solutions use AI-driven algorithms for precise, hands-free, real-time protection from the most sophisticated web, application, and DDoS attacks, API abuse, and bad bots. Enterprises and carriers worldwide rely on Radware’s solutions to address evolving cybersecurity challenges and protect their brands and business operations while reducing costs. For more information, please visit the Radware website.

    Radware encourages you to join our community and follow us on: Facebook, LinkedIn, Radware Blog, X, and YouTube.

    ©2025 Radware Ltd. All rights reserved. Any Radware products and solutions mentioned in this press release are protected by trademarks, patents, and pending patent applications of Radware in the U.S. and other countries. For more details, please see: https://www.radware.com/LegalNotice/. All other trademarks and names are property of their respective owners.

    Radware believes the information in this document is accurate in all material respects as of its publication date. However, the information is provided without any express, statutory, or implied warranties and is subject to change without notice.

    The contents of any website or hyperlinks mentioned in this press release are for informational purposes and the contents thereof are not part of this press release.

    Safe Harbor Statement
    This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements made herein that are not statements of historical fact, including statements about Radware’s plans, outlook, beliefs, or opinions, are forward-looking statements. Generally, forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans,” and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “should,” “would,” “may,” and “could.” For example, when we say in this press release that applications are facing increasing exposure from bots, API abuse, web-layer DDoS attacks and credential misuse, we are using forward-looking statements. Because such statements deal with future events, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and actual results, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, could differ materially from Radware’s current forecasts and estimates. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the impact of global economic conditions, including as a result of the state of war declared in Israel in October 2023 and instability in the Middle East, the war in Ukraine, tensions between China and Taiwan, financial and credit market fluctuations (including elevated interest rates), impacts from tariffs or other trade restrictions, inflation, and the potential for regional or global recessions; our dependence on independent distributors to sell our products; our ability to manage our anticipated growth effectively; our business may be affected by sanctions, export controls, and similar measures, targeting Russia and other countries and territories, as well as other responses to Russia’s military conflict in Ukraine, including indefinite suspension of operations in Russia and dealings with Russian entities by many multi-national businesses across a variety of industries; the ability of vendors to provide our hardware platforms and components for the manufacture of our products; our ability to attract, train, and retain highly qualified personnel; intense competition in the market for cybersecurity and application delivery solutions and in our industry in general, and changes in the competitive landscape; our ability to develop new solutions and enhance existing solutions; the impact to our reputation and business in the event of real or perceived shortcomings, defects, or vulnerabilities in our solutions, if our end-users experience security breaches, or if our information technology systems and data, or those of our service providers and other contractors, are compromised by cyber-attackers or other malicious actors or by a critical system failure; our use of AI technologies that present regulatory, litigation, and reputational risks; risks related to the fact that our products must interoperate with operating systems, software applications and hardware that are developed by others; outages, interruptions, or delays in hosting services; the risks associated with our global operations, such as difficulties and costs of staffing and managing foreign operations, compliance costs arising from host country laws or regulations, partial or total expropriation, export duties and quotas, local tax exposure, economic or political instability, including as a result of insurrection, war, natural disasters, and major environmental, climate, or public health concerns; our net losses in the past and the possibility that we may incur losses in the future; a slowdown in the growth of the cybersecurity and application delivery solutions market or in the development of the market for our cloud-based solutions; long sales cycles for our solutions; risks and uncertainties relating to acquisitions or other investments; risks associated with doing business in countries with a history of corruption or with foreign governments; changes in foreign currency exchange rates; risks associated with undetected defects or errors in our products; our ability to protect our proprietary technology; intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties; laws, regulations, and industry standards affecting our business; compliance with open source and third-party licenses; complications with the design or implementation of our new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system; our reliance on information technology systems; our ESG disclosures and initiatives; and other factors and risks over which we may have little or no control. This list is intended to identify only certain of the principal factors that could cause actual results to differ. For a more detailed description of the risks and uncertainties affecting Radware, refer to Radware’s Annual Report on Form 20-F, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the other risk factors discussed from time to time by Radware in reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made and, except as required by applicable law, Radware undertakes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statement in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made. Radware’s public filings are available from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or may be obtained on Radware’s website at www.radware.com.

    ###

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Coastal Financial Corporation Announces Second Quarter 2025 Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    EVERETT, Wash., July 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Coastal Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CCB) (the “Company”, “Coastal”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), the holding company for Coastal Community Bank (the “Bank”), through which it operates a community-focused bank segment (“community bank”) with an industry leading banking as a service (“BaaS”) segment (“CCBX”), today reported unaudited financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, including net income of $11.0 million, or $0.71 per diluted common share, compared to $9.7 million, or $0.63 per diluted common share, for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and $11.6 million, or $0.84 per diluted common share, for the three months ended June 30, 2024.

    Management Discussion of the Second Quarter Results

    “Second quarter of 2025 saw a lower provision for credit losses as a result of an improvement in the performance of the CCBX portfolio and our focus on originating higher quality CCBX loans resulting in lower historical loss factors. Noninterest expenses were fairly flat compared to last quarter related to continued onboarding and implementation costs for partnerships and products within CCBX and investments in technology. We believe these investments are important to the long-term success and scalability of the Company,” stated CEO Eric Sprink. “We had another quarter of quality deposit growth of $122.3 million during the second quarter, and our CCBX program fee income, excluding nonrecurring revenue, increased 8.2% compared to the prior quarter.”

    Key Points for Second Quarter and Our Go-Forward Strategy

    • CCBX Making Progress on Launching New Programs. As of June 30, 2025 we had two partners in testing, two in implementation/onboarding, five signed letters of intent (LOI) and we have an active pipeline of new partners along with new products with existing partners for the balance of 2025 and into 2026. Total BaaS program fee income was $6.8 million, excluding $504,000 in nonrecurring revenue, for the three months ended June 30, 2025, an increase of $512,000, or 8.2%, from the three months ended March 31, 2025. We continue to have contracts with our partners that fully indemnify us against fraud and 98.8% against credit risk as of June 30, 2025.
    • Continued Investments in Future Growth. Total noninterest expense of $72.8 million was up $843,000, or 1.2%, as compared to $72.0 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2025, mainly driven by higher data processing and software costs partially offset by lower legal and professional expenses. With the increase in new CCBX partners and the launch of products with existing partners in 2025, we expect that expenses will be predominantly incurred at the outset, emphasizing compliance and operational risk management. This will occur before the new programs or products start to produce revenue. As a result, we believe expense growth should moderate considerably in the second half of 2025, with new programs or products starting to produce revenue to offset the initial up-front expenses.
    • Favorable Trends On, and Off Balance Sheet. Average deposits were $3.93 billion, an increase of $221.6 million, or 6.0%, over the quarter ended March 31, 2025, driven primarily by growth in CCBX partner programs and the addition of a new deposit partner. During the second quarter of 2025, we sold $1.30 billion of loans, the majority of which were credit card receivables. We retain a portion of the fee income on sold credit card loans. As of June 30, 2025 there were 313,827 off balance sheet credit cards with fee earning potential, an increase of 76,803 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025 and an increase of 286,146 from June 30, 2024.

    Second Quarter 2025 Financial Highlights

    The tables below outline some of our key operating metrics.

      Three Months Ended
    (Dollars in thousands, except share and per share data; unaudited) June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Income Statement Data:                  
    Interest and dividend income $ 107,797     $ 104,907     $ 102,448     $ 105,165     $ 97,422  
    Interest expense   31,060       28,845       30,071       32,892       31,250  
    Net interest income   76,737       76,062       72,377       72,273       66,172  
    Provision for credit losses   32,211       55,781       61,867       70,257       62,325  
    Net interest income after
    provision for credit losses    		   44,526       20,281       10,510       2,016       3,847  
    Noninterest income   42,693       63,477       74,100       78,790       69,138  
    Noninterest expense   72,832       71,989       67,411       64,424       57,964  
    Provision for income tax   3,359       2,039       3,832       2,926       3,425  
    Net income $ 11,028     $ 9,730     $ 13,367     $ 13,456     $ 11,596  
                       
      As of and for the Three Month Period
      June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Balance Sheet Data:                  
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 719,759     $ 624,302     $ 452,513     $ 484,026     $ 487,245  
    Investment securities   45,577       46,991       47,321       48,620       49,213  
    Loans held for sale   60,474       42,132       20,600       7,565       —  
    Loans receivable   3,540,330       3,517,359       3,486,565       3,413,894       3,321,813  
    Allowance for credit losses   (164,794 )     (183,178 )     (176,994 )     (171,674 )     (148,878 )
    Total assets   4,480,559       4,339,282       4,121,208       4,064,472       3,959,549  
    Interest bearing deposits   3,358,216       3,251,599       3,057,808       3,047,861       2,949,643  
    Noninterest bearing deposits   555,355       539,630       527,524       579,427       593,789  
    Core deposits (1)   3,441,624       3,321,772       3,123,434       3,190,869       3,528,339  
    Total deposits   3,913,571       3,791,229       3,585,332       3,627,288       3,543,432  
    Total borrowings   47,960       47,923       47,884       47,847       47,810  
    Total shareholders’ equity $ 461,709     $ 449,917     $ 438,704     $ 331,930     $ 316,693  
                       
    Share and Per Share Data (2):                  
    Earnings per share – basic $ 0.73     $ 0.65     $ 0.97     $ 1.00     $ 0.86  
    Earnings per share – diluted $ 0.71     $ 0.63     $ 0.94     $ 0.97     $ 0.84  
    Dividends per share   —       —       —       —       —  
    Book value per share (3) $ 30.59     $ 29.98     $ 29.37     $ 24.51     $ 23.54  
    Tangible book value per share (4) $ 30.59     $ 29.98     $ 29.37     $ 24.51     $ 23.54  
    Weighted avg outstanding shares – basic   15,033,296       14,962,507       13,828,605       13,447,066       13,412,667  
    Weighted avg outstanding shares – diluted   15,447,923       15,462,041       14,268,229       13,822,270       13,736,508  
    Shares outstanding at end of period   15,093,036       15,009,225       14,935,298       13,543,282       13,453,805  
    Stock options outstanding at end of period   126,654       163,932       186,354       198,370       286,119  
                                           

    See footnotes that follow the tables below

      As of and for the Three Month Period
      June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Credit Quality Data:                  
    Nonperforming assets (5) to total assets   1.36 %     1.30 %     1.52 %     1.63 %     1.34 %
    Nonperforming assets (5) to loans receivable and OREO   1.72 %     1.60 %     1.80 %     1.94 %     1.60 %
    Nonperforming loans (5) to total loans receivable   1.72 %     1.60 %     1.80 %     1.94 %     1.60 %
    Allowance for credit losses to nonperforming loans   270.7 %     325.0 %     282.5 %     258.7 %     279.9 %
    Allowance for credit losses to total loans receivable   4.65 %     5.21 %     5.08 %     5.03 %     4.48 %
    Gross charge-offs $ 53,780     $ 53,686     $ 61,585     $ 53,305     $ 55,207  
    Gross recoveries $ 4,467     $ 5,486     $ 5,223     $ 4,516     $ 2,254  
    Net charge-offs to average loans (6)   5.54 %     5.57 %     6.56 %     5.60 %     6.54 %
                       
    Capital Ratios:                  
    Company                  
    Tier 1 leverage capital   10.39 %     10.67 %     10.78 %     8.40 %     8.31 %
    Common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital   12.32 %     12.13 %     12.04 %     9.24 %     9.03 %
    Tier 1 risk-based capital   12.41 %     12.22 %     12.14 %     9.34 %     9.13 %
    Total risk-based capital   14.90 %     14.73 %     14.67 %     11.89 %     11.70 %
    Bank                  
    Tier 1 leverage capital   10.33 %     10.57 %     10.64 %     9.29 %     9.24 %
    Common equity Tier 1 risk-based capital   12.36 %     12.12 %     11.99 %     10.34 %     10.15 %
    Tier 1 risk-based capital   12.36 %     12.12 %     11.99 %     10.34 %     10.15 %
    Total risk-based capital   13.65 %     13.42 %     13.28 %     11.63 %     11.44 %
     
    (1) Core deposits are defined as all deposits excluding brokered and time deposits.
    (2) Share and per share amounts are based on total actual or average common shares outstanding, as applicable.
    (3) We calculate book value per share as total shareholders’ equity at the end of the relevant period divided by the outstanding number of our common shares at the end of each period.
    (4) Tangible book value per share is a non-GAAP financial measure. We calculate tangible book value per share as total shareholders’ equity at the end of the relevant period, less goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by the outstanding number of our common shares at the end of each period. The most directly comparable GAAP financial measure is book value per share. We had no goodwill or other intangible assets as of any of the dates indicated. As a result, tangible book value per share is the same as book value per share as of each of the dates indicated.
    (5) Nonperforming assets and nonperforming loans include loans 90+ days past due and accruing interest.
    (6) Annualized calculations.
     

    Key Performance Ratios

    Return on average assets (“ROA”) was 0.99% for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to 0.93% and 1.21% for the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2024, respectively.  ROA for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, increased 0.06% and decreased 0.22% compared to March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2024, respectively. Noninterest expenses were slightly higher for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025 due to continued investments in growth, technology and risk management, partially offset by a decrease in legal and professional expenses. Noninterest expenses were higher than the quarter ended June 30, 2024 due primarily to an increase in salaries and employee benefits, data processing and software licenses and legal and professional expenses, all of which are related to the growth of Company and investments in technology and risk management.

    Yield on earning assets and yield on loans receivable decreased 0.40% and 0.22%, respectively, for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025, largely due to a decrease in CCBX loan yield. Lower rate capital call lines increased $66.2 million, or 49.6%, compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025. These loans bear a lower rate of interest, but have less credit risk due to the way the loans are structured compared to other commercial loans. Average loans receivable as of June 30, 2025 increased $56.1 million compared to March 31, 2025 as net CCBX loans continue to grow, despite selling $1.30 billion in CCBX loans during the quarter ended June 30, 2025.

    The quarter over quarter volatility in the efficiency ratio and noninterest income to average asset performance metrics was driven by a higher-quality CCBX loan-mix from a credit quality perspective, which effectively reduced the credit enhancement required within non-interest income due to lower net-charge off activity as a percent of total loans which lowered our provision expense. These items have a neutral impact to net income although impacted the quarter-to-quarter metrics due to lower reported noninterest income. Additionally, results for the three months ended June 30, 2025 also included a net $439,000 loss on equity securities due to the re-valuation of a privately held equity stake, which CCB reviews quarterly. Management doesn’t believe the write-down is indicative of longer-term concerns of the portfolio company’s health at this time.

    The following table shows the Company’s key performance ratios for the periods indicated.  

        Three Months Ended
    (unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
                         
    Return on average assets (1)   0.99 %   0.93 %   1.30 %   1.34 %   1.21 %
    Return on average equity (1)   9.72 %   8.91 %   14.90 %   16.67 %   15.22 %
    Yield on earnings assets (1)   9.92 %   10.32 %   10.24 %   10.79 %   10.49 %
    Yield on loans receivable (1)   11.11 %   11.33 %   11.12 %   11.44 %   11.22 %
    Cost of funds (1)   3.13 %   3.11 %   3.24 %   3.62 %   3.60 %
    Cost of deposits (1)   3.10 %   3.08 %   3.21 %   3.59 %   3.58 %
    Net interest margin (1)   7.06 %   7.48 %   7.23 %   7.42 %   7.12 %
    Noninterest expense to average assets (1)   6.52 %   6.87 %   6.54 %   6.42 %   6.05 %
    Noninterest income to average assets (1)   3.82 %   6.06 %   7.19 %   7.85 %   7.22 %
    Efficiency ratio   60.98 %   51.59 %   46.02 %   42.65 %   42.84 %
    Loans receivable to deposits (2)   92.01 %   93.89 %   97.82 %   94.33 %   93.75 %
     
    (1) Annualized calculations shown for quarterly periods presented.
    (2) Includes loans held for sale.
     

    Management Outlook; CEO Eric Sprink

    “As we look to the latter half of 2025 and beyond, we expect to see additional new partner engagements, given that our CCBX pipeline remains strong with high-quality opportunities. We are committed to continuing to invest in our technology and risk management infrastructure to support our growth in the BaaS sector which is expected to produce future efficiencies, automation and cost reductions as we grow. The improvement in the performance of the CCBX portfolio and lower historical loss factors within the CCBX portfolio are positive indicators that our risk reduction and credit improvement efforts are proving effective, alongside the fraud and credit indemnifications provided by our partners. Additionally, we saw an increase of $512,000, or 8.2%, from the three months ended March 31, 2025 in BaaS program income, excluding nonrecurring revenue, namely in transaction and interchange income. We anticipate this growth to continue in future periods as our partner activities expand and grow.” said CEO Eric Sprink.

    Coastal Financial Corporation Overview

    The Company has one main subsidiary, the Bank, which consists of three segments: CCBX, the community bank and treasury & administration.  The CCBX segment includes all of our BaaS activities, the community bank segment includes all community banking activities and the treasury & administration segment includes treasury management, overall administration and all other aspects of the Company.  

    CCBX Performance Update

    Our CCBX segment continues to evolve, and we have 29 relationships, at varying stages, including two partners in testing, two in implementation/onboarding, and five signed LOI as of June 30, 2025.  We continue to refine the criteria for CCBX partnerships, exploring relationships with larger and more established partners, with experienced management teams, existing customer bases and strong financial positions. We also will consider promising medium and smaller sized partners that align with our approach and terms including financial wherewithal and will continue to exit relationships where it makes sense for us to do so.

    While we explore relationships with new partners we continue to expand our product offerings with existing CCBX partners. As we become more proficient in the BaaS space we aim to cultivate new relationships that align with our long-term goals. We believe that a strategy of adding new partnerships and launching new products with existing partners allows us to expand and grow our customer base with a modest increase in regulatory risk given our operational history with them. Increases in partner activity/transaction counts is positively impacting noninterest income and we expect this trend to continue as current products grow and new products are introduced. We plan to continue selling loans as part of our strategy to balance partner and lending limits, and manage the loan portfolio and credit quality. We retain a portion of the fee income for our role in processing transactions on sold credit card loans, and will continue this strategy to provide an on-going revenue source with no on balance sheet risk or capital requirement.

    As we build our deposit base, we will be able to sweep deposits off and on the balance sheet as needed. This deposit sweep capability allows us to better manage liquidity and deposit programs. At June 30, 2025 we swept off $478.7 million in deposits for FDIC insurance and liquidity purposes. Robinhood has entered the production testing phase for its suite of deposit products, signaling continued momentum in our strategic partnership pipeline. Dave finalized production testing in Q2 and is poised to initiate its beta launch, expanding our footprint in digital banking solutions. The introduction of theses products are expected to diversify and grow deposits.

    The following table illustrates the activity and evolution in CCBX relationships for the periods presented.

      As of
    (unaudited) June 30, 2025 March 31,
    2025    		 June 30, 2024
    Active 20 19 19
    Friends and family / testing 2 2 1
    Implementation / onboarding 2 3 1
    Signed letters of intent 5 1 0
    Total CCBX relationships 29 25 21
     

    CCBX loans increased $29.5 million, or 1.8%, to $1.68 billion despite selling $1.30 billion in loans during the three months ended June 30, 2025. In accordance with the program agreement for one partner, we are responsible for losses on 5% of that portfolio. At June 30, 2025 the portion of that portfolio for which we are responsible represented $19.8 million in loans.

    The following table details the CCBX loan portfolio:

    CCBX   As of
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total
    Commercial and industrial loans:                        
    Capital call lines   $ 199,675     11.9 %   $ 133,466     8.1 %   $ 109,133     7.7 %
    All other commercial & industrial loans     26,142     1.6       29,702     1.8       41,757     3.0  
    Real estate loans:                        
    Residential real estate loans     234,786     14.0       285,355     17.3       287,950     20.4  
    Consumer and other loans:                        
    Credit cards     533,925     31.8       532,775     32.2       549,241     39.0  
    Other consumer and other loans     686,321     40.7       670,026     40.6       422,136     29.9  
    Gross CCBX loans receivable     1,680,849     100.0 %     1,651,324     100.0 %     1,410,217     100.0 %
    Net deferred origination (fees) costs     (569 )         (498 )         (438 )    
    Loans receivable   $ 1,680,280         $ 1,650,826         $ 1,409,779      
    Loan Yield – CCBX (1)(2)     16.22 %         16.88 %         17.75 %    
     
    (1) CCBX yield does not include the impact of BaaS loan expense.  BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit enhancements and originating & servicing CCBX loans. See reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures at the end of this earnings release for the impact of BaaS loan expense on CCBX loan yield.
    (2) Loan yield is annualized for the three months ended for each period presented and includes loans held for sale and nonaccrual loans.
     

    The increase in CCBX loans in the quarter ended June 30, 2025, includes an increase of $66.2 million, or 49.6%, in capital call lines as a result of normal balance fluctuations and business activities, a decrease of $50.6 million, or 17.7%, in residential real estate loans and an increase of $17.4 million or 1.5%, in other consumer and other loans. We continue to monitor and manage the CCBX loan portfolio, and sold $1.30 billion in CCBX loans during the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to sales of $744.6 million in the quarter ended March 31, 2025. We continue to reposition ourselves by managing CCBX credit and concentration levels in an effort to optimize our loan portfolio earnings and generate off balance sheet fee income. CCBX loan yield decreased 0.67% for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025 as a result of an increase in lower rate capital call lines and overall mix of loans compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025, these loans bear a lower rate of interest, but have less credit risk due to the way the loans are structured compared to other commercial loans.

    The following chart shows the growth in credit card accounts that generate fee income. This includes accounts with balances, which are included in our loan totals, and accounts that have been sold and have no corresponding balance in our loan totals, and that generate fee income.

    The following chart shows the growth in active CCBX debit cards which are sources of interchange income.

    The following table details the CCBX deposit portfolio:

    CCBX   As of
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total
    Demand, noninterest bearing   $ 60,448     2.6 %   $ 58,416     2.6 %   $ 62,234     3.0 %
    Interest bearing demand and
    money market    		     2,231,159     94.5       2,145,608     94.6       1,989,105     96.7  
    Savings     51,523     2.2       16,625     0.7       5,150     0.3  
    Total core deposits     2,343,130     99.3       2,220,649     97.9       2,056,489     100.0  
    Other deposits     17,013     0.7       46,359     2.1       —     —  
    Total CCBX deposits   $ 2,360,143     100.0 %   $ 2,267,008     100.0 %   $ 2,056,489     100.0 %
    Cost of deposits (1)     3.96 %         4.01 %         4.92 %    
     
    (1) Cost of deposits is annualized for the three months ended for each period presented.
     

    CCBX deposits increased $93.1 million, or 4.1%, in the three months ended June 30, 2025 to $2.36 billion as a result of growth and normal balance fluctuations. This excludes the $478.7 million in CCBX deposits that were transferred off balance sheet for increased Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance coverage and sweep purposes, compared to $406.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. Amounts in excess of FDIC insurance coverage are transferred, using a third-party facilitator/vendor sweep product, to participating financial institutions.

    Community Bank Performance Update

    In the quarter ended June 30, 2025, the community bank saw net loans decrease $6.5 million, or 0.3%, to $1.86 billion, as a result of normal balance fluctuations.

    The following table details the Community Bank loan portfolio:

    Community Bank   As of
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total
    Commercial and industrial loans   $ 149,926     8.0 %   $ 149,104     8.0 %   $ 144,436     7.5 %
    Real estate loans:                        
    Construction, land and land development loans     194,150     10.4       166,551     8.9       173,064     9.0  
    Residential real estate loans     198,844     10.7       202,920     10.8       229,639     12.0  
    Commercial real estate loans     1,310,882     70.2       1,340,647     71.6       1,357,979     70.8  
    Consumer and other loans:                        
    Other consumer and other loans     12,230     0.7       13,326     0.7       14,220     0.7  
    Gross Community Bank loans receivable     1,866,032     100.0 %     1,872,548     100.0 %     1,919,338     100.0 %
    Net deferred origination fees     (5,982 )         (6,015 )         (7,304 )    
    Loans receivable   $ 1,860,050         $ 1,866,533         $ 1,912,034      
    Loan Yield(1)     6.53 %         6.53 %         6.52 %    
     
    (1) Loan yield is annualized for the three months ended for each period presented and includes loans held for sale and nonaccrual loans.
     

    Community bank loan categories decreased $29.8 million in commercial real estate loans and $1.1 million in consumer and other loans, partially offset by an increase of $27.6 million in construction, land and land development loans and $822,000 in commercial and industrial loans, during the quarter ended June 30, 2025.

    The following table details the community bank deposit portfolio:

    Community Bank   As of
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total   Balance   % to Total
    Demand, noninterest bearing   $ 494,907     31.9 %   $ 481,214     31.5 %   $ 531,555     35.7 %
    Interest bearing demand and
    money market    		     545,655     35.1       560,416     36.8       876,668     59.0  
    Savings     57,933     3.7       59,493     3.9       63,627     4.3  
    Total core deposits     1,098,495     70.7       1,101,123     72.2       1,471,850     99.0  
    Other deposits     440,975     28.4       407,391     26.7       1     0.0  
    Time deposits less than $100,000     5,299     0.3       5,585     0.4       6,741     0.5  
    Time deposits $100,000 and over     8,659     0.6       10,122     0.7       8,351     0.5  
    Total Community Bank deposits   $ 1,553,428     100.0 %   $ 1,524,221     100.0 %   $ 1,486,943     100.0 %
    Cost of deposits(1)     1.77 %         1.76 %         1.77 %    
     
    (1)  Cost of deposits is annualized for the three months ended for each period presented.
     

    Community bank deposits increased $29.2 million, or 1.9%, during the three months ended June 30, 2025 to $1.55 billion. The community bank segment includes noninterest bearing deposits of $494.9 million, or 31.9%, of total community bank deposits, resulting in a cost of deposits of 1.77%, which compared to 1.76% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025.

    Net Interest Income and Margin Discussion

    Net interest income was $76.7 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, an increase of $675,000, or 0.9%, from $76.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, and an increase of $10.6 million, or 16.0%, from $66.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Net interest income compared to March 31, 2025, was higher due to an increase in average loans receivable. The increase in net interest income compared to June 30, 2024 was largely related to growth in loans receivable and a reduction in cost of funds as a result of lower interest rates.  

    Net interest margin was 7.06% for the three months ended June 30, 2025, compared to 7.48% for the three months ended March 31, 2025, due primarily to a decrease in loan yield. Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense, (a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of this earnings release) was 4.07% for the three months ended June 30, 2025, compared to 4.28% for the three months ended March 31, 2025. Net interest margin was 7.12% for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The decrease in net interest margin for the three months ended June 30, 2025 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2024 was largely due to a decrease in loan yield, partially offset by lower cost of funds. The $66.2 million of growth in lower rate capital call lines and overall mix of loans contributed to the decrease in net interest margin for the three months ended June 30, 2025. Capital call lines grew 49.6% quarter-over-quarter to $199.7 million, or 11.9% of total CCBX loans versus 8.1% in the prior quarter. These loans carry a lower interest rate, but also lower credit costs.

    Interest and fees on loans receivable increased $720,000, or 0.7%, to $98.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, compared to $98.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, as a result of loan growth. Interest and fees on loans receivable increased $8.0 million, or 8.8%, compared to $90.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, due to an increase in outstanding balances. Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense (a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of this earnings release) decreased 0.21% for the three months ended June 30, 2025, compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025 and increased 0.07% compared the three months ended June 30, 2024.

    The following tables illustrate how net interest margin and loan yield is affected by BaaS loan expense:

    Consolidated   As of and for the Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30
    2025    		   March 31
    2025    		   June 30
    2024
    Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense:        
    Net interest margin (1)     7.06 %     7.48 %     7.12 %
    Earning assets     4,356,591       4,124,065       3,736,579  
    Net interest income (GAAP)     76,737       76,062       66,172  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net interest income, net of BaaS loan expense(2)   $ 44,254     $ 43,555     $ 37,161  
    Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense (1)(2)     4.07 %     4.28 %     4.00 %
    Loan income net of BaaS loan expense divided by average loans:    
    Loan yield (GAAP)(1)     11.11 %     11.33 %     11.22 %
    Total average loans receivable   $ 3,567,823     $ 3,511,724     $ 3,258,042  
    Interest and earned fee income on loans (GAAP)     98,867       98,147       90,879  
    BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net loan income(2)   $ 66,384     $ 65,640     $ 61,868  
    Loan income, net of BaaS loan expense, divided by average loans (1)(2)     7.46 %     7.58 %     7.64 %
     
    (1) Annualized calculations shown for periods presented.
    (2) A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth at the end of this earnings release.
     

    Average investment securities decreased $900,000 to $46.3 million compared to the three months ended March 31, 2025 and decreased $3.5 million compared to the three months ended June 30, 2024 as a result of principal paydowns.

    Cost of funds was 3.13% for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, an increase of 2 basis points from the quarter ended March 31, 2025 and a decrease of 47 basis points from the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Cost of deposits for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 was 3.10%, compared to 3.08% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, and 3.58% for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. The decreased cost of funds and deposits compared to June 30, 2024 were largely due to the reductions in the Fed funds rate in 2024.

    The following table summarizes the average yield on loans receivable and cost of deposits:

      For the Three Months Ended
      June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
      Yield on
    Loans (2)    		   Cost of
    Deposits (2)    		   Yield on
    Loans (2)    		   Cost of
    Deposits (2)    		   Yield on
    Loans (2)    		   Cost of
    Deposits (2)
    Community Bank 6.53 %   1.77 %   6.53 %   1.76 %   6.52 %   1.77 %
    CCBX (1) 16.22 %   3.96 %   16.88 %   4.01 %   17.75 %   4.92 %
    Consolidated 11.11 %   3.10 %   11.33 %   3.08 %   11.22 %   3.58 %
    (1) CCBX yield on loans does not include the impact of BaaS loan expense.  BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit and fraud enhancements and originating & servicing CCBX loans. To determine Net BaaS loan income earned from CCBX loan relationships, the Company takes BaaS loan interest income and deducts BaaS loan expense to arrive at Net BaaS loan income which can be compared to interest income on the Company’s community bank loans. See reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures at the end of this earnings release for the impact of BaaS loan expense on CCBX loan yield.
    (2) Annualized calculations for periods presented.
     

    The following table illustrates how BaaS loan interest income is affected by BaaS loan expense resulting in net BaaS loan income and the associated yield:

        For the Three Months Ended
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands, unaudited)   Income / Expense   Income / expense divided by average CCBX loans (2)   Income / Expense   Income / expense divided by average CCBX loans(2)   Income / Expense   Income / expense divided by average CCBX loans (2)
    BaaS loan interest income   $ 68,264   16.22 %   $ 67,855   16.88 %   $ 60,138   17.75 %
    Less: BaaS loan expense     32,483   7.72 %     32,507   8.09 %     29,011   8.56 %
    Net BaaS loan income (1)   $ 35,781   8.50 %   $ 35,348   8.79 %   $ 31,127   9.19 %
    Average BaaS Loans(3)   $ 1,688,492       $ 1,630,088       $ 1,362,343    
     
    (1) A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth at the end of this earnings release.
    (2) Annualized calculations shown for the periods presented.
    (3) Includes loans held for sale.
     

    Noninterest Income Discussion

    Noninterest income was $42.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, a decrease of $20.8 million from $63.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, and a decrease of $26.4 million from $69.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024.  The decrease in noninterest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 as compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025 was primarily due to a decrease of $20.6 million in total BaaS income.  The $20.6 million decrease in total BaaS income included a $22.4 million decrease in BaaS credit enhancements related to the decrease in provision for credit losses due to an improvement in the performance of the CCBX portfolio and our focus on originating higher quality CCBX loans resulting in lower historical loss factors, which had a favorable impact on the provision for credit losses, partially offset by an increase of $1.0 million in BaaS program income, which includes $504,000 in nonrecurring revenue, and a $811,000 increase in BaaS fraud enhancements. Results for the three months ended June 30, 2025 also included a net $439,000 loss on equity securities due to the re-valuation of a privately held equity stake, which we review quarterly. Management doesn’t believe the write-down is indicative of longer-term concerns of the portfolio company’s health at this time. The $1.0 million increase in BaaS program income is largely due to an increase in transaction and interchange fees and includes $504,000 in nonrecurring revenue (see “Appendix B” for more information on the accounting for BaaS allowance for credit losses and credit and fraud enhancements).

    The $26.4 million decrease in noninterest income over the quarter ended June 30, 2024 was primarily due to a $28.5 million decrease in BaaS credit and fraud enhancements due to improvement in the performance of the CCBX loan portfolio, partially offset by an increase of $2.0 million in BaaS program income, which includes $504,000 in nonrecurring revenue.

    Noninterest Expense Discussion

    Total noninterest expense increased $843,000 to $72.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, compared to $72.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025, and increased $14.9 million from $58.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024. The $843,000 increase in noninterest expense for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, as compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025, was primarily due to a $659,000 increase in data processing and software licenses, an $811,000 increase in BaaS fraud expense and a $74,000 increase in legal and professional fees, partially offset by a $414,000 decrease in other expenses, $119,000 decrease in occupancy expense, $81,000 decrease in salaries and employee benefits and a $24,000 decrease in BaaS loan expense. The increase in data processing and software licenses were part of our continued investments in growth, technology and risk management. BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit enhancements, fraud enhancements, and originating & servicing CCBX loans. BaaS fraud expense represents non-credit fraud losses on partner’s customer loan and deposit accounts. A portion of this expense is realized during the quarter in which the loss occurs, and a portion is estimated based on historical or other information from our partners.

    The increase in noninterest expenses for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2024 was largely due to a $4.4 million increase in salary and employee benefits, a $1.6 million increase in data processing and software licenses due to enhancements and investments in technology, and a $2.7 million increase in legal and professional expenses, all of which are related to the growth of Company and investments in technology and risk management. Also contributing to the the increase was a $3.5 million increase in BaaS loan expense and a $1.0 million increase in BaaS fraud expense.

    Certain noninterest expenses are reimbursed by our CCBX partners. In accordance with GAAP we recognize all expenses in noninterest expense and the reimbursement of expenses from our CCBX partner in noninterest income. The following table reflects the portion of noninterest expenses that are reimbursed by partners to assist in the understanding of how the increases in noninterest expense are related to expenses incurred and reimbursed by CCBX partners:

        Three Months Ended
        June 30,   March 31,   June 30,
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)     2025       2025       2024  
    Total noninterest expense (GAAP)   $ 72,832     $ 71,989     $ 57,964  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     32,483       32,507       29,011  
    Less: BaaS fraud expense     2,804       1,993       1,784  
    Less: Reimbursement of expenses (BaaS)     646       1,026       857  
    Noninterest expense, net of BaaS loan expense, BaaS fraud expense
    and reimbursement of expenses (BaaS) (1)    		   $ 36,899     $ 36,463     $ 26,312  
     
    (1) A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth at the end of this earnings release.
     

    Provision for Income Taxes

    The provision for income taxes was $3.4 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, $2.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and $3.4 million for the second quarter of 2024.  The income tax provision as a percentage was higher for the three months ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025 as a result of the higher net income and increase in state income tax rates, partially offset by the deductibility of certain equity awards, and was somewhat flat in dollar amount compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2024, but higher in tax rate.

    The Company is subject to various state taxes that are assessed as CCBX activities and employees expand into other states, which has increased the overall tax rate used in calculating the provision for income taxes in the current and future periods. The Company uses a federal statutory tax rate of 21.0% as a basis for calculating provision for federal income taxes and 5.14% for calculating the provision for state income taxes. The state rate increased in the quarter ended June 30, 2025 primarily as a result of a change in California’s tax laws.

    Financial Condition Overview

    Total assets increased $141.3 million, or 3.3%, to $4.48 billion at June 30, 2025 compared to $4.34 billion at March 31, 2025.  The increase is primarily comprised of a $95.5 million increase in cash and interest bearing deposits with other banks, a $23.0 million increase in loans receivable, and an $18.3 million increase in loans held for sale. Total loans receivable increased to $3.54 billion at June 30, 2025, from $3.52 billion at March 31, 2025.

    As of June 30, 2025, in addition to the $719.8 million in cash on hand the Company had the capacity to borrow up to a total of $642.7 million from the Federal Reserve Bank discount window and Federal Home Loan Bank, plus an additional $50.0 million from a correspondent bank. There were no borrowings outstanding on these lines as of June 30, 2025.

    The Company, on a stand alone basis, had a cash balance of $43.9 million as of June 30, 2025, a portion of which is retained for general operating purposes, including debt repayment, for funding $1.6 million in commitments to bank technology investment funds, with the remaining cash available to be contributed to the Bank as capital.  

    Uninsured deposits were $579.9 million as of June 30, 2025, compared to $558.8 million as of March 31, 2025.

    Total shareholders’ equity as of June 30, 2025 increased $11.8 million since March 31, 2025.  The increase in shareholders’ equity was primarily comprised of $11.0 million in net earnings combined with an increase of $764,000 in common stock outstanding as a result of equity awards exercised or vested during the three months ended June 30, 2025.

    The Company and the Bank remained well capitalized at June 30, 2025, as summarized in the following table.

    (unaudited)   Coastal Community Bank   Coastal Financial Corporation   Minimum Well Capitalized Ratios under Prompt Corrective Action (1)
    Tier 1 Leverage Capital (to average assets)   10.33 %   10.39 %   5.00 %
    Common Equity Tier 1 Capital (to risk-weighted assets)   12.36 %   12.32 %   6.50 %
    Tier 1 Capital (to risk-weighted assets)   12.36 %   12.41 %   8.00 %
    Total Capital (to risk-weighted assets)   13.65 %   14.90 %   10.00 %
     
    (1) Presents the minimum capital ratios for an insured depository institution, such as the Bank, to be considered well capitalized under the Prompt Corrective Action framework. The minimum requirements for the Company to be considered well capitalized under Regulation Y include to maintain, on a consolidated basis, a total risk-based capital ratio of 10.0 percent or greater and a tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 6.0 percent or greater.
     

    Asset Quality

    The allowance for credit losses was $164.8 million and 4.65% of loans receivable at June 30, 2025 compared to $183.2 million and 5.21% at March 31, 2025 and $148.9 million and 4.48% at June 30, 2024. The allowance for credit loss allocated to the CCBX portfolio was $145.9 million and 8.68% of CCBX loans receivable at June 30, 2025, with $18.9 million of allowance for credit loss allocated to the community bank or 1.02% of total community bank loans receivable.

    The following table details the allocation of the allowance for credit loss as of the period indicated:

        As of June 30, 2025   As of March 31, 2025   As of June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Community Bank   CCBX   Total   Community Bank   CCBX   Total   Community Bank   CCBX   Total
    Loans receivable   $ 1,860,050     $ 1,680,280     $ 3,540,330     $ 1,866,533     $ 1,650,826     $ 3,517,359     $ 1,912,034     $ 1,409,779     $ 3,321,813  
    Allowance for
    credit losses    		     (18,936 )     (145,858 )     (164,794 )     (18,992 )     (164,186 )     (183,178 )     (21,046 )     (127,832 )     (148,878 )
    Allowance for
    credit losses to
    total loans
    receivable    		     1.02 %     8.68 %     4.65 %     1.02 %     9.95 %     5.21 %     1.10 %     9.07 %     4.48 %
                                                                             

    Net charge-offs totaled $49.3 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2025, compared to $48.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2025 and $53.0 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. Net charge-offs as a percent of average loans decreased to 5.54% for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to 5.57% for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. CCBX partner agreements provide for a credit enhancement that covers the net-charge-offs on CCBX loans and negative deposit accounts by indemnifying or reimbursing incurred losses, except in accordance with the program agreement for one partner where the Company was responsible for credit losses on approximately 5% of a $296.3 million loan portfolio. At June 30, 2025, our portion of this portfolio represented $19.8 million in loans. Net charge-offs for this $19.8 million in loans were $1.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2025, $1.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and $1.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024.

    The following table details net charge-offs for the community bank and CCBX for the period indicated:

        Three Months Ended
        June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Community Bank   CCBX   Total   Community Bank   CCBX   Total   Community Bank   CCBX   Total
    Gross charge-offs   $ 11     $ 53,769     $ 53,780     $ 4     $ 53,682     $ 53,686     $ 2     $ 55,205     $ 55,207  
    Gross recoveries     (2 )     (4,465 )     (4,467 )     (7 )     (5,479 )     (5,486 )     (4 )     (2,250 )     (2,254 )
    Net charge-offs   $ 9     $ 49,304     $ 49,313     $ (3 )   $ 48,203     $ 48,200     $ (2 )   $ 52,955     $ 52,953  
    Net charge-offs to
    average loans (1)    		     0.00 %     11.71 %     5.54 %     0.00 %     11.99 %     5.57 %     0.00 %     15.63 %     6.54 %
     
    (1) Annualized calculations shown for periods presented.
     

    During the quarter ended June 30, 2025, a $31.0 million provision for credit losses was recorded for CCBX partner loans, compared to the $54.3 million provision for credit losses was recorded for CCBX partner loans for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. The provision was based on management’s analysis, bringing the CCBX allowance for credit losses to $145.9 million at June 30, 2025 compared to $164.2 million at March 31, 2025. The decrease in the allowance is due to an improvement in the performance of the CCBX portfolio and our focus on originating higher quality CCBX loans resulting in lower historical loss factors. As we continue to originate higher quality loans, these become a greater proportion of the CCBX portfolio, resulting in an improvement in expected losses and a reduced allowance. In general, CCBX loans have a higher level of expected losses than our community bank loans, which is reflected in the factors for the allowance for credit losses. Agreements with our CCBX partners provide for a credit enhancement which protects the Bank by indemnifying or reimbursing incurred losses.

    In accordance with accounting guidance, we estimate and record a provision for expected losses for these CCBX loans and reclassified negative deposit accounts. When the provision for CCBX credit losses and provision for unfunded commitments is recorded, a credit enhancement asset is also recorded on the balance sheet through noninterest income (BaaS credit enhancements). Expected losses are recorded in the allowance for credit losses. The credit enhancement asset is relieved when credit enhancement recoveries are received from the CCBX partner. If our partner is unable to fulfill their contracted obligations then the Bank could be exposed to additional credit losses. Management regularly evaluates and manages this counterparty risk with our CCBX partners.

    The factors used in management’s analysis for community bank credit losses indicated that a provision recapture of $47,000 was needed for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to a provision of $65,000 and a provision recapture of $341,000 for the quarters ended March 31, 2025 and June 30, 2024, respectively. The provision recapture in the current period was due to the lower outstanding balance in the community bank loan portfolio.

    The following table details the provision expense/(recapture) for the community bank and CCBX for the period indicated:

        Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Community bank   $ (47 )   $ 65   $ (341 )
    CCBX     30,976       54,319     62,231  
    Total provision expense   $ 30,929     $ 54,384   $ 61,890  
     

    A provision for unfunded commitments of $1.5 million was recorded for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 as a result of a change in the loan mix of available balance. A provision for accrued interest receivable of $182,000 was recorded for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 on CCBX loans.

    At June 30, 2025, our nonperforming assets were $60.9 million, or 1.36%, of total assets, compared to $56.4 million, or 1.30%, of total assets, at March 31, 2025, and $53.2 million, or 1.34%, of total assets, at June 30, 2024. These ratios are impacted by nonperforming CCBX loans that are covered by CCBX partner credit enhancements. As of June 30, 2025, $55.3 million of the $57.0 million in nonperforming CCBX loans were covered by CCBX partner credit enhancements described above. Additionally, some CCBX partners have a collection practice that places certain loans on nonaccrual status to improve collectability. $20.1 million of these loans are less than 90 days past due as of June 30, 2025.

    Nonperforming assets increased $4.5 million during the quarter ended June 30, 2025, compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025. Community bank nonperforming loans increased $3.7 million from March 31, 2025 to $3.8 million as of June 30, 2025, and CCBX nonperforming loans increased $847,000 to $57.0 million from March 31, 2025. The increase in CCBX nonperforming loans is due to an increase of $4.2 million in nonaccrual loans from March 31, 2025 to $24.4 million, partially offset by a $3.4 million decrease in CCBX loans that are past due 90 days or more and still accruing interest. As of June 30, 2025, $20.1 million in loans are under 90 days past due as a result of CCBX partners placing them on nonaccrual status to improve collectability. As a result of the type of loans (primarily consumer loans) originated through our CCBX partners we would typically anticipate that balances 90 days past due or more and still accruing will generally increase as those loan portfolios grow, therefore we believe the decrease in these past due CCBX loans is a positive performance indicator for the CCBX portfolio. Installment/closed-end and revolving/open-end consumer loans originated through CCBX lending partners will continue to accrue interest until 120 and 180 days past due, respectively and are reported as substandard, 90 days or more days past due and still accruing. There were no repossessed assets or other real estate owned at June 30, 2025. Our nonperforming loans to loans receivable ratio was 1.72% at June 30, 2025, compared to 1.60% at March 31, 2025, and 1.60% at June 30, 2024.

    For the quarter ended June 30, 2025, there were $9,000 in community bank net charge-offs and $49.3 million in net charge-offs were recorded on CCBX loans. These CCBX loans have a higher level of expected losses than our community bank loans, which is reflected in the factors for the allowance for credit losses.

    The following table details the Company’s nonperforming assets for the periods indicated.

    Consolidated As of
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited) June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Nonaccrual loans:          
    Commercial and industrial loans $ 2,333     $ 381     $ —  
    Real estate loans:          
    Construction, land and land development   1,697       —       —  
    Residential real estate   —       —       213  
    Commercial real estate   —       —       7,731  
    Consumer and other loans:          
    Credit cards   20,140       13,602       —  
    Other consumer and other loans   4,063       6,376       —  
    Total nonaccrual loans   28,233       20,359       7,944  
    Accruing loans past due 90 days or more:          
    Commercial & industrial loans   926       782       1,278  
    Real estate loans:          
    Residential real estate loans   1,817       2,407       2,722  
    Consumer and other loans:          
    Credit cards   23,116       27,187       36,465  
    Other consumer and other loans   6,775       5,632       4,779  
    Total accruing loans past due 90 days or more   32,634       36,008       45,244  
    Total nonperforming loans   60,867       56,367       53,188  
    Real estate owned   —       —       —  
    Repossessed assets   —       —       —  
    Total nonperforming assets $ 60,867     $ 56,367     $ 53,188  
    Total nonaccrual loans to loans receivable   0.80 %     0.58 %     0.24 %
    Total nonperforming loans to loans receivable   1.72 %     1.60 %     1.60 %
    Total nonperforming assets to total assets   1.36 %     1.30 %     1.34 %
                           

    The following tables detail the CCBX and community bank nonperforming assets which are included in the total nonperforming assets table above.

    CCBX As of
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited) June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Nonaccrual loans:          
    Commercial and industrial loans:          
    All other commercial & industrial loans $ 188     $ 192     $ —  
    Consumer and other loans:          
    Credit cards   20,140       13,602       —  
    Other consumer and other loans   4,063       6,376       —  
    Total nonaccrual loans   24,391       20,170       —  
    Accruing loans past due 90 days or more:          
    Commercial & industrial loans   926       782       1,278  
    Real estate loans:          
    Residential real estate loans   1,817       2,407       2,722  
    Consumer and other loans:          
    Credit cards   23,116       27,187       36,465  
    Other consumer and other loans   6,775       5,632       4,779  
    Total accruing loans past due 90 days or more   32,634       36,008       45,244  
    Total nonperforming loans   57,025       56,178       45,244  
    Other real estate owned   —       —       —  
    Repossessed assets   —       —       —  
    Total nonperforming assets $ 57,025     $ 56,178     $ 45,244  
    Total CCBX nonperforming assets to total consolidated assets   1.27 %     1.29 %     1.14 %
                           
    Community Bank As of
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited) June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Nonaccrual loans:          
    Commercial and industrial loans $ 2,145     $ 189     $ —  
    Real estate:          
    Construction, land and land development   1,697       —       —  
    Residential real estate   —       —       213  
    Commercial real estate   —       —       7,731  
    Total nonaccrual loans   3,842       189       7,944  
    Accruing loans past due 90 days or more:          
    Total accruing loans past due 90 days or more   —       —       —  
    Total nonperforming loans   3,842       189       7,944  
    Other real estate owned   —       —       —  
    Repossessed assets   —       —       —  
    Total nonperforming assets $ 3,842     $ 189     $ 7,944  
    Total community bank nonperforming assets to total consolidated assets   0.09 %     — %     0.20 %
                           

    About Coastal Financial

    Coastal Financial Corporation (Nasdaq: CCB) (the “Company”), is an Everett, Washington based bank holding company whose wholly owned subsidiaries are Coastal Community Bank (“Bank”) and Arlington Olympic LLC.  The $4.48 billion Bank provides service through 14 branches in Snohomish, Island, and King Counties, the Internet and its mobile banking application.  The Bank provides banking as a service to digital financial service providers, companies and brands that want to provide financial services to their customers through the Bank’s CCBX segment.  To learn more about the Company visit www.coastalbank.com.

    CCB-ER

    Contact

    Eric Sprink, Chief Executive Officer, (425) 357-3659
    Joel Edwards, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer, (425) 357-3687

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and our financial performance. Any statements about our management’s expectations, beliefs, plans, predictions, forecasts, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance are not historical facts and may be forward-looking. These statements are often, but not always, made through the use of words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believes,” “can,” “could,” “may,” “predicts,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “estimate,” “plans,” “projects,” “continuing,” “ongoing,” “expects,” “intends” and similar words or phrases. Any or all of the forward-looking statements in this earnings release may turn out to be inaccurate. The inclusion of or reference to forward-looking information in this earnings release should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. We have based these forward looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the risk that changes in U.S. trade policies, including the imposition of tariffs and retaliatory tariffs, may adversely impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations and those other risks and uncertainties discussed under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the most recent period filed and in any of our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    If one or more events related to these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may differ materially from what we anticipate. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

    COASTAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION
    (Dollars in thousands; unaudited)

    ASSETS
      June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Cash and due from banks $ 29,546     $ 43,467     $ 36,533     $ 45,327     $ 59,995  
    Interest earning deposits with other banks   690,213       580,835       415,980       438,699       427,250  
    Investment securities, available for sale, at fair value   33       34       35       38       39  
    Investment securities, held to maturity, at amortized cost   45,544       46,957       47,286       48,582       49,174  
    Other investments   12,521       12,589       10,800       10,757       10,664  
    Loans held for sale   60,474       42,132       20,600       7,565       —  
    Loans receivable   3,540,330       3,517,359       3,486,565       3,413,894       3,321,813  
    Allowance for credit losses   (164,794 )     (183,178 )     (176,994 )     (171,674 )     (148,878 )
    Total loans receivable, net   3,375,536       3,334,181       3,309,571       3,242,220       3,172,935  
    CCBX credit enhancement asset   167,779       183,377       181,890       173,600       149,096  
    CCBX receivable   13,009       12,685       14,138       16,060       11,520  
    Premises and equipment, net   29,052       28,639       27,431       25,833       24,526  
    Lease right-of-use assets   4,891       5,117       5,219       5,427       5,635  
    Accrued interest receivable   20,849       21,109       21,104       22,315       21,620  
    Bank-owned life insurance, net   13,648       13,501       13,375       13,255       13,132  
    Deferred tax asset, net   3,829       3,912       3,600       3,083       2,221  
    Other assets   13,635       10,747       13,646       11,711       11,742  
    Total assets $ 4,480,559     $ 4,339,282     $ 4,121,208     $ 4,064,472     $ 3,959,549  
                       
    LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    LIABILITIES                  
    Deposits $ 3,913,571     $ 3,791,229     $ 3,585,332     $ 3,627,288     $ 3,543,432  
    Subordinated debt, net   44,368       44,331       44,293       44,256       44,219  
    Junior subordinated debentures, net   3,592       3,592       3,591       3,591       3,591  
    Deferred compensation   295       310       332       369       405  
    Accrued interest payable   954       1,107       962       1,070       999  
    Lease liabilities   5,063       5,293       5,398       5,609       5,821  
    CCBX payable   32,939       29,391       29,171       37,839       32,539  
    Other liabilities   18,068       14,112       13,425       12,520       11,850  
    Total liabilities   4,018,850       3,889,365       3,682,504       3,732,542       3,642,856  
    SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY                  
    Common Stock   230,423       229,659       228,177       134,769       132,989  
    Retained earnings   231,287       220,259       210,529       197,162       183,706  
    Accumulated other comprehensive
    loss, net of tax    		   (1 )     (1 )     (2 )     (1 )     (2 )
    Total shareholders’ equity   461,709       449,917       438,704       331,930       316,693  
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 4,480,559     $ 4,339,282     $ 4,121,208     $ 4,064,472     $ 3,959,549  
     

    COASTAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION
    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME
    (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts; unaudited)

      Three Months Ended
      June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    INTEREST AND DIVIDEND INCOME                  
    Interest and fees on loans $ 98,867     $ 98,147   $ 95,575   $ 99,676   $ 90,879  
    Interest on interest earning deposits with
    other banks    		   8,085       6,070     6,021     4,781     5,683  
    Interest on investment securities   626       650     661     675     686  
    Dividends on other investments   219       40     191     33     174  
    Total interest income   107,797       104,907     102,448     105,165     97,422  
    INTEREST EXPENSE                  
    Interest on deposits   30,400       28,185     29,404     32,083     30,578  
    Interest on borrowed funds   660       660     667     809     672  
    Total interest expense   31,060       28,845     30,071     32,892     31,250  
    Net interest income   76,737       76,062     72,377     72,273     66,172  
    PROVISION FOR CREDIT LOSSES   32,211       55,781     61,867     70,257     62,325  
    Net interest income/(expense) after
    provision for credit losses    		   44,526       20,281     10,510     2,016     3,847  
    NONINTEREST INCOME                  
    Service charges and fees   913       860     932     952     946  
    Loan referral fees   —       —     —     —     —  
    Unrealized gain (loss) on equity securities,
    net    		   (439 )     16     1     2     9  
    Other income   853       682     473     486     257  
    Noninterest income, excluding BaaS program income and BaaS indemnification income   1,327       1,558     1,406     1,440     1,212  
    Servicing and other BaaS fees   1,539       1,419     1,043     1,044     1,525  
    Transaction and interchange fees   5,109       3,833     3,699     3,549     2,934  
    Reimbursement of expenses   646       1,026     812     565     857  
    BaaS program income   7,294       6,278     5,554     5,158     5,316  
    BaaS credit enhancements   31,268       53,648     62,097     70,108     60,826  
    BaaS fraud enhancements   2,804       1,993     5,043     2,084     1,784  
    BaaS indemnification income   34,072       55,641     67,140     72,192     62,610  
    Total noninterest income   42,693       63,477     74,100     78,790     69,138  
    NONINTEREST EXPENSE                  
    Salaries and employee benefits   21,401       21,482     17,955     17,060     16,973  
    Occupancy   915       1,034     958     964     985  
    Data processing and software licenses   5,541       4,882     4,049     4,338     3,977  
    Legal and professional expenses   5,962       5,888     4,606     3,597     3,311  
    Point of sale expense   69       107     89     73     72  
    Excise taxes   681       722     778     762     (706 )
    Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
    (“FDIC”) assessments    		   790       755     750     740     690  
    Director and staff expenses   612       631     683     559     470  
    Marketing   50       50     28     67     14  
    Other expense   1,524       1,938     1,752     1,482     1,383  
    Noninterest expense, excluding BaaS loan and BaaS fraud expense   37,545       37,489     31,648     29,642     27,169  
    BaaS loan expense   32,483       32,507     30,720     32,698     29,011  
    BaaS fraud expense   2,804       1,993     5,043     2,084     1,784  
    BaaS loan and fraud expense   35,287       34,500     35,763     34,782     30,795  
    Total noninterest expense   72,832       71,989     67,411     64,424     57,964  
    Income before provision for income
    taxes    		   14,387       11,769     17,199     16,382     15,021  
    PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES   3,359       2,039     3,832     2,926     3,425  
    NET INCOME $ 11,028     $ 9,730   $ 13,367   $ 13,456   $ 11,596  
    Basic earnings per common share $ 0.73     $ 0.65   $ 0.97   $ 1.00   $ 0.86  
    Diluted earnings per common share $ 0.71     $ 0.63   $ 0.94   $ 0.97   $ 0.84  
    Weighted average number of common shares
    outstanding:    		                  
    Basic   15,033,296       14,962,507     13,828,605     13,447,066     13,412,667  
    Diluted   15,447,923       15,462,041     14,268,229     13,822,270     13,736,508  
                                     

    COASTAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION
    AVERAGE BALANCES, YIELDS, AND RATES – QUARTERLY
    (Dollars in thousands; unaudited)

      For the Three Months Ended
      June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
      Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)
    Assets                                  
    Interest earning assets:                                  
    Interest earning deposits with
    other banks    		 $ 729,652     $ 8,085   4.44 %   $ 553,393     $ 6,070   4.45 %   $ 418,165     $ 5,683   5.47 %
    Investment securities, available for sale (2)   35       —   —       37       1   10.96       43       —   —  
    Investment securities, held to maturity (2)   46,256       626   5.43       47,154       649   5.58       49,737       686   5.55  
    Other investments   12,825       219   6.85       11,757       40   1.38       10,592       174   6.61  
    Loans receivable (3)   3,567,823       98,867   11.11       3,511,724       98,147   11.33       3,258,042       90,879   11.22  
    Total interest earning assets   4,356,591       107,797   9.92       4,124,065       104,907   10.32       3,736,579       97,422   10.49  
    Noninterest earning assets:                                  
    Allowance for credit losses   (176,022 )             (170,542 )             (138,472 )        
    Other noninterest earning assets   298,698               296,993               255,205          
    Total assets $ 4,479,267             $ 4,250,516             $ 3,853,312          
                                       
    Liabilities and Shareholders’ Equity                                  
    Interest bearing liabilities:                                  
    Interest bearing deposits $ 3,369,574     $ 30,400   3.62 %   $ 3,166,384     $ 28,185   3.61 %   $ 2,854,575     $ 30,578   4.31 %
    FHLB advances and other borrowings   3       1   —       —       1   —       1,648       3   0.73  
    Subordinated debt   44,345       598   5.41       44,309       598   5.47       44,197       598   5.44  
    Junior subordinated debentures   3,592       61   6.81       3,592       61   6.89       3,590       71   7.95  
    Total interest bearing liabilities   3,417,514       31,060   3.65       3,214,285       28,845   3.64       2,904,010       31,250   4.33  
    Noninterest bearing deposits   562,174               543,784               584,661          
    Other liabilities   44,452               49,624               58,267          
    Total shareholders’ equity   455,127               442,823               306,374          
    Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity $ 4,479,267             $ 4,250,516             $ 3,853,312          
    Net interest income     $ 76,737           $ 76,062           $ 66,172    
    Interest rate spread         6.27 %           6.68 %           6.16 %
    Net interest margin (4)         7.06 %           7.48 %           7.12 %
     
    (1)  Yields and costs are annualized.
    (2)  For presentation in this table, average balances and the corresponding average rates for investment securities are based upon historical cost, adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts.
    (3)  Includes loans held for sale and nonaccrual loans.
    (4)  Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by the average total interest earning assets.
     

    COASTAL FINANCIAL CORPORATION
    SELECTED AVERAGE BALANCES, YIELDS, AND RATES – BY SEGMENT – QUARTERLY
    (Dollars in thousands; unaudited)

      For the Three Months Ended
      June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands, unaudited) Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)
    Community Bank                                  
    Assets                                  
    Interest earning assets:                                  
    Loans receivable (2) $ 1,879,331   $ 30,603   6.53 %   $ 1,881,636   $ 30,292   6.53 %   $ 1,895,699   $ 30,741   6.52 %
    Total interest earning
    assets    		   1,879,331     30,603   6.53       1,881,636     30,292   6.53       1,895,699     30,741   6.52  
    Liabilities                                  
    Interest bearing liabilities:                                
    Interest bearing
    deposits    		   1,048,506     6,783   2.59 %     1,045,971     6,604   2.56 %     938,033     6,459   2.77 %
    Intrabank liability   342,232     3,792   4.44       356,337     3,909   4.45       429,452     5,836   5.47  
    Total interest bearing
    liabilities    		   1,390,738     10,575   3.05       1,402,308     10,513   3.04       1,367,485     12,295   3.62  
    Noninterest bearing
    deposits    		   488,593             479,329             528,214        
    Net interest income     $ 20,028           $ 19,779           $ 18,446    
    Net interest margin(3)         4.27 %           4.26 %           3.91 %
                                       
    CCBX                                  
    Assets                                  
    Interest earning assets:                                  
    Loans receivable (2)(4) $ 1,688,492   $ 68,264   16.22 %   $ 1,630,088   $ 67,855   16.88 %   $ 1,362,343   $ 60,138   17.75 %
    Intrabank asset   706,157     7,825   4.44       554,781     6,085   4.45       610,646     8,299   5.47  
    Total interest earning
    assets    		   2,394,649     76,089   12.74       2,184,869     73,940   13.72       1,972,989     68,437   13.95  
    Liabilities                                  
    Interest bearing liabilities:                            
    Interest bearing
    deposits    		   2,321,068     23,617   4.08 %     2,120,413     21,581   4.13 %     1,916,542     24,119   5.06 %
    Total interest bearing
    liabilities    		   2,321,068     23,617   4.08       2,120,413     21,581   4.13       1,916,542     24,119   5.06  
    Noninterest bearing
    deposits    		   73,581             64,455             56,447        
    Net interest income     $ 52,472           $ 52,359           $ 44,318    
    Net interest margin(3)         8.79 %           9.72 %           9.03 %
    Net interest margin, net
    of BaaS loan expense(5)    		         3.35 %           3.68 %           3.12 %
                                             
      For the Three Months Ended
      June 30, 2025   March 31, 2025   June 30, 2024
    (dollars in thousands, unaudited) Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)    		   Average
    Balance    		   Interest &
    Dividends    		   Yield /
    Cost (1)
    Treasury & Administration                            
    Assets                                  
    Interest earning assets:                                  
    Interest earning
    deposits with
    other banks    		 $ 729,652   $ 8,085   4.44 %   $ 553,393   $ 6,070   4.45 %   $ 418,165   $ 5,683   5.47 %
    Investment securities,
    available for sale (6)    		   35     —   —       37     1   10.96       43     —   3.13  
    Investment securities,
    held to maturity (6)    		   46,256     626   5.43       47,154     649   5.58       49,737     686   5.55  
    Other investments   12,825     219   6.85       11,757     40   1.38       10,592     174   6.61  
    Total interest
    earning assets    		   788,768     8,930   4.54 %     612,341 —   6,760   4.48 %     478,537     6,543   5.50 %
    Liabilities                                  
    Interest bearing
    liabilities:    		                                  
    FHLB advances
    and borrowings    		 $ 3     1   —     $ —     1   — %   $ 1,648     3   0.73 %
    Subordinated debt   44,345     598   5.41       44,309     598   5.47       44,197     598   5.44  
    Junior subordinated
    debentures    		   3,592     61   6.81       3,592     61   6.89       3,590     71   7.95  
    Intrabank liability, net (7)   363,925     4,033   4.44       198,444     2,176   4.45       181,194     2,463   5.47  
    Total interest
    bearing liabilities    		   411,865     4,693   4.57       246,345     2,836   4.67       230,629     3,135   5.47  
    Net interest income     $ 4,237           $ 3,924           $ 3,408    
    Net interest margin(3)         2.15 %           2.60 %           2.86 %
     
    (1) Yields and costs are annualized.
    (2) Includes loans held for sale and nonaccrual loans.
    (3) Net interest margin represents net interest income divided by the average total interest earning assets.
    (4) CCBX yield does not include the impact of BaaS loan expense. BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit enhancements, fraud enhancements and originating & servicing CCBX loans. See reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures at the end of this earnings release for the impact of BaaS loan expense on CCBX loan yield.
    (5) Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense, includes the impact of BaaS loan expense. BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit enhancements, fraud enhancements, originating & servicing CCBX loans. See reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures at the end of this earnings release.
    (6) For presentation in this table, average balances and the corresponding average rates for investment securities are based upon historical cost, adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts.
    (7) Intrabank assets and liabilities are consolidated for period calculations and presented as intrabank asset, net or intrabank liability, net in the table above.
     

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    The Company uses certain non-GAAP financial measures to provide meaningful supplemental information regarding the Company’s operational performance and to enhance investors’ overall understanding of such financial performance.

    However, these non-GAAP financial measures are supplemental and are not a substitute for an analysis based on GAAP measures. As other companies may use different calculations for these adjusted measures, this presentation may not be comparable to other similarly titled adjusted measures reported by other companies.

    The following non-GAAP measures are presented to illustrate the impact of BaaS loan expense on net loan income and yield on loans and CCBX loans and the impact of BaaS loan expense on net interest income and net interest margin.

    Loan income, net of BaaS loan expense, divided by average loans, is a non-GAAP measure that includes the impact BaaS loan expense on loan income and the yield on loans. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is yield on loans.

    Net BaaS loan income divided by average CCBX loans is a non-GAAP measure that includes the impact BaaS loan expense on net BaaS loan income and the yield on CCBX loans. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is yield on CCBX loans.

    Net interest income, net of BaaS loan expense, is a non-GAAP measure that includes the impact BaaS loan expense on net interest income. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is net interest income.

    CCBX net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense, is a non-GAAP measure that includes the impact of BaaS loan expense on net interest rate margin. The most directly comparable GAAP measure is CCBX net interest margin.

    Reconciliations of the GAAP and non-GAAP measures are presented below.

    CCBX   As of and for the Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30
    2025    		   March 31
    2025    		   June 30
    2024
    Net BaaS loan income divided by average CCBX loans:
    CCBX loan yield (GAAP)(1)     16.22 %     16.88 %     17.75 %
    Total average CCBX loans receivable   $ 1,688,492     $ 1,630,088     $ 1,362,343  
    Interest and earned fee income on CCBX loans (GAAP)     68,264       67,855       60,138  
    BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net BaaS loan income   $ 35,781     $ 35,348     $ 31,127  
    Net BaaS loan income divided by average CCBX loans (1)     8.50 %     8.79 %     9.19 %
    CCBX net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense:        
    CCBX net interest margin (1)     8.79 %     9.72 %     9.03 %
    CCBX earning assets     2,394,649       2,184,869       1,972,989  
    Net interest income (GAAP)     52,472       52,359       44,318  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net interest income, net of BaaS
    loan expense    		   $ 19,989     $ 19,852     $ 15,307  
    CCBX net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense (1)     3.35 %     3.68 %     3.12 %
     
    Consolidated   As of and for the Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30
    2025    		   March 31
    2025    		   June 30
    2024
    Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense:        
    Net interest margin (1)     7.06 %     7.48 %     7.12 %
    Earning assets     4,356,591       4,124,065       3,736,579  
    Net interest income (GAAP)     76,737       76,062       66,172  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net interest income, net of BaaS loan expense   $ 44,254     $ 43,555     $ 37,161  
    Net interest margin, net of BaaS loan expense (1)     4.07 %     4.28 %     4.00 %
    Loan income net of BaaS loan expense divided by average loans:    
    Loan yield (GAAP)(1)     11.11 %     11.33 %     11.22 %
    Total average loans receivable   $ 3,567,823     $ 3,511,724     $ 3,258,042  
    Interest and earned fee income on loans (GAAP)     98,867       98,147       90,879  
    BaaS loan expense     (32,483 )     (32,507 )     (29,011 )
    Net loan income   $ 66,384     $ 65,640     $ 61,868  
    Loan income, net of BaaS loan expense, divided by average loans (1)     7.46 %     7.58 %     7.64 %
     
    (1) Annualized calculations for periods presented.
     

    The following non-GAAP measure is presented to illustrate the impact of BaaS loan expense, BaaS fraud expense and reimbursement of expenses (BaaS) on noninterest expense. Certain noninterest expenses are reimbursed by our CCBX partners. In accordance with GAAP we recognize all expenses in noninterest expense and the reimbursement of expenses from our CCBX partner in noninterest income. This non-GAAP measure shows the portion of noninterest expenses that are reimbursed by partners to assist the understanding of how the increases in noninterest expense are related to expenses incurred for and reimbursed by CCBX partner. The most comparable GAAP measure is noninterest expense.

        As of and for the Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands, unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Noninterest expense, net of reimbursement of expenses (BaaS)
    Noninterest expense (GAAP)   $ 72,832   $ 71,989   $ 57,964  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     32,483     32,507     29,011  
    Less: BaaS fraud expense     2,804     1,993     1,784  
    Less: Reimbursement of expenses     646     1,026     857  
    Noninterest expense, net of BaaS loan expense, BaaS fraud expense
    and reimbursement of expenses    		   $ 36,899   $ 36,463   $ 26,312  
     

    APPENDIX A –
    As of June 30, 2025

    Industry Concentration

    We have a diversified loan portfolio, representing a wide variety of industries. Our major categories of loans are commercial real estate, consumer and other loans, residential real estate, commercial and industrial, and construction, land and land development loans. Together they represent $3.55 billion in outstanding loan balances. When combined with $1.93 billion in unused commitments the total of these categories is $5.48 billion.

    Commercial real estate loans represent the largest segment of our loans, comprising 37.0% of our total balance of outstanding loans as of June 30, 2025. Unused commitments to extend credit represents an additional $30.1 million, and the combined total in commercial real estate loans represents $1.34 billion, or 24.5% of our total outstanding loans and loan commitments.

    The following table summarizes our loan commitment by industry for our commercial real estate portfolio as of June 30, 2025:

    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Outstanding Balance   Available Loan Commitments   Total Outstanding Balance & Available Commitment   % of Total Loans
    (Outstanding Balance &
    Available Commitment)    		   Average Loan Balance   Number of Loans  
    Apartments   $ 362,315   $ 2,889   $ 365,204   6.7 %   $ 3,814   95  
    Hotel/Motel     154,877     1,073     155,950   2.8       6,734   23  
    Convenience Store     135,118     546     135,664   2.5       2,290   59  
    Office     119,622     6,666     126,288   2.3       1,375   87  
    Warehouse     102,688     —     102,688   1.9       1,770   58  
    Retail     93,552     836     94,388   1.7       936   100  
    Mixed use     93,455     5,287     98,742   1.8       1,126   83  
    Mini Storage     73,695     7,272     80,967   1.5       3,685   20  
    Strip Mall     43,468     —     43,468   0.8       6,210   7  
    Manufacturing     35,274     570     35,844   0.7       1,306   27  
    Groups < 0.70% of total     96,818     4,938     101,756   1.8       1,226   79  
    Total   $ 1,310,882   $ 30,077   $ 1,340,959   24.5 %   $ 2,055   638  
     

    Consumer loans comprise 34.7% of our total balance of outstanding loans as of June 30, 2025. Unused commitments to extend credit represents an additional $746.8 million, and the combined total in consumer and other loans represents $1.98 billion, or 36.1% of our total outstanding loans and loan commitments. The $746.8 million in commitments is subject to CCBX partner/portfolio maximum limits. As illustrated in the table below, our CCBX partners bring in a large number of mostly smaller dollar loans, resulting in an average consumer loan balance of just $900. CCBX consumer loans are underwritten to CCBX credit standards and underwriting of these loans is regularly tested, including quarterly testing for partners with portfolio balances greater than $10.0 million.

    The following table summarizes our loan commitment by industry for our consumer and other loan portfolio as of June 30, 2025:

    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)     Outstanding Balance   Available Loan Commitments (1)   Total Outstanding Balance & Available Commitment (1)   % of Total Loans
    (Outstanding Balance &
    Available Commitment)    		   Average Loan Balance   Number of Loans  
    CCBX consumer loans
    Credit cards     $ 533,925   $ 702,611   $ 1,236,536   22.6 %   $ 1.6   337,749  
    Installment loans       671,089     30,817     701,906   12.8       0.8   796,927  
    Lines of credit       676     14     690   0.0       0.9   715  
    Other loans       14,556     —     14,556   0.3       0.1   240,653  
    Community bank consumer loans
    Installment loans       738     2     740   0.0       30.8   24  
    Lines of credit       178     339     517   0.0       5.7   31  
    Other loans       11,314     13,000     24,314   0.4       32.6   347  
    Total     $ 1,232,476   $ 746,783   $ 1,979,259   36.1 %   $ 0.9   1,376,446  
     
    (1)  Total exposure on CCBX loans is subject to CCBX partner/portfolio maximum limits.
     

    Residential real estate loans comprise 12.2% of our total balance of outstanding loans as of June 30, 2025. Unused commitments to extend credit represents an additional $557.7 million, which is subject to partner/portfolio maximum limits, and the combined total in residential real estate loans represents $991.3 million, or 18.1% of our total outstanding loans and loan commitments.

    The following table summarizes our loan commitment by industry for our residential real estate loan portfolio as of June 30, 2025:

    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Outstanding Balance   Available Loan Commitments (1)   Total Outstanding Balance & Available Commitment (1)   % of Total Loans
    (Outstanding Balance &
    Available Commitment)    		   Average Loan Balance   Number of Loans  
    CCBX residential real estate loans
    Home equity line of credit   $ 234,786   $ 509,297   $ 744,083   13.6 %   $ 27   8,735  
    Community bank residential real estate loans
    Closed end, secured by first liens     162,205     1,064     163,269   3.0       554   293  
    Home equity line of credit     30,328     46,270     76,598   1.4       122   249  
    Closed end, second liens     6,311     1,073     7,384   0.1       218   29  
    Total   $ 433,630   $ 557,704   $ 991,334   18.1 %   $ 47   9,306  
     
    (1)  Total exposure on CCBX loans is subject to CCBX partner/portfolio maximum limits. CCBX home equity lines of credit are limited to a $375.0 million portfolio maximum.
     

    Commercial and industrial loans comprise 10.6% of our total balance of outstanding loans as of June 30, 2025. Unused commitments to extend credit represents an additional $527.8 million, and the combined total in commercial and industrial loans represents $903.6 million, or 16.5% of our total outstanding loans and loan commitments. Included in commercial and industrial loans is $199.7 million in outstanding capital call lines, with an additional $438.4 million in available loan commitments which is limited to a $350.0 million portfolio maximum. Capital call lines are provided to venture capital firms through one of our CCBX BaaS clients. These loans are secured by the capital call rights and are individually underwritten to the Bank’s credit standards and the underwriting is reviewed by the Bank on every capital call line.

    The following table summarizes our loan commitment by industry for our commercial and industrial loan portfolio as of June 30, 2025:

    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Outstanding Balance   Available Loan Commitments (1)   Total Outstanding Balance & Available Commitment (1)   % of Total Loans
    (Outstanding Balance &
    Available Commitment)    		   Average Loan Balance   Number of Loans  
    CCBX C&I loans
    Capital call lines   $ 199,675   $ 438,391   $ 638,066   11.6 %   $ 1,597   125  
    Retail and other loans     26,142     23,001     49,143   0.9       9   2,915  
    Community bank C&I loans
    Construction/Contractor services     30,449     32,173     62,622   1.1       154   198  
    Financial institutions     51,768     —     51,768   0.9       4,314   12  
    Medical / Dental / Other care     5,496     3,683     9,179   0.2       423   13  
    Manufacturing     5,325     3,976     9,301   0.2       140   38  
    Groups < 0.20% of total     56,888     26,593     83,481   1.6       228   250  
    Total   $ 375,743   $ 527,817   $ 903,560   16.5 %   $ 106   3,551  
     
    (1) Total exposure on CCBX loans is subject to CCBX partner/portfolio maximum limits.
     

    Construction, land and land development loans comprise 5.5% of our total balance of outstanding loans as of June 30, 2025. Unused commitments to extend credit represents an additional $70.0 million, and the combined total in construction, land and land development loans represents $264.2 million, or 4.8% of our total outstanding loans and loan commitments.

    The following table details our loan commitment for our construction, land and land development portfolio as of June 30, 2025:

    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Outstanding Balance   Available Loan Commitments   Total Outstanding Balance & Available Commitment   % of Total Loans
    (Outstanding Balance &
    Available Commitment)    		   Average Loan Balance   Number of Loans  
    Commercial construction   $ 104,078   $ 48,309   $ 152,387   2.8 %   $ 7,434   14  
    Residential construction     39,831     17,340     57,171   1.0       2,655   15  
    Developed land loans     22,875     604     23,479   0.4       1,271   18  
    Undeveloped land loans     20,067     748     20,815   0.4       1,338   15  
    Land development     7,299     3,048     10,347   0.2       811   9  
    Total   $ 194,150   $ 70,049   $ 264,199   4.8 %   $ 2,735   71  
     

    Exposure and risk in our construction, land and land development portfolio increased compared to recent periods as indicated in the following table:

        Outstanding Balance as of
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   December 31,
    2024    		   September 30,
    2024    		   June 30,
    2024
    Commercial construction   $ 104,078     $ 96,716     $ 83,216     $ 97,792     $ 110,372  
    Residential construction     39,831       39,375       40,940       35,822       34,652  
    Undeveloped land loans     20,067       16,684       8,665       8,606       8,372  
    Developed land loans     22,875       7,788       8,305       14,863       13,954  
    Land development     7,299       5,988       7,072       5,968       5,714  
    Total   $ 194,150     $ 166,551     $ 148,198     $ 163,051     $ 173,064  
     

    Commitments to extend credit total $1.93 billion at June 30, 2025, however we do not anticipate our customers using the $1.93 billion that is showing as available due to CCBX partner and portfolio limits.

    The following table presents outstanding commitments to extend credit as of June 30, 2025:

    Consolidated    
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   As of June 30, 2025 (1)
    Commitments to extend credit:    
    Commercial and industrial loans   $ 89,426  
    Commercial and industrial loans – capital call lines     438,391  
    Construction – commercial real estate loans     52,709  
    Construction – residential real estate loans     17,340  
    Residential real estate loans     557,704  
    Commercial real estate loans     30,077  
    Credit cards     702,611  
    Consumer and other loans     44,172  
    Total commitments to extend credit   $ 1,932,430  
     
    (1) Total exposure on CCBX loans is subject to CCBX partner/portfolio maximum limits.
     

    We have individual CCBX partner portfolio limits with our each of our partners to manage loan concentration risk, liquidity risk, and counter-party partner risk. For example, as of June 30, 2025, capital call lines outstanding balance totaled $199.7 million and, while commitments totaled $438.4 million, the commitments are limited to a maximum of $350.0 million by agreement with the partner. If a CCBX partner goes over their individual limit, it would be a breach of their contract and the Bank may impose penalties and would have the choice to fund or not fund the loan.

    See the table below for CCBX portfolio maximums and related available commitments:

    CCBX                
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   Balance   Percent of CCBX loans receivable Available
    Commitments     (1)    		   Maximum Portfolio
    Size    		 Cash
    Reserve/Pledge Account Amount     (2)
    Commercial and industrial loans:            
    Capital call lines   $ 199,675     11.9 % $ 438,391   $ 350,000 $ —  
    All other commercial & industrial loans     26,142     1.6     23,001     471,186   531  
    Real estate loans:                
    Home equity lines of credit (3)     234,786     14.0     509,297     375,000   36,469  
    Consumer and other loans:            
    Credit cards – cash secured     364         —       —  
    Credit cards – unsecured     533,561         702,611       30,827  
    Credit cards – total     533,925     31.8     702,611     850,000   30,827  
    Installment loans – cash secured     128,861         30,817       —  
    Installment loans – unsecured     542,228         —       (38 )
    Installment loans – total     671,089     39.8     30,817     1,818,619   (38 )
    Other consumer and other loans     15,232     0.9     14     5,195   275  
    Gross CCBX loans receivable     1,680,849     100.0 % $ 1,704,131   $ 3,870,000 $ 68,064  
    Net deferred origination fees     (569 )            
    Loans receivable   $ 1,680,280              
     
    (1) Remaining commitment available, net of outstanding balance.
    (2) Balances are as of July 8, 2025.
    (3) These home equity lines of credit are secured by residential real estate and are accessed by using a credit card, but are classified as 1-4 family residential properties per regulatory guidelines.
     

    APPENDIX B –
    As of June 30, 2025

    CCBX – BaaS Reporting Information

    During the quarter ended June 30, 2025, $31.3 million was recorded in BaaS credit enhancements related to the provision for credit losses – loans and reserve for unfunded commitments for CCBX partner loans and negative deposit accounts. Agreements with our CCBX partners provide for a credit enhancement provided by the partner which protects the Bank by indemnifying or reimbursing incurred losses. In accordance with accounting guidance, we estimate and record a provision for expected losses for these CCBX loans, unfunded commitments, negative deposit accounts and accrued interest receivable on some CCBX partner loans. When the provision for credit losses – loans and provision for unfunded commitments is recorded, a credit enhancement asset is also recorded on the balance sheet through noninterest income (BaaS credit enhancements) in recognition of the CCBX partner legal commitment to indemnify or reimburse losses. The credit enhancement asset is relieved as credit enhancement payments and recoveries are received from the CCBX partner or taken from the partner’s cash reserve account. Agreements with our CCBX partners also provide protection to the Bank from fraud by indemnifying or reimbursing incurred fraud losses. BaaS fraud includes non-credit fraud losses on loans and deposits originated through partners, generally fraud losses related to loans are comprised primarily of first payment defaults. Fraud losses are recorded when incurred as losses in noninterest expense, and the enhancement received from the CCBX partner is recorded in noninterest income, resulting in a net impact of zero to the income statement. Many CCBX partners also pledge a cash reserve account at the Bank which the Bank can collect from when losses occur that is then replenished by the partner on a regular interval. Although agreements with our CCBX partners provide for credit enhancements that provide protection to the Bank from credit and fraud losses by indemnifying or reimbursing incurred credit and fraud losses, if our partner is unable to fulfill their contracted obligation then the bank would be exposed to additional loan and deposit losses if the cash flows on the loans were not sufficient to fund the reimbursement of loan losses, as a result of this counterparty risk. If a CCBX partner does not replenish their cash reserve account the Bank may consider an alternative plan for funding the cash reserve. This may involve the possibility of adjusting the funding amounts or timelines to better align with the partner’s specific situation. If a mutually agreeable funding plan is not agreed to, the Bank could declare the agreement in default, take over servicing and cease paying the partner for servicing the loan and providing credit enhancements. The Bank would evaluate any remaining credit enhancement asset from the CCBX partner in the event the partner failed to determine if a write-off is appropriate. If a write-off occurs, the Bank would retain the full yield and any fee income on the loan portfolio going forward, and our BaaS loan expense would decrease once default occurred and payments to the CCBX partner were stopped.

    The Bank records contractual interest earned from the borrower on CCBX partner loans in interest income, adjusted for origination costs which are paid or payable to the CCBX partner. BaaS loan expense represents the amount paid or payable to partners for credit and fraud enhancements and originating and servicing CCBX loans. To determine net revenue (Net BaaS loan income) earned from CCBX loan relationships, the Bank takes BaaS loan interest income and deducts BaaS loan expense to arrive at Net BaaS loan income (a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth in the preceding section of this earnings release) which can be compared to interest income on the Company’s community bank loans.

    The following table illustrates how CCBX partner loan income and expenses are recorded in the financial statements:

    Loan income and related loan expense   Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Yield on loans (1)     16.22 %     16.88 %     17.75 %
    BaaS loan interest income   $ 68,264     $ 67,855     $ 60,138  
    Less: BaaS loan expense     32,483       32,507       29,011  
    Net BaaS loan income (2)   $ 35,781     $ 35,348     $ 31,127  
    Net BaaS loan income divided by average BaaS loans (1)(2)     8.50 %     8.79 %     9.19 %
     
    (1) Annualized calculation for quarterly periods shown.
    (2) A reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures are set forth in the preceding section of this earnings release.
     

    An increase in average CCBX loans receivable resulted in increased interest income on CCBX loans during the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025. Our strategy is to optimize the CCBX loan portfolio and strengthen our balance sheet through originating higher quality new loans with enhanced credit standards. These higher quality loans tend to have lower stated rates and expected losses than some of our CCBX loans historically. Current loan sales and new loan growth are at more similar interest rates compared to prior periods when we were selling loans with higher risk and higher interest rates and replacing them with higher quality lower interest rate loans. We continue to reposition ourselves by managing CCBX credit and concentration levels in an effort to optimize our loan portfolio and also generate off balance sheet fee income. Growth in CCBX loans has resulted in an increase in interest income for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended June 30, 2024.

    The following tables are a summary of the interest components, direct fees and expenses of BaaS for the periods indicated and are not inclusive of all income and expense related to BaaS.

    Interest income   Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    Loan interest income   $ 68,264     $ 67,855     $ 60,138  
    Total BaaS interest income   $ 68,264     $ 67,855     $ 60,138  
    Interest expense   Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    BaaS interest expense   $ 23,617     $ 21,581     $ 24,119  
    Total BaaS interest expense   $ 23,617     $ 21,581     $ 24,119  
    BaaS income   Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)   June 30,
    2025    		   March 31,
    2025    		   June 30,
    2024
    BaaS program income:            
    Servicing and other BaaS fees   $ 1,539   $ 1,419   $ 1,525  
    Transaction and interchange fees     5,109     3,833     2,934  
    Reimbursement of expenses     646     1,026     857  
    Total BaaS program income     7,294     6,278     5,316  
    BaaS indemnification income:            
    BaaS credit enhancements     31,268     53,648     60,826  
    BaaS fraud enhancements     2,804     1,993     1,784  
    BaaS indemnification income     34,072     55,641     62,610  
    Total noninterest BaaS income   $ 41,366   $ 61,919   $ 67,926  
     

    Servicing and other BaaS fees increased $120,000 and transaction and interchange fees increased $1.3 million in the quarter ended June 30, 2025 compared to the quarter ended March 31, 2025. We expect servicing and other BaaS fees to be higher when we are bringing new partners on and then to decrease when transaction and interchange fees increase as partner activity grows and contracted minimum fees are replaced with these recurring fees when they exceed the minimum fees. Increases in BaaS reimbursement of fees offsets increases in noninterest expense from BaaS expenses covered by CCBX partners. Transaction and interchange fees for the quarter ended June 30, 2025 includes $504,000 in nonrecurring revenue.

    BaaS loan and fraud expense:   Three Months Ended
    (dollars in thousands; unaudited)     June 30,
    2025    		       March 31,
    2025    		       June 30,
    2024    		  
    BaaS loan expense   $ 32,483     $ 32,507     $ 29,011  
    BaaS fraud expense     2,804       1,993       1,784  
    Total BaaS loan and fraud expense   $ 35,287     $ 34,500     $ 30,795  
     

    Infographics accompanying this announcement are available at

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6d139571-0367-4331-b052-e1609dd3796f
    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/7fef1877-3f7a-47cc-99fa-0bcdfb00de42

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Fiji ‘failing’ the Gaza genocide and humanity test, says rights group

    Asia Pacific Report

    The NGO Coalition on Human Rights in Fiji has sharply criticised the Fiji government’s stance over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, saying it “starkly contrasts” with the United Nations and international community’s condemnation as a violation of international law and an impediment to peace.

    In a statement today, the NGO Coalition said that the way the government was responding to the genocide and war crimes in Gaza would set a precedent for how it would deal with crises and conflict in future.

    It would be a marker for human rights responses both at home and the rest of the world.

    “We are now seeing whether our country will be a force that works to uphold human rights and international law, or one that tramples on them whenever convenient,” the statement said.

    “Fiji’s position on the genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestinians starkly contrasts with the values of justice, freedom, and international law that the Fijian people hold dear.

    “The genocide and colonial occupation have been widely recognised by the international community, including the United Nations, as a violation of international law and an impediment to peace and the self-determination of the Palestinian people.”

    Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would formally recognise the state of Palestine — the first of G7 countries to do so — at the UN general Assembly in September.

    142 countries recognise Palestine
    At least 142 countries out of the 193 members of the UN currently recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, including European Union members Norway, Ireland, Spain and Slovenia.

    However, several powerful Western countries have refused to do so, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

    At the UN this week, Saudi Arabia and France opened a three-day conference with the goal of recognising Palestinian statehood as part of a peaceful settlement to end the war in Gaza.

    Last year, Fiji’s coalition government submitted a written statement in support of the Israeli genocidal occupation of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, noted the NGO coalition.

    Last month, Fiji’s coalition government again voted against a UN General Assembly resolution that demanded an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

    Also recently, the Fiji government approved the allocation of $1.12 million to establish an embassy “in the genocidal terror state of Israel as Fijians grapple with urgent issues, including poverty, violence against women and girls, deteriorating water and health infrastructure, drug use, high rates of HIV, poor educational outcomes, climate change, and unfair wages for workers”.

    Met with ‘indifference’
    The NGO coalition said that it had made repeated requests to the Fiji government to “do the bare minimum and enforce the basic tenets of international law on Israel”.

    “We have been calling upon the Fiji government to uphold the principles of peace, justice, and human rights that our nation cherishes,” the statement said.

    “We campaigned, we lobbied, we engaged, and we explained. We showed the evidence, pointed to the law, and asked our leaders to do the right thing.

    “We’ve been met with nothing but indifference.”

    Instead, said the NGO statement, Fiji leaders had met with Israeli government representatives and declared support for a country “committing the most heinous crimes” recognised in international law.

    “Fijian leaders and the Fiji government should not be supporting Israel or setting up an embassy in Israel while Israel continues to bomb refugee tents, kill journalists and medics, and block the delivery of humanitarian aid to a population under relentless siege.

    “No politician in Fiji can claim ignorance of what is happening.”

    62,000 Palestinians killed
    More than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war on Gaza, most of them women and children.

    “Many more have been maimed, traumatised, and displaced. Starvation is being used by Israel as weapon to kill babies and children.

    “Hospitals, churches, mosques,, refugee camps, schools, universities, residential neighbourhoods, water and food facilities have been destroyed.

    “History will judge how we respond as Fijians to this moment.

    “Our rich cultural heritage and shared values teach us the importance of always standing up for what is right, even when it is not popular or convenient.”

    Members of the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights are Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre (chair), Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Citizens’ Constitutional Forum, femLINKpacific, Social Empowerment and Education Programme, and Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality Fiji.

    Also, Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG) is an observer.

    The NGO coalition said it stood in solidarity with the Palestinian people out of a shared belief in humanity, justice, and the inalienable human rights of every individual.

    “Silence is not an option,” it added.

    Fijians for Palestine Solidarity Network said it supported this NGO coalition statement.

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Over 14 000 arrested in police operations 

    Source: Government of South Africa

    Tuesday, July 29, 2025

    Over 14 000 suspects have been arrested in police operations across the country.

    In Operation Shanela activities, which ran from 21 – 27 July 2025, a total of 14 273 suspects were arrested, including 2 081 wanted suspects implicated in serious and violent crimes, such as business and house robberies, car hijackings, murder, rape and attempted murder.

    According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), 172 suspects were arrested for murder, while 138 individuals were arrested for attempted murder, 170 for rape and 1 598 others for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH).

    A further 324 suspects were arrested for drug dealing, 1 376 were held for the possession of drugs. A total of 119 suspects were held for the illegal possession of firearms, with 45 from KwaZulu-Natal, while 672 were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

    Police also recovered and confiscated 140 firearms, 1 720 rounds of ammunition and 81 hijacked or stolen vehicles.

    “The South African Police Service remains resolute in its nationwide operations to combat and prevent criminal activities, threatening public safety and sabotaging South Africa’s economic infrastructure,” SAPS said on Tuesday. –SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: Yango Group opens a new regional office in Abidjan to power African growth

    Source: APO – Report:

    Yango Group (https://Yango.com/), a UAE-based tech company operating in over 30 countries, has opened a new African regional office in Abidjan. The hub will coordinate the company’s growing operations across the continent and marks a new chapter in Yango’s long-term commitment to Africa. With around 200 employees already on the ground, the company plans to scale its local capabilities in the coming year.

    Yango first launched in Côte d’Ivoire in 2018, making Africa its starting point. Since then, the company has expanded into 16 countries across the continent, building a diverse portfolio of digital services. With Abidjan now serving as its continental headquarters, Yango Group is deepening its regional presence and accelerating innovation tailored to local realities.

    “This new regional office in Abidjan is a new chapter in our journey across Africa. Our strategy is to build digital ecosystems that empower countries from within — using global technologies, but always rooted in local realities” said Daniil Shuleyko, CEO of Yango Group.  “Africa was where our journey started — and today, we are investing in the future by making Abidjan home to our largest office in Africa — and the center of our strategy for the continent.” 

    Building digital ecosystems across Africa

    Yango Group’s strategy is centered on building inclusive, locally adapted digital ecosystems that go far beyond individual services. By combining its global technologies with a hyperlocal approach, the company aims to support the continent’s digital transformation.

    Across Africa, Yango already offers a broad portfolio of services — from ride-hailing and food delivery to navigation, e-commerce, and digital payments — all integrated into a single Super App. These services help unlock economic opportunity for drivers, couriers, small businesses, and users alike.

    As Yango Group expands, it plans to scale this model to new countries — creating platforms that reflect local needs and strengthen entire value chains. Yango also plans to roll out more tailored solutions for businesses across the region — helping them grow and scale through technology.

    Yango Fellowship to be extended to pan-African level

    As part of its long-term strategy to support digital transformation in Africa and beyond, Yango is scaling up its investment in local talent — a key enabler of sustainable tech adoption and innovation across the continent. The company is now taking the next step by expanding the Yango Fellowship to a pan-African level, aiming to equip hundreds of thousands of young talents with future-oriented digital skills across its African markets. Already active in Côte d’Ivoire, the program will establish Abidjan as its regional coordination and training center for the continent. 

    “Our mission goes beyond providing digital services,” said Daniil Shuleyko. “By investing in talent and skills, especially among young people, we’re helping build the foundation for long-term innovation and self-sustaining digital ecosystems across Africa. With programs like the Yango Fellowship, we want to empower the next generation of African tech leaders.”

    – on behalf of Yango Group.

    Press Contact:
    pr@yango.com

    About Yango Group:
    Yango Group is an international tech company headquartered in Dubai, transforming globally sourced technologies into everyday services that are tailored to local communities. With an unwavering commitment to innovation, we reshape and enhance leading cutting-edge technologies from around the world into seamlessly integrated daily services for diverse regions. Our mission is to bridge the gap between leading world innovations and local communities, fostering connections and enhancing everyday living experiences. Yango provides its digital services in various industries, including ride-hailing, delivery, foodtech, entertainment among many others, across 30+ countries in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and other regions.

    Media files

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    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: What business plans have RUDN economics students developed for Russian companies?

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Peoples’Friendship University of Russia –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Analysis of target markets, conclusion of a contract with a sanction clause, development of logistics for deliveries to Latin American countries. These are just some of the points from the business plans prepared for Russian companies by students of the Faculty of Economics and the Law Institute of RUDN. But first things first.

    Through the sieve of selection

    At RUDN, students have the opportunity to study in a project-based master’s program. This model of education assumes that students unite in teams and jointly develop a project (their final qualification work) for real customers – they can be both domestic and foreign companies. The projects that will be discussed were prepared by students of the Faculty of Economics and the Law Institute of RUDN. The Moscow Export Center helps the university find customer companies for them.

    “After the selection, we introduce the students to each other and simultaneously send a request to colleagues at the Moscow Export Center asking them to involve Russian and foreign companies in the implementation of the projects. The MEC provides us with a list of interested enterprises with their brief description and the desired request: what product or service the company produces, where it wants to export them. We pass all this on to the students, after which teams are formed taking into account the students’ wishes. The master’s students begin working, and once a month we gather them to check what stage the projects are at. To help the students complete the assigned tasks, we conduct master classes from teachers and invited experts,” says Maria Maslova, a RUDN University graduate and head of the educational programs department of the educational and acceleration programs department of the ANO “MEC”.

    A fresh look at business

    In the spring, teams have a pre-defense of their projects in front of company representatives, where they receive feedback and learn about problematic areas that need to be corrected. The final defense of the diploma work is held according to the schedule of the state final certification.

    “Business is interested in a fresh look at promising markets for their products. Companies essentially order a “consulting study” from us. They want to enter certain markets where they are not yet represented. RUDN economics students analyze these markets, calculate the financial component, develop marketing strategies for entry and promotion, and draw a conclusion about the profitability of the project. And students of the Law Institute analyze the entire legal component of entering foreign markets, prepare a draft foreign trade contract, and analyze the specifics of the legal system of the selected country,” says Maria Maslova, a RUDN graduate and head of the educational programs department of the educational and acceleration programs department of the ANO “MEC”.

    Focus on Latin America

    One of the projects that RUDN University master’s students worked on last academic year concerned the entry of the Leber company into the Latin American market. It produces children’s playgrounds.

    “Our research revealed special features of the target markets, in particular, a high proportion of young people: children under 14 years old make up about 25-30% of the population. This indicates a huge potential for the company to enter the markets of these countries. In addition, an absolute plus for business development in the chosen direction is the established sea routes from the port of St. Petersburg to the ports of Latin American countries. However, there were obstacles here, because due to sanctions, there is a ban on the movement of Russian ships through the waters of unfriendly countries. To solve the problem, we suggested that Leber use the services of experienced forwarding companies based in the target markets,” Mekhriddin Nuraliyev, a graduate of the Faculty of Economics of RUDN University.

    According to Mehriddin, the most difficult part to develop was the financial part of the business plan. After all, without launching sales in the markets of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, it is very difficult to forecast the profitability of the activity and calculate the income and expense estimate for 3-5 years ahead.

    “But we coped with this task and received high praise for our business plan from Leber representatives. The company praised the team’s professionalism and the depth of the research conducted,” says Mekhriddin Nuraliyev, a graduate of the RUDN University Faculty of Economics.

    Sanctions and the Middle East

    The second project was developed by RUDN students for the Mesoformula company, a Russian manufacturer of innovative products for aesthetic medicine and professional cosmetology. The company wants to enter the Saudi Arabian market.

    “We proposed the “corridor-2030” strategy – a consistent entry into the Saudi Arabian market through halal certification, registration with the SFDA and cooperation with a distributor in Jeddah. Together with my colleagues, we also thought out a financial model and built a legal and logistical “framework” for the project so that every figure and every condition worked in the same rhythm. At the same time, I managed to apply my skills as a lawyer, political scientist and GR specialist. I developed a protective sanction clause, assessed geopolitical risks and, having organized a consultative meeting with Saudi experts through the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, received prompt feedback. Thus, we significantly accelerated the negotiations and opened the necessary doors to the Middle East,” – Rodion Lobanovsky, a graduate of the RUDN Law Institute.

    Mesoformula has approved the students’ project, and its pilot launch is confirmed for 2026.

    “I am very glad that it was possible to implement cooperation between Russian companies and my home university. We worked together for almost a year, and are very pleased with the result. The resulting projects really contain many points that the companies paid attention to, including in terms of the specifics of interaction between Russian business and the selected markets. We hope for further cooperation,” – Maria Maslova, Head of the Educational Programs Department of the Educational and Acceleration Programs Department of ANO “MEC”.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: National Savings Month: Beat unhealthy gambling habits 

    Source: Government of South Africa

    National Savings Month: Beat unhealthy gambling habits 

    In the quest to keep head above water, South Africans have been forced to review and cut down their expenses in order to meet their financial obligations.

    Given the ongoing economic challenges, some have turned to gambling as a means of making ends meet.

    The month of July in South Africa is not only dedicated to the birthday of former President Nelson Mandela but also marks National Savings Month, which raises awareness about the importance of saving as well as fostering responsible financial behaviour.

    Mindful of the hardships facing communities, government said it recognises that the current economic challenges, including the high cost of living and unemployment make it difficult for many South Africans to save their hard-earned money. 

    It has, however, called on citizens to save even the smallest amounts of money, as government continues to implement policies that are aimed at growing an economy that creates jobs and supports families that are better positioned to save and invest in their futures.

    Recently, Parliament’s National Assembly deliberated the National Gambling Amendment Bill. The bill aims to amend the 2004 National Gambling Act (NGA) so as to amend and delete certain definitions; to transfer the regulation of bets on the national lottery, foreign lottery, lottery results and sports pools to the National Lotteries Commission.

    It also aims to strengthen the regulation of casinos, limited pay-out machines (LPMS) and bingo, as well as to provide for the repositioning of the National Gambling Board (NGB) as a National Gambling Regulator, and to provide for certain new offences, among others.

    With competing priorities vying for attention, gambling is seen by some as a way to close the shortfall in one’s budget.  
    In an interview with SAnews, the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation said it has seen a rise in the number of individuals who are struggling with gambling.

    “From our referral statistics of the previous financial year, there has been a rise in the number of individuals who are struggling with gambling as compared to other financial years,” the foundation’s Executive Director, Sibongile Simelane-Quntana, said.

    In the 2022/23 financial year, the foundation referred 2 253 patients for gambling related counselling, while 2 648 patients were referred in the 2023/24 financial year.

    “It should be noted that these stats exclude family referral patients. In the 2024/25 financial year, the foundation referred a total of 4 126 patients for gambling related counselling, excluding family referrals,” said Simelane-Quntana.

    The foundation provides free and confidential treatment and counselling to those affected by problem gambling and their immediate family members. The foundation also educates South Africans about the potential harmful effect of problem gambling and responsible gambling.

    The data showed that more males were referred for help as compared to females.

    “There were more adults referred than any other age group and most of the patients referred were full-time employed. Moreover, most of these patients held a matric as their highest level of education,” Simelane-Quntana explained.

    This as the NGB, which is responsible for the oversight of the regulation of the gambling industry throughout the country, warned against gambling being “defined as a source of income or to make ends meet”.

    Through the NGA, the NGB is empowered to provide oversight over licensing and monitoring of licensees by provincial licensing authorities.

    South Africa has four legal modes of gambling, namely casinos, LPMS, bingo and betting. 

    The board, which is an entity of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, said the unrealistic appeal of quick money through gambling for those experiencing financial problems can be dire.

    It added that “often consumers will go into further debt by borrowing money to feed a gambling habit, with the aim of making their money grow”.

    Simelane-Quntana said that issues like the unemployment rate rising by 1% to reach 32.9% in the first quarter of 2025, inflation and inequality, are making it difficult for many.

    “These statistics indicate the hardships that most South African citizens go through and the desperation to make a living out of various methods, and gambling seems to be one of those measures. Many individuals who are referred to the Foundation gamble to make an extra income; for some who are unemployed, gambling is a way of making money,” she explained.

    Problematic gambling 

    The foundation (which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the prevention and treatment of disordered gambling) said based on its referral statistics for the previous financial year, individuals who are unemployed were the second highest group to be referred.

    “This is concerning, as we see a surge of problematic gambling in South Africa, which results in an increase in social and psychological health issues in our country,” said the Executive Director.

    Signs of problematic gambling include preoccupation with gambling thoughts, chasing after your losses on gambling and being unable to stop gambling even after many attempts to do so.

    Other signs are borrowing money to cover up for debts caused by gambling, gambling when feeling distressed and lying about gambling or one’s whereabouts regarding gambling, among others.

    Help 

    Simelane-Quntana urged the public to seek assistance if they experience symptoms of problem gambling.  

    “The foundation offers free and comprehensive counselling and treatment for those affected by problematic gambling,” she said.

    The foundation, which is funded by licensed gambling operators (excluding the National Lottery), also undertakes special projects at the request of provincial gambling boards.

    Licensed gambling operators also support the foundation’s National Responsible Gambling Programme (NRGP), including awareness interventions through their own communication campaigns.

    The programme provides three services namely: prevention through education and public awareness campaign, treatment and counselling as well as research, monitoring and evaluation.

    The dtic, NGB and the Gauteng Gambling Board are among the partners of the foundation which assists those who need help on their confidential helpline, number 0800 006 008. The service is free of charge and available 24/7.

    Asked on whether there has been increased marketing of gambling, the Executive Director said this was the case.

    “There has been a rise in marketing and promotion of gambling activities in South Africa. This is also reflected by the R2.6 billion spent on gambling advertising, as reported for up to March 2025 in the news recently. Furthermore, the R1.1 trillion wagered into gambling as stipulated by the National Gambling Board for [the] financial year 2023/2024 implies the reality of South African’s being more attracted to gambling activities. 

    “Through our Taking Risks Wisely schools awareness programme, which is aimed at educating learners about the dangers of underage illegal gambling, we have noted field observation insights regarding children normalising gambling activities and actually partaking in them. 

    “This is not in isolation from the exposure at home and the media; however, it is also due to the illegal forms readily available at our spaza shops in communities known as Chinese Roulette Machines/Mochina, where they slot in R2 to play,” she said.

    Live within your means

    The foundation further called on the public to live within their means.

    “It is important to live within your means, draw a budget and understand that if life changes happen, such as losing a job, getting retrenched or getting a salary cut, it is important to adjust to the changes and ensure that your expenses are not more than your income.

    “Gambling cannot be a solution to one’s financial crisis and borrowing more money to cover other debts keeps you in the debt trap or circle, “said Simelane-Quntana.

    With Savings Month coming to an end this week, it is never too late to take back one’s power and get help. – SAnews.gov.za 
     

    Neo

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: SED shares Hong Kong’s experience in achieving quality and equitable education in Osaka

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    SED shares Hong Kong’s experience in achieving quality and equitable education in Osaka 
         The seminar, held on July 28, aimed at exploring how to guarantee equitable learning opportunities for all. In her speech titled “Provision of Quality and Equitable Education in Hong Kong”, Dr Choi outlined Hong Kong’s policy measures and achievements in providing quality and equitable education at the systemic levels.
     
         Dr Choi said that the Government is committed to investing in education and ensuring equitable distribution of educational resources. In addition to providing 12 years’ free primary and secondary education through public sector schools, it caters to individual differences and promotes whole-person development through diversified support mechanisms. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 results, Hong Kong ranked second in educational equity among countries or economies with high academic achievements, indicating that the family socio-economic status of students had minimal bearing on their performance. Moreover, the Government has launched the Kindergarten Education Scheme to provide good-quality and highly affordable kindergarten education, enabling all children aged from 3 to 6 to access different modes of kindergarten education based on their needs. Currently, about 90 per cent of half-day kindergarten programmes are free of charge, while school fees for whole-day programmes are maintained at a low level.  
     
         On primary and secondary education, the Education Bureau (EDB) has developed a broad and balanced school curriculum framework that helps students build a solid knowledge foundation, nurture proper values and attitudes, and develop generic skills. A diverse range of life-wide learning activities is also provided to enrich students’ horizons. Coupled with the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) as the university entrance examination, the curriculum features flexibility and diversity, offering not only traditional academic subjects but also applied learning subjects for selection, which demonstrates the concept of convergence of vocational and general education and helps students plan their careers. Adopting the standards-referenced reporting system to report candidates’ examination results, which is in line with the international standards, the HKDSE is widely recognised locally and abroad. 
     
         In the seminar, Dr Choi also talked about the EDB’s targeted support for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students and students with special educational needs (SEN). It has been providing NCS students, from pre-primary to secondary levels, with all-encompassing learning support to facilitate their mastery of Chinese language for integration into the community. The EDB is also dedicated to promoting an inclusive learning environment. It has been encouraging schools to adopt the Whole School Approach in supporting students with SEN and implement integrated education based on the spirit of “equal opportunities and teaching students in accordance with their abilities”, enabling students with SEN to integrate into ordinary schools.
     
         Dr Choi said that Hong Kong’s post-secondary education is highly internationalised and diversified. The quality of teaching and learning is consistently ranked among the top in the international comparative studies, with five publicly funded universities ranking among the world’s top 100. In addition to the Government’s substantial subsidy for tuition fees (87 per cent), various universities provide scholarships, grants and loans to students to ensure that no qualified students will be denied access to higher education due to financial difficulties.
     
         The Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub to provide students with broader international perspectives and attract more outstanding talent from around the world. At present, around one out of five students and 70 per cent of academic staff of publicly funded universities come from outside Hong Kong. These universities have also signed over 2 600 student exchange agreements with institutions around the world. In the 2025 ranking of the world’s most international universities published by the Times Higher Education, Hong Kong’s publicly funded universities achieved encouraging results by claiming all top four spots.
     
         Furthermore, the Government has been actively promoting vocational and professional education and training. By developing universities of applied sciences, and supporting the Vocational Training Council and other post-secondary institutions’ provision of post-secondary programmes of applied nature that blend theory and practice, the Government fosters co-operation between industries and education and collaboration between schools and businesses, and provides young people with diversified learning and employment opportunities as well as multiple pathways, with a view to nurturing more high-quality talent with applied knowledge and skills.
     
         On July 27 and 28, Dr Choi met representatives from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, representatives from several Japanese universities, and education representatives from other places attending the “Theme Weeks” of the Expo to discuss further education collaboration and exchanges.
     
         On July 27, she exchanged views with a Hong Kong person working in the field of basic education in Japan to learn about the latest developments in Japanese basic education. On the same day, she visited the Sakai City Traditional Townhouse Museums together with Hong Kong secondary students participating in an exchange tour in Japan and learned about the students’ experiential learning.
     
         This morning, Dr Choi paid a courtesy call on the Consul-General of China in Osaka, Mr Xue Jian, to introduce Hong Kong’s latest education policies. She also visited the Confucius Institute at Osaka Sangyo University and met its teachers and students to learn about the Institute’s experience in promoting Chinese language studies and Chinese culture in Japan. Dr Choi will conclude her visit this afternoon and return to Hong Kong.
    Issued at HKT 18:43

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Summer in Xizang’s Hemei Village at the Foot of the Laigu Glacier

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –

    An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

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

    Laigu Glacier is one of the three largest sea glaciers in the world and consists of six glaciers: Meixi, Ruojiao, Yalong, Dongga, Nyuma and Xiongjia. It is also the main source of the Parlung Zangpo River and takes its name from the village of Laigu where it is located. In 2024, the Xizang Autonomous Region government and the village collective invested 9.4 million yuan and 2.46 million yuan respectively to build the Laigu Guesthouse Model Project. It is expected that all work will be completed and the project will be put into operation by the end of this year. It will achieve a cluster effect, enhance the competitiveness of Laigu guesthouses, and help the village increase its annual income by 1 million yuan.

    Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    .

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Two Maslin Beach men in court over drug trafficking

    Source: New South Wales – News

    Two men were arrested for drug trafficking after police searched a Maslin Beach home on Saturday.

    Southern District CIB detectives searched the Maslin Beach property on Saturday 26 July and allegedly located 7.5 litres of 1,4-Butanediol (liquid fantasy), 23 steroid vials, 81 suboxone strips, various prescription medications, cannabis products, $5550 in cash and drug equipment.

    A 35-year-old man and a 24-year-old man, both occupants of the address, were arrested and charged with trafficking in a large commercial quantity of a controlled drug and other serious drug offences.

    They were refused police bail and will appear in the Christies Beach Magistrates Court today.

    Anyone with information about illicit drugs can report it anonymously to police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au

    CO2500030688

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025

    Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

    Mr Speaker, in the last few weeks Australians right across the country have been shocked and sickened by the news in Victoria.

    A person arrested and charged with multiple heinous offences against children.

    Offences allegedly committed in child care centres.

    The mums and dads of thousands of children are now dealing with the fear that their children could be hurt or are sick, and the trauma of getting them tested.

    This is a live investigation and the matter remains before the courts.

    But I have been pretty blunt in the last few weeks.

    People have been arrested and convicted for offences like those alleged before.

    And governments of different colours, State and Federal have taken action.

    But not enough.

    And not fast enough.

    That’s the truth.

    We have to do everything that we can to ensure the safety of our children when they walk – or when they are carried – through the doors of an early childhood education and care service.

    At centres across the country big and small. But not just there. In family day care, and in-home care and at outside school hours care.

    And this Bill is part of that.

    In short, it will give us the power to cut off funding to child care centres that aren’t up to scratch when it comes to safety and quality.

    Services that don’t meet the standard when it comes to safety and quality, or where they are in breach of the law or are acting in a way that puts the safety of children at risk.

    This power will apply to all forms of early education and care that are eligible for the Child Care Subsidy.

    Centre-based day care.

    Family Day Care. 

    In Home Care. 

    And Outside School Hours care too.

    Funding is the big weapon that the Australian Government has to wield here.

    Australian taxpayers are the biggest funders of child care centres.

    We do that through the Child Care Subsidy.

    $16 billion dollars a year.

    Centres can’t operate without it.

    It covers about 70 per cent of the average cost of running a centre.

    It pays for things like wages and rent and electricity.

    This legislation gives us the power to suspend or cancel that funding if a centre is not meeting the quality, safety and other compliance requirements that are put in place by our national system of early childhood regulation. 

    This is how that system works.

    The Education and Care Services National Law sets the standards we expect child care centres to meet. 

    State Government Regulators are responsible for rating centres and enforcing the standards.

    Most centres meet the standards now, but not all.

    If State Regulators think there is a real and imminent threat to safety they can shut a centre on the spot.

    And they do.

    Sometimes though they will identify problems in centres that can and need to be fixed.

    And sometimes those problems remain unfixed.

    That’s where this legislation comes in.

    The real purpose of this legislation isn’t to shut centres down but to raise standards up.

    To make sure that the safety and quality in child care centres is what parents expect and what our children deserve.

    This is how it will work.

    It will give the Secretary of my Department the power to take into account a provider’s quality, safety and compliance history when considering whether a provider should be approved to administer the Child Care Subsidy, or whether they should continue to be approved, or if they should be approved to operate a new service.

    That has never been part of the Child Care Subsidy system since it started in 2018. It will be now.

    This change will tie a centre’s eligibility to administer the Child Care Subsidy directly to their record on quality, safety and compliance.

    And it will allow the Secretary of my Department to cut off access to the Child Care Subsidy where standards are not being met.

    That might mean cutting funding to an existing provider or service, or denying a provider the ability to expand until they have met the required standards.

    Under these changes, the Secretary of my Department will be able to impose conditions on a provider’s approval, or to move immediately to a process to suspend or cancel that approval on the basis of safety and quality concerns.

    Where conditions are imposed, a provider must meet those conditions within a specified timeframe if they want to maintain their approval.

    This could include a condition that the provider comply with directions from their state regulator. It might require them to follow a quality improvement plan or hire a quality and safety expert to help them lift their standards.

    As I said a moment ago, the Secretary of my Department can also move immediately to a process to suspend or cancel a provider on the basis of quality and safety concerns. That involves issuing a formal notice to the provider requiring a response within 28 days.

    If the provider doesn’t give a good explanation in that period, the Secretary of my Department can cancel or suspend their approval.

    It’s a process that permits providers an opportunity to engage with my Department where they have a genuine commitment to improve.

    These powers will be used in close collaboration with states and territories, backing in their core role and responsibility regulating quality and safety. 

    It means the Commonwealth can use the power of the Child Care Subsidy funding to lift the standards of providers not doing the right thing – and ensure those that aren’t up to scratch don’t get access to Commonwealth funding.

    This Bill also expands the Commonwealth’s powers to publish information about providers that are sanctioned for non-compliance.

    The Secretary of my Department already has the power to publicise actions such as suspending or cancelling a provider’s approval for the Child Care Subsidy. 

    The information is available in the Enforcement Action Register on the Department’s website, along with other information such as how the department issues infringement notices and imposes conditions on approvals.

    This Bill expands that power to include the power to publicise when a provider is refused approval for a new service. 

    It also gives the Secretary of my Department the power to publish other compliance action taken against providers, such as when conditions are applied – including the details of those conditions.

    Or where an infringement notice has been issued, including the details of the notice, such as the alleged contravention and the fine amount.

    Conditions and infringements are very important, because they point to specific things a provider must fix to stay eligible for the Child Care Subsidy. 

    Parents should know when a centre their child attends, or one they are thinking of using, is subject to a condition or has received an infringement.

    When this legislation is passed, the Secretary of my Department will expand the breadth of the Enforcement Action Register to include those things I have just outlined. 

    I have asked the Secretary of my Department to ensure the Enforcement Action Register provides parents and other organisations with as much information as possible, given the circumstances of each matter.

    Providing more detailed information on compliance actions and refusals of new services is important to ensure parents have the information that they need to make one of the most important decisions in their child’s early years. 

    About who they want to put their trust in to care for their child.

    It will also ensure transparency for company directors and board members, who may not be directly responsible for the day-to-day management of the provider, but who play an important role in ensuring their organisations are taking the steps needed to keep children safe in early childhood education and care.

    The Bill also gives the Commonwealth’s authorised officers more powers to do their job. It allows them to perform spot-checks and to enter premises without consent during operating hours to detect non-compliance across the sector.

    It means that the Commonwealth’s officers don’t need to get a warrant or other pre-authorisation to inspect a centre, an outside schools hours care service, or family day care service.

    These Commonwealth powers largely mirror arrangements that are already in place for state and territory regulators of early child and education care under the National Law and Regulations.

    The primary purpose of these compliance officers is to monitor compliance with the family assistance law. This is a serious issue in early education and care.

    Over the last three years, this Government has allocated $221 million dollars in additional funding to detect and prevent Child Care Subsidy fraud, and this has helped claw back around $318 million dollars for the taxpayer. 

    These new powers add to this.

    If while the compliance officers are there, they identify safety and quality concerns, they will also be able to share that information with State Government regulators to take action.

    A person who does not co-operate with an authorised person seeking access commits a criminal offence – and is liable to a civil penalty.

    The Bill also includes a number of other integrity measures.

    It will allow the Secretary of my Department to delegate the power to apply for a monitoring warrant to an appropriately qualified Executive Level officer. 

    Monitoring warrants are an effective tool in conducting Child Care Subsidy fraud and compliance investigations. These changes will streamline processes allowing warrants to be requested and issued more quickly.

    The Bill also makes amendments to allow the Secretary of my Department to delegate their existing power to appoint an appropriately qualified and experienced expert to conduct audits of large child care providers.

    This power is expanded to allow delegation to a Senior Executive Service employee. This will further streamline the process for appointing auditors, an important tool in ensuring integrity and compliance in the sector.

    The Bill also makes important changes to how gap fees are collected from families who use Family Day Care and In Home Care.

    The Bill makes an amendment to require all Family Day Care and In Home Care Providers to collect Child Care Subsidy gap fees directly from families. This will reduce the administrative burden on individual educators so they can focus on providing education and care to children. It will also improve transparency and integrity of Child Care Subsidy funding.

    Mr Speaker, the purpose of this Bill is not to shut child care centres down.

    It’s to raise standards up.

    This is not about leaving parents stranded without care for their children because of fixable or minor short-comings at their service.

    But this legislation is also not an idle threat.

    Services, be they are centre-based day care, or family day care, or in-home care, or outside school hours care, know what they have to do to consistently meet national quality standards.

    Providers that can improve their services to meet the standard will get the chance to do that.

    Services that don’t, can’t, or won’t will lose their access to funding.

    I think that’s fair. And I think most Australian parents will too.

    Mr Speaker, this Bill also isn’t the only thing we have to do to improve safety in child care centres.

    There is a lot more.

    After Ashley Paul Griffith was arrested and charged in Queensland with multiple child sex offences, Education Ministers across the country commissioned the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority – ACECQA – to conduct a Child Safety Review.

    Education Ministers have agreed in principle to the key recommendations of that review. 

    Some have been implemented. But there is more work that needs to be done.

    That includes establishing a National Educator Register to help track workers from centre to centre. And from state to state.

    It also means mandatory child safety training to support the 99.9 per cent of educators who care for our children every single day and do a fantastic job, to help them to recognise the people in their centres who are up to no good. 

    After 4 Corners exposed appalling examples of abuse and neglect on 17 March this year, the New South Wales Government commissioned Chris Wheeler, a former Deputy New South Wales Ombudsman, to undertake an independent review of the New South Wales Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority. 

    That Review recommends increasing penalties on services for offences that are largely factual or procedural, and for which prosecution is currently the only avenue available. 

    It also recommends services be required to display their compliance history alongside their quality ratings to help families make informed choices about child care.

    The Wheeler Review also recommends allowing the regulator to require that a provider install CCTV when they identify a potential risk to the health and safety of children at a service, or when the service has failed to meet quality standards for an unreasonable period of time. 

    These recommendations and more will be considered by Education Ministers when we meet next month.

    The other area where serious work is needed is to improve the operation of Working with Children Checks.

    Problems here were identified a long time ago.

    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended the Commonwealth Government facilitate a national model for Working with Children Checks.

    At the moment the systems in different states work differently.

    In some States the Working with Children Check is valid for five years. In others it’s two or three years.

    In some States only people over eighteen working with children require a Check. In others this is required from the age of fourteen or fifteen.

    Jurisdictions also differ in how they assess both criminal and non-conviction information, as well as patterns of behaviour.

    There are also issues with getting real time updates to Working with Children Checks and information sharing between jurisdictions. 

    This system isn’t run by Education Ministers. In some States it is run by the Attorney General. In others it is Ministers with responsibility for Child Protection, Human Services, or Families and Communities.

    Next month the Commonwealth Attorney General will also bring her state and territory counterparts together to address these serious issues.

    Mr Speaker, there is no more serious work than this.

    I want to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Jess Walsh, the Minister for Early Childhood Education and Youth, for her leadership on quality and safety in early learning and her work in bringing this Bill to the Parliament. 

    And I want to thank the Leader of the Opposition and the Shadow Minister for Education, Jonno Duniam, and the Assistant Minister, Zoe Mckenzie, and their teams for the serious and professional and bipartisan way they have engaged with us on this legislation.

    To make sure we get it right.

    It’s what mums and dads across the country want of us. And expect of us.

    They are not interested in excuses.

    They expect action.

    They expect all levels of Government to work together and the people that run child care services to join us in this work as well.

    We all know, no party, no government, State or Federal, has done everything we need to do here.

    That’s obvious.

    But I think everyone here is determined to do what needs to be done to rebuild confidence in a system that parents need to have confidence in.

    A system that more than a million mums and dads rely on to care for and to educate the most important people in their world – their children.

    This legislation is an important part of that.

    It’s not everything.

    The truth is this work will never end.

    But this is an important step.

    And I commend this Bill to the House.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Clearer rules and prequalification guidance to support construction

    Source: New Zealand Government

    As part of wider Government health and safety reforms, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden will be consulting with builders and construction professionals to improve productivity.

    “We’re simplifying scaffolding rules and streamlining the prequalification process to make them more practical and better aligned with the level of risk.

    “I have heard concerns from the construction sector that scaffolding rules are too complex,” says Ms van Velden. 

    The current rules have led to a common view that scaffolding should be used in all situations regardless of risk. This has resulted in the overuse of costly scaffolding when it isn’t required for safety. 

    “Over-compliance needlessly drags down construction productivity, increasing building time and costs for the sector, and impacting new builds and Kiwi homeowners. 

    “My officials will be consulting on proposed new rules that will let people choose safe options based on how dangerous the job is. Officials are currently refining options for a risk-based hierarchy of controls for work at heights (i.e. when to use ladders, harnesses, scaffolding) to test with industry,” says Ms van Velden. 

    “Changes will ensure scaffolding use is better aligned with the level of risk. If it’s not very risky, they will not need to use expensive scaffolding. For example, they will be considering whether a ladder could be used instead of scaffolding for a simple roof gutter repair or minor electrical maintenance when working at height. 

    “I believe changes to scaffolding rules should help reduce costs and speed up work for tradies, construction firms, homeowners and anyone else who needs construction, painting, maintenance or other work done at height. 

    “One of the other common themes I heard on the roadshow was frustration with the wide range of prequalification systems and the time and money they take to complete. I have listened, which is why I am acting to help this sector. 

    “Businesses feel like they have to jump through hoops to tick a compliance box when getting prequalified, even though the prequalification often involves little reflection of the real-world risks workers face. Some have said they have walked away from clients as the cost of getting prequalified is not worth the value of the work. 

    “A lack of consistency across providers means that suppliers need to get a new prequalification for every job they tender for, with one submitter saying they completed 76 in a year. That’s not a good use of anyone’s time or money. 

    “I’ve asked WorkSafe to work with industry to revise its prequalification guidance, including developing free-to-use templates to improve national consistency.” 

    There is also a need for clearer guidance on overlapping duties. This is when multiple businesses share responsibility for managing risks on the same site, such as when builders and drainlayers are both working on the same site and must work together to manage risks. 

    “I have asked WorkSafe to develop an Approved Code of Practice [ACOP] on clarifying overlapping duties, as the current ambiguity may be encouraging the over-use of prequalifications in situations where it is not necessary. Clearer guidance will help businesses understand when and how they need to work together to manage risks.” 

    Work is also underway to update the scaffolding certificate of competence categories, with a review of certificate fees to follow. These certificates show what types of scaffolding work a person is qualified to carry out, from basic to more advanced scaffolding.

    “Concerns have been raised about the distinction between qualifications and actual competency. Many feel that on-the-job experience should be better recognised. There’s also confusion about what constitutes sufficient training, and frustration with inconsistent advice from regulators. 

    “After consultation, I will be seeking Cabinet approval to update the categories and fees to ensure they better reflect current costs and industry best practice. 

    “I am confident that these changes, which are designed to address the concerns of the construction sector, will support safe and more efficient practices,” says Ms van Velden. 

    “These changes will save time and costs for businesses and workers as we cut red-tape to make it easier to do business. When our Kiwi businesses thrive, there are more jobs and lower prices for all New Zealanders.”

    Editor notes: 

    • These changes are part of the wider health and safety reform, which delivers on the ACT-National Coalition Agreement commitment to reform health and safety laws and regulations. 

    • Prequalification is a common way construction businesses check if a company or contractor is ready and able to do a construction job safely, before they’re allowed to bid for or start work. Prequalifications are also often used by businesses outside of the construction sector – for example, local councils using them for groundskeeping tenders. However, prequalifications are most prominently used in the construction industry. 

    • A summary of all the changes and major milestones:

    Amend the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations to simplify the scaffolding rule for construction, including the general work at height 3-metre rule. 

    Targeted stakeholder consultation July – Sept 2025 

     

    Cabinet decisions in November/December  

     

    Commencement mid 2026 

    Amend the Health and Safety in Employment Regs to update the fee for scaffolding certificates of competence. 

     

    Targeted stakeholder consultation July – Dec 2025 

     

    Cabinet decisions in March 2026 

     

    Commencement mid 2026 
    Amend the Health and Safety in Employment Regulations to update the scaffolding certificate of competence definitions 

    Cabinet LEG decisions Aug 

     

    Commencement Sep 2025 

    WorkSafe will work with the industry to revise prequalification guidance and clarify overlapping duties by developing a construction roles and responsibilities ACOP. 

     

    Targeted stakeholder consultation Aug – Sep 2025 

     

    Develop guidance and ACOP Oct 2025 – April 2026 

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Congressman Robert Garcia Statement On Ongoing Situation in Gaza

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Robert Garcia California (42nd District)

    WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) released the following statement on the ongoing situation in Gaza:

    “The growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the famine unleashed upon children and families is horrific. People are being shot who are trying to get food. We need a full flow of aid and a ceasefire immediately. The war must end so we can save lives and return hostages home,” said Congressman Robert Garcia.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Public Health Guidance for Hairdressers and Barbers

    Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health

    Publication date:

    Public Health Guidance for Hairdressers and Barbers outlines practical actions that hairdressers and barbers can take to reduce the spread of infection. 

    It covers hygiene, equipment handling, and cleaning and is designed to help hairdressers and barbers across New Zealand keep their clients safe. 

    The guidance is voluntary and can be used in all types of hairdressing and barber services, including salons, mobile and home-based setups, and temporary setups like those at fairs or rest homes. 

    The guidance was developed following the Ministry for Regulation’s Hairdressing and Barbering Regulatory Review. The review recommended revoking the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980 and developing new guidance to manage public health risks. In response to the review, Cabinet agreed to remove the Health (Hairdressers) Regulations 1980 made under the Health Act 1956, effective from 31 July 2025.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Case Provision To Strengthen Coast Guard Presence In The Indo-Pacific Secures Overwhelming Bi-Partisan Support In The House

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ed Case (Hawai‘i – District 1)

    (Washington, DC) — U.S. Representative Ed Case Ed Case (Hawai‘i-First District) announced today that last week the full U.S. House of Representatives in an overwhelming show of bipartisan support passed the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 4275) which includes a provision to increase focus on Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific that he introduced with Congressman Trent Kelly (Mississippi-First District).

    Case explained, “With bipartisan support of the full House, the Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee, Congressman Kelly and Congressman John Garamendi, the Coast Guard Reauthorization Act includes my push to mandate an annual plan for Coast Guard operations in the Indo-Pacific, including the annual budget needed to support these operations.”

    Case continued: “Our plan will significantly enhance the Coast Guard’s effectiveness, readiness and strategic alignment in the Indo-Pacific by integrating Coast Guard activities with broader U.S. defense and foreign policy goals in the region.”

    Case added that the provision “will allow for better forecasting of operational, personnel, asset and funding needs. It will ensure that the U.S. engagement in the region is sustained across the federal government and help to identify any operational gaps we have in the Indo-Pacific to better safeguard American and allied national security interests, respond to articulated needs of our Pacific Island partners and counter the People’s Republic of China’s increasingly malign influence in the region.”

    Case said the provision comes from H.R. 3397, the Pacific Ready Coast Guard Act, a measure introduced by himself and Congressman Kelly. The provision was taken from that measure and inserted into H.R. 4275 by Congressman John Garamendi (California-Eight District), a cosponsor of the measure and a member of the T&I Committee.

    Hawai‘i is the home of the Coast’s Guard’s operations throughout the Indo-Pacific. Its Oceania District is responsible for directing Coast Guard operations throughout Hawai‘i, Guam, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Oceania, Singapore and Japan. The Coast Guard works closely with the Department of Defense and America’s allies and partners to advance maritime governance as part of the rules-based international order essential to a free, open and secure Indo-Pacific. 

    H.R. 4275 authorizes $66.5 billion for Coast Guard operations and maintenance for five years, along with $185 billion in total funding for Coast Guard procurement and construction for the next five years. It also provides policy guidance for the Coast Guard. 

    The Coast Guard Reauthorization Act would also update Coast Guard sexual assault and harassment policies and modify requirements for commercial vessels. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee previously approved the bill by a 60 to 0 vote on July 15 and sent the measure to the full House, which was approved on July 23 by a vote of 399 to 12.

    The text of the measure is here.

    ###

     

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: How to apply for release of super on compassionate grounds

    Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

    Assistance with your application

    You can apply onlineExternal Link or on a paper form for early release on compassionate grounds.

    We’re unable to process applications over the phone, but we can answer any questions you have about completing your application – phone us on 13 10 20.

    We don’t charge for processing applications, but some third parties may charge a fee to assist with preparing and submitting an application on your behalf. These entities can only charge you a fee if they’re a registered tax agent. To check if a provider is a registered tax agent, use the Tax Practitioners Board registerExternal Link.

    Your super can’t be released to cover the fees of registered agents that assist you to apply. Where you have paid a fee to a registered agent who assisted you to apply, you can’t claim this fee as a deduction in your income tax return.

    Sharing myGov details

    You should never share your myGov sign in details with anyone else, including registered agents or health practitioners. Doing so is a breach of the myGov terms ofExternal Link use, compromises the security of your records, and can result in significant consequences for you, including having your myGov account being locked, suspended, or deactivated permanently.

    Where you share your myGov sign in details with third parties, you are responsible for everything they do with your account, including any penalties where false or misleading statements have been made.

    Before you apply

    Before you apply you should:

    1. carefully review the information we provide here to
    2. confirm you have a sufficient super balance to cover the expense and withholding tax
    3. check if your super fund allows early release of super
    4. collect all the documents and evidence required to support your application.

    If you have a self-managed super fund (SMSF), you must still apply to us and get our approval before releasing any money from the fund.

    Before submitting your application, you need to ensure that all the information you’re providing is accurate, including the content within medical reports and other documents you provide. Penalties can apply to anyone who provides inaccurate information in their application.

    Common errors when applying

    Applications need to be supported by the right evidence for the specific compassionate release ground. Failing to provide the right evidence will result in delays in processing the application or it not being approved.

    Common errors when applying include:

    • Attaching out of date quotes or invoices for unpaid expenses.
      • Quotes must be no more than 6 months old.
      • Invoices must be no more than 30 days old.
    • Not providing the right medical reports to support your medical treatment.
      • You must obtain a medical report from the relevant registered medical specialist in the area of the medical condition that you’re applying for release to treat.
      • If you’re applying for treatment to alleviate an acute or chronic mental illness, the relevant medical specialist report must be completed by a psychiatrist.
    • Applying to prevent the foreclosure or forced sale of your home from a mortgage lender and not providing all evidence requirements: default notice, letter from the mortgage lender and a utility bill.
    • Applying for release to prevent foreclosure or forced sale of your home for ineligible expenses such as a personal credit card debt, outstanding rent, or other personal loans.
    • Applying to purchase a vehicle for medical transport where the vehicle costs more than $20,000 and not including additional information that supports the need for the specific vehicle.
    • Applying for the expense of a dependant and not including sufficient evidence to support the existence of an interdependent or substantial financially dependent relationship.

    For more information on evidence requirements, see Access on compassionate grounds – what you need to know.

    How to apply

    Online application process

    You can access our online application form via your myGov accountExternal Link linked to ATO online services.

    From the ATO online services home page, select the heading option Super, then Manage, then Compassionate release of super.

    Ensure you’re aware of the following information before completing your online application:

    • You need digital copies of the required evidence. We accept photos of documents. Supported file formats are PDF, gif, jpeg and png. We don’t accept screen shots of text messages, emails or Google documents.
    • Our system can’t accept more than 20 attachments.
    • Each attachment needs to be smaller than 10 MB.

    Applying to repay borrowed amounts

    Our online and paper application forms currently indicate that paid expenses are not allowable expenses for compassionate release of super purposes, including where the expense was paid using borrowed money – such as through obtaining a loan, using credit facilities, or other borrowing of money, including from family or friends.

    We’re currently in the process of updating these forms to be consistent with the information on our website. Until the forms are updated, if you’re applying to repay a borrowed amount that is still outstanding and can’t be paid via other means (in part or full), you’ll need to do the following.

    When completing our:

    • online application, you need to select the tick box advising ‘The expenses have not been paid’ because the unpaid expense is the outstanding balance of the borrowed amount
    • paper application, the question ‘Have the expenses been paid?’ needs to be answered ‘No’ because the unpaid expense is the outstanding balance of the borrowed amount.

    You will also need to provide additional documents to support the borrowed amount, including a paid invoice or receipt, statutory declarations and financial documents.

    Benefits of applying online

    • Online applications are generally processed more quickly than paper applications, which can take up to 28 days to process.
    • You can view your application and the documents you provide at any time.
    • You will receive a receipt ID that confirms we have received your application and can be used to discuss it with us.
    • You don’t have to make copies of your evidence or send them via post.
    • You’ll receive the outcome of your application quicker via your myGov inbox.
    • Our online application includes a help function to help you apply correctly.

    If you can’t apply online

    If you don’t have access to our online services to submit your application, request a paper application form by:

    • phoning us from within Australia on 13 10 20 (8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday AEST).
    • phoning us from overseas on +61 2 6216 1111 (8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday AEST) to request a paper application form.

    If you apply from overseas:

    More than one person applying for the same expense

    You can apply for the same expense as another person if all people applying need to pay different parts of the same expense. If you and another person are applying for the same expense, each person will need to:

    • complete and submit a separate application
    • meet the eligibility criteria
    • provide the applicable evidence (including documents showing the expense is in the names of all applicants).

    The sum of the amount requested in the separate applications must not be more than the total amount of the invoice or quote.

    What to expect after you apply

    When reviewing your application, we will treat you respectfully and professionally. We will respond to your application fairly and in a timely manner as outlined in the ATO Charter.

    We will assess your eligibility in accordance with the limited grounds for compassionate release of super. This normally occurs within 14 days (28 days for paper applications). You can check the progress of your application by using our self-help interactive voice response. You will need to provide your tax file number (TFN) and date of birth.

    While assessing your application, we may contact you or third-party providers about the evidence you provided, particularly if there is incomplete or missing information. This includes validating expenses in the invoices and quotes, and the information provided in reports.

    Once we have assessed your application, we will let you know the outcome by either phone or SMS and you will receive a letter in your myGov InboxExternal Link or via post if you apply on a paper form. You will also be able to access our letter on ATO online services under communication history. Our letter may take up to 72 hours to arrive (or more if it is sent by post).

    If your application is successful, we will send a copy of the approval letter to your super fund. You will then need to contact them directly to release your super.

    How to withdraw your application

    You can’t amend your application after it has been submitted.

    To withdraw an application, contact us and provide us with your application reference number.

    If your application is approved

    Release of your super

    If your application is approved, once you receive our approval letter, you must contact your super fund to arrange release of your money.

    You’ll need to provide your fund with a copy of our approval letter to process your payment. The letter can only be used to release one lump sum payment. You should wait for your approval letter before contacting your super fund to arrange for release of the approved amount.

    Your super fund will automatically deduct the tax from your super account. See Tax on super benefits and Schedule 12 Tax table for superannuation lump sums for more information.

    Super funds have their own processes and timeframes for releasing money from super. If you need to know how long it will take for your fund to release your money, you will need to ask them. We don’t have any role in determining how long this takes, and we can’t assist you in relation to the release after we send the approval letter.

    After you have received your amount

    After you have received your release from your super fund, you must pay the expenses that were approved with the amount released from your super fund.

    You also need to keep your receipts for the paid expense as you may need to provide this information to us.

    Your super fund will also issue you a payment summary that will display the amount released from your super balance and the tax withheld.

    When lodging your income tax return for the relevant financial year, you need to include any taxable amounts shown on the payment summary. If any releases from your super aren’t pre-filled when completing your income tax return, you need to manually include these as per the payment summary. See Tax return instructions for more information.

    If your application is not approved

    You’ll receive a letter advising the reasons your application was not approved. We will also try to contact you via phone to explain our decision.

    The reasons for non-approval generally fall into the following categories:

    • You didn’t meet eligibility conditions. You or the expense you applied for are ineligible (because, for example, you paid the expense without borrowing money). Submitting further applications or a review request will result in the same outcome.
    • If your application was not approved because you didn’t provide sufficient evidence, you need to submit a new application with all the required documentation. If you request a review of our decision without providing additional evidence, it will generally be unsuccessful.
    • If your application was partially approved and you have new evidence, you need to submit a new application with the required documentation for the additional amount.

    If you don’t understand our decision or believe we have made a mistake under the law, you can contact us so we can explain our decision.

    Request a review of our decision

    If after contacting us, you consider that we made a decision that was incorrect based on the information in your application, you can request a review of our decision.

    Generally, you must submit your request within 14 days of the date of the original decision letter. In your review request, you need to specify why you believe our decision is incorrect.

    For instructions on requesting a review, see Compassionate release of superannuation – request for review of decision.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: Uganda’s land eviction crisis: do populist state measures actually fix problems?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose Nakayi, Senior Lecturer of Law, Makerere University

    Populism is rife in various African countries. This political ideology responds to and takes advantage of a situation where a large section of people feels exploited, marginalised or disempowered. It sets up “the people” against “the other”. It promises solidarity with the excluded by addressing their grievances. Populism targets broad social groups, operating across ethnicity and class.

    But how does populism fare when it informs state interventions to address long-standing societal issues under capitalism? Do populist state measures – especially when launched by a politically powerful leader – deliver improvements for the stated beneficiaries?

    As academics who have researched populism for years, we were interested in the implementation and outcomes of such policies and programmes. To answer these questions, we analysed a populist intervention by President Yoweri Museveni in Uganda to address rampant land conflicts. In 2013 he set out to halt land evictions.

    What good came of this? Did it help the poor?

    We analysed land laws, court cases, government statements and media reports and found that, for the most part, the intervention offered short-term relief. Some people returned to the land, but the underlying land conflict was unresolved.

    This created problems that continue to be felt today, including land disputes and land tenure insecurity. The intervention also increased the involvement of the president and his agents personally in providing justice.

    It didn’t make pro-poor structural changes to address the root of the problem.

    Yet, the intervention had several political benefits:

    • it enhanced the political legitimacy of the president and state

    • it offered a politically useful response to a land-related crisis and conflict

    • it addressed broader criticisms over injustice and poverty by sections of the public and opposition leaders, some of whom (like Robert Kyagulanyi) also relied on populist rhetoric.

    The promise to deal with land evictions “once and for all” has yet to be realised over a decade later. During Heroes Day celebrations on 9 June 2024, Museveni’s speech repeated his promise to stop evictions.

    Such promises of getting a grip on and ending evictions via decisive state actions, including proposed new legal guidelines, were also made more recently, for example during Heroes Day 2025. This indicates that evictions – and state responses to them – remain a top issue on the political agenda ahead of Uganda’s 2026 election.

    Persistent evictions

    Evictions were rampant in the 2010s, especially in central Uganda’s Buganda region. They were driven by increased demand for land amid a growing population and legal reforms that seemed to protect tenants over landlords. Some landlords, desperate to free their land of tenants, were carrying out the evictions themselves.

    The president condemned the evictions, but they continued. Soon, the number of evictees was in the thousands.

    In response, Museveni set up a land committee within the presidency. He announced at a press conference in early 2013 that:

    all evictions are halted. There will be no more evictions, especially in the rural areas. All evictions involving peasants are halted.

    The dynamics of populism-in-practice

    Museveni’s attempts to personally deal with evictions illustrate a continued power shift in Uganda, from institutions to the president’s executive units.

    Despite its shortcomings, such as case backlogs, the judicial system offers an opportunity to present cases in a more neutral environment. It also allows parties to appeal decisions. This way, higher courts can correct errors where necessary.

    The presidential land committee, we found, tended to be biased in favour of tenants, paying less attention to the landlords’ cases.

    The president’s intervention wasn’t adequate to address the immediate causes and effects of the evictions, nor the root causes.

    Those included land tenure insecurities. Due to legal reforms, land-rich landlords were unable to get rent at market value from tenants. Neither could they evict them lawfully where rent was in arrears.

    In some cases, legal options such as land sales between landlords and tenants were applied. This was often to the detriment of tenants, especially where there was no neutral actor to oversee negotiations.

    Land reforms need to be institutionalised and funded to deliver the intended outcomes. Otherwise, unlawful sales and evictions become a quick option for landlords.

    Museveni’s populist initiative also unleashed new problems for beneficiaries. Some secured land occupancy in the interim but lived in fear of a relapse of conflict. Mistrust and scarred interpersonal relationships hampered cohesion in some communities. Disputes over land put political actors who would ideally be working together to restore calm at loggerheads.

    Populism as power

    The creation of populist presidential units has become routine in Uganda. More recently, Museveni created a unit to protect investors, which has resolved some investment-related land disputes. Another one was established to fight corruption. Both units remain very active.

    Our research finds that the government needs these units and interventions for a number of reasons. It uses them to govern the country’s conflict-ridden economy and society. They allow the government to assemble a politically useful response to crises and to address some on-the-ground problems. They make the state look concerned and responsive to people’s needs. And they allow ruling party political actors to increase their popularity locally.

    Museveni and his ruling party, the National Resistance Movement, therefore, benefit from a key aspect of populism. It allows the merging of disparate, competing and contradictory views, interests and demands of members of various societal classes and groups into a significantly simplified and uniform narrative that (potentially) speaks to all. This could mean: end corruption, end evictions, wealth for all, and so on.

    A general election is due in early 2026. The steps Museveni has taken on evictions, and the units set up to fight corruption or protect investors, need to be seen with this political context in mind.

    Museveni has put protecting people from evictions high on his government’s agenda. Speaking to party members in August 2024, he emphasised

    the importance of adhering to the mass line, which prioritises the needs and rights of the masses over those of the elite.

    In our view, this pre-election narrative signifies the continued political and social relevance of populism in today’s Uganda. This could result in heightened populist state activity in the run-up to and after the election.

    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. Uganda’s land eviction crisis: do populist state measures actually fix problems? – https://theconversation.com/ugandas-land-eviction-crisis-do-populist-state-measures-actually-fix-problems-260512

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –