Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, and the Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee, Mr Wang Hao, leading the delegations of the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Zhejiang respectively, held the High-Level Meeting cum the First Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference (the meeting-cum-plenary) in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, today (April 24). Both sides witnessed the establishment of the Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference Mechanism, symbolising a new stage of all-round exchanges and co-operation between the two places. The Executive Deputy Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Zhou Ji, also attended the meeting-cum-plenary.
Officials of the HKSAR Government that attended the meeting-cum-plenary included the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki; the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Erick Tsang Kwok-wai; the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau; the Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho; the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong; the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak; and the Director of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Carol Yip.
Hong Kong and Zhejiang reached a consensus on the following 13 co-operation areas at the meeting-cum-plenary:
Joint pursuit of the Belt and Road development and business investment ———————————————————————-
Strengthen co-operation on the Belt and Road Initiative between the two places. Encourage Zhejiang enterprises to actively participate in the Belt and Road Summit held in Hong Kong. Encourage Zhejiang enterprises to actively participate in relevant exchange and interface sessions organised by relevant authorities in Hong Kong.
Promote the co-operation between Hong Kong and Zhejiang in the field of professional services. Support the introduction of Hong Kong management consulting, accounting, design, legal and dispute resolution service agencies.
Continue to actively promote collaboration and exchanges on intellectual property between the two places through publicity initiatives and seminars.
Finance ———-
Support Zhejiang Province in collaborating with the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and relevant securities institutions to organise and conduct business training to address enterprises’ inquiries regarding listing in Hong Kong.
Encourage enterprises in Zhejiang Province and financial institutions in Hong Kong to engage in exchanges and co-operation.
Innovation and technology ——————————
Jointly promote co-operation in technology research and development between Hong Kong and Zhejiang. Support higher education institutions, research institutes and enterprises in Hong Kong and Zhejiang to jointly launch research initiatives to achieve breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields, develop strategic emerging industries, and foster the development of future industries.
Actively establish a two-way sci-tech financial investment and financing channel, and actively support Zhejiang’s high-tech enterprises in listing and raising funds, issuing local and foreign currency bonds in Hong Kong, etc.
Encourage and support technology entities in Hong Kong and Zhejiang to take the lead in the establishment of technology co-operation platforms, and set up research and development centres, etc.
Aviation ———-
Increase the frequency of flights between Hong Kong and the three airports in Hangzhou, Ningbo and Wenzhou in accordance with the market situation.
Enhance the exchange of advanced airport management experience between airport personnel in Hong Kong and Zhejiang.
Legal and dispute resolution ——————————
Continue to proactively support law firms of the two places to establish partnership associations and set up branches in each other’s places.
Promote co-operation between the arbitral institutions of the two places in the arbitration of civil and commercial disputes in the areas of international trade, investment, maritime commerce, etc.
Support and promote the expansion of exchange platforms for legal, arbitration, mediation, and other professional services between the two places.
Cultural exchange and tourism ——————————
Strengthen cultural and tourism exchanges between the two places.
Strengthen the exchanges and collaboration between the museums and arts and cultural institutions of Hong Kong and Zhejiang, and jointly organise international exhibitions.
Education ———-
Promote the development of the Zhejiang-Hong Kong Vocational Education Alliance. Effectively carry out visits to Zhejiang for Mainland study tours of the senior secondary subject of Citizenship and Social Development and Mainland study tours for teachers.
Facilitate more schools in the two places in forming sister school pairs for conducting exchange activities in diverse forms.
Encourage higher education institutions in Zhejiang Province to further deepen co-operation with higher education institutions in Hong Kong and carry out various forms of collaborative projects, such as joint scientific research, academic seminars, and teacher-student exchanges.
Youth development ——————–
Actively explore the introduction of a quality internship programme in Zhejiang under the Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland.
Support Hong Kong youths to participate in short-term experiential programmes at innovation and entrepreneurial bases in Zhejiang.
Encourage and support Hong Kong youth entrepreneurial teams funded under the Youth Development Fund of the Government of the HKSAR to expand their businesses to Zhejiang.
Health and Chinese medicine ——————————
Strengthen exchanges and co-operation between the two sides in areas such as clinical talents, primary healthcare and hospital management.
Support Hong Kong service providers to develop Hong Kong-Zhejiang joint ventures, co-operative medical institutions and wholly owned medical institutions in accordance with the law.
Expedite academic and talent exchanges in Chinese medicine between the two places, and strengthen co-operation in the area of international standardisation of Chinese medicine.
Environmental protection ——————————
Promote the implementation of the co-operation agreement signed between the Radiation Monitoring Technical Center of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Hong Kong Observatory. Support technical staff of both sides in conducting regular technical discussions.
Strengthen technical exchanges and co-operation in the field of carbon monitoring.
Strengthen exchanges and discussions between Hong Kong and Zhejiang in areas such as environmental protection-related industry and technological innovation.
Housing ———-
The two parties will engage in collaborative exchanges encompassing innovative housing technologies, intelligent construction, resource conservation, as well as low-carbon and emission-reduction initiatives.
The two parties will strengthen collaboration in innovative housing technologies, smart estate management, and the development of harmonious communities through reciprocal visits and professional training exchanges.
Talent and civil service exchange ——————————
Strengthen communication and connections with renowned schools in Hong Kong.
Continue to promote and deepen exchanges between civil servants from both sides, and launch a new round of the exchange programme under the guidance of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
Facilitation measures for Hong Kong people on the Mainland ————————————————————
Fully implement the policies and measures introduced by the relevant Central Government departments to facilitate the development of Hong Kong and Macao residents on the Mainland, and facilitate Hong Kong people studying, working and living in Zhejiang.
Explore the expansion of the scope of application of the Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Residents in various government and public services in Zhejiang.
At the meeting-cum-plenary, the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, and Vice Governor of the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government Mr Lu Shan, signed the “Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference Mechanism” and the “Co-operation Memorandum of the High-Level Meeting cum First Plenary Session of the Hong Kong/Zhejiang Co-operation Conference”. The documents (Chinese only) are in Annex 1 and Annex 2.
In addition, four co-operation agreements were signed by government departments and statutory bodies of the two places:
(i) Memorandum of Understanding on Enhancing Zhejiang/Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Co-operation; (ii) Letter of Intent on Strengthening Exchanges and Co-operation in Innovative Housing Technologies, Smart Estate Management and Well-being Community; (iii) Memorandum of Understanding on Promoting High-Quality Economic and Trade Co-operation; and (iv) Memorandum of Understanding on Jointly Promoting Youth Development Co-operation.
The co-operation agreements (i), (ii) and (iv) signed by the government departments of the two places (Chinese only) are in Annexes 3 to 5.
“TDB-DSTbacks Nature-Powered Innovation: Supports ‘uBreathe Life’ for Indigenous Indoor Air Purification Solution” “Clean Air, Made in India: TDB-DST Funds Urban Air Labs’ Wall-Mounted Plant-Based Air Purifier to Boost Indoor AQI”
Posted On: 24 APR 2025 4:13PM by PIB Delhi
The Technology Development Board (TDB), under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has taken a significant step toward advancing indigenous clean air technologies by extending financial support to M/s Urban Air Labs Private Limited, Gurugram, for their project titled “Development & Commercialization of a Made in India Efficient Wall-Mounted Air-Purification System for Indoor Premises.” This strategic intervention marks a commitment to improve the Air Quality Index (AQI) indoors through innovative, plant-based purification systems that remove both particulate and gaseous contaminants.
TDB’s financial assistance to this promising startup underscores its confidence in the project’s potential to deliver sustainable, science-backed air purification solutions. The support aims to promote innovation in climate-responsive technologies while strengthening India’s self-reliance under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ missions.
The core technology harnessed in this product blends natural plant-based filtration with advanced engineering. Based on the ‘Urban Munnar Effect’ and a patented innovation called ‘Breathing Roots’, the system enhances the natural air-purifying capacity of leafy indoor plants.
Air from the room is pulled toward the plant leaves, then directed into the soil-root zone, where the purification process intensifies. The device features a centrifugal fan that creates suction pressure, allowing the purified air—processed through the roots—to be released in 360 degrees across the indoor space.
Fitted within a specially designed planter box, the ‘uBreathe Life’ system stands out as a compact, aesthetic, and effective wall-mounted solution tailored for homes, offices, hospitals, and other indoor environments. It directly addresses the growing public health concern over poor indoor air quality and represents a game-changing innovation in the field of sustainable air purification.
Speaking on the occasion, Sh. Rajesh Kumar Pathak, Secretary, TDB, said, “TDB’s support to Urban Air Labs reflects our mission to back indigenous solutions that address pressing environmental challenges. The fusion of biotechnology and engineering in this project offers a scalable, sustainable way to enhance indoor air quality, aligned with the nation’s clean technology goals.”
Commenting on the support, Founders of M/s Urban Air Labs Pvt. Ltd. said, “We are grateful to TDB for their belief in our vision. With this support, we aim to make plant-based, natural air purification a norm in Indian households and public spaces. It’s time we bring nature back indoors, powered by science and innovation.”
overnor Kathy Hochul today announced the launch of the New York State Adaptation and Resilience Plan to establish a statewide framework to align ongoing State climate adaptation planning and implementation efforts throughout New York communities. Over the course of the next year, this initiative will equip State and local partners with shared direction and foster collaboration across every region of the State, ensuring New Yorkers are better equipped and prepared for the devastating storms that cause more than $1 billion in damages for New York annually.
“As Governor, I have made major investments to prepare local leaders and protect communities across New York from the increasingly severe weather events that have cost us billions of dollars in damages and routinely threaten our safety,” Governor Hochul said. “By developing this statewide initiative to guide our ongoing climate resiliency efforts, we are solidifying a commitment to a safe, affordable and sustainable future that all New Yorkers need and deserve.”
The plan will create a collective vision, principles, planning resources and a gap analysis of existing State agency initiatives, which include a wide array of project types, such as: shoreline restoration, the relocation of critical infrastructure to reduce flood risk, the relocation and raising of flood-prone roadways, and right-sizing dams, bridges and culverts. The coordination initiative for this plan is being led by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Department of State (DOS), Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in partnership with other State agencies.
As part of the first phase of the plan, the State will host a series of webinars in summer 2025. This initial outreach will be followed by more comprehensive engagement opportunities throughout the development of the plan, including additional in-person and virtual events and direct engagement with local governments and key stakeholders such as community-based organizations. Additional information, as well as upcoming opportunities to get involved, will be shared on the plan’s website.
Recognizing the need for innovative and cross-sector partnerships, the plan will create a unified adaptation and resilience strategy that builds upon and strengthens existing efforts while identifying new options for taking action. New York State will continue to advance investments and initiatives to support local planning and implementation of climate adaptation and resilience actions. Resources immediately available include:
Funding through the Climate Smart Communities Grant Program, Green Resiliency Grant Program, Resilient Watershed Grants and other Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act-supported programs;
Targeted climate research through the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment;
Supporting local and regional planning through programs such as the Smart Growth Countywide Resiliency Planning program, Local Waterfront Revitalization Program and Coastal Lakeshore Economy and Resiliency programs;
Hazard-focused statewide planning such as the implementation of the Extreme Heat Action Plan.
Additional resources and funding opportunities to support state and local adaptation and resilience are available here and through the Environmental Bond Act Funding Finder.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Acting Commissioner Amanda Lefton said, “New Yorkers know all too well how flooding and severe weather driven by climate change can wreak havoc on our communities and the environment. At Governor Hochul’s direction, we are taking action to make sure our communities and natural resources are resilient now and in the future. DEC is proud to lead this multi-agency effort to build, collaborate, and streamline New York State’s collective efforts on adaptation and resilience to ensure our state, communities, and partners are armed with the tools and resources needed to adapt to and prepare for the many impacts of climate change.”
New York Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley said, “This comprehensive resiliency plan is yet another example of Governor Hochul’s commitment to protecting lives, properties, businesses and infrastructure from the ravages of climate change. The Department of State stands ready and eager to contribute to this statewide effort to ensure that all corners of the State are prepared for and resilient against a rapidly changing climate.”
New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Jackie Bray said, “Over the last year alone, we’ve seen the toll that weather events like flooding and tornadoes can take on communities. By bringing together multiple State agencies to collaborate on methods to mitigate the impacts of climate change, we are taking a proactive approach to address Governor Hochul’s focus on prevention and resiliency. Investing in this work now will help the residents of New York respond and recover quickly and efficiently from storms.”
NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen M. Harris said, “Governor Hochul’s leadership on protecting New Yorkers from the impacts of rising temperatures and extreme weather events is evident through this multi-agency planning process that will advance statewide efforts. NYSERDA looks forward to engaging in this highly collaborative undertaking, which provides for the most efficient and coordinated use of State resources to meet future challenges in a strategic, sustainable way.”
As part of the 2025 State of the State address, Governor Kathy Hochul also announced a historic $1 billion Sustainable Future Program, a critical investment designed to rapidly generate thousands of jobs, slash energy bills for households and cut harmful pollution.
New York State’s Climate Agenda New York State’s climate agenda calls for an affordable and just transition to a clean energy economy that creates family-sustaining jobs, promotes economic growth through green investments and directs a minimum of 35 percent of the benefits to disadvantaged communities. New York is advancing a suite of efforts to achieve an emissions-free economy by 2050, including in the energy, buildings, transportation and waste sectors.
In 2025, the EU’s contribution to Frontex’s budget amounts to approximately EUR 1 billion. This provides Frontex with sufficient resources to fulfil its role in combatting cross-border crime, in line with its mandate.
Return and readmission are important components of cooperation of the EU and its Member States with partner countries. Under international customary law, all States are obliged to readmit their own nationals.
To implement this obligation, the Commission continually engages with partner countries of origin and transit both to improve returns and to prevent irregular arrivals.
This cooperation can take the form of readmission agreements or arrangements, or dedicated provisions in broader agreements such as the Samoa Agreement[1]; Anti-Smuggling Operational Partnerships, like the one concluded with Morocco[2]; EU support for the voluntary return of sub-Saharan migrants from several transit countries; or comprehensive migration partnerships, like the one concluded with Mauritania in March 2024[3].
These initiatives complement the ones caried out on a bilateral basis by Member States.
[1] Partnership Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, of the other part. OJ L 2023/2862, 28.12.2023, p. 1-172.
Question for written answer E-001358/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Thomas Pellerin-Carlin (S&D)
The recent energy crisis has demonstrated the importance of a tariff framework that guarantees stable and predictable prices for consumers. In France, regulated tariffs for the sale of electricity (TRVEs) play this essential role, protecting 60% of households and many very small businesses against market volatility.
Refuting the argument that TRVEs constitute a barrier to competition, the French Energy Regulatory Commission has demonstrated that these tariffs are compatible with a balanced market and provide direct benefits to consumers. By extending the TRVEs until 2030, France is opting for the path of protection and economic stability.
At a time when the EU is promoting the electrification of uses and the energy transition, it is time to draw inspiration from this type of mechanism to guarantee affordable electricity for all Europeans.
1.Does the Commission intend to promote mechanisms inspired by the TRVEs to guarantee fair and stable prices at the European level?
2.What tools does it propose to ensure effective consumer protection in the face of market volatility, based on the principles of social justice and ecological transition?
The Commission recalls that according to the principle of free administration by public authorities enshrined in Article 2 of Directive 2014/23/EU[1], Member States authorities may choose to perform their public interest tasks with their own resources, or in cooperation with other authorities or to confer them upon economic operators.
As illustrated in the answer given to Written Question E-005180/2021, a concession within the meaning of Directive 2014/23/EU, such as the A22 motorway concession referred to by the Honourable Members, may be awarded without a call for tenders if the in-house requirements under Article 17 of that directive are fulfilled.
However, if the in-house requirements, including the absence of private capital in the concessionaire company, were not all fulfilled, the concession would have to be awarded via a call for tenders ensuring fair competition under the rules set out in that directive.
According to the principles of non-discrimination and equal treatment as enshrined in the EU public procurement rules, it is of utmost importance that any eventual participation of the incumbent concessionaire in the tendering procedure should be accompanied by the adoption of the appropriate mitigation measures to ensure that competition is not distorted.[2]
In the case at hand, the project financing award procedure providing for a pre-emption right for the incumbent concessionaire raises serious concerns with regard to its compatibility with EU law. The Commission is in touch with the Italian authorities and closely monitors the file.
[1] Directive 2014/23/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 2014 on the award of concession contracts (OJ L 094 28.3.2014, p. 1).
In the context of the Romanian presidential elections held on 24 November 2024, the Commission sent to TikTok requests for information on 29 November[1] and 6 December 2024 regarding its measures to address risks from inauthentic activity, automated exploitation, and its recommender systems.
Additionally, on 5 December 2024, the Commission adopted a decision imposing on TikTok an obligation to retain all information relevant to its management of the risks of any actual or foreseeable negative effects to electoral processes and civic discourse in the context of national elections held between 24 November 2024 and 31 March 2025[2]. On 17 December 2024, the Commission decided to open a third set of formal proceedings against TikTok[3].
These proceedings focus on TikTok’s compliance with its obligation to diligently assess and mitigate systemic risks related to civic discourse and electoral processes stemming from: (1) the intentional manipulation of TikTok’s services and its related systems, including its recommender systems, and (2) the amplification and potentially rapid and wide dissemination of political advertisements and paid-for political content that is incompatible with TikTok’s terms and conditions. This investigation is ongoing: the Commission is currently gathering and analysing evidence.
Furthermore, the Commission published in March 2024 guidelines on recommended measures under the DSA to mitigate systemic risks online for election[4], and released, in February 2025, the DSA elections toolkit for Digital Services Coordinators[5].
In addition, certain very large online platforms (VLOPs), together with the Commission, took part in an election stress test in March 2025, organised by the Romanian authorities[6].
[6] See also the European Board for Digital Services’ post-election report on the EU elections: https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/european-board-digital-services-publishes-post-election-report-eu-elections
The Commission is committed to fighting greenwashing in business to consumer communication. In 2024, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD)[1] was amended based on a Commission proposal on the Empowering Consumers for the Green Transition Directive[2].
The amended UCPD contains a prohibition of generic environmental claims unless an excellent environmental performance can be demonstrated, and detailed rules on ‘future environmental performance claims’ such as net-zero commitments.
Relevant for such claims and climate claims more broadly is also the proposal for a Green Claims Directive[3], under discussion by co-legislators.
Aiming to prevent greenwashing in explicit voluntary environmental claims made by traders to consumers, the proposal sets detailed rules on substantiation and communication of environmental claims and on governance of environmental labelling schemes.
The proposal explicitly tackles climate claims by requiring that the substantiation assessment: 1) separate any offsetting (based on carbon credits) from the calculation of greenhouse gas emissions, 2) specify whether those offsets relate to emission reductions or removals, and 3) describe how the offsets relied upon are of high integrity and accounted for correctly to reflect the claimed impact on climate.
Moreover, the term ‘net-zero target’ is defined in EU law[4] in a delegated act under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
The Commission expects the above instruments to provide a framework for companies to make transparent and credible environmental, including climate claims, helping restore consumers’ trust in these, and thereby also mitigate any ‘greenhushing’.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Dan Newhouse (4th District of Washington)
Headline: Newhouse Leads Legislation to Increase Market Access for Local Breweries, Wineries
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced the bipartisanUSPS Shipping Equity Act alongside Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D-VA) to allow the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship alcoholic beverages to consumers.
“The wine, beer, and spirits industries are at a real disadvantage in delivering their high-quality products across the country,”said Rep. Newhouse.“While other carriers deliver alcohol, current law prohibits the United States Postal Service from doing so. This legislation supports small craft breweries and wineries in rural areas like Central Washington and offers new opportunities for market access through the USPS. I thank Rep. Subramanyam for joining me in introducing this bipartisan legislation as we work to unlock the USPS for our local producers.”
“This prohibition era restriction on the Postal Service is unnecessary and imposes on consumers and our small businesses,” said Rep. Subramanyam. “I’m thrilled to partner with Congressman Newhouse on a bipartisan fix to expand opportunities available to our local breweries, vineyards, and distilleries and provide a new source of revenue for USPS.”
The legislation allows the USPS to ship directly from licensed producers and retailers to consumers over the age of 21, in accordance with state and local laws at the delivery location. It levels the playing field and increases consumer and manufacturer choice while bringing in millions of dollars in revenue per year.
The legislation is supported by industry partners including the American Craft Spirits Association and the National Rural Letter Carriers Association.
Margie A.S. Lehrman, CEO of the American Craft Spirits Association, said, “We thank Representatives Newhouse and Subramanyam for their bipartisan legislation. As our small, domestic businesses have grown over the past 15 years, allowing the USPS to ship craft spirits will provide access to another important delivery option for small distillers in the U.S. Many of those distilleries are located in rural areas where support of their local Main Street matters. Access to the thirty-one thousand post offices in the U.S. would be a game changer, helping their small businesses to succeed and grow. We hope the Congress will act soon on this important small business initiative.”
Don Matson, President of the National Rural Letter Carriers Association, said, “The NRLCA thanks Congressman Newhouse and Congressman Subramanyam for introducing the USPS Shipping Equity Act, legislation that modernizes outdated regulations and allows the Postal Service to deliver products like wine, beer, and spirits. This act promotes fairness by allowing USPS to compete on equal footing with private carriers, creating new opportunities for rural communities and small businesses to expand through USPS’s reliable service. It also generates revenue that can be reinvested to improve customer service. It’s a commonsense reform that helps USPS meet the needs of modern society and drive economic growth across the country.”
LOS ANGELES – A United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer has been arrested on a five-count federal grand jury indictment alleging he fraudulently obtained nearly $150,000 in COVID-19 pandemic business-relief loan funds for two of his sham businesses, the Justice Department announced today.
Amer Aldarawsheh, 45, of Moreno Valley, is charged with five counts of wire fraud.
He was arrested Wednesday morning and pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him at his arraignment Wednesday afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. A federal magistrate judge ordered Aldarawsheh released on $30,000 bond and scheduled a June 16 in U.S. District Court in Riverside.
According to the indictment unsealed Wednesday, Aldarawsheh owned and purportedly operated two businesses: Nahar Enterprises Inc., a San Bernardino based business he described as a trucking and freight company, and Ameral, which he described as an automotive repair company.
From July 2020 to December 2021, Aldarawsheh made false statements to the Small Business Administration (SBA) to fraudulently obtain a loan under the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), which provided low-interest financing to small businesses, renters, and homeowners in regions affected by declared disasters.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 authorized the SBA to provide EIDL loans of up to $2 million to eligible small businesses experiencing substantial financial disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aldarawsheh applied to the SBA for EIDL loans on behalf of his two companies, neither of which had substantial business or employees. EIDL loans were supposed to be used by the recipient to only pay certain authorized business expenses. Instead, Aldarawsheh knowingly misappropriated and misused the EIDL funds he received from the SBA for his own personal benefit, including in December 2020, causing the transfer of $149,900 in SBA COVID-19 EIDL loan funds to be wired from the SBA to a bank account under his control.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
If convicted, Aldarawsheh would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count.
The United States Custom and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility, Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorneys Laura A. Alexander and Michael J. Morse of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section are prosecuting this case.
GREAT FALLS – A Box Elder woman who distributed fentanyl in northern Montana and on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation was sentenced today to time served to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Dai Shawn Whitford, 33, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of distribution of fentanyl.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided.
The government alleged in court documents that law enforcement received information that Whitford’s co-defendants were working together to bring drugs from Washington to distribute on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and nearby locations. On at least one occasion, Dai Shawn Whitford helped distribute on behalf of the co-defendants.
In May 2023, a confidential source paid a co-defendant $800 for 30 fentanyl pills. The co-defendant directed the confidential source to pick up the fentanyl at a residence on Rocky Boy’s. The informant went to the house and was provided approximately 30 fentanyl pills from Dai Shawn Whitford.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, and the investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Tri-Agency Task Force.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Angus King (I-ME) are cosponsoring bipartisan legislation to prohibit offshore drilling along the Maine coast, extending throughout the entirety of New England. The New England Coastal Protection Act would ban oil and gas leasing off the coast of Maine and in these protected areas.
According to NOAA Fisheries, ocean and coastal industries, including tourism, fishing, and recreation, generate more than $17.5 billion in New England annually. Expanding drilling in the Atlantic would pose potential harm to New England’s key industries and significantly increase the chance of environmental disaster in the region.
“The waters off Maine’s coast provide a healthy ecosystem for our fisheries and are an integral part of our tourism industry, supporting thousands of jobs and generating billions of dollars in revenue each year,” said Collins. “Offshore drilling along the coast could impact Mainers of all walks of life for generations, which is why I join my colleagues in introducing this legislation to ban offshore drilling on the New England coastline.”
“Maine’s fisheries and coastal communities rely on healthy, clean waters to support their livelihoods. Offshore oil drilling would pose an immense threat to this delicate ecosystem and the people it supports,” said King. “As we respond to global energy crises, we must work together to find practical, fiscally responsible clean energy solutions that can protect Maine communities and the Atlantic Ocean that do not rely on offshore drilling. This bipartisan effort would be a positive step forward to ensure we continue to protect the Gulf of Maine and all the communities that rely on its bountiful, yet fragile, ecosystem.”
Collins and King are joined on this legislation by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
(Claremont, NH) – Today, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) visited Valley Regional Hospital as part of her weeklong “Medicaid Impact Tour.” Shaheen met with hospital leadership, including CEO Matthew Foster, to learn more about the impact Republican-led cuts to Medicaid would have on the whole hospital system and the Claremont community. Shaheen also toured the hospital’s new workforce housing project that is currently under construction to improve access to affordable housing in the region. Photos from today’s event can be found here.
“Valley Regional Hospital is a vital resource for the more than 30% of Claremont residents who rely on Medicaid and the broader Sullivan County community,” said Senator Shaheen. “The truth is, if Trump and Republicans cut hundreds of billions of dollars of Medicaid funding, the only Americans who will benefit are the wealthiest who stand to get big tax cuts, and it’s communities like Claremont that would be hurt most when hospital systems can’t get reimbursed for the health care they provide.”
On Monday, Shaheen kicked off her “Medicaid Impact Tour” by hosting a roundtable on rural health care at Northern Human Services in Berlin, followed by a roundtable at the Partnership for Public Health yesterday in Laconia. Shaheen’s tour comes as Congressional Republicans, led by President Trump and Elon Musk, work to advance legislation that will pave the way for steep cuts to Medicaid funding and would impact millions of people across the country. Under the Republican proposal, more than 59,000 Granite Starters will be at risk of losing coverage including 7,600 patients that are currently receiving treatment for substance use disorders.
Earlier this month, Shaheen and Democrats held the floor and offered dozens of amendments to push back against the Republican-led budget resolution that paves the way for tax breaks for the wealthiest while slashing programs like Medicaid to pay for it. The majority of Senate Republicans worked to block several amendments Shaheen offered that would have helped make health care more affordable and accessible.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Gus Bilirakis (FL-12)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-GA) and (R-NY) today launched the American-Made Medicines Caucus, a group focused on promoting policies to onshore and friendshore pharmaceutical manufacturing, strengthen economic and national security interests and reduce America’s reliance on adversarial countries for essential medications. Currently, the United States imports 90% of all generic drugs and ran a $127 billion trade deficit in pharmaceuticals in 2024.
“With our overwhelming reliance on Chinese pharmaceutical products and ingredients, it’s imperative that we find ways to increase domestic manufacturing capacity and preserve consumer access to these important and lifesaving products,” Congressman Bilirakis said. “Public health and wellness should not depend on our foreign adversaries and I look forward to finding ways to address this threat through the Caucus.”
“China determines whether we have the pharmaceutical products we need in the United States to keep our citizens healthy. That is a terrifying reality, one we must address before the next public health crisis. As a pharmacist, I’m launching the American-Made Medicines Caucus with the singular focus of bringing this critical supply chain home, so that we can strengthen our national security, create jobs, and Make America Healthy Again,” said Rep. Carter.
“We must continue to support and encourage domestic pharmaceutical medicine production in our country, strengthen our supply chains, reduce our reliance on foreign suppliers, and reinforce our pharmaceutical security. I am eager to join Congressman Carter and Congressman Bilirakis in launching the American-Made Medicines Caucus to focus on creating legislative solutions to improve the domestic production of life-saving medications and antibiotics,” said Congresswoman Tenney.
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3
This recall involves removing certain devices from where they are used or sold. The FDA has identified this recall as the most serious type. This device may cause serious injury or death if you continue to use it. Affected Product
Product Names: HeartMate Mobile Power Unit (MPU) used with the HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist System (LVAS) and HeartMate II LVAS Unique Device Identifier (UDI)/Model: UDI-DI: 05415067038234 Affected Reference and Serial numbers [XSLX 34.2KB] Abbott also provides a product lookup tool to check if specific MPU serial numbers are affected by this issue.
What to Do Do not use MPUs experiencing performance issues such as sudden loss of power and the visual/audio alarms shown in Table 1. Patients should be immediately switched to the 14V rechargeable batteries. If the batteries are not connected to the System Controller within 15 minutes of MPU power loss, the System Controller Backup Battery will deplete, causing pump power loss.
On March 13, 2025, Abbott sent all affected health care providers an Urgent Medical Device Recall notice recommending the following actions:
Actions for Health Care Providers
Review the affected serial numbers list (see above) to identify impacted devices and patients.
If you are able to identify patients that have been assigned MPUs using the serial number list, please send those patients the patient letter provided by Abbott (see Additional Company Resources section below). If you are not able to identify patients that have been assigned MPUs using the serial number list, please send all patients that have received an MPU from April 2024 to March 2025, the patient letter provided by Abbott (see Additional Company Resources section below).
For units that patients are currently using and have experienced MPU power issues, transfer the patient from the MPU to the 14V rechargeable batteries within 15 minutes. The Backup Battery in the System Controller will temporarily power the pump during a power source switch. Do not rely only on the System Controller’s Backup Battery as a power source during power failure, as it will only power the pump for up to 15 minutes. Do not continue to use the MPU and immediately contact Abbott for a replacement. For units currently used by patients, but not experiencing MPU power issues, educate impacted patients about the issue. Ensure the patient’s 14V rechargeable batteries are ready and available for use at any time and remind the patient to replace AA batteries inside the MPU immediately if the Yellow Mobile Power Unit Battery Indicator alarm is active. The internal AA batteries ensure that the MPU echoes the System Controller Alarms. For impacted MPU units that are currently in your clinic and have not yet been provided to a patient for use, immediately return them to Abbott for a replacement.
Actions for Patients and Users
Confirm if your MPU serial number is affected (see above). If your serial number is listed, make sure your 14V rechargeable batteries are ready and available for use every time you use the MPU for power. If sudden power loss of your MPU occurs or your MPU suddenly shuts down and restarts, you must switch from the MPU to the fully charged 14V rechargeable batteries within these 15 minutes. Otherwise, your pump will stop. If your MPU serial number is not listed, this issue does not apply to your MPU.
Reason for Removal Abbott has received reported incidents in which the MPU experienced sudden, unexpected performance issues such as not turning on, unprompted shut down, or suddenly turning off and restarting, with the System Controller indicating a Yellow Wrench alarm or “No External Power” alarm. Abbott has identified that these issues are linked to an electrical component used to manufacture certain MPUs distributed between April 2024 and February 2025. Replacement of impacted MPU devices that have experienced power issues will begin immediately; replacement of impacted MPU devices not currently experiencing power issues will begin in June 2025 or earlier. If an impacted MPU experiences a loss of power, the Backup Battery in the System Controller can support the pump for up to 15 minutes. If the 14V rechargeable batteries are not connected to the System Controller within 15 minutes, the pump will lose power and stop. This could lead to serious adverse health consequences such as hemodynamic compromise (impaired blood flow and circulation), thromboembolism (blood clot blocking a blood vessel), or death. Abbott has not reported any serious injuries or death associated with this issue. Device Use The Mobile Power Unit (MPU) is an accessory of the HeartMate II and HeartMate 3 Left Ventricular Assist Systems. These systems also include a Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVAD), an implantable pump diverting blood from the weakened left ventricle of the heart and pumping it to the aorta, and a System Controller, which is a small computer that controls and monitors pump and system operations. The MPU powers the System Controller and is for home or clinical use when the patient does not require monitoring. Contact Information Customers in the U.S. with adverse reactions, quality problems, or questions about this issue should contact the Abbott at 1-800-456-1477. Additional Company Resources Company-provided information is posted here by the FDA as a public service.
Abbott Product Advisories Abbott product lookup tool Customer Letter – HeartMate MPU (March 2025) Patient Letter – HeartMate MPU (English) (March 2025) Patient Letter – HeartMate MPU (Spanish) (March 2025)
Unique Device Identifier (UDI) The unique device identifier (UDI) helps identify individual medical devices sold in the United States from distribution to use. The UDI allows for more accurate reporting, reviewing, and analyzing of adverse event reports so that devices can be identified more quickly, and as a result, problems potentially resolved more quickly.
How do I report a problem? Health care professionals and consumers may report adverse reactions or quality problems they experienced using these devices to MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.
TORONTO, Canada, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This report is filed under section 16.3 of National Instrument 81-106 Investment Fund Continuous Disclosure in respect of the annual general meeting of shareholders of Canadian General Investments, Limited (the “Corporation”) held on April 24, 2025 (the “Meeting”).
There were 14,252,740 common shares represented in person or by proxy at the Meeting (equal to 68.32% of the issued and outstanding common shares).
Each of the seven nominees proposed by management for election as a director of the Corporation, as listed in the management information circular dated February 28, 2025, was elected as a director of the Corporation by votes cast at the Meeting. The detailed results of the vote for the election of each director are set out below.
Name of director
Votes for appointment to the Board of Directors
Votes for as a % of votes cast
Votes withheld
Votes withheld as a % of votes cast
Marcia Lewis Brown
13,188,533
99.70
39,211
0.30
A. Michelle Lally
13,114,833
99.15
112,911
0.85
Jonathan A. Morgan
12,888,759
97.44
338,985
2.56
Vanessa L. Morgan
12,889,575
97.44
338,169
2.56
Sanjay Nakra
13,182,356
99.66
45,388
0.34
Clive W. Robinson
12,972,529
98.07
255,215
1.93
Michael C. Walke
13,190,027
99.71
37,717
0.29
In addition, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP was reappointed as auditor of the Corporation and the directors authorized to fix its remuneration by way of votes cast at the Meeting.
Curiosity Blog: Sols 4511-4512: Low energy after a big weekend?
This is a Curiosity Blog written by Dr. Lauren Edgar, Planetary Geologist at USGS Astrogeology Science Center, about the exploration being done on Mars. You can find Curiosity blogs on this News page, intended to allow whomever wishes to explore Mars to join us on this awesome journey.
Earth planning date: Monday, April 14, 2025
We all know the feeling: it’s Monday morning after a big weekend and you’re coming into the week wishing you’d had a little more time to rest and recharge. Well, Curiosity probably feels the same way today. Curiosity accomplished a lot over the weekend, including full contact science, a MAHLI stereo imaging test, testing the collection of ChemCam passive spectral data at the same time as data transmission with one of the orbiters, and some APXS and MAHLI calibration target activities, plus a long 57 m drive. It was great to see all of those activities in the plan and to see some great drive progress. But that means we’re a bit tight on power for today’s plan!
I was on shift as Long Term Planner today, and the team had to think carefully about science priorities to fit within our power limit for today’s plan, and how that will prepare us for the rest of the week. The team still managed to squeeze a lot of activities into today’s 2-sol plan. First, Curiosity will acquire Mastcam mosaics to investigate local stratigraphic relationships and diagenetic features. Then we’ll acquire some imaging to document the sandy troughs between bedrock blocks to monitor active surface processes. We’ll also take a Navcam mosaic to assess atmospheric dust. The science block includes a ChemCam LIBS observation on the bedrock target “Santa Margarita” and a long distance RMI mosaic of “Ghost Mountain” to look for possible boxwork structures. Then Curiosity will use the DRT, APXS and MAHLI to investigate the finely-laminated bedrock in our workspace at a target named “The Grotto.” We’ll also collect APXS and MAHLI data on a large nodule in the workspace named “Torrey Pines” (meanwhile the Torrey Pines here on Earth was shaking in today’s southern California earthquakes! All is well but it gave some of our team members an extra jolt of adrenaline right before the SOWG meeting). The second sol is focused on continuing our drive to the south and taking post-drive imaging to prepare for Wednesday’s plan.
Phew! Good job Curiosity, you made it through Monday.
UConn Health’s Department of Neurosurgery recently welcomed Hall of Fame Coach Jim Calhoun for a powerful and personal presentation as part of the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, created within the department to inspire the next generation of clinical and academic leaders. Widely regarded as one of the greatest program builders in college basketball history, Coach Calhoun shared timeless leadership insights with faculty, staff, residents, medical students, and the administrative team at the Brain and Spine Institute demonstrating how the principles that built a basketball dynasty can equally strengthen the foundation of excellence in health care.
During his celebrated coaching career at the University of Connecticut, Calhoun led his teams to three NCAA National Championships, seven Big East titles, and more than two dozen NBA careers. Beyond the accolades, he is known for his passion, fierce loyalty, and unique ability to inspire individuals to rise as a team.
Coach Calhoun presents to the Neurosurgery Department (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
Now, through the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, established by Dr. Ketan Bulsara, Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, those same leadership principles are being shared with the department’s rising clinical and academic talent. Bulsara saw in Coach Calhoun a model for building high-performance teams, facilitating excellence, and leading through adversity. He believes these lessons are essential for shaping a neurosurgery program that not only meets the highest standards in medicine, but one that leads with heart, resilience, and unity.
For Calhoun, leadership isn’t theoretical, it’s deeply personal. He believes stories are life lessons, and one of his most profound came at age 15. After scoring the winning basket in an all-star game, he returned home to the unthinkable his father had died from a heart attack. As the oldest son in a large family, he traded scholarship offers for a job cutting stone to help support them. Eventually, coaches and mentors helped him find his way back to college, and his life’s path changed.
What once seemed like the worst day of his life, he now calls the best, it shaped the futures of his entire family. His brother would go on to become a cardiologist, his sister a cardiac nurse, and Calhoun and his wife became major donors to the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center at UConn Health. It’s a story of loss, grit, and the power of purpose.
Jim Calhoun didn’t just build a basketball legacy he built a playbook for life. For those lucky enough to hear him speak, his words land like leadership mantras:
“Win the day.”
“Self-worth begins within.”
“Whatever you put your name on—you own it.”
“You can’t be great without greatness around you.”
Coach Calhoun and Dr. Ketan Bulsara, (Tina Encarnacion/UConn Health photo)
Every lesson reinforces a core belief: that leadership is about lifting others, owning your role, and rising to meet each moment with intention.
“Coach Calhoun has an innate ability to make people believe in the greatest of great dreams and empower them to accomplish them. He has selflessly inspired and continues to inspire countless people who went onto achieve national and international acclaim. All of them credit him for their success and can’t wait to share their achievements with him. He is truly a leader’s leader. His lessons cover all aspects of life. I am truly grateful to him for his continued inspiration as we build on this initiative. I am also grateful to the leadership of our School of Medicine and Hospital for their commitment to making our medical center one of the premier academic centers in the country,” says Bulsara.
Through the Calhoun Leadership Initiative, Bulsara is confident that the department will continue to grow as a team that leads with integrity, supports one another relentlessly, and never forgets the power of purpose-driven work. In medicine, as in basketball, the greatest victories come from believing in something bigger than yourself and then giving everything you have to it.
Source: United States Senator for New York Charles E Schumer
SUNY Schenectady’s Top-Tier Aviation Science And Air Traffic Control Degree Program Has Excellent Reputation For Training Future Air Traffic Controllers And Is Uniquely Qualified To Help Address Nationwide Shortage
FAA Air Traffic Controllers Have Been Warning About Low Staffing Levels For Years, And Schumer Says Fed Training For SUNY Schenectady’s Program Is Key To Supporting Aspiring Air Traffic Controllers And Keeping Our Skies Safe
Schumer: FAA Partnership With SUNY Schenectady Will Help Next Generation Of Air Traffic Controllers Reach New Heights
Amid the nationwide shortage of FAA controllers and as the nation grapples with an increasing number of aviation incidents, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer today called on the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to include SUNY Schenectady’s Aviation Science and Air Traffic Control degree program in its Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program. Schumer said this partnership will boost air traffic control education and training to support aspiring air traffic controllers in Upstate NY and make our skies safer, creating a pipeline of local students to enter this high paying career and address the nationwide shortage.
“As Americans across the country grapple with more and more aviation incidents, we need to take action to ensure the FAA has the resources it needs to keep our skies safe. SUNY Schenectady’s air traffic controller training program is uniquely qualified and ready to create a local pipeline of students to enter this high-paying career, it just needs the final approval from FAA. I’m urging the FAA to work with SUNY Schenectady to make this happen ASAP and give America the talent it needs to address the national air traffic controller shortage,” said Senator Schumer. “SUNY Schenectady’s top-notch program is nationally recognized as a leader for aviation science. The FAA can help the next generation of air traffic controllers’ right here in the Capital Region, and I am fighting to get the final approval to make it happen.”
Dr. Steady Moono, SUNY Schenectady President, said, “SUNY Schenectady continues to be at the forefront of aviation training in the region. We have invested in the future, to provide our students with the largest and most comprehensive Air Traffic Control simulator at a community college east of the Mississippi. We are honored to stand with Senator Schumer in addressing the urgent need for skilled air traffic controllers across the nation. SUNY Schenectady is prepared and eager to be part of the solution through the FAA’s Collegiate Training Initiative. With our proven track record in aviation education and commitment to student success, we are ready to equip the next generation of air traffic professionals with the training, discipline, and excellence that this critical role demands.”
“We are grateful to Senator Schumer for his continued support of SUNY Schenectady and his commitment to addressing the national shortage of air traffic controllers,” said Gary Hughes, Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature. “SUNY Schenectady’s Aviation Science and Air Traffic Control Program provides students with practical, skills-focused training that supports our regional workforce and responds to the needs of today’s economy. A partnership with the FAA would expand opportunities for students while also helping to strengthen aviation safety nationwide.”
Air traffic controllers across the country have been warning about low staffing levels for years. As of September 2023, according to CNN, only about 70% of FAA staffing targets were filled by fully certified controllers, with some major airports at less than 60%. Schumer said boosting SUNY Schenectady’s Aviation Science and Air Traffic Control degree program is key to supporting aspiring air traffic controllers and keeping our skies safe.
SUNY Schenectady runs a successful curriculum for its Aviation Science and Air Traffic Control degree program to train air traffic controllers, including a state-of-the-art simulator that only exists in one other place. The program, which is run at the Schenectady County airport and SUNY Schenectady’s main campus, recently completed a new Center for Aviation Sciences building and is a leader for aviation safety education. SUNY Schenectady has been working with the FAA for over a year to be admitted into the Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative Program, which provides new training at eligible colleges to deliver new air traffic controllers to the workforce faster and address the national shortages. SUNY Schenectady is at one of the final steps for FAA’s requirements and are about to host FAA for a site visit.
Schumer’s letter to Acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau can be found attached and below:
Dear Administrator Rocheleau:
I am writing to express my strong support for the inclusion of SUNY Schenectady County Community College (SUNY Schenectady) into the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s Enhanced Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI) program.
As the nation grapples with an increasing number of near-misses and tragic aviation incidents, the urgency of investing in the next generation of highly trained, competent air traffic controllers has never been greater. The aviation system is already under unprecedented stress — from soaring flight volumes to a wave of retirements within the controller workforce. These challenges demand not only swift action but also a broader and more expansive approach to air traffic control education and training.
SUNY Schenectady has its Aviation Science and Air Traffic Control degree program that is recognized across the SUNY System, New York state and our nation. This program carries an excellent reputation for training the next generation of pilots and air traffic controllers. This well-established program is based at SUNY Schenectady’s main campus and the Schenectady County airport, which is also home to the 109th Air National Guard unit that flies LC-130 ski birds to polar regions in support of missions led by both the Department of Defense and National Science Foundation.
SUNY Schenectady has recently completed a new $5 million Center for Aviation Sciences building and earlier this year installed new state-of-the-art simulators to enhance its already robust air traffic controller program. In February of 2024, SUNY Schenectady was named, among only nine other community colleges in the country, a Leader College by Achieving The Dream (ATD), a national non-profit dedicated to advancing community colleges as hubs of equity and economic mobility in their communities.
The recent air tragedies have underscored how important it is to increase ATC training and hiring, and SUNY Schenectady is well-positioned to help meet this urgent national need. More trained controllers make for safer skies, more efficient airports, and higher confidence by the flying public. I applaud SUNY Schenectady’s foresight in submitting this application and sincerely hope it is met with your approval. Please do not hesitate to contact my Washington DC office at (202) 224-6542. Thank you for your consideration.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Three individuals who were fugitives since December 2024 were arrested today in the municipalities of San Juan and Carolina, PR, on criminal charges related to their alleged participation on drug trafficking and violent crimes associated to a drug trafficking organization that operated in San Juan, Carolina, and other areas nearby, from in or about 2021 through December 2024, when the arrest operation took place. The three fugitives had been charged in the case of United States v. Victor J. Pérez-Fernández, a.k.a. “La Cone/Vitu/Vitikin/Enano,” et al., Case No. 24-453 (MAJ).
Defendants [10] Gerald O. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, a.k.a. “Patrón;” [18] Ángel L. Sanjurjo, a.k.a. “Vaca;” and [33] Ramsell Maldonado-Tatis, a.k.a. “R” were arrested by FBI special agents, Puerto Rico Police Bureau and the Carolina Municipal Police Department. They are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; possession and distribution of heroin, cocaine base (crack), cocaine, marijuana, and fentanyl; and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Defendant Maldonado-Tatis is also facing one count for possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
“As alleged in the indictment, these individuals were engaged in violent crime and spread deadly drugs through our communities,” said U.S. Attorney Muldrow. “Today’s arrests make clear that this Office will work tirelessly to keep the law-abiding residents of Puerto Rico safe and hold accountable those who bring violence to our streets.”
“The arrests carried out this morning reaffirm our unwavering commitment to dismantling criminal organizations. The message is clear: if you’re part of a violent criminal enterprise, the FBI will work relentlessly to find you and bring you to justice,” said Devin J. Kowalski, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s San Juan Field Office. “The residents of Puerto Rico deserve safe communities, and through close collaboration with our local and federal partners, we will continue to bring fugitives to justice and restore peace where it is most needed.”
According to the charging documents, the drug trafficking organization distributed heroin, fentanyl, crack, cocaine, marijuana, Tramadol, and Clonazepam within 1,000 feet of the Sabana Abajo Public Housing Project (PHP), the Luis Lloréns Torres PHP, the Los Mirtos PHP, the Lagos de Blasina PHP, the La Esmeralda PHP, the El Coral PHP, the Monte Hatillo PHP, and other areas near those locations, all for significant financial gain and profit. The drug trafficking organizations that operated in and around these areas (known as The Alliance) reached an agreement to conduct their drug trafficking operations as allies, which they referred to as “La Paz” (The Peace). At that time, each housing project organization was controlled by their own leadership and structure. As part of The Alliance, there would not be war between these organizations and members would be able to rely on each other for protection, drugs, and weapons.
Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) and Chief of the Gang Section Alberto López-Rocafort; Deputy Chief of the Gang Section, AUSA Teresa Zapata-Valladares; and AUSAs Laura Díaz-González, R. Vance Eaton, and Joseph Russell are prosecuting the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
TOANO, Va., April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — C&F Financial Corporation (the Corporation) (NASDAQ: CFFI), the holding company for C&F Bank, today reported consolidated net income of $5.4 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $3.4 million for the first quarter of 2024. The following table presents selected financial performance highlights for the periods indicated:
For The Quarter Ended
Consolidated Financial Highlights (unaudited)
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Consolidated net income (000’s)
$
5,395
$
3,435
Earnings per share – basic and diluted
$
1.66
$
1.01
Annualized return on average equity
9.35
%
6.33
%
Annualized return on average tangible common equity1
10.65
%
7.30
%
Annualized return on average assets
0.84
%
0.57
%
________________________ 1 For more information about these non-GAAP financial measures, which are not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), please see “Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” below.
Tom Cherry, President and Chief Executive Officer of C&F Financial Corporation, commented, “We are pleased with our first quarter results. Net income increased across all of our business segments compared to the same quarter last year. Both loan and deposit growth at the community banking segment was strong and loan originations at the mortgage banking segment increased when compared to the first quarter of last year. Despite a decrease in the average balance of loans at the consumer finance segment, we were able to increase net income by continuing to focus on efficiencies. Consolidated margins grew slightly as higher cost time deposits continue to reprice downward. Despite the economic uncertainties, we are optimistic about our earnings for 2025.”
Key highlights for the first quarter of 2025 are as follows.
Community banking segment loans grew $27.6 million, or 7.6 percent annualized, and $139.9 million, or 10.4 percent, compared to December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively;
Consumer finance segment loans decreased $4.7 million, or 4.0 percent annualized, and $14.0 million, or 2.9 percent, compared to December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively;
Deposits increased $45.8 million, or 8.4 percent annualized, and $128.7 million, or 6.2 percent, compared to December 31, 2024 and March 31, 2024, respectively;
Consolidated annualized net interest margin was 4.16 percent for the first quarter of 2025 compared to 4.09 percent for the first quarter of 2024 and 4.13 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024;
The community banking segment recorded provision for credit losses of $100,000 and $500,000 for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively;
The consumer finance segment recorded provision for credit losses of $2.9 million and $3.0 million for the first quarters of 2025 and 2024, respectively;
The consumer finance segment experienced net charge-offs at an annualized rate of 2.64 percent of average total loans for the first quarter of 2025, compared to 2.54 percent for the first quarter of 2024; and
Mortgage banking segment loan originations increased $19.5 million, or 20.6 percent, to $113.8 million for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter of 2024 and decreased $16.7 million, or 12.8 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.
Community Banking Segment. The community banking segment reported net income of $5.4 million for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $4.0 million for the same period of 2024, due primarily to:
higher interest income resulting from higher average balances of loans and the effects of higher average interest rates on asset yields; and
lower provision for credit losses due primarily to lower loan growth;
partially offset by:
higher interest expense due primarily to higher average balances of interest-bearing deposits and higher average rates on deposits; and
higher marketing and advertising expenses related to the strategic marketing initiative, which began in the second half of 2024.
Average loans increased $165.3 million, or 12.7 percent, for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, due primarily to growth in the construction, commercial real estate, land acquisition and development and builder lines segments of the loan portfolio. Average deposits increased $131.6 million, or 6.4 percent, for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024, due primarily to higher balance of time deposits and noninterest-bearing demand deposits.
Average interest-earning asset yields were higher for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of 2024, due primarily to a shift in the mix of the loan portfolio, renewals of fixed rate loans originated during periods of lower interest rates and purchases of securities available for sale in the overall higher interest rate environment. Average costs of interest-bearing deposits were higher for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period of 2024, due primarily to the continued effects of a shift in the mix of deposits with customers seeking higher yielding opportunities as a result of higher interest rates paid on time deposits.
The community banking segment’s nonaccrual loans were $1.2 million at March 31, 2025 compared to $333,000 at December 31, 2024. The increase in nonaccrual loans compared to December 31, 2024 is due primarily to the downgrade of one residential mortgage relationship in the first quarter of 2025. The community banking segment recorded $100,000 in provision for credit losses for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $500,000 for the same period of 2024. At March 31, 2025, the allowance for credit losses increased to $17.5 million, compared to $17.4 million at December 31, 2024, due primarily to growth in the loan portfolio and increased macroeconomic uncertainties. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans decreased to 1.18 percent at March 31, 2025 from 1.20 percent at December 31, 2024 due primarily to growth in loans with shorter expected lives, which resulted in lower estimated losses over the life of the loan. Management believes that the level of the allowance for credit losses is adequate to reflect the net amount expected to be collected.
Mortgage Banking Segment. The mortgage banking segment reported net income of $431,000 for the first quarter of 2025, compared to $294,000 for the same period of 2024, due primarily to:
higher gains on sales of loans and higher mortgage banking fee income due to higher volume of mortgage loan originations;
partially offset by:
higher variable expenses tied to mortgage loan origination volume such as commissions and bonuses, reported in salaries and employee benefits; and
lower reversal of provision for indemnifications.
Despite the sustained elevated level of mortgage interest rates, higher home prices and low levels of inventory, mortgage banking segment loan originations increased for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. Mortgage loan originations for the mortgage banking segment were $113.8 million for the first quarter of 2025, comprised of $12.1 million refinancings and $101.7 million home purchases, compared to $94.3 million, comprised of $7.5 million refinancings and $86.8 million home purchases, for the same period in 2024. Mortgage loan originations in the first quarter of 2025 decreased $16.7 million compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 due in part to normal industry seasonal fluctuations. Mortgage loan segment originations include originations of loans sold to the community banking segment, at prices similar to those paid by third-party investors. These transactions are eliminated to reach consolidated totals.
During the first quarter of 2025, the mortgage banking segment recorded a reversal of provision for indemnification losses of $25,000, compared to a reversal of provision for indemnification losses of $140,000 in the same period of 2024. The allowance for indemnifications was $1.32 million and $1.35 million at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The release of indemnification reserves in 2025 and 2024 was due primarily to lower volume of mortgage loan originations in recent years, improvement in the mortgage banking segment’s assessment of borrower payment performance and other factors affecting expected losses on mortgage loans sold in the secondary market, such as time since origination. Management believes that the indemnification reserve is sufficient to absorb losses related to loans that have been sold in the secondary market.
Consumer Finance Segment. The consumer finance segment reported net income of $226,000 for the first quarter of 2025, compared to net loss of $63,000 for the same period in 2024, due primarily to:
lower interest expense on borrowings from the community banking segment as a result of lower average balances of borrowings;
lower salaries and employee benefits expense due to an effort to reduce overhead costs; and
higher interest income resulting from the effects of higher interest rates on loan yields, partially offset by lower average balances of loans.
Average loans decreased $8.3 million, or 1.8 percent, for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. The consumer finance segment experienced net charge-offs at an annualized rate of 2.64 percent of average total loans for the first quarter of 2025, compared to 2.54 percent for the first quarter of 2024, due primarily to an increase in delinquent loans, repossessions and the average amount charged-off when a loan was uncollectable. At March 31, 2025, total delinquent loans as a percentage of total loans was 3.05 percent, compared to 3.90 percent at December 31, 2024, and 2.78 percent at March 31, 2024.
The consumer finance segment, at times, offers payment deferrals as a portfolio management technique to achieve higher ultimate cash collections on select loan accounts. A significant reliance on deferrals as a means of managing collections may result in a lengthening of the loss confirmation period, which would increase expectations of credit losses inherent in the portfolio. Average amounts of payment deferrals of automobile loans on a monthly basis, which are not included in delinquent loans, were 1.75 percent of average automobile loans outstanding during the first quarter of 2025, compared to 1.62 percent during the same period during 2024. The allowance for credit losses was $22.5 million at March 31, 2025 and $22.7 million at December 31, 2024. The allowance for credit losses as a percentage of total loans was 4.88 percent at March 31, 2025 compared to 4.86 percent at December 31, 2024. Management believes that the level of the allowance for credit losses is adequate to reflect the net amount expected to be collected. If loan performance deteriorates resulting in further elevated delinquencies or net charge-offs, the provision for credit losses may increase in future periods.
Liquidity. The objective of the Corporation’s liquidity management is to ensure the continuous availability of funds to satisfy the credit needs of our customers and the demands of our depositors, creditors and investors. Uninsured deposits represent an estimate of amounts above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance coverage limit of $250,000. As of March 31, 2025, the Corporation’s uninsured deposits were approximately $644.4 million, or 29.1 percent of total deposits. Excluding intercompany cash holdings and municipal deposits, which are secured with pledged securities, amounts uninsured were approximately $496.6 million, or 22.4 percent of total deposits as of March 31, 2025. The Corporation’s liquid assets, which include cash and due from banks, interest-bearing deposits at other banks and nonpledged securities available for sale, were $315.0 million and borrowing availability was $598.7 million as of March 31, 2025, which in total exceed uninsured deposits, excluding intercompany cash holdings and secured municipal deposits, by $417.1 million as of March 31, 2025.
In addition to deposits, the Corporation utilizes short-term and long-term borrowings as sources of funds. Short-term borrowings from the Federal Reserve Bank and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (FHLB) may be used to fund the Corporation’s day-to-day operations. Short-term borrowings also include securities sold under agreements to repurchase. Total borrowings decreased to $119.5 million at March 31, 2025 from $122.6 million at December 31, 2024 due primarily to fluctuations in short-term borrowings.
Additional sources of liquidity available to the Corporation include cash flows from operations, loan payments and payoffs, deposit growth, maturities, calls and sales of securities, the issuance of brokered certificates of deposit and the capacity to borrow additional funds.
Capital and Dividends. During the first quarter of 2025, the Corporation increased its quarterly cash dividend by 5 percent, to 46 cents per share, compared to the previous quarterly dividend. This dividend, which was paid to shareholders on April 1, 2025, represents a payout ratio of 27.7 percent of earnings per share for the first quarter of 2025. The Board of Directors of the Corporation continually reviews the amount of cash dividends per share and the resulting dividend payout ratio in light of changes in economic conditions, current and future capital levels and requirements, and expected future earnings.
Total consolidated equity increased $8.3 million at March 31, 2025, compared to December 31, 2024, due primarily to net income and lower unrealized losses in the market value of securities available for sale, which are recognized as a component of other comprehensive income, partially offset by dividends paid on the Corporation’s common stock. The Corporation’s securities available for sale are fixed income debt securities and their unrealized loss position is a result of increased market interest rates since they were purchased. The Corporation expects to recover its investments in debt securities through scheduled payments of principal and interest. Unrealized losses are not expected to affect the earnings or regulatory capital of the Corporation or C&F Bank. The accumulated other comprehensive loss related to the Corporation’s securities available for sale, net of deferred income taxes, decreased to $19.1 million at March 31, 2025 compared to $23.7 million at December 31, 2024 due primarily to fluctuations in debt security market interest rates and a decrease in the balance of securities available for sale in an unrealized loss position as a result of maturities, calls and paydowns.
As of March 31, 2025, the most recent notification from the FDIC categorized C&F Bank as well capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action. To be categorized as well capitalized under regulations applicable at March 31, 2025, C&F Bank was required to maintain minimum total risk-based, Tier 1 risk-based, CET1 risk-based and Tier 1 leverage ratios. In addition to the regulatory risk-based capital requirements, C&F Bank must maintain a capital conservation buffer of additional capital of 2.5 percent of risk-weighted assets as required by the Basel III capital rules. The Corporation and C&F Bank exceeded these ratios at March 31, 2025. For additional information, see “Capital Ratios” below. The above mentioned ratios are not impacted by unrealized losses on securities available for sale. In the event that all of these unrealized losses become realized into earnings, the Corporation and C&F Bank would both continue to exceed minimum capital requirements, including the capital conservation buffer, and be considered well capitalized.
In December 2024, the Board of Directors authorized a program, effective January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025, to repurchase up to $5.0 million of the Corporation’s common stock (the 2025 Repurchase Program). During the first quarter of 2025, the Corporation did not make any repurchases of its common stock under the 2025 Repurchase Program.
About C&F Financial Corporation. The Corporation’s common stock is listed for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol CFFI. The common stock closed at a price of $65.33 per share on April 23, 2025. At March 31, 2025, the book value per share of the Corporation was $72.51 and the tangible book value per share was $64.39. For more information about the Corporation’s tangible book value per share, which is not calculated in accordance with GAAP, please see “Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” below.
C&F Bank operates 31 banking offices and four commercial loan offices located throughout eastern and central Virginia and offers full wealth management services through its subsidiary C&F Wealth Management, Inc. C&F Mortgage Corporation and its subsidiary C&F Select LLC provide mortgage loan origination services through offices located in Virginia and the surrounding states. C&F Finance Company provides automobile, marine and recreational vehicle loans through indirect lending programs offered primarily in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Southern United States from its headquarters in Henrico, Virginia.
Additional information regarding the Corporation’s products and services, as well as access to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), are available on the Corporation’s website at http://www.cffc.com.
Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures. The accounting and reporting policies of the Corporation conform to GAAP in the United States and prevailing practices in the banking industry. However, certain non-GAAP measures are used by management to supplement the evaluation of the Corporation’s performance. These may include adjusted net income, adjusted earnings per share, adjusted return on average equity, adjusted return on average assets, return on average tangible common equity (ROTCE), adjusted ROTCE, tangible book value per share, price to tangible book value ratio, and the following fully-taxable equivalent (FTE) measures: interest income on loans-FTE, interest income on securities-FTE, total interest income-FTE and net interest income-FTE.
Management believes that the use of these non-GAAP measures provides meaningful information about operating performance by enhancing comparability with other financial periods, other financial institutions, and between different sources of interest income. The non-GAAP measures used by management enhance comparability by excluding the effects of balances of intangible assets, including goodwill, that vary significantly between institutions, and tax benefits that are not consistent across different opportunities for investment. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered an alternative to, or more important than, GAAP-basis financial statements, and other bank holding companies may define or calculate these or similar measures differently. A reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures used by the Corporation to evaluate and measure the Corporation’s performance to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures is presented below.
Forward-Looking Statements. This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the Corporation’s management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, the Corporation’s management, and reflect management’s current views with respect to certain events that could have an impact on the Corporation’s future financial performance. These statements, including without limitation statements made in Mr. Cherry’s quote and statements regarding future interest rates and conditions in the Corporation’s industries and markets, relate to expectations concerning matters that are not historical fact, may express “belief,” “intention,” “expectation,” “potential” and similar expressions, and may use the words “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “intend,” “target,” “should,” “could,” or similar expressions. These statements are inherently uncertain, and there can be no assurance that the underlying assumptions will prove to be accurate. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such statements. Forward-looking statements in this release may include, without limitation, statements regarding expected future operations and financial performance, expected trends in yields on loans, expected future recovery of investments in debt securities, future dividend payments, deposit trends, charge-offs and delinquencies, changes in cost of funds and net interest margin and items affecting net interest margin, strategic business initiatives and the anticipated effects thereof, changes in interest rates and the effects thereof on net interest income, mortgage loan originations, expectations regarding C&F Bank’s regulatory risk-based capital requirement levels, technology initiatives, our diversified business strategy, asset quality, credit quality, adequacy of allowances for credit losses and the level of future charge-offs, market interest rates and housing inventory and resulting effects in mortgage loan origination volume, sources of liquidity, adequacy of the reserve for indemnification losses related to loans sold in the secondary market, the effect of future market and industry trends, the effects of future interest rate fluctuations, cybersecurity risks, and inflation. Factors that could have a material adverse effect on the operations and future prospects of the Corporation include, but are not limited to, changes in:
interest rates, such as volatility in short-term interest rates or yields on U.S. Treasury bonds, increases in interest rates following actions by the Federal Reserve and increases or volatility in mortgage interest rates
general business conditions, as well as conditions within the financial markets
general economic conditions, including unemployment levels, inflation rates, supply chain disruptions and slowdowns in economic growth
general market conditions, including disruptions due to pandemics or significant health hazards, severe weather conditions, natural disasters, terrorist activities, financial crises, political crises, changes in trade policy and the implementation of tariffs, war and other military conflicts or other major events, or the prospect of these events
average loan yields and average costs of interest-bearing deposits and borrowings
financial services industry conditions, including bank failures or concerns involving liquidity
labor market conditions, including attracting, hiring, training, motivating and retaining qualified employees
the legislative/regulatory climate, regulatory initiatives with respect to financial institutions, products and services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFPB) and the regulatory and enforcement activities of the CFPB
monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. Government, including policies of the FDIC, U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the effect of these policies on interest rates and business in our markets
demand for financial services in the Corporation’s market area
the value of securities held in the Corporation’s investment portfolios
the quality or composition of the loan portfolios and the value of the collateral securing those loans
the inventory level, demand and fluctuations in the pricing of used automobiles, including sales prices of repossessed vehicles
the level of automobile loan delinquencies or defaults and our ability to repossess automobiles securing delinquent automobile finance installment contracts
the level of net charge-offs on loans and the adequacy of our allowance for credit losses
the level of indemnification losses related to mortgage loans sold
demand for loan products
deposit flows
the strength of the Corporation’s counterparties
the availability of lines of credit from the FHLB and other counterparties
the soundness of other financial institutions and any indirect exposure related to the closing of other financial institutions and their impact on the broader market through other customers, suppliers and partners, or that the conditions which resulted in the liquidity concerns experienced by closed financial institutions may also adversely impact, directly or indirectly, other financial institutions and market participants with which the Corporation has commercial or deposit relationships
competition from both banks and non-banks, including competition in the non-prime automobile finance markets and marine and recreational vehicle finance markets
services provided by, or the level of the Corporation’s reliance upon third parties for key services
the commercial and residential real estate markets, including changes in property values
the demand for residential mortgages and conditions in the secondary residential mortgage loan markets
the Corporation’s technology initiatives and other strategic initiatives
the Corporation’s branch expansion, relocation and consolidation plans
cyber threats, attacks or events
C&F Bank’s product offerings
accounting principles, policies and guidelines, and elections by the Corporation thereunder.
These risks and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained herein, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. For additional information on risk factors that could affect the forward-looking statements contained herein, see the Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 and other reports filed with the SEC. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
C&F Financial Corporation
Selected Financial Information (dollars in thousands, except for per share data) (unaudited)
Financial Condition
3/31/2025
12/31/2024
3/31/2024
Interest-bearing deposits in other banks
$
62,490
$
49,423
$
39,303
Investment securities – available for sale, at fair value
431,513
418,625
430,421
Loans held for sale, at fair value
27,278
20,112
22,622
Loans, net:
Community Banking segment
1,463,679
1,436,226
1,324,690
Consumer Finance segment
439,604
444,085
452,537
Total assets
2,612,530
2,563,374
2,469,751
Deposits
2,216,654
2,170,860
2,087,932
Repurchase agreements
25,909
28,994
27,803
Other borrowings
93,546
93,615
93,772
Total equity
235,271
226,970
216,949
ForThe
Quarter Ended
Results of Operations
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Interest income
$
35,988
$
32,708
Interest expense
10,978
9,550
Provision for credit losses:
Community Banking segment
100
500
Consumer Finance segment
2,900
3,000
Noninterest income:
Gains on sales of loans
1,847
1,288
Other
5,726
6,204
Noninterest expenses:
Salaries and employee benefits
13,483
14,252
Other
9,576
8,898
Income tax expense
1,129
565
Net income
5,395
3,435
Fully-taxable equivalent (FTE) amounts1
Interest income on loans-FTE
32,428
29,636
Interest income on securities-FTE
3,346
3,098
Total interest income-FTE
36,276
32,993
Net interest income-FTE
25,298
23,443
________________________ 1For more information about these non-GAAP financial measures, please see “Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
For the Quarter Ended
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Average
Income/
Yield/
Average
Income/
Yield/
Yield Analysis
Balance
Expense
Rate
Balance
Expense
Rate
Assets
Securities:
Taxable
$
339,450
$
2,193
2.58
%
$
365,244
$
1,980
2.17
%
Tax-exempt
119,033
1,153
3.87
120,920
1,118
3.70
Total securities
458,483
3,346
2.92
486,164
3,098
2.55
Loans:
Community banking segment
1,467,555
19,966
5.52
1,302,260
17,331
5.35
Mortgage banking segment
20,968
339
6.56
17,700
281
6.39
Consumer finance segment
465,526
12,123
10.56
473,848
12,024
10.21
Total loans
1,954,049
32,428
6.73
1,793,808
29,636
6.64
Interest-bearing deposits in other banks
55,830
502
3.65
28,417
259
3.67
Total earning assets
2,468,362
36,276
5.95
2,308,389
32,993
5.75
Allowance for credit losses
(40,605
)
(40,292
)
Total non-earning assets
154,554
156,800
Total assets
$
2,582,311
$
2,424,897
Liabilities and Equity
Interest-bearing deposits:
Interest-bearing demand deposits
$
332,341
600
0.67
$
335,570
553
0.66
Savings and money market deposit accounts
489,217
1,205
1.00
484,645
1,061
0.88
Certificates of deposit
821,949
7,964
3.93
705,167
6,916
3.94
Total interest-bearing deposits
1,643,507
9,769
2.40
1,525,382
8,530
2.25
Borrowings:
Repurchase agreements
28,192
112
1.59
27,997
111
1.59
Other borrowings
93,597
1,097
4.69
78,445
909
4.64
Total borrowings
121,789
1,209
3.97
106,442
1,020
3.83
Total interest-bearing liabilities
1,765,296
10,978
2.51
1,631,824
9,550
2.35
Noninterest-bearing demand deposits
545,346
531,885
Other liabilities
40,874
44,125
Total liabilities
2,351,516
2,207,834
Equity
230,795
217,063
Total liabilities and equity
$
2,582,311
$
2,424,897
Net interest income
$
25,298
$
23,443
Interest rate spread
3.44
%
3.40
%
Interest expense to average earning assets
1.79
%
1.66
%
Net interest margin
4.16
%
4.09
%
3/31/2025
Funding Sources
Capacity
Outstanding
Available
Unsecured federal funds agreements
$
75,000
$
—
$
75,000
Borrowings from FHLB
248,508
40,000
208,508
Borrowings from Federal Reserve Bank
315,221
—
315,221
Total
$
638,729
$
40,000
$
598,729
Asset Quality
3/31/2025
12/31/2024
Community Banking
Total loans
$
1,481,190
$
1,453,605
Nonaccrual loans
$
1,189
$
333
Allowance for credit losses (ACL)
$
17,511
$
17,379
Nonaccrual loans to total loans
0.08
%
0.02
%
ACL to total loans
1.18
%
1.20
%
ACL to nonaccrual loans
1,472.75
%
5,218.92
%
Annualized year-to-date net charge-offs to average loans
0.01
%
0.01
%
Consumer Finance
Total loans
$
462,136
$
466,793
Nonaccrual loans
$
975
$
614
Repossessed assets
$
976
$
779
ACL
$
22,532
$
22,708
Nonaccrual loans to total loans
0.21
%
0.13
%
ACL to total loans
4.88
%
4.86
%
ACL to nonaccrual loans
2,310.97
%
3,698.37
%
Annualized year-to-date net charge-offs to average loans
2.64
%
2.62
%
For The
Quarter Ended
Other Performance Data
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Net Income (Loss):
Community Banking
$
5,445
$
4,012
Mortgage Banking
431
294
Consumer Finance
226
(63
)
Other1
(707
)
(808
)
Total
$
5,395
$
3,435
Net income attributable to C&F Financial Corporation
$
5,368
$
3,401
Earnings per share – basic and diluted
$
1.66
$
1.01
Weighted average shares outstanding – basic and diluted
3,234,935
3,370,934
Annualized return on average assets
0.84
%
0.57
%
Annualized return on average equity
9.35
%
6.33
%
Annualized return on average tangible common equity2
10.65
%
7.30
%
Dividends declared per share
$
0.46
$
0.44
Mortgage loan originations – Mortgage Banking
$
113,750
$
94,346
Mortgage loans sold – Mortgage Banking
106,431
86,079
________________________ 1 Includes results of the holding company that are not allocated to the business segments and elimination of inter-segment activity. 2 For more information about these non-GAAP financial measures, please see “Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Market Ratios
3/31/2025
12/31/2024
Market value per share
$
67.39
$
71.25
Book value per share
$
72.51
$
70.00
Price to book value ratio
0.93
1.02
Tangible book value per share1
$
64.39
$
61.86
Price to tangible book value ratio1
1.05
1.15
Price to earnings ratio (ttm)
11.16
11.86
________________________ 1 For more information about these non-GAAP financial measures, please see “Use of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures” and “Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
Minimum Capital
Capital Ratios
3/31/2025
12/31/2024
Requirements3
C&F Financial Corporation1
Total risk-based capital ratio
14.1
%
14.1
%
8.0
%
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio
11.9
%
11.9
%
6.0
%
Common equity tier 1 capital ratio
10.8
%
10.7
%
4.5
%
Tier 1 leverage ratio
9.9
%
9.8
%
4.0
%
C&F Bank2
Total risk-based capital ratio
13.7
%
13.5
%
8.0
%
Tier 1 risk-based capital ratio
12.4
%
12.3
%
6.0
%
Common equity tier 1 capital ratio
12.4
%
12.3
%
4.5
%
Tier 1 leverage ratio
10.3
%
10.1
%
4.0
%
________________________ 1 The Corporation, a small bank holding company under applicable regulations and guidance, is not subject to the minimum regulatory capital regulations for bank holding companies. The regulatory requirements that apply to bank holding companies that are subject to regulatory capital requirements are presented above, along with the Corporation’s capital ratios as determined under those regulations. 2 All ratios at March 31, 2025 are estimates and subject to change pending regulatory filings. All ratios at December 31, 2024 are presented as filed. 3 The ratios presented for minimum capital requirements are those to be considered adequately capitalized.
For The Quarter Ended
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Return on Average Tangible Common Equity
Average total equity, as reported
$
230,795
$
217,063
Average goodwill
(25,191
)
(25,191
)
Average other intangible assets
(1,118
)
(1,366
)
Average noncontrolling interest
(637
)
(649
)
Average tangible common equity
$
203,849
$
189,857
Net income
$
5,395
$
3,435
Amortization of intangibles
62
65
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest
(27
)
(34
)
Net tangible income attributable to C&F Financial Corporation
$
5,430
$
3,466
Annualized return on average equity, as reported
9.35
%
6.33
%
Annualized return on average tangible common equity
10.65
%
7.30
%
For The Quarter Ended
3/31/2025
3/31/2024
Fully Taxable Equivalent Net Interest Income1
Interest income on loans
$
32,382
$
29,586
FTE adjustment
46
50
FTE interest income on loans
$
32,428
$
29,636
Interest income on securities
$
3,104
$
2,863
FTE adjustment
242
235
FTE interest income on securities
$
3,346
$
3,098
Total interest income
$
35,988
$
32,708
FTE adjustment
288
285
FTE interest income
$
36,276
$
32,993
Net interest income
$
25,010
$
23,158
FTE adjustment
288
285
FTE net interest income
$
25,298
$
23,443
____________________ 1 Assuming a tax rate of 21%.
3/31/2025
12/31/2024
Tangible Book Value Per Share
Equity attributable to C&F Financial Corporation
$
234,634
$
226,360
Goodwill
(25,191
)
(25,191
)
Other intangible assets
(1,084
)
(1,147
)
Tangible equity attributable to C&F Financial Corporation
April 24, 2025 – Abbotsford, British Columbia – Correctional Service Canada
The lockdown put in place at Matsqui Institution on April 14, 2025, has ended and the exceptional search has been completed. The institution has resumed its normal operations and visits have resumed.
During the exceptional search, contraband and unauthorized items were found.
The contraband and unauthorized items seized included unidentified pills and other drug paraphernalia, several home‑made weapons, and tattoo paraphernalia.
The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is strengthening measures to prevent the entry of contraband into its institutions in order to ensure a safe and secure environment for everyone. CSC also works in partnership with the police to take action against those who attempt to have contraband brought into correctional institutions.
Three months since the Trump administration first suspended all international assistance pending review, the US has terminated much of its funding for global health and humanitarian programs, dismantled the federal government architecture for oversight of these activities, and fired many of the key staff responsible for implementation.
Patients around the world are scrambling to understand how they can continue treatment, medical providers are struggling to maintain essential services, and aid groups are sounding the alarm about exploding needs in countries with existing emergencies.
US assistance has been a lifeline for millions of people–while yanking this support will lead to more preventable deaths and untold suffering around the world. We can’t accept this dangerous new normal.
Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF USA
“These sudden cuts by the Trump administration are a human-made disaster for the millions of people struggling to survive amid wars, disease outbreaks, and other emergencies,” said Avril Benoît, CEO of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the United States. “We are an emergency response organization, but we have never seen anything like this massive disruption to global health and humanitarian programs. The risks are catastrophic, especially since people who rely on foreign assistance are already among the most vulnerable in the world.”
People are already feeling the consequences of US aid cuts
The US has long been the leading supporter of global health and humanitarian programs, responsible for around 40 percent of all related funding. These US investments have helped improve the health and well-being of communities around the globe—and totaled less than 1 percent of the annual federal budget.
Abruptly ending this huge proportion of support is already having devastating consequences for people who rely on aid, including those at risk of malnutrition and infectious diseases, and those who are trapped in humanitarian crises around the world. These major cuts to US funding and staffing are part of a broader policy agenda that has far-reaching impacts for people whose access to care is already limited by persecution and discrimination, such as refugees and migrants, civilians caught in conflict, LGBTQI+ people, and anyone who can become pregnant.
We can’t accept this dangerous new normal. We urge the administration and Congress to maintain commitments to support critical global health and humanitarian aid.
Avril Benoît, CEO of MSF USA
The status of even the much-reduced number of remaining US-funded programs is highly uncertain. The administration now plans to extend the initial 90-day review period for foreign aid, which was due to conclude on April 20, by an additional 30 days, according to an internal email from the State Department obtained by the media.
MSF does not accept US government funding, so we are not directly affected by these sweeping changes to international assistance as most other aid organizations are. We remain committed to providing medical care and humanitarian support in more than 70 countries across the world. However, no organization can do this work alone. We work closely with other health and humanitarian organizations to deliver vital services, and many of our activities involve programs that have been disrupted due to funding cuts. It will be much more difficult and costly to provide care when so many ministries of health have been affected globally and there are fewer community partners overall. We will also be facing fewer places to refer patients for specialized services, as well as shortages and stockouts due to hamstrung supply chains.
Amid ongoing chaos and confusion, our teams are already witnessing some of the life-threatening consequences of the administration’s actions to date. Most recently, the US administration canceled nearly all humanitarian assistance programs in Yemen and Afghanistan, two countries facing some of the most severe humanitarian needs in the world. After years of conflict and compounding crises, an estimated 19.5 million people in Yemen—over half the population—are dependent on aid. The decision to punish civilian populations caught in these two conflicts undermines the principles of humanitarian assistance.
Across the world, MSF teams have witnessed US-funded organizations reducing or canceling other vital activities–including vaccination campaigns, protection and care for people caught in areas of conflict, sexual and reproductive health services, the provision of clean water, and adequate sanitation services.
“It’s shocking to see the US abandon its leadership role in advancing global health and humanitarian efforts,” Benoît said. “US assistance has been a lifeline for millions of people–while yanking this support will lead to more preventable deaths and untold suffering around the world. We can’t accept this dangerous new normal. We urge the administration and Congress to maintain commitments to support critical global health and humanitarian aid.”
Snapshot: How US aid cuts are impacting people worldwide
Malnutrition
US funding cuts are severely impacting people in areas of Somalia affected by chronic drought, food insecurity, and displacement due to conflict. In the Baidoa and Mudug regions, the scaling down of operations by aid organizations—driven by US funding cuts and a broader lack of humanitarian aid—is making a shortage of health services and nutrition programs even more critical. For example, the closure of maternal and child health clinics and a therapeutic feeding center in Baidoa cut off monthly care to hundreds of malnourished children. MSF nutrition programs in Baidoa have reported an increase in severe acute malnutrition admissions since the funding cuts. The MSF-supported Bay Regional Hospital has received patients traveling as far as 120 miles for care due to facility closures elsewhere.
HIV
Cuts to PEPFAR and USAID have led to suspensions and closures of HIV programs in countries including South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe—threatening the lives of people receiving antiretroviral (ARV) therapy. South Africa’s pioneering Treatment Action Campaign—which helped transform the country’s response to HIV/AIDS—has had to drastically reduce its community-led monitoring system that helps ensure that people stay on treatment. The monitoring is now only happening at a small scale at clinics.
In MSF’s program in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, there has been a 70 percent increase in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) tablet distribution from January to March compared to the previous quarter, as well as an increase of 30 percent in consultations for health services, including for HIV—highlighting the growing demand as USAID funding cuts reduce access to other HIV prevention services.
In the border regions across South Sudan and Ethiopia, MSF teams are responding to a rampant cholera outbreak amid escalating violence—while other organizations have scaled down their presence. According to our teams, a number of organizations, including Save the Children, have suspended mobile clinic activities in South Sudan’s Akobo County due to US aid cuts. Save the Children reported earlier this month that at least five children and three adults with cholera died while making the long, hot trek to seek treatment in this part of South Sudan. With the withdrawal of these organizations, local health authorities are now facing significant limitations in their ability to respond effectively to the outbreak. MSF has warned that the disruption of mobile services, combined with the reduced capacity of other actors to support oral vaccination campaigns, increases the risk of preventable deaths and the continued spread of this highly infectious disease.
MSF teams in more than 20 countries have reported concerns with disrupted or suspended sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs, which MSF relies on for referrals for medical emergencies, supplies, and technical partnerships. These include contexts with already high levels of maternal and infant mortality. In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh—home to one of the world’s largest refugee camps—MSF teams report that other implementers are not able to provide SRH supplies, like emergency birth kits and contraceptives. Referrals for medical emergencies, like post-abortion care, have also been disrupted, increasing urgent needs for SRH care in the region.
Migration
Essential protection services—including shelters for women and children, legal aid, and support for survivors of violence—have been shuttered or severely reduced as needs increase due to changes in US immigration policy. For patients and MSF teams in areas like Danlí, San Pedro Sula, Tapachula, and Mexico City, referral networks have all but disappeared. This has left many migrants without safe places to sleep, access to food, or legal and psychosocial support.
Access to clean water
In the initial weeks following the aid freeze, our teams saw several organizations stop the distribution of drinking water for displaced people in conflict-affected areas, including in Sudan’s Darfur region, Ethiopia’s Tigray region, and Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince.
In response to the crisis in Port-au-Prince, in March, MSF stepped in to run a water distribution system via tanker trucks to provide for more than 13,000 people living in four camps for communities displaced by violent clashes between armed groups and police. This was in addition to our regular activities focused on providing medical care for victims of violence. Ensuring access to clean drinking water is essential for health and preventing the spread of waterborne diseases like cholera.
The reported decision by the US to cut funding to Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, could have disastrous consequences for children across the globe. The organization estimated that the loss of US support is projected to deny approximately 75 million children routine vaccinations in the next five years, with more than 1.2 million children potentially dying as a result. Worldwide, more than half of the vaccines MSF uses come from local ministries of health and are procured through Gavi. We could see the impacts in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where MSF vaccinates more children than anywhere else in the world. In 2023 alone, MSF vaccinated more than 2 million people in DRC against diseases like measles and cholera.
In Ethiopia’s Kule refugee camp, where MSF teams run a health center for more than 50,000 South Sudanese refugees, a US-funded organization abruptly halted mental health and social services for survivors of sexual violence and withdrew their staff. MSF teams provide other medical care but cannot currently cover the mental health and social services these patients need.
Non-communicable diseases
In Zimbabwe, US funding cuts have forced a local provider to stop its community outreach activities to identify women to be screened for cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in Zimbabwe, even though it is preventable. Many women and girls—especially in rural areas—cannot afford or do not have access to diagnosis and treatment, which makes outreach, screening, and prevention activities vital.
It’s getting hard to figure out who all the US-sponsored talks over ending the conflict in Ukraine are supposed to benefit. Listening to Donald Trump over recent weeks, you could be forgiven for thinking it’s all about him.
In the past 48 hours, the US president has berated both the Ukrainian president, Volodymr Zelensky, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin for apparently dragging their heels over an agreement.
At present it’s Putin who is on the naughty step (although as we know this can change quite rapidly). After Russia launched strikes against Kyiv overnight on Wednesday, killing eight people and injuring dozens more, Trump used his TruthSocial platform to give the Russian president a piece of his mind.
TruthSocial
But hours previously, the US president had been giving Zelensky both barrels after he rejected a peace proposal that included the US recognising Crimea as part of Russia. Trump wrote: “It’s inflammatory statements like Zelenskyy’s that makes it so difficult to settle this War. He has nothing to boast about! The situation for Ukraine is dire — He can have Peace or, he can fight for another three years before losing the whole Country.”
For the past week or so, US officials, including the president and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, have been warning that if a deal isn’t done “in a matter of days” they could just decide to walk away.
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It’s hard to see how there is a credible pathway to peace at the moment, write Stefan Wolff and Tetyana Malyarenko, international security experts at the University of Birmingham and the National University Odesa Law Academy, respectively. They point out that even if all sides can agree to a formula for a ceasefire (remembering that Russia couldn’t even hold to the agreed truce over the Easter holiday) then a lasting peace deal that is supposed to follow is even more difficult to imagine.
And, as the abortive attempts to end the war drag on and Russia’s attritional tactics continue, at a massive cost – both economically and in human lives – there are signs that western resolve and unity is coming under pressure. Partly it’s because many of Ukraine’s allies, particularly in Europe, are already scrambling to work out how they might adjust their own security arrangements in the eventuality of a new world order developing, dominated by the US, China and Russia, in which Washington’s friends find themselves on the outside.
Then there’s the inescapable question of whether Putin can be trusted to hold to any deal he strikes, given the likelihood of the US president’s attention wandering once he has been able to boast of brokering an “end” to the war. As Wolff and Malyarenko put it: “Given Russia’s track record of reneging on the Minsk ceasefire agreements of September 2014 and February 2015, investing everything in a ceasefire deal might turn out not just a self-fulfilling but a self-defeating prophecy for Ukraine and its supporters.”
As Trump 2.0 nears the 100-day mark (more of which next week), it’s worth pausing to ask what the American public thinks about the war in Ukraine. Paul Whiteley of the University of Essex has been looking at polling on the issue over the past six months or so and concludes that the US president looks out of step with the people when it comes to what Whiteley construes as Trump’s apparently Russia-friendly approach. Whiteley quotes a recent Economist/YouGov poll which finds that far more people see Ukraine as an ally that view Russia in the same light.
Meanwhile a much larger poll taken at the time of the US election last year, found that significant numbers of people support sending humanitarian aid to Ukraine and only a slightly smaller proportion of respondents backed providing military aid.
American attitudes to policy alternatives for dealing with the Ukraine War:
“A key point is that only 23% said the US should not get involved,” Whiteley concludes. “There is not much support among Americans for abandoning Ukraine.”
Tensions are high between India and Pakistan after at least 26 people were killed in the bitterly contested Kashmir region. The atrocity in a the picturesque resport of Pahalgam, targeted tourists – specifically Hindu men. Victims were told to recite verses from the Qur’an before being killed if they couldn’t.
A hitherto relatively unknown group, the Resistance Front (TRF) has claimed responsibility for the attack. But Sudhir Selvaraj, a specialist in religious nationalism at the University of Bradford, says that TRF is actually associated with, or a front for, the notorious Lashkar-e-Taiba (lET) which carried out the 2008 Mumbai massacre in which at least 176 people were murdered.
Selvaraj says TRF has deliberately chosen a non-Islamist sounding name. “By doing so,” he writes “it supposedly aims to project a “neutral” (read as non-religious) front, rather emphasising the fight for Kashmiri nationalism.“
Coming just as the tourist season is getting under way in Kashmir, the attack has undermined the strategy of the Modi government to portray the region as a major attraction for visitors. Nitasha Kaul, an expert in Hindu nationalism at the University of Westminster, says this is mainly aimed at the Indian public as a propaganda coup to show the success of the 2019 decision to split Kashmir in two and reduce it to the status of a “union territory” run from New Delhi.
In reality, she writes Kashmiris – especially Kashmiri Muslims – have little say in their own affairs and are vulnerable to reprisals in response to any attacks by Pakistani or Pakistani-backed militants. Kashmir’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, was actually excluded from security briefings when India’s home minister, Amit Shah, visited Kashmir after the attack.
Meanwhile some of the noisier Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) voices in politics and the media are demanding reprisals against Pakistan. It’s a very dangerous moment, Kaul concludes.
We’ve had some standout stories about the life and times of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, better known to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics as Pope Francis I. We’ve covered his burning ambition to modernise the Catholic church, as well as his achievements in promoting women to more senior church positions than any potiff before him.
And we’ve considered his influence on the global environmental movement which, as Oxford theologian Celia Deane-Drummond writes, made her feel as if “something momentous was happening at the heart of the church”.
But the anecdote about the late pope which moved me the most was related by Sara Silvestri of City, who recalls meeting Pope Francis back in 2019. It was as part of a symposium at the Vatican at which migration, an issue she’d been deeply engaged with in her work, was the central issue for discussion. Silvestri recalls delivering a research paper and then being invited with to meet Francis in a room next to the Sistine Chapel.
“Francis made a speech and we greeted him one by one,” she recalled this week. “I had my 21 month-old daughter with me that day, thinking of the rare opportunity we would both enjoy. But I’d underestimated the length of the formalities involved. My daughter screamed ‘Open the doors, let me out!’ through the whole of the pope’s speech. I was distraught, but Francis responded very gently to the disruption.”
Francis she says, stopped what he was saying and “commented how sweet and lovely it was to hear the voice of a child. I could feel it was not just a platitude – he meant it.”
Innovate BC’s new IP Hub is a one-stop-shop for innovators to access tailored education and resources that will help them protect and leverage their intellectual property
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Launched today, Innovate BC’s new IP Hub digital platform supports B.C. entrepreneurs in developing their understanding of intellectual property (IP) to support the building and implementing of an effective IP strategy to help grow their business.
Developed as part of the Province of British Columbia’s Intellectual Property Strategy, the free-to-use IP Hub offers a tailored experience that will connect users with information and resources based on an assessment of their current IP competency.
“B.C.’s Intellectual Property Strategy is about supporting our local businesses by giving them the tools they need to protect, grow and profit from what they create,” said Diana Gibson, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. “The launch of the IP Hub is a key part of that—helping entrepreneurs, researchers, startups and our high potential businesses fully understand their IP, scale their businesses, and keep their talent right here at home in British Columbia.”
The strategic management of IP is essential for companies developing innovative products or solutions, playing a crucial role in commercialization, increasing revenue, and competitiveness. The IP Hub offers relevant and timely resources that meet the user’s current level of IP comprehension and will provide them with ongoing support to build, implement and expand their own IP strategy.
Once assessed, users will have access to a wide range of supports that are available within B.C. and across Canada, aligned to their business stage, sector, size, and other characteristics that inform IP strategy. Resources include access to localized IP programming, a calendar of relevant and upcoming IP-focussed events, education materials, and more.
“Having a clear and proactive intellectual property strategy isn’t just a competitive advantage — it’s a necessity,” said Peter Cowan, President and CEO of Innovate BC. “For innovators and tech companies, IP is often their most valuable asset, protecting innovation, attracting investment, and enabling growth. By bolstering IP capacities here in British Columbia, we’re empowering our startups and scale-ups to thrive, strengthening our innovation ecosystem, and unlocking long-term economic prosperity for communities and industries across the province.”
The IP Hub is a part of Innovate BC’s suite of IP programs and resources for B.C. companies, which includes AccelerateIP, a program delivered by New Ventures BC that provides innovators with IP-related education, funding, and strategy development.
To learn more about the IP Hub and to access the platform, visit https://bcip.ca/
Additional Quotes
Faisal Khan, Founder + CEO, FMRK Diagnostic Technologies
“A dynamic IP strategy is the life blood of any 21st century business. It allows you to secure investment capital, protect yourself in the market, recoup your R&D investments and so much more. Companies can never reach their full potential without one.”
Annie Dahan, Founder at Seacork Studio
“Developing a robust and actionable IP strategy has been essential to our growth, credibility and our ability to navigate the market.”
About Innovate BC
A Crown Agency of British Columbia, Innovate BC works to foster innovation across the province and bolster the growth of the local economy through delivering a wide range of programs that help companies start and scale, access talent and encourage technology development, commercialization, and adoption. Innovate BC also harnesses crucial data collection and research, and works to forge strategic industry and community partnerships that create more opportunities for B.C. innovators.
INDIANAPOLIS, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis (“FHLBank Indianapolis” or “Bank”) declared its first quarter 2025 dividends on Class B-2 activity-based capital stock and Class B-1 non-activity-based stock at annualized rates of 9.50% and 4.50%, respectively. The higher dividend rate on activity-based stock reflects the Board’s discretion under the Bank’s capital plan to reward members that use FHLBank Indianapolis in support of their liquidity needs.
The dividends will be paid in cash on April 25, 2025.
Earnings Highlights
Net income, for the three months ended March 31, 2025, was $75 million, a net decrease of $20 million compared to the corresponding period in the prior year. The decrease was primarily due to net unrealized losses on qualifying fair-value and economic hedging relationships1, a substantial increase in voluntary contributions to affordable housing and community investment programs, and lower earnings on the portion of the Bank’s assets funded by its capital2, partially offset by higher interest spreads on interest-earning assets, net of interest-bearing liabilities.
Affordable Housing Program Allocation
The Bank’s Affordable Housing Program (“AHP”) provides grant funding to support housing for low- and moderate-income families in communities served by its Michigan and Indiana members. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, AHP assessments3 totaled $9 million. Such required allocations will be available to the Bank’s members in 2026 to help address their communities’ affordable housing needs, including construction, rehabilitation, accessibility improvements and homebuyer down-payment assistance.
In addition, as part of the Bank’s commitment to further support its AHP and additional affordable housing and community investment programs, the Bank voluntarily contributed additional funding, in the three months ended March 31, 2025, totaling $11 million, all of which has been recognized and reported in other expenses.
The Bank’s combined required and voluntary allocations recognized, in the three months ended March 31, 2025, totaled $20 million, an increase of $5 million, or 35%, compared to the corresponding period in the prior year.
Condensed Statements of Income
The following table presents unaudited condensed statements of income ($ amounts in millions):
Three Months Ended March 31,
2025
2024
Interest income(a)
$
940
$
1,016
Interest expense(a)
814
887
Provision for credit losses
—
—
Net interest income after provision for credit losses
126
129
Other income(b)
—
9
Other expenses(c)
42
32
AHP assessments
9
11
Net income
$
75
$
95
(a) Includes hedging gains (losses) and net interest settlements on fair-value hedge relationships. The Bank uses derivatives, specifically interest-rate swaps, to hedge the risk of changes in the fair value of certain of its advances, available-for-sale securities and consolidated obligations. These derivatives are designated as fair-value hedges and, therefore, changes in the estimated fair value of the derivative, and changes in the fair value of the hedged item that are attributable to the hedged risk, are recorded in net interest income. (b) Includes impact of purchase discount (premium) recorded through mark-to-market gains (losses) on trading securities and net interest settlements on derivatives hedging trading securities, while generally offsetting interest income on trading securities is included in interest income. (c) Includes voluntary contributions to the Bank’s AHP and other affordable housing and community investment programs.
Balance Sheet Highlights
Total assets, at March 31, 2025, were $80.7 billion, a net decrease of $3.8 billion, or 5%, from December 31, 2024, primarily due to a decrease in liquidity investments.
Advances4
The carrying value of advances outstanding, at March 31, 2025, totaled $38.5 billion, a net decrease of $1.3 billion, or 3%, from December 31, 2024. The par value of advances outstanding decreased by 4% to $38.6 billion, which included a net decrease in short-term advances of 7% and a net decrease in long-term advances of 2%. At March 31, 2025, based on contractual maturities, long-term advances composed 64% of advances outstanding, while short-term advances composed 36%.
The par value of advances outstanding to depository institutions — comprising commercial banks, savings institutions and credit unions — decreased by 4%, while advances outstanding to insurance companies decreased by 3%. As a percent of total advances outstanding at par value at March 31, 2025, advances to commercial banks and savings institutions were 52% and advances to credit unions were 14%, resulting in total advances to depository institutions of 66%, while advances to insurance companies were 34%.
In general, advances fluctuate in accordance with members’ funding needs, primarily determined by their deposit levels, mortgage pipelines, loan growth, investment opportunities, available collateral, other balance sheet strategies, and the cost of alternative funding options.
Mortgage Loans Held for Portfolio5
Mortgage loans held for portfolio, at March 31, 2025, totaled $11.4 billion, a net increase of $583 million, or 5%, from December 31, 2024, as the Bank’s purchases from its members exceeded principal repayments by borrowers. Purchases of mortgage loans from members, for the three months ended March 31, 2025, totaled $834 million.
In general, the Bank’s volume of mortgage loans purchased is affected by several factors, including interest rates, competition, the general level of housing and refinancing activity in the United States, consumer product preferences, the Bank’s balance sheet capacity and risk appetite, and regulatory considerations.
Liquidity Investments6
Liquidity investments, at March 31, 2025, totaled $9.5 billion, a net decrease of $3.5 billion, or 27%, from December 31, 2024. The Bank’s liquidity remained well above regulatory requirements and continues to enable the Bank to be a reliable liquidity provider to its members.
Cash and short-term investments decreased by $3.5 billion, or 29%, to $8.4 billion. The portion of U.S. Treasury obligations classified as trading securities increased by $7 million, or 1%, to $1.1 billion. As a result of this activity, cash and short-term investments represented 88% of the total liquidity investments at March 31, 2025, while U.S. Treasury obligations represented 12%.
The total outstanding balance and composition of the Bank’s liquidity investments are influenced by its liquidity needs, regulatory requirements, actual and anticipated member advance activity, market conditions, and the availability of short-term investments at attractive interest rates, relative to the cost of funds.
Other Investment Securities
Other investment securities, which consist substantially of mortgage-backed securities and U.S. Treasury obligations classified as held-to-maturity or available-for-sale, at March 31, 2025, totaled $20.6 billion, a net increase of $424 million, or 2%, from December 31, 2024.
Consolidated Obligations7
FHLBank Indianapolis’ consolidated obligations outstanding, at March 31, 2025, totaled $74.6 billion, a net decrease of $3.5 billion, or 4%, from December 31, 2024, which reflected decreased funding needs associated with the net decrease in the Bank’s total assets.
Capital8
Total capital, at March 31, 2025, was $4.2 billion, a net decrease of $48 million, or 1%, from December 31, 2024. The net decrease resulted primarily from the Bank’s repurchases of capital stock, offset by members’ purchases of capital stock to support their advance activity and the Bank’s growth in retained earnings.
The Bank’s regulatory capital-to-assets ratio9, at March 31, 2025, was 5.52%, which exceeds all applicable regulatory capital requirements.
Condensed Statements of Condition
The following table presents unaudited condensed statements of condition ($ amounts in millions):
March 31, 2025
December 31, 2024
Advances
$
38,487
$
39,833
Mortgage loans held for portfolio, net
11,379
10,796
Liquidity investments
9,451
12,911
Other investment securities(a)
20,613
20,189
Other assets
781
806
Total assets
$
80,711
$
84,535
Consolidated obligations
$
74,605
$
78,085
MRCS
266
363
Other liabilities
1,653
1,852
Total liabilities
76,524
80,300
Capital stock(b)
2,484
2,555
Retained earnings(c)
1,707
1,684
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)
(4
)
(4
)
Total capital
4,187
4,235
Total liabilities and capital
$
80,711
$
84,535
Total regulatory capital(d)
$
4,457
$
4,602
Regulatory capital-to-assets ratio
5.52
%
5.44
%
(a) Includes held-to-maturity and available-for-sale securities. (b) Putable by members at par value. (c) Includes restricted retained earnings, at March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, of $481 million and $466 million, respectively. (d) Consists of total capital less accumulated other comprehensive income plus mandatorily redeemable capital stock.
All amounts referenced above are unaudited. More detailed information about FHLBank Indianapolis’ financial condition as of March 31, 2025, and its results for the three months then ended, will be included in Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the Bank’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Safe Harbor Statement
This news release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events and performance. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “will,” “believes,” “may,” “temporary,” “estimates,” and “expects” or the negative of these words or comparable terminology. Each forward-looking statement contained in this news release reflects FHLBank Indianapolis’ current beliefs and expectations. Actual results or performance may differ materially from what is expressed in any forward-looking statements.
Any forward-looking statement contained in this news release speaks only as of the date on which it was made. FHLBank Indianapolis undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. Readers are referred to the documents filed by the Bank with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), specifically reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, which include factors that could cause actual results to differ from forward-looking statements. These reports are available at www.sec.gov.
Media Contact: Scott Thien Senior Corporate Communications Associate 317-902-3103 sthien@fhlbi.com
Building Partnerships. Serving Communities. FHLBank Indianapolis is a regional bank included in the Federal Home Loan Bank System. FHLBanks are government-sponsored enterprises created by Congress to provide access to low-cost funding for their member financial institutions, with particular attention paid to providing solutions that support the housing and small business needs of members’ customers. FHLBanks are privately capitalized and funded, and receive no Congressional appropriations. FHLBank Indianapolis is owned by its Indiana and Michigan financial institution members, including commercial banks, credit unions, insurance companies, savings institutions and community development financial institutions.
For more information about FHLBank Indianapolis, visit www.fhlbi.com. Also, follow the Bank on LinkedIn, as well as Instagram and X at @FHLBankIndy. Please note that content the Bank shares on its website and social media is not incorporated by reference into any of its filings with the SEC unless, and only to the extent that, a filing by the Bank with the SEC expressly provides to the contrary.
1 The Bank’s net gains (losses) on derivatives fluctuate due to volatility in the overall interest-rate environment as the Bank hedges asset or liability risk exposures. In general, the Bank holds derivatives and associated hedged items to the maturity, call, or put date. Therefore, due to timing, nearly all of the cumulative net gains and losses for these financial instruments will generally reverse over the remaining contractual terms of the hedged item. However, there may be instances when the Bank terminates these instruments prior to the maturity, call or put date, which may result in a realized gain or loss. 2 FHLBank Indianapolis earns interest income on advances to and mortgage loans purchased from its Michigan and Indiana member financial institutions, as well as on long- and short-term investments. Net interest income is primarily determined by the size of the Bank’s balance sheet and the spread between the interest earned on its assets and the interest cost of funding with consolidated obligations. Because of the Bank’s inherent relatively low interest-rate spread, it has historically derived a significant portion of its net interest income from deploying its interest-free capital in floating-rate assets. 3 Each year, Federal Home Loan Banks are required to allocate to the AHP 10% of earnings, defined for this purpose as income before assessments plus interest expense on mandatorily redeemable capital stock. 4 Advances are secured loans that the Bank provides to its member institutions. 5 The Bank purchases mortgage loans from its members to support its housing mission, provide an additional source of liquidity to its members, and diversify its investments. 6 The Bank’s liquidity investments consist of cash, interest-bearing deposits, securities purchased under agreements to resell, federal funds sold and U.S. Treasury obligations. 7 The primary source of funds for FHLBank Indianapolis, and for the other FHLBanks, is the sale of FHLBanks’ consolidated obligations in the capital markets. FHLBank Indianapolis is the primary obligor for the payment of the principal and interest on the consolidated obligations issued on its behalf; additionally, it is jointly and severally liable with each of the other FHLBanks for all of the FHLBanks’ consolidated obligations outstanding. 8 FHLBank Indianapolis is a cooperative whose member financial institutions and former members own all of its capital stock as a condition of membership and to support outstanding credit products. 9 Total regulatory capital, which consists of capital stock, mandatorily redeemable capital stock and retained earnings, as a percentage of total assets.
ATLANTA, April 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta (the Bank) today released preliminary unaudited financial highlights for the quarter ended March 31, 2025. All numbers reported below for the first quarter of 2025 are approximate until the Bank announces unaudited financial results in its Form 10-Q, which is expected to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on or about May 9, 2025.
Operating Results for the First Quarter of 2025
Net interest income for the first quarter of 2025 was $207 million, a decrease of $47 million, compared to net interest income of $254 million for the same period in 2024. The decrease in net interest income was primarily due to a decrease in interest rates and a decrease in average advance balances during the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Net income for the first quarter of 2025 was $143 million, a decrease of $51 million, compared to net income of $194 million for the same period in 2024. The decrease in net income was primarily due to the decrease in net interest income.
For the first quarter of 2025, the Bank continued to meet members’ liquidity demand and average advance balances were $97.1 billion, compared to average advance balances of $103.0 billion for the same period in 2024.
The net yield on interest-earning assets for the first quarter of 2025 was 56 basis points, compared to 66 basis points for the same period in 2024. Many of the Bank’s assets and liabilities are indexed to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). Average daily SOFR during the first quarter of 2025 was 4.33 percent compared to 5.31 percent for the same period in 2024.
The Bank’s first quarter 2025 performance resulted in an annualized return on average equity (ROE) of 6.82 percent as compared to 9.24 percent for the same period in 2024. The decrease in ROE was primarily due to the decreased net income for the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
Financial Condition Highlights
Total assets were $146.2 billion as of March 31, 2025, a decrease of $858 million from December 31, 2024.
Advances outstanding were $85.7 billion as of March 31, 2025, a decrease of $157 million from December 31, 2024.
Total capital was $8.0 billion as of March 31, 2025, an increase of $56 million from December 31, 2024. Retained earnings were $2.8 billion as of March 31, 2025, an increase of $43 million from December 31, 2024.
As of March 31, 2025, the Bank was in compliance with all applicable regulatory capital and liquidity requirements.
Reliable Source of Liquidity
During the first quarter of 2025, the Bank originated a total of $75.5 billion of advances, thereby providing significant liquidity to its members to support lending and other activities in their communities. The Bank is proud to continue to execute on its mission to be a reliable source of liquidity and funding for its members, while remaining adequately capitalized.
Commitment to Affordable Housing and Community Development
The Bank commits 10 percent of its income before assessments to support the affordable housing and community development needs of communities served by its members as required by law, which amounted to $77 million for the 2024 statutory Affordable Housing Program (AHP) assessment available for funding in 2025. As of March 31, 2025, the Bank has accrued $16 million to its AHP pool of funds that will be available to the Bank’s members and their communities in 2026 for funding of eligible projects.
The Bank has committed to voluntarily contribute, at a minimum, an additional 50 percent of its prior year statutory AHP assessment to affordable housing. For 2025, the Bank authorized $41 million in voluntary housing contributions consisting of $9 million in voluntary non-statutory AHP contributions and $32 million in voluntary non-AHP contributions. These amounts are anticipated to be expensed during 2025.
Since the inception of its AHP in 1990, the Bank has awarded more than $1.2 billion in AHP funds, assisting more than 177,000 households.
Dividends
On April 24, 2025, the board of directors of the Bank approved a quarterly cash dividend at an annualized rate of 6.85 percent.
“As we began 2025, the Bank focused on fulfilling our mission by providing significant liquidity to members as well as remaining a reliable partner during a time of economic volatility,” said FHLBank Atlanta Chair of the Board, Thornwell Dunlap. “We are pleased to return a strong dividend to members and appreciate their ongoing trust in FHLBank Atlanta.”
The dividend payout will be calculated based on members’ capital stock held during the first quarter of 2025 and will be credited to members’ daily investment accounts at the close of business on April 29, 2025.
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Financial Highlights (Preliminary and unaudited) (Dollars in millions)
Statements of Condition
As of March 31, 2025
As of December 31, 2024
Advances
$
85,672
$
85,829
Investments
59,326
60,084
Mortgage loans held for portfolio, net
87
89
Total assets
146,233
147,091
Total consolidated obligations, net
135,022
135,851
Total capital stock
5,164
5,148
Retained earnings
2,828
2,785
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
(3
)
—
Total capital
7,989
7,933
Capital-to-assets ratio (GAAP)
5.46
%
5.39
%
Capital-to-assets ratio (Regulatory)
5.47
%
5.39
%
Three Months EndedMarch 31,
Operating Results and Performance Ratios
2025
2024
Net interest income
$
207
$
254
Standby letters of credit fees
4
4
Other income
1
2
Total noninterest expense (1)
53
44
Affordable Housing Program assessment
16
22
Net income
143
194
Return on average assets
0.38
%
0.50
%
Return on average equity
6.82
%
9.24
%
__________ (1) Total noninterest expense includes voluntary housing and community investment contributions of $11 million and $5 million for the first quarter of 2025 and 2024, respectively.
The selected financial data above should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” included in the Bank’s First Quarter 2025 Form 10-Q expected to be filed with the SEC on or about May 9, 2025, which will be available at www.fhlbatl.com and on www.sec.gov.
About Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
FHLBank Atlanta offers competitively-priced financing, community development grants, and other banking services to help member financial institutions make affordable home mortgages and provide economic development credit to neighborhoods and communities. The Bank is a cooperative whose members are commercial banks, credit unions, savings institutions, community development financial institutions, and insurance companies located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. FHLBank Atlanta is one of 11 district banks in the Federal Home Loan Bank System (FHLBank System). Since 1990, the FHLBanks have awarded approximately $9.1 billion in Affordable Housing Program funds, assisting more than 1.2 million households.
For more information, visit our website at www.fhlbatl.com.
To the extent that the statements made in this announcement may be deemed as “forward-looking statements”, they are made within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which include statements with respect to the Bank’s beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, expectations, anticipations, assumptions, estimates, intentions, and future performance, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which may be beyond the Bank’s control, and which may cause the Bank’s actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on them, since those may not be realized due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation: legislative, regulatory and accounting actions, changes, approvals or requirements; completion of the Bank’s financial closing procedures and final accounting adjustments for the most recently completed quarter; SOFR variations; changes to economic, liquidity and market conditions; changes in demand for advances, advance levels, consolidated obligations of the Bank and/or the FHLBank System and their market; changes in interest rates; changes in prepayment speeds, default rates, delinquencies, and losses on mortgage-backed securities; volatility of market prices, rates and indices that could affect the value of financial instruments; changes in credit ratings and/or the terms of derivative transactions; changes in product offerings; political, national, climate, and world events; disruptions in information systems; membership changes; mergers and acquisitions involving members; changes to the Bank’s voluntary housing program and other adverse developments or events, including extraordinary or disruptive events, affecting the market, involving other Federal Home Loan Banks, their members or the FHLBank System in general, including acts or war and terrorism. Additional factors that might cause the Bank’s results to differ from forward-looking statements are provided in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov.
The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date that they are made, and the Bank has no obligation and does not undertake to publicly update, revise, or correct any of these statements after the date of this announcement, or after the respective dates on which such statements otherwise are made, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required by law. New factors may emerge, and it is not possible for us to predict the nature of each new factor, or assess its potential impact, on our business and financial condition. Given these uncertainties, we caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Sheryl Touchton Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta stouchton@fhlbatl.com 404.716.4296
Kyiv – Last night, Kyiv, Ukraine, faced yet another wave of massive bombardment. This follows devastating attacks in Dnipro region, and Kryvyi Rih, all of which resulted in mass casualties. The massive use of force employed by Russian forces across Ukraine is relentless. Hospitals, residential buildings, humanitarian workers, and patients are not spared; with the use of drones and long-range missiles, no-one in the country is safe.
Last night’s strikes in Kyiv saw a missile hit a residential building. Emergency services are still searching through the rubble for survivors. Twelve people have been confirmed killed, and over 70 injured—among them, six children. Many remain in hospital, with life-threatening injuries.
Kyiv is home to the coordination offices of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Ukraine. MSF teams live and work in the city.
“Right now, our staff—like millions of others—face almost nightly bombing raids,” says Thomas Marchese, MSF Programme Director in Ukraine. “Last night, some of our colleagues spent the night in metro stations; others had no choice but to wake their children and shelter at home as best they could, while explosions shook the ground, and rattled windows. No-one is safe, people are exhausted and many live in fear.”
This latest attack in Kyiv continues a pattern of bombardments in Ukraine: attacks on residential buildings, hospitals, and schools occur daily. On 5 April, MSF ambulance teams responded to a strike in Kryvyi Rih, where 20 people were killed, including nine children. One survivor referred by MSF paramedics was just seven years old; she suffered a fractured hip, haemorrhagic shock, and shrapnel wounds.
On 23 April, a drone strike by Russian forces hit a bus in Marhanets, Dnipro region, reportedly killing nine people and wounding 50. MSF ambulance teams supported the Ministry of Health in the mass casualty plan, referring patients suffering from significant blood loss and shrapnel wounds.
Around 2,000 medical facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the war in Ukraine escalated in 2022. In recent months, hospitals across the country have faced multiple mass casualty events, and have even become targets, particularly in areas near the frontline, where the health system is already under immense pressure.
“The scale of attacks people endure are huge, our mobile clinics have seen a rise in cases of heart attacks and strokes—conditions directly linked to prolonged stress,” says Marchese. “In Ukraine, no part of daily life is untouched by the war.”
“People can be hit while commuting, buying bread, or dropping their children at kindergarten,” continues Marchese. “There’s no warning, no safe place—just seconds between normal life and extreme violence. Civilians must never be targets.”
MSF paramedic teams are currently supporting emergency responses in Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions, while surgical teams continue to provide lifesaving care in hospitals close to active conflict areas. Rehabilitation care, including physiotherapy and mental health care continue in Cherkasy and Odesa, while in Vinnytsia, the mental health team provides treatment for post traumatic stress syndrome caused by the war. Among medical facilities in Ukraine, one thing is a constant: the influx of wounded never truly stops.
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In the sweltering summer of AD18, a desperate chant echoed across China’s sun-scorched plains: “Heaven has gone blind!” Thousands of starving farmers, their faces smeared with ox blood, marched toward the opulent vaults held by the Han dynasty’s elite rulers.
As recorded in the ancient text Han Shu (the book of Han), these farmers’ calloused hands held bamboo scrolls – ancient “tweets” accusing the bureaucrats of hoarding grain while the farmers’ children gnawed tree bark. The rebellion’s firebrand warlord leader, Chong Fan, roared: “Drain the paddies!”
Within weeks, the Red Eyebrows, as the protesters became known, had toppled local regimes, raided granaries and – for a fleeting moment – shattered the empire’s rigid hierarchy.
The Han dynasty of China (202BC-AD220) was one of the most developed civilisations of its time, alongside the Roman empire. Its development of cheaper and sharper iron ploughs enabled the gathering of unprecedented harvests of grain.
But instead of uplifting the farmers, this technological revolution gave rise to agrarian oligarchs who hired ever-more officials to govern their expanding empire. Soon, bureaucrats earned 30 times more than those tilling the soil.
And when droughts struck, the farmers and their families starved while the empire’s elites maintained their opulence. As a famous poem from the subsequent Tang dynasty put it: “While meat and wine go to waste behind vermilion gates, the bones of the frozen dead lie by the roadside.”
Two millennia later, the role of technology in increasing inequality around the world remains a major political and societal issue. AI-driven “technology panic” – exacerbated by the disruptive efforts of Donald Trump’s new administration in the US – gives the feeling that everything has been upended. New tech is destroying old certainties; populist revolt is shredding the political consensus.
And yet, as we stand at the edge of this technological cliff, seemingly peering into a future of AI-induced job apocalypses, history whispers: “Calm down. You’ve been here before.”
The link between technology and inequality
Technology is humanity’s cheat code to break free from scarcity. The Han dynasty’s iron plough didn’t just till soil; it doubled crop yields, enriching landlords and swelling tax coffers for emperors while – initially, at least – leaving peasants further behind. Similarly, Britain’s steam engine didn’t just spin cotton; it built coal barons and factory slums. Today, AI isn’t just automating tasks; it’s creating trillion-dollar tech fiefdoms while destroying myriads of routine jobs.
Technology amplifies productivity by doing more with less. Over centuries, these gains compound, raising economic output and increasing incomes and lifespans. But each innovation reshapes who holds power, who gets rich – and who gets left behind.
As the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter warned during the second world war, technological progress is never a benign rising tide that lifts all boats. It’s more like a tsunami that drowns some and deposits others on golden shores, amid a process he called “creative destruction”.
A decade later, Russian-born US economist Simon Kuznets proposed his “inverted-U of inequality”, the Kuznets curve. For decades, this offered a reassuring narrative for citizens of democratic nations seeking greater fairness: inequality was an inevitable – but temporary – price of technological progress and the economic growth that comes with it.
In recent years, however, this analysis has been sharply questioned. Most notably, French economist Thomas Piketty, in a reappraisal of more than three centuries of data, argued in 2013 that Kuznets had been misled by historical fluke. The postwar fall in inequality he had observed was not a general law of capitalism, but a product of exceptional events: two world wars, economic depression, and massive political reforms.
In normal times, Piketty warned, the forces of capitalism will always tend to make the rich richer, pushing inequality ever higher unless checked by aggressive redistribution.
So, who’s correct? And where does this leave us as we ponder the future in this latest, AI-driven industrial revolution? In fact, both Kuznets and Piketty were working off quite narrow timeframes in modern human history. Another country, China, offers the chance to chart patterns of growth and inequality over a much longer period – due to its historical continuity, cultural stability, and ethnic uniformity.
The Insights section is committed to high-quality longform journalism. Our editors work with academics from many different backgrounds who are tackling a wide range of societal and scientific challenges.
Unlike other ancient civilisations such as the Egyptians and Mayans, China has maintained a unified identity and unique language for more than 5,000 years, allowing modern scholars to trace thousand-year-old economic records. So, with colleagues Qiang Wu and Guangyu Tong, I set out to reconcile the ideas of Kuznets and Piketty by studying technological growth and wage inequality in imperial China over 2,000 years – back beyond the birth of Jesus.
To do this, we scoured China’s extraordinarily detailed dynastic archives, including the Book of Han (AD111) and Tang Huiyao (AD961), in which meticulous scribes recorded the salaries of different ranking officials. And here is what we learned about the forces – good and bad, corrupt and selfless – that most influenced the rise and fall of inequality in China over the past two millennia.
Chinese dynasties and their most influential technologies:
Black text denotes historical events in the west; grey text denotes important interactions between China and the west. Peng Zhou, CC BY-NC-SA
China’s cycles of growth and inequality
One of the challenges of assessing wage inequality over thousands of years is that people were paid different things at different times – such as grain, silk, silver and even labourers.
The Book of Han records that “a governor’s annual grain salary could fill 20 oxcarts”. Another entry describes how a mid-ranking Han official’s salary included ten servants tasked solely with polishing his ceremonial armour. Ming dynasty officials had their meagre wages supplemented with gifts of silver, while Qing elites hid their wealth in land deals.
To enable comparison over two millennia, we invented a “rice standard” – akin to the gold standard that was the basis of the international monetary system for a century from the 1870s. Rice is not just a staple of Chinese diets, it has been a stable measure of economic life for thousands of years.
While rice’s dominion began around 7,000BC in the Yangtze river’s fertile marshes, it was not until the Han dynasty that it became the soul of Chinese life. Farmers prayed to the “Divine Farmer” for bountiful harvests, and emperors performed elaborate ploughing rituals to ensure cosmic harmony. A Tang dynasty proverb warned: “No rice in the bowl, bones in the soil.”
Using price records, we converted every recorded salary – whether paid in silk, silver, rent or servants – into its rice equivalent. We could then compare the “real rice wages” of two categories of people we called either “officials” or “peasants” (including farmers), as a way of tracking levels of inequality over the two millennia since the start of the Han dynasty in 202BC. This chart shows how real-wage inequality in China rose and fell over the past 2,000 years, according to our rice-based analysis.
Official-peasant wage ratio in imperial China over 2,000 years:
The ratio describes the multiple by which the ‘real rice wage’ of the average ‘official’ exceeds that of the average ‘peasant’, giving an indication of changing inequality levels over two millennia. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
The chart’s black line describes a tug-of-war between growth and inequality over the past two millennia. We found that, across each major dynasty, there were four key factors driving levels of inequality in China: technology (T), institutions (I), politics (P), and social norms (S). These followed the following cycle with remarkable regularity.
1. Technology triggers an explosion of growth and inequality
During the Han dynasty, new iron-working techniques led to better ploughs and irrigation tools. Harvests boomed, enabling the Chinese empire to balloon in both territory and population. But this bounty mostly went to those at the top of society. Landlords grabbed fields, bureaucrats gained privileges, while ordinary farmers saw precious little reward. The empire grew richer – but so did the gap between high officials and the peasant majority.
Even when the Han fell around AD220, the rise of wage inequality was barely interrupted. By the time of the Tang dynasty (AD618–907), China was enjoying a golden age. Silk Road trade flourished as two more technological leaps had a profound impact on the country’s fortunes: block printing and refined steelmaking.
Block printing enabled the mass production of books – Buddhist texts, imperial exam guides, poetry anthologies – at unprecedented speed and scale. This helped spread literacy and standardise administration, as well as sparking a bustling market in bookselling.
Meanwhile, refined steelmaking boosted everything from agricultural tools to weaponry and architectural hardware, lowering costs and raising productivity. With a more literate populace and an abundance of stronger metal goods, China’s economy hit new heights. Chang’an, then China’s cosmopolitan capital, boasted exotic markets, lavish temples, and a swirl of foreign merchants enjoying the Tang dynasty’s prosperity.
While the Tang dynasty marked the high-water mark for levels of inequality in Chinese history, subsequent dynasties would continue to wrestle with the same core dilemma: how do you reap the benefits of growth without allowing an overly privileged – and increasingly corrupt – bureaucratic class to push everyone else into peril?
2. Institutions slow the rise of inequality
Throughout the two millennia, some institutions played an important role in stabilising the empire after each burst of growth. For example, to alleviate tensions between emperors, officials and peasants, imperial exams known as “Ke Ju” were introduced during the Sui dynasty (AD581-618). And by the time of the Song dynasty (AD960-1279) that followed the demise of the Tang, these exams played a dominant role in society.
They addressed high levels of inequality by promoting social mobility: ordinary civilians were granted greater opportunities to ascend the income ladder by achieving top marks. This induced greater competition among officials – and strengthened emperors’ authority over them in the later dynasties. As a result, both the wages of officials and wage inequality went down as their bargaining power gradually diminished.
However, the rise of each new dynasty was also marked by a growth of bureaucracy that led to inefficiencies, favouritism and bribery. Over time, corrupt practices took root, eroding trust in officialdom and heightening wage inequality as many officials commanded informal fees or outright bribes to sustain their lifestyles.
As a result, while the emergence of certain institutions was able to put a break on rising inequality, it typically took another powerful – and sometimes highly destructive – factor to start reducing it.
3. Political infighting and external wars reduce inequality
Eventually, the rampant rise in inequality seen in almost every major Chinese dynasty bred deep tensions – not only between the upper and lower classes, but even between the emperor and their officials.
These pressures were heightened by the pressures of external conflict, as each dynasty waged wars in pursuit of further growth. The Tang’s three century-rule featured conflicts such as the Eastern Turkic-Tang war (AD626), the Baekje-Goguryeo-Silla war (666), and the Arab-Tang battle of Talas (751).
The resulting demand for more military spending drained imperial coffers, forcing salary cuts for soldiers and tax hikes on the peasants – breeding resentment among both that sometimes led to popular uprisings. In a desperate bid for survival, the imperial court then slashed officials’ pay and stripped away their bureaucratic perks.
The result? Inequality plummeted during these times of war and rebellion – but so did stability. Famine was rife, frontier garrisons mutinied, and for decades, warlords carved out territories while the imperial centre floundered.
So, this shrinking wage gap cannot be said to have resulted in a happier, more stable society. Rather, it reflected the fact that everyone – rich and poor – was worse off in the chaos. During the final imperial dynasty, the Qing (from the end of the 17th century), real-terms GDP per person was dropping to levels that had last been seen at the start of the Han dynasty, 2,000 years earlier.
4. Social norms emphasise harmony, preserve privilege
One other common factor influencing the rise and fall of inequality across China’s dynasties was the shared rules and expectations that developed within each society.
A striking example is the social norms rooted in the philosophy of Neo-Confucianism, which emerged in the Song dynasty at the end of the first millennium – a period sometimes described as China’s version of the Renaissance. It blended the moral philosophy of classical Confucianism – created by the philosopher and political theorist Confucius during the Zhou dynasty (1046-256BC) – with metaphysical elements drawn from both Buddhism and Daoism.
Neo-Confucianism emphasised social harmony, hierarchical order and personal virtue – values that reinforced imperial authority and bureaucratic discipline. Unsurprisingly, it quickly gained the support of emperors keen to ensure control of their people, and became the mainstream school of thought in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
However, Neo-Confucianist thinking proved a double-edged sword. Local gentry hijacked this moral authority to fortify their own power. Clan leaders set up Confucian schools and performed elaborate ancestral rites, projecting themselves as guardians of tradition.
Over time, these social norms became rigid. What had once fostered order and legitimacy became brittle dogma, more useful for preserving privilege than guiding reform. Neo-Confucian ideals evolved into a protective veil for entrenched elites. When the weight of crisis eventually came, they offered little resilience.
The last dynasty
China’s final imperial dynasty, the Qing, collapsed under the weight of multiple uprisings both from within and without. Despite achieving impressive economic growth during the 18th century – fuelled by agricultural innovation, a population boom, and the roaring global trade in tea and porcelain – levels of inequality exploded, in part due to widespread corruption.
The infamous government official Heshen, widely regarded as the most corrupt figure in the Qing dynasty, amassed a personal fortune reckoned to exceed the empire’s entire annual revenue (one estimate suggests he amassed 1.1 billion taels of silver, equivalent to around US$270 billion (£200bn), during his lucrative career).
Imperial institutions failed to restrain the inequality and moral decay that the Qing’s growth had initially masked. The mechanisms that once spurred prosperity – technological advances, centralised bureaucracy and Confucian moral authority – eventually ossified, serving entrenched power rather than adaptive reform.
When shocks like natural disasters and foreign invasions struck, the system could no longer respond. The collapse of the empire became inevitable – and this time there was no groundbreaking technology to enable a new dynasty to take the Qing’s place. Nor were there fresh social ideals or revitalised institutions capable of rebooting the imperial model. As foreign powers surged ahead with their own technological breakthroughs, China’s imperial system collapsed under its own weight. The age of emperors was over.
The world had turned. As China embarked on two centuries of technological and economic stagnation – and political humiliation at the hands of Great Britain and Japan – other nations, led first by Britain and then the US, would step up to build global empires on the back of new technological leaps.
In these modern empires, we see the same four key influences on their cycles of growth and inequality – technology, institutions, politics and social norms – but playing out at an ever-faster rate. As the saying goes: history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.
Rule Britannia
If imperial China’s inequality saga was written in rice and rebellions, Britain’s industrial revolution featured steam and strikes. In Lancashire’s “satanic mills”, steam engines and mechanised looms created industrialists so rich that their fortunes dwarfed small nations.
In 1835, social observer Andrew Ure enthused: “Machinery is the grand agent of civilisation.” Yet for many decades, the steam engines, spinning jennies and railways disproportionately enriched the new industrial class, just as in the Han dynasty of China 2,000 years earlier. The workers? They inhaled soot, lived in slums – and staged Europe’s first symbolic protest when the Luddites began smashing their looms in 1811.
During the 19th century, Britain’s richest 1% hoarded as much as 70% of the nation’s wealth, while labourers toiled 16-hour days in mills. In cities like Manchester, child workers earned pennies while industrialists built palaces.
But as inequality peaked in Britain, the backlash brewed. Trade unions formed (and became legal in 1824) to demand fair wages. Reforms such as the Factory Acts (1833–1878) banned child labour and capped working hours.
Although government forces intervened to suppress the uprisings, unrest such as the 1830 Swing Riots and 1842 General Strike exposed deep social and economic inequalities. By 1900, child labour was banned and pensions had been introduced. The 1900 Labour Representation Committee (later the Labour Party) vowed to “promote legislation in the direct interests of labour” – a striking echo of how China’s imperial exams had attempted to open paths to power.
Slowly, the working class saw some improvement: real wages for Britain’s poorest workers gradually increased over the latter half of the 19th century, as mass production lowered the cost of goods and expanding factory employment provided a more stable livelihood than subsistence farming.
And then, two world wars flattened Britain’s elite – the Blitz didn’t discriminate between rich and poor neighbourhoods. When peace finally returned, the Beveridge Report gave rise to the welfare state: the NHS, social housing, and pensions.
Income inequality plummeted as a result. The top 1%’s share fell from 70% to 15% by 1979. While China’s inequality fell via dynastic collapse, Britain’s decline resulted from war-driven destruction, progressive taxation, and expansive social reforms.
Wealth share of top 1% in the UK
Evidence for UK inequality before 1895 is not well documented; dotted curve is conjectured based on Kuznets curve. Sources: Alvaredo et al (2018), World Inequality Database. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
However, from the 1980s onwards, inequality in Britain has begun to rise again. This new cycle of inequality has coincided with another technological revolution: the emergence of personal computers and information technology — innovations that fundamentally transformed how wealth was created and distributed.
The era was accelerated by deregulation, deindustrialisation and privatisation — policies associated with former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, that favoured capital over labour. Trade unions were weakened, income taxes on the highest earners were slashed, and financial markets were unleashed. Today, the richest 1% of UK adults own more 20% of the country’s total wealth.
The UK now appears to be in the worst of both worlds – wrestling with low growth and rising inequality. Yet renewal is still within reach. The current UK government’s pledge to streamline regulation and harness AI could spark fresh growth – provided it is coupled with serious investment in skills, modern infrastructure, and inclusive institutions geared to benefit all workers.
At the same time, history reminds us that technology is a lever, not a panacea. Sustained prosperity comes only when institutional reform and social attitudes evolve in step with innovation.
The American century
While China’s growth-and-inequality cycles unfolded over millennia and Britain’s over centuries, America’s story is a fast-forward drama of cycles lasting mere decades. In the early 20th century, several waves of new technology widened the gap between rich and poor dramatically.
By 1929, as the world teetered on the edge of the Great Depression, John D. Rockefeller had amassed such a vast fortune – valued at roughly 1.5% of America’s entire GDP – that newspapers hailed him the world’s first billionaire. His wealth stemmed largely from pioneering petroleum and petrochemical ventures including Standard Oil, which dominated oil refining in an age when cars and mechanised transport were exploding in popularity.
Yet this period of unprecedented riches for a handful of magnates coincided with severe imbalances in the broader US economy. The “roaring Twenties” had boosted consumerism and stock speculation, but wage growth for many workers lagged behind skyrocketing corporate profits. By 1929, the top 1% of Americans owned more than a third of the nation’s income, creating a precariously narrow base of prosperity.
When the US stock market crashed in October 1929, it laid bare how vulnerable the system was to the fortunes of a tiny elite. Millions of everyday Americans – living without adequate savings or safeguards – faced immediate hardship, ushering in the Great Depression. Breadlines snaked through city streets, and banks collapsed under waves of withdrawals they could not meet.
In response, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal reshaped American institutions. It introduced unemployment insurance, minimum wages, and public works programmes to support struggling workers, while progressive taxation – with top rates exceeding 90% during the second world war. Roosevelt declared: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much – it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”
In a different way to the UK, the second world war proved a great leveller for the US – generating millions of jobs and drawing women and minorities into industries they’d long been excluded from. After 1945, the GI Bill expanded education and home ownership for veterans, helping to build a robust middle class. Although access remained unequal, especially along racial lines, the era marked a shift toward the norm that prosperity should be shared.
Meanwhile, grassroots movements led by figures like Martin Luther King Jr. reshaped social norms about justice. In his lesser-quoted speeches, King warned that “a dream deferred is a dream denied” and launched the Poor People’s Campaign, which demanded jobs, healthcare and housing for all Americans. This narrowing of income distribution during the post-war era was dubbed the “Great Compression” – but it did not last.
As oil crises of the 1970s marked the end of the preceding cycle of inequality, another cycle began with the full-scale emergence of the third industrial revolution, powered by computers, digital networks and information technology.
As digitalisation transformed business models and labour markets, wealth flowed to those who owned the algorithms, patents and platforms – not those operating the machines. Hi-tech entrepreneurs and Wall Street financiers became the new oligarchs. Stock options replaced salaries as the true measure of success, and companies increasingly rewarded capital over labour.
By the 2000s, the wealth share of the richest 1% climbed to 30% in the US. The gap between the elite minority and working majority widened with every company stock market launch, hedge fund bonus and quarterly report tailored to shareholder returns.
But this wasn’t just a market phenomenon – it was institutionally engineered. The 1980s ushered in the age of (Ronald) Reaganomics, driven by the conviction that “government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem”. Following this neoliberalist philosophy, taxes on high incomes were slashed, capital gains were shielded, and labour unions were weakened.
Deregulation gave Wall Street free rein to innovate and speculate, while public investment in housing, healthcare and education was curtailed. The consequences came to a head in 2008 when the US housing market collapsed and the financial system imploded.
The Global Financial Crisis that followed exposed the fragility of a deregulated economy built on credit bubbles and concentrated risk. Millions of people lost their homes and jobs, while banks were rescued with public money. It marked an economic rupture and a moral reckoning – proof that decades of pro-market policies had produced a system that privatised gain and socialised loss.
Inequality, long growing in the background, now became a glaring, undeniable fault line in American life – and it has remained that way ever since.
Fig 5. Wealth share and income share of top 1% in the US
Sources: wealth inequality: World Inequality Database; income share: Picketty & Saez (2003). Dotted curves are conjectured based on Kuznets curve. Peng Zhou, CC BY-SA
So is the US proof that the Kuznets model of inequality is indeed wrong? While the chart above shows inequality has flattened in the US since the 2008 financial crisis, there is little evidence of it actually declining. And in the short term, while Donald Trump’s tariffs are unlikely to do much for growth in the US, his low-tax policies won’t do anything to raise working-class incomes either.
The story of “the American century” is a dizzying sequence of technological revolutions – from transport and manufacturing to the internet and now AI – crashing one atop the other before institutions, politics or social norms could catch up. In my view, the result is not a broken cycle but an interrupted one. Like a wheel that never completes its turn, inequality rises, reform stutters – and a new wave of disruption begins.
Our unequal AI future?
Like any technological explosion, AI’s potential is dual-edged. Like the Tang dynasty’s bureaucrats hoarding grain, today’s tech giants monopolise data, algorithms and computing power. Management consultant firm McKinsey has predicted that algorithms could automate 30% of jobs by 2030, from lorry drivers to radiologists.
The rise of AI isn’t just a technological revolution – it’s a political battleground. History’s empires collapsed when elites hoarded power; today’s fight over AI mirrors the same stakes. Will it become a tool for collective uplift like Britain’s post-war welfare state? Or a weapon of control akin to Han China’s grain-hoarding bureaucrats?
The answer hinges on who wins these political battles. In 19th-century Britain, factory owners bribed MPs to block child labour laws. Today, Big Tech spends billions lobbying to neuter AI regulation.
Meanwhile, grassroots movements like the Algorithmic Justice League demand bans on facial recognition in policing, echoing the Luddites who smashed looms not out of technophobia but to protest exploitation. The question is not if AI will be regulated but who will write the rules: corporate lobbyists or citizen coalitions.
The real threat has never been the technology itself, but the concentration of its spoils. When elites hoard tech-driven wealth, social fault-lines crack wide open – as happened more than 2,000 years ago when the Red Eyebrows marched against Han China’s agricultural monopolies.
To be human is to grow – and to innovate. Technological progress raises inequality faster than incomes, but the response depends on how people band together. Initiatives like “Responsible AI” and “Data for All” reframe digital ethics as a civil right, much like Occupy Wall Street exposed wealth gaps. Even memes – like TikTok skits mocking ChatGPT’s biases – shape public sentiment.
There is no simple path between growth and inequality. But history shows our AI future isn’t preordained in code: it’s written, as always, by us.
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Peng Zhou 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.
My ongoing PhD research is analysing masculinity, class and nationalism and exploring how these narratives appear in the everyday lives of men. I argue that responding to the harm that stems from these online communities requires an understanding of the manosphere as a product of a global, neoliberal, capitalist system built on inequality and division.
Neoliberalism can be described as “capitalism on steroids”. It’s a hyper-individualistic and market-driven ideology that fosters a culture of competition.
Neoliberalism encourages us to see ourselves as isolated individuals, responsible for our own success or failure. Among many other things research has shown that one of its outcomes is a profound loneliness. This is something that the manosphere exploits.
Role models are important, but the disconnect felt by so many today won’t be fixed by better role models within the same system. For example, black feminist thought, which recognises the way racism and sexism intersect and can offer extensive structural critiques, shows us that efforts to end violence against women must take place alongside work to change wider systems. So to start preventing violence we must first deal with root causes, such as poverty and inequality.
Measuring people by ‘value’
The manosphere picks up on messages around failing. Alongside hate-filled and misogynistic content, shame-based narratives from the manosphere suggest that boys and men are losers, weak and lazy if they aren’t “succeeding”. This is deeply damaging to all who find themselves drawn to such messages.
The concept of self-worth regularly appears in the manosphere, but it’s largely in relation to wealth or productivity: hustle harder, rise and grind, make money. These ideas don’t just exist in these online spaces. Similar language – self-investment, output, productivity, personal growth, efficiency – has become part of our everyday way of talking about ourselves and others.
The wellness industry promises us we can “glow up”. Self-help books and hustle culture encourage us to be better and produce more. Lifestyle influencers demonstrate how to turn our everyday existence into a marketable product.
This way of thinking turns people into products. It’s not about who you are – it’s about what you produce. Today’s far-right (of which the manosphere is part) capitalises on these ideas and the obsession with economic value.
There are versions of this aimed at women and girls, such as “cleanfluencers”, who reframe housework not only as a consumable personal brand but also as glamorous and fun.
But the hustle culture messaging central to the manosphere is particularly distinct in its hypermasculine messaging centred on “self-improvement” which advocates working harder and longer while being ruthless and dominant.
A focus on domination and individual success encourages young boys and men to see their self-worth tied up in that and that alone. This message extends beyond the manosphere and is part of the very system with which we all exist.
Resisting the system
Those captivated by manosphere narratives are victims as well as perpetrators. This doesn’t excuse their actions, or mean they shouldn’t be held accountable. How we care for each other within a capitalist society isn’t easy or straightforward.
Too often, though, discussion focuses solely on punitive responses, such as advocating for longer prison sentences. If we only focus on punishment, we miss the bigger picture. We need to find more inclusive ways of talking about, and responding to, harm – while rethinking what it means to truly care for each other.
Abolitionist movements strive to create systems which improve people’s health and safety and build a future without prisons. They seek to build responses to harm that are founded on education and community accountability – where communities take responsibility for identifying issues they need to address.
Abolitionist approaches advocate for expanding support networks and investing in resources deemed appropriate by survivors. Proposals like this work towards preventing violence. Their community focus means they address the isolating effects of neoliberalism at the same time.
We also can’t convince ourselves that once the likes of Andrew Tate and others involved in the manosphere disappear, women and girls will no longer suffer such extreme levels of misogyny and violence at the hands of boys and men.
This is because we exist within a system built on inequality and violence. It’s a system which rewards competition over cooperation, greed over care and one which is harmful to us all.
Sophie Lively receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council as part of Northern Ireland and North East Doctoral Training Partnership.
