NewzIntel.com

Category: Trade

  • MIL-OSI Video: 5th Joint BoC – ECB – NY Fed Conference – Session 6

    Source: European Central Bank (video statements)

    Session 6 – Trade, firms and expectations measurement

    Session chair: Maarten Dossche, European Central Bank

    The Causal Effects of Expected Depreciations
    Martha Elena Delgado, Inter American Development Bank
    Juan Herreno, University of California, San Diego
    Marc Hofstetter, Universidad de los Andes and CEDE
    Mathieu Pedemonte*, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland

    The Coherence Side of Rationality: Theory and evidence from firm plans
    Pamela Giustinelli* and Stefano Rossi, both Bocconi University

    A Choice-Based Approach to the Measurement of Inflation Expectations
    Olga Goldfayn-Frank*, Deutsche Bundesbank
    Pascal Kieren, Heidelberg University
    Stefan Trautmann, Alfred-Weber-Institute

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfdI2D-qE20

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI China: Shanghai boasts 998 regional headquarters of multinationals

    Source: China State Council Information Office 3

    This panoramic aerial photo taken on Jan. 10, 2023 shows a view of Lujiazui area in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone in east China’s Shanghai. [Photo/Xinhua]

    Shanghai, China’s financial hub and a popular foreign investment destination, is home to 998 regional headquarters of multinational companies at present, said the Shanghai Foreign Investment Association.

    Shanghai has over 75,000 foreign-invested enterprises, with the cumulative actual use of foreign capital reaching 350 billion U.S. dollars.

    Among them, 258 enterprises made it onto Shanghai’s top 100 rankings across four key categories in 2023, namely operating revenue, total imports and exports, tax contributions and job creation, according to the association’s announcement of the city’s top foreign-invested enterprises.

    In terms of the origin of investors, companies from the United States ranked first, with a total of 83 enterprises represented in the rankings, followed by 32 Japanese firms and 28 German companies. In 2023, Tesla Shanghai Co., Ltd. was the only enterprise to rank in the top 10 for all four categories, said the association.

    The municipal government of Shanghai issues certification to foreign companies’ regional headquarters as official recognition. In July, the certification was given to 30 regional headquarters of multinational companies and 15 foreign-funded research and development centers.

    Nearly half of them are from key industries prioritized by the city, such as electronic information, life sciences, advanced equipment, and consumption, including British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, French exhibition company GL events and global mining leader Anglo American. 

    “Shanghai is one of the most attractive destinations for foreign investment globally,” said Liu Ping, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government, describing the foreign-invested enterprises gathered in Shanghai as a key engine driving the city’s industrial upgrades and a major force in promoting technological innovation.

    Official data indicates that foreign-invested enterprises in Shanghai contribute significantly to the city’s economy, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the city’s total imports and exports, 40 percent of its industrial output, one-third of its tax revenue, one-quarter of its GDP and one-fifth of its employment.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Briefing – India’s connectivity initiatives: A multi-faceted strategy – 18-10-2024

    Source: European Parliament

    Over the past decade, corridors have occupied an increasingly important place in international connectivity initiatives. They take several forms, ranging from ‘simpler’ transport corridors to more complex economic corridors. For them to be successful, several conditions need to be in place, both relative to the participating countries and to the wider regions they connect. Once operational, they can bring various benefits to participating countries, both economic and societal. India has had a two-pronged policy in recent years. On the one hand, it is investing increasingly in national infrastructure projects, such as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor. On the other, it is part of several major international infrastructure projects. Three such projects that stand out are the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, the International North-South Transport Corridor and the more recent India-Middle East-Europe Corridor. According to experts, India’s approach towards international connectivity appears to be driven more by geostrategic sensitivities than purely economic considerations. Broadly, Delhi chooses to participate in projects that help to increase its regional and global footprint. It also takes into consideration the fact that Asia is a region with several nuclear powers, rising nationalism and the absence of a security structure. Its choices are further conditioned by Chinese initiatives in the region, US policy towards China, and developments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict between Israel and Hamas. The EU and India have long-standing diplomatic ties. In recent years, owing to both rising trade volumes and geopolitical considerations, they have increased their cooperation further. Aspects of this cooperation are the revival of negotiations on a free trade agreement, the launch of a Trade and Technology Council and the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC). Once completed, these three initiatives could bring significant synergies to the parties involved. IMEC is facing several challenges, however, both logistical and geopolitical, that could delay its implementation.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Briefing – Deepening the single market in the light of the Letta and Draghi reports – 18-10-2024

    Source: European Parliament

    Often considered the ‘cornerstone’ of European integration, the single market now serves 449 million consumers and 31 million active companies, most of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has delivered substantial economic benefits, ranging between 8 % and 9 % of European Union gross domestic product (GDP). Trade between Member States has risen steadily over the years, and today accounts for an estimated 56 million European jobs. The EU is among the largest trading blocs in the world, representing 15 % of world GDP, compared with the United States at 16 % and China at 19 %. The single market’s attractiveness for foreign businesses also serves as an important geopolitical tool, enhancing the EU’s influence amid geopolitical shifts. Recent shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, have revealed not only the single market’s vulnerability in crises, but also the extent to which the EU’s competitiveness relies on a well-functioning single market, ensuring unhindered access to the goods, services, and strategic inputs EU supply chains need. Although the single market has generally been a success, recent analyses, including those put forward by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi in 2024, clearly demonstrate that it remains highly fragmented, limiting EU companies’ ability to scale up and compete internationally, and preventing EU citizens from reaping the full benefits. For instance, 60 % of the barriers companies face today are of the same type as were already reported 20 years ago. The two reports converge on many points, not least on the need to take rapid action to deepen the single market. Advancing the single market requires action in multiple policy fields, its digital dimension gaining increasing importance in recent years. Ultimately, a well-functioning single market, fit for the green and digital transitions, new technological developments and changing geopolitical realities can be seen as central to the EU’s industrial policy.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Strike the Right Balance and Pursue High-quality Development of the Chinese Economy–Keynote Speech by PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng at the Annual Conference of Financial Street Forum 2024

    Source: Peoples Bank of China

    Distinguished Party Secretary Yin Li, Mayor Yin Yong, Mr. Wang Jiang, Mr. Li Yunze, Mr. Wu Qing, Mr. Fu Hua, Mr. Zhu Hexin, and dear guests,

    Good morning!

    It is a great pleasure to attend the Financial Street Forum. I would like to take this opportunity to exchange views with you on three issues.

    I. Progress in implementing a package of incremental monetary policies

    According to arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, financial regulators announced a package of policies to support stable economic growth on September 24. The move attracted great attention and received extensive support. The day before yesterday, the PBOC, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA), and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) organized a meeting with major commercial banks, securities firms, and fund companies to make arrangements for prompt implementation of the package of policies. Here I would like to share with you our progress in implementing relevant policies.

    In terms of the required reserve ratio (RRR) and interest rate cut, on September 27, the RRR was cut by 0.5 percentage points, the 7-day reverse repo rate was cut by 0.2 percentage points, and the medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate was cut by 0.3 percentage points from 2.3 percent to 2 percent. Based on the market liquidity before the year-end, we will further cut the RRR by 0.25-0.5 percentage points at proper time.  This morning, the commercial banks have announced to lower the deposit rates, and the loan prime rate (LPR) to be released on October 21 is also expected to drop by 0.2-0.25 percentage points. The four policies related to real estate finance have all been rolled out. Specifically, the adjustment of rates on existing housing loans is a policy to benefit people’s livelihood unveiled at the decision of the CPC Central Committee. It will benefit 50 million households, whose interest expenses will be reduced by about RMB150 billion each year. As for the two financial instruments to support stable development of the capital market, the PBOC has established a special working group together with the CSRC and NFRA. Securities, funds and insurance companies swap facility (SFISF) are now open to financial institutions for application. The policies related to special central bank lending for shares buyback and holdings increase have been officially released today for implementation.

    Since it was announced and implemented, the policy package has received positive feedback both at home and abroad. It has vigorously boosted social confidence and played an effective role in promoting stable economic and financial performance. We have taken three main factors into consideration while formulating these policies.

    First, given the current economic performance, we need to implement strong macro aggregate policies. Major problems in the current economic operation, as reflected at the macro level, are insufficient effective demand, weak social expectations and low prices. A common market view is that we need to launch strong macro policies. According to the arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, the PBOC has conducted in-depth researches and prepared policy plans in advance. Against this backdrop, the CPC Central Committee promptly made the decision to launch a package of incremental policies, which reflect its determination to secure the economy, stabilize expectations, boost consumption and benefit people’s livelihood. The market responded to the initiative positively.

    Second, the economy still faces some prominent challenges, which are mainly related to the real estate market and the capital market. Drawing on international experience and China’s practices in the past, we need to unveil targeted policies in response.

    In terms of the real estate market, the PBOC, based on its mandate, has improved four real estate finance-related policies, supporting risk defusing and sound development of the real estate market from a macro-prudential perspective.

    In terms of the capital market, the PBOC, together with the CSRC, has developed two instruments to facilitate the stable development of the capital market. The two instruments were designed completely based on market principles, and internationally there had been successful practices. Regarding the SFISF, the central bank does not provide fund support for the market directly, so it does not expand the central bank’s money supply and base money. The central bank lending for shares buyback and holdings increase is targeted. The credit funds must not enter the stock market in violation of financial regulation. This remains a red line. The two instruments showcase the efforts of the PBOC to expand and explore its mandate of maintaining financial stability. We will keep on cooperating with the CSRC to gradually improve the instruments in practice, and explore day-to-day institutional arrangements.

    Third, the central bank needs to observe and evaluate financial market risks, and adopt proper measures to cut off or moderate the accumulation of financial market risks from the perspective of macro-prudential management. Recently, the PBOC strengthened communications with the market on the long-term government bond yield. We aimed to contain the potential systemic risk derived from one-sided downward movement of long-term government bond yield driven by herd effect. The financial markets are highly sensitive, which means they rapidly react to and price in changes in policies and various factors. From a macro and in-depth point of view, the real economy and the capital market are interwoven and interactive. The valuation recovery helps the capital market to perform its functions of investment and financing. It breaks the vicious cycle of market slump and equity pledge risks, thus promoting the healthy development of listed companies, improving social expectations, and invigorating consumption and investment demand.

    II. The right balance and high-quality development of the Chinese economy

    The objective of macroeconomic adjustments is to calibrate the economic development trajectory in the short term, while that of reforms and economic restructuring focuses on the mid- to long-term, which is to achieve high-quality development and sustainable economic growth.

    Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, General Secretary Xi Jinping and the CPC Central Committee have been highlighting the importance of improving the quality and benefits of economic growth. The 19th National Congress of the CPC made it clear that the Chinese economy had been transitioning from a phase of rapid growth to a stage of high-quality development. A requisite for China to adapt to the evolution of the principal contradiction facing the Chinese society, high-quality development focuses on addressing the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development, so as to better harmonize the major ratios in the national economy.

    In physics, balance means that an object remains relatively stable under the combined action of several forces. The right balance in economic development refers to a dynamic process of the interaction and improvement of various economic structures and ratios, and it is a common phenomenon in the economic development of various countries.

    Since the beginning of this century, the global economy has gone through three major periods of right balancing in which China were deeply engaged and made active contributions.

    The first period was between 2001 and 2007. After China’s accession to the WTO, its low cost factors fully integrated into the global industrial division of labour, which effectively expanded global supply, and enhanced the production efficiency. It helped to tame the global inflation and boost economic growth.

    The second period was between 2008 and 2017. After the Global Financial Crisis, the world economy featured “three lows and one high”, namely, low growth rate, low inflation, low interest rate, and high debt level. When the global demand was dampened, China took the initiative to vigorously boost domestic demand. The efforts helped spur the world economy and avoid its deflation. During the decade, China’s contribution to the world economic growth was stable at around 30 percent.

    The third period was after the outbreak of the COVID-19. Due to supply shocks and potent demand side stimulus, the global inflation once surged and stayed elevated. While China’s supply chain system remained stable, it helped to fill the global supply gap, presenting China’s sustained contribution to bringing down inflation and achieving economic balance in the world.

    The Chinese economy has also undergone profound structural adjustments and dynamic balancing processes. In recent years, with the deepening of supply-side structural reforms, the acceleration in the establishment of a new development paradigm, and the adoption of other strategic measures, China has made continued efforts to shift its economic growth model from the traditional focus on high-speed growth to an innovation-driven, quality- and efficiency-oriented mode. As a result, the quality and efficiency of supply have been improving while the value added of high-tech manufacturing has accounted for an expanding share. With the contribution from consumption continuously on the rise, consumption, investment, and net exports made up 56 percent, 42 percent, and 2 percent of China’s GDP in 2023, respectively, as compared with the corresponding data of 49 percent, 47 percent, and 4 percent in 2010.

    To promote high-quality economic development and sustainable growth, we need to strike the right balance in economic operation from the following three perspectives.

    First, we need to strike the right balance between the pace and quality of economic growth. Given the vast size of the Chinese economy, we need to keep economic growth at a reasonable rate in order to boost employment and people’s income. As the transformation of the economic development model and economic restructuring will likely affect economic growth in the short term, we need to strike the right balance, put effort into fostering the new drivers of economic growth, and firmly support stable economic growth so as to effectively upgrade and appropriately expand China’s economic output.

    Second, we need to strike the right balance between internal and external concerns in achieving economic growth. In recent years, the Chinese economy has seen effective improvements in its external equilibrium. China’s current account surplus-to-GDP ratio, which fell from around 10 percent in 2007 to approximately 2 percent in 2011, has stayed within an internationally accepted range of 1-2 percent in recent years. Currently, as international geopolitical tensions have led to economic deglobalization, international trade politicalization and instrumentalization, the world’s sustainable economic growth and welfare growth are facing obstacles. Upholding free trade and fair competition, we will remain committed to expanding two-way opening-up, and we will make better use of both domestic and international markets as well as their resources to further enhance the international competitiveness of Chinese enterprises and to accelerate the establishment of a new development paradigm.

    Third, we need to strike the right balance between investment and consumption. During past economic cycles in the history, we have confronted economic downward pressures mainly by boosting investment and maintaining supply-side productive capacity, which has played a significant and effective role. In pursuing high-quality development, we need to follow the direction of economic restructuring to adjust investments and channel more of them to areas such as sci-tech innovation and basic livelihoods. We will continue to apply a people-centered development philosophy, focus on raising household income, optimize the structure of fiscal expenditures, enhance the social security system, and promote consumption growth, thus giving rise to a virtuous cycle in which “government encourages consumption, consumption activates markets, markets lead businesses, and businesses expand investment”.

    To achieve the right balance in the economy, we need to deal with the following priorities. First, macro economic policies should pivot from over-emphasis on investment to both consumption and investment, with more focus on consumption. Second, the relationship between government and market should be handled in a more appropriate manner, which calls for a scientific management and balance of the boundaries between government and market, and an enhanced pertinence as well as targetedness of policies regarding market concerns. Third, reform and opening-up will be further deepened to foster a favorable economic environment based on the rule of law and to create a more equitable and vibrant market environment.

    III. The positive role the PBOC plays in serving high-quality development of the economy

    The PBOC is both a financial regulator and a supervisory authority of the macro economy. Focused on the primary mandate of serving high-quality development, we will intensify the counter-cyclical adjustments of monetary policies and macro-prudential policies, and enhance the precision and effectiveness of financial support policies, so as to create a sound monetary and financial environment for the stable growth and structural adjustments of the economy. We will steadily advance the financial opening-up at a high level and strike the right balance of the economy.

    First, we will further improve the monetary policy framework. I elaborated on the framework in Lujiazui Forum in June. Today, I would like to emphasize the following points. In terms of policy objectives, we will take reasonable prices rise as an important consideration, and give a bigger role to price-based policy tools, such as interest rate. In terms of policy implementation, we will enrich the monetary policy toolbox on an ongoing basis, make good use of structural monetary policy tools, and gradually increase transactions of government bonds in open market operations. The PBOC and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) have established a joint working group, and relevant institutional arrangements will be improved continuously. In terms of policy transmission, we will continue to enhance the transparency of monetary policies, improve the independent pricing capabilities of financial institutions, and heighten consistency with fiscal policies, industrial policies, and regulatory policies, in a bid to achieve a more efficient transmission of monetary policies.

    Second, we will provide more adaptive and targeted financial services to support economic restructuring and rebalancing. We will further intensify the macro credit management, continue to promote technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, old-age finance and digital finance, and step up efforts to provide prime financial services for major national strategies, key areas and weak links. We will continue to build a financial market that is well-regulated, transparent, open, dynamic and resilient, and support developing diversified financing channels.

    The high-quality development is inseparable from sci-tech innovation. Modern sci-tech innovation projects are characterized by long investment cycle, huge investment, high risk and uncertainty. They call for diversified financial services. In particular, enterprises in seed stage and start-ups are highly reliant on equity financing. Therefore, active private equity investments (PEs) and venture capitals (VCs) are very important market participants. The PBOC will strengthen communication and cooperation with relevant authorities, improve the financial policies supporting sci-tech innovation, cultivate a financial market ecology that is conducive to sci-tech innovation, so as to continuously enhance the capacity, intensity and quality of financial support for sci-tech innovation.

    Third, we will improve the macro-prudential framework and the mechanism for systemic financial risk prevention and resolution. From a macro perspective, we will maintain a right balance between economic growth, economic restructuring and financial risk prevention, improve the system of risk monitoring, early warning and resolution, and enhance the financial stability guarantee system. We will closely watch the economic and financial performance, make timely counter-cyclical adjustments, and preemptively forestall and defuse systemic financial risks.

    Fourth, we will build a new and open financial system at a higher level. We will steadily expand the institutional opening-up of financial services and financial markets, expand the connectivity between domestic and overseas financial markets, facilitate trade, investment and financing. In line with the market-driven principle and based on the independent decision-making of market participants, we will make steady and solid progress in advancing RMB internationalization. We will take an active part in global economic and financial governance and cooperation, and promote the balanced and sustainable economic development of China and the world as a whole.

    Last but not least, I’d like to wish this forum a complete success! Thank you!

    Date of last update Nov. 29 2018

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: President of Estonia visits the WTO

    Source: World Trade Organization – WTO (video statements)

    Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala met with the President of Estonia, Alar Karis, on 17 October at the WTO. The two discussed the importance of the multilateral trading system governed by the WTO and the impact of the current geopolitical situation on global trade.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7llKbZpXMHM

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI Global: AI, cryptocurrencies and data privacy: Comparing the Trump and Harris records on technology regulation

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Anjana Susarla, Professor of Information Systems, Michigan State University

    The Federal Trade Commission is one of the main venues for government regulation of big tech and its wares. Alpha Photo/Flickr, CC BY-NC

    It’s not surprising that technology regulation is an important issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign.

    The past decade has seen advanced technologies, from social media algorithms to large language model artificial intelligence systems, profoundly affect society. These changes, which spanned the Trump and Biden-Harris administrations, spurred calls for the federal government to regulate the technologies and the powerful corporations that wield them.

    As a researcher of information systems and AI, I examined both candidates’ records on technology regulation. Here are the important differences.

    Algorithmic harms

    With artificial intelligence now widespread, governments worldwide are grappling with how to regulate various aspects of the technology. The candidates offer different visions for U.S. AI policy. One area where there is a stark difference is in recognizing and addressing algorithmic harms from the widespread use of AI technology.

    AI affects your life in ways that might escape your notice. Biases in algorithms used for lending and hiring decisions could end up reinforcing a vicious cycle of discrimination. For example, a student who can’t get a loan for college would then be less likely to get the education needed to pull herself out of poverty.

    At the AI Safety Summit in the U.K. in November 2023, Harris spoke of the promise of AI but also the perils from algorithmic bias, deepfakes and wrongful arrests. Biden signed an executive order on AI on Oct. 30, 2023, that recognized AI systems can pose unacceptable risks of harm to civil and human rights and individual well-being. In parallel, federal agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission have carried out enforcement actions to guard against algorithmic harms.

    President Joe Biden signs an executive order addressing the risks of artificial intelligence on Oct. 30, 2023, with Vice President Kamala Harris at his side.
    AP Photo/Evan Vucci

    By contrast, the Trump administration did not take a public stance on mitigation of algorithmic harms. Trump has said he wants to repeal President Biden’s AI executive order. In recent interviews, however, Trump noted the dangers from technologies such as deepfakes and challenges posed to security from AI systems, suggesting a willingness to engage with the growing risks from AI.

    Technological standards

    The Trump administration signed the American AI Initiative executive order on Feb. 11, 2019. The order pledged to double AI research investment and established the first set of national AI research institutes. The order also included a plan for AI technical standards and established guidance for the federal government’s use of AI. Trump also signed an executive order on Dec. 3, 2020, promoting the use of trustworthy AI in the federal government.

    The Biden-Harris administration has tried to go further. Harris convened the heads of Google, Microsoft and other tech companies at the White House on May 4, 2023, to undertake a set of voluntary commitments to safeguard individual rights. The Biden administration’s executive order contains an important initiative to probe the vulnerablity of very large-scale, general-purpose AI models trained on massive amounts of data. The goal is to determine the risks hackers pose to these models, including the ones that power OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT and DALL-E.

    Donald Trump departs from Washington D.C., on Feb. 11, 2019, shortly after signing an executive order on artificial intelligence that included setting technical standards.
    Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images

    Antitrust

    Antitrust law enforcement – restricting or conditioning mergers and acquisitions – is another way the federal government regulates the technology industry.

    The Trump administration’s antitrust dossier includes its attempt to block AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner. The merger was eventually allowed by a federal judge after the FTC under the Trump administration filed a suit to block the deal. The Trump administration also filed an antitrust case against Google focused on its dominance in internet search.

    Biden signed an executive order on July 9, 2021, to enforce antitrust laws arising from the anticompetitive effects of dominant internet platforms. The order also targeted the acquisition of nascent competitors, the aggregation of data, unfair competition in attention markets and the surveillance of users. The Biden-Harris administration has filed antitrust cases against Apple and Google.

    The Biden-Harris administration’s merger guidelines in 2023 outlined rules to determine when mergers can be considered anticompetitive. While both administrations filed antitrust cases, the Biden administration’s antitrust push appears stronger in terms of its impact in potentially reorganizing or even orchestrating a breakup of dominant companies such as Google.

    Cryptocurrency

    The candidates have different approaches to cryptocurrency regulation. Late in his administration, Trump tweeted in support of cryptocurrency regulation. Also late in Trump’s administration, the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed regulations that would have required financial firms to collect the identity of any cryptocurrency wallet to which a user sent funds. The regulations were not enacted.

    Trump has since shifted his position on cryptocurrencies. He has criticized existing U.S. laws and called for the United States to be a Bitcoin superpower. The Trump campaign is the first presidential campaign to accept payments in cryptocurrencies.

    The Biden-Harris administration, by contrast, has laid out regulatory restrictions on cryptocurrencies with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which brought about a series of enforcement actions. The White House vetoed the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act that aimed to clarify accounting for cryptocurrencies, a bill favored by the cryptocurrency industry.

    Data privacy

    Biden’s AI executive order calls on Congress to adopt privacy legislation, but it does not provide a legislative framework to do so. The Trump White House’s American AI Initiative executive order mentions privacy only in broad terms, calling for AI technologies to uphold “civil liberties, privacy, and American values.” The order did not mention how existing privacy protections would be enforced.

    Across the U.S., several states have tried to pass legislation addressing aspects of data privacy. At present, there is a patchwork of statewide initiatives and a lack of comprehensive data privacy legislation at the federal level.

    The paucity of federal data privacy protections is a stark reminder that while the candidates are addressing some of the challenges posed by developments in AI and technology more broadly, a lot still remains to be done to regulate technology in the public interest.

    Overall, the Biden administration’s efforts at antitrust and technology regulation seem broadly aligned with the goal of reining in technology companies and protecting consumers. It’s also reimagining monopoly protections for the 21st century. This seems to be the chief difference between the two administrations.

    Anjana Susarla receives funding from the National Institute of Health

    – ref. AI, cryptocurrencies and data privacy: Comparing the Trump and Harris records on technology regulation – https://theconversation.com/ai-cryptocurrencies-and-data-privacy-comparing-the-trump-and-harris-records-on-technology-regulation-239676

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Government of Canada invests in supply chain projects in the province of Quebec to help make life cost less

    Source: Government of Canada News

    News release

    October 18, 2024            Sorel-Tracy, Québec            Transport Canada

    The Government of Canada is investing in strategic infrastructure projects to strengthen supply chains and make life cost less.

    Today, the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transport, the Honourable Anita Anand, announced up to $38 million for seven projects under the National Trade Corridors Fund. These investments will reduce capacity constraints and bottlenecks, making it easier for goods to move quickly.

    By enhancing infrastructure and improving efficiency, these investments will also support economic growth in the province of Quebec and in the regions along the St. Lawrence River. Projects include:

    • The Montreal Port Authority will increase export capacity for Canadian containerized grains
    • QSL International Ltée will develop an industrial-port zone in the cities of Sorel-Tracy and Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel thereby increasing trade volumes
    • The Quebec Port Authority is undertaking several key projects, including:
      • Expanding the terminal storage space at Pier 103
      • Relocating essential infrastructure for the electrical supply of the L’Anse au Foulon sector (Pier 104 and 105)
      • Enhancing the capacity and efficiency of the estuary rail yard
      • Finalizing an agreement for the development of a new dry bulk and cargo terminal behind pier 108 in the Anse au Foulon sector
    • The Saguenay Port Authority will establish a new storage area in the southwest sector of the Terminal

    The Government makes investments to strengthen the country’s supply chains, promote economic growth, and enhance the opportunities for our businesses to expand into global markets, which helps make life cost less for Canadians.

    Quotes

    “By enhancing connectivity and reducing bottlenecks in Quebec and the areas along the St. Lawrence River, consumers, workers, and small businesses will benefit from efficient and reliable supply chains. This, in turn, supports economic growth and helps make life cost less for Canadians and Quebecers.”

    The Honourable Anita Anand
    President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transport

    “This conversion of a former industrial site into a port terminal is a concrete example of sustainable development that we are proud of. The financial support from the federal government is a key milestone in the completion of this project in partnership with the City of Sorel-Tracy. This new infrastructure will allow us to better serve local farmers and businesses while minimizing environmental impact thanks to innovative floating dock technology.”

    Robert Bellisle
    President and CEO of QSL

    Quick facts

    • An efficient and reliable transportation network is key to Canada’s economic growth. The Government of Canada, through the National Trade Corridors Fund, is making investments that will support the flow of goods across Canada’s supply chains.

    • The National Trade Corridors Fund is a competitive, merit-based program designed to help infrastructure owners and users invest in the critical transportation assets that support economic activity in Canada. A total of $4.1 billion has been committed to projects since 2017.

    • Through the National Trade Corridors Fund, Transport Canada is supporting improvements to Canada’s roads, rail, air, and marine shipping routes to foster domestic and international trade.

    Related products

    Contacts

    Laurent de Casanove
    Press Secretary
    Office of the Honourable Anita Anand
    Minister of Transport, Ottawa
    laurent.decasanove@tc.gc.ca

    Media relations
    Transport Canada, Ottawa
    613-993-0055
    media@tc.gc.ca

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Seven projects funded under the National Trade Corridors Fund in Quebec

    Source: Government of Canada News

    The National Trade Corridors Fund supports infrastructure projects in Canada. These projects include improvements at airports, ports, railways, transportation facilities, and access roads.

    The National Trade Corridors Fund supports infrastructure projects in Canada. These projects include improvements at airports, ports, railways, transportation facilities, and access roads. $4.1 billion has been committed to projects since 2017.

    The National Trade Corridors Fund supports projects that:

    • improve the flow of goods and people in Canada;
    • increase the flow of trade in and out of Canada;
    • help the transportation system to:
      • withstand the effects of climate change; and
      • better adapt to new technologies and innovation;
    • address the transportation needs of Arctic and northern communities.

    On October 18, 2024, the President of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transport, the Honourable Anita Anand, announced up to $38 million for seven projects under the National Trade Corridors Fund. By supporting our supply chains, the Government of Canada is ensuring that goods move faster and cheaper, making life cost less for Canadians.

    The funding recipients and project details are below.

    1. Montreal Port Authority – Increased export capacity for Canadian containerized grains
      The Government of Canada is investing $12,500,000 in this project to increase the Canest Terminal’s capacity by 20%, significantly improving its efficiency in handling goods. Additionally, the terminal will expand and optimize its operational space, substantially boosting container storage capacity. These upgrades will enable Canadian producers to expand exports to international markets by easing constraints and eliminating a major bottleneck in the supply chain.
    2. QSL International Ltée – Development of the port terminals in the cities of Sorel-Tracy and Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel
      The Government of Canada is investing $13,613,683 in this project to increase the fluidity of supply chains in the steel and agriculture sectors. By increasing the annual volume of import-export goods, it will support the local and regional economy while significantly reducing the number of days ships spend waiting offshore and the time required for unloading. Additionally, the initiative will mitigate environmental impacts by minimizing vessel diversions to other ports and decreasing the reliance on short-haul trucking.
    3. Quebec Port Authority – Increase the terminal storage space at Pier 103
      The Government of Canada is investing $1,198,185 in this project to reduce interruptions between storage areas, making operations more efficient. Warehouse 103 will serve as a backup storage area to help manage congestion in the logistics chain during busy times. Additionally, the project will help consolidate more goods at QSL terminals, especially in the agri-food, transportation, and construction industries.
    4. Quebec Port Authority – Relocation of a strategic and essential infrastructure for the electrical supply of the L’Anse au Foulon sector (Pier 104 and 105)
      The Government of Canada invested $1,638,500 in this project to increase storage capacity by approximately 3,000 m². This expansion has boosted the terminal’s overall storage capacity by about 15%, allowing it to handle new traffic while securing existing operations. Additionally, it reduces waiting times for ships unloading cargo at the terminal.
    5. Quebec Port Authority – Project to increase the capacity and efficiency of the estuary rail yard
      The Government of Canada invested $723,600 in this project to alleviate bottlenecks during peak times by creating additional space for railcars, expanding the Estuary Yard with about 380 linear meters of new track, reducing the time needed for snow clearing on the tracks, and improving unloading efficiency by minimizing operational delays.
    6. Quebec Port Authority – Agreement for the development of a new dry bulk and cargo terminal behind pier 108 in the Anse au Foulon sector
      The Government of Canada is investing $6,800,000 in this project to enhance intermodal connectivity through the construction of a new terminal that supports ship-to-truck and truck-to-ship logistics. It will also streamline operations by adding two new access roads to improve terminal and area accessibility. Additionally, the project will free up capacity at other deep-draft terminals, optimizing their use for handling and storage.
    7. Saguenay Port Authority – New storage area in the southwest sector of the Terminal
      The Government of Canada is investing $1,261,343 in this project to enhance trade flow by providing additional storage space in the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes maritime system, reducing long-distance transport needs. It will also support the logistics chain for bulk raw materials and promote short-distance maritime transport.

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI: LambdaTest Unveils Espresso 101 Certification to Enhance Android App Testing Skills Globally

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Noida / San Francisco, Oct. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LambdaTest, a leading cloud-based unified testing platform, has recently launched the Espresso 101 Certification to help developers validate their mobile application testing skills using Espresso, one of the popular testing frameworks for Android applications. This certification is designed to equip developers, testers, and quality assurance professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct efficient testing of Android applications in real-world scenarios.

    The Espresso 101 Certification offers a comprehensive practical experience that covers all aspects of mobile app testing using Espresso, from setting up the testing environment to writing robust test cases for Android applications. Users will gain a deep understanding of mobile test automation best practices through hands-on training, which includes step-by-step tutorials and real-world use cases to ensure they can effectively implement the Espresso framework in their work. Upon successful completion of the certification exam, users will receive a globally recognized certification, enhancing their professional credentials and showcasing their expertise in Android app testing.

    “As mobile applications for Android continue to dominate the software industry, the need for proficient mobile app testers is more critical than ever. The Espresso 101 Certification is part of LambdaTest’s ongoing commitment to help the global developer and testing community with the necessary tools to stay competitive in this evolving field,” said Asad Khan, CEO and Co-Founder of LambdaTest. “With this certification, we aim to bridge the skill gap and empower professionals to deliver high-quality Android applications more efficiently.“

    For more information on the Espresso 101 Certification, please visit: https://www.lambdatest.com/certifications/espresso-101

    About LambdaTest

    LambdaTest is an intelligent and omnichannel software quality assurance platform that enables businesses to accelerate time to market through AI-powered cloud-based test authoring, orchestration, and execution. Over 10,000+ enterprise customers and 2+ million users across 130+ countries rely on LambdaTest for their testing needs.

    • Browser & App Testing Cloud allows users to run both manual and automated tests of web and mobile apps across 5000+ different browsers, real devices, and operating system environments.

    • HyperExecute helps customers run and orchestrate test grids in the cloud for any framework and programming language at blazing-fast speeds to reduce quality test time, helping developers build software faster.

    For more information, please visit, https://lambdatest.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Active Citizens” have chosen the best city open-air swimming pools

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    The Active Citizen project has summed up voting results, in which Muscovites chose the best open-air swimming pools in the capital. Over 250 thousand people shared their opinions.

    All summer long, city residents could sunbathe and swim in the pools opened this year at 10 city and 12 festival sites of the Moscow Seasons. Voters chose up to five of their favorite recreation areas.

    According to the survey results, the best city venue was the open-air swimming pool in Sokolniki Park, where up to 130 guests could relax at a time, and lifeguards and doctors monitored safety. 18 percent of users voted for it. The second place was taken by the pool in Izmailovsky Park, which received 13 percent of the votes. It was rated by 63,498 city residents. In third place, with a minimal gap of 1,084 votes, was Beach No. 2 in the Serebryany Bor recreation area. 13 percent of “active citizens” (62,414 people) voted for it.

    The swimming pool in the Teply Stan district was recognized as the best at the Moscow Seasons venues. 49,743 people (11 percent) voted for it. A slightly smaller number of votes — 48,088 (11 percent) — were for the pool on Michurinsky Prospekt. Third place goes to the swimming pool in the Veshnyaki district, for which 41,246 users (nine percent) voted.

    All the areas were equipped with comfortable sun loungers and umbrellas, spacious changing rooms, showers and toilets. The water temperature was constantly maintained at around 30 degrees, and the pools were cleaned after each session. The areas were equipped with medical posts and rescue towers. Some were equipped with children’s pools and jacuzzis. The pools were open to visitors from morning until evening, and worked according to a schedule – in four shifts.

    The vote was prepared by the capital’s Department of Culture, Department of Trade and Services, Department of territorial executive authoritiesand the Active Citizen project.

    Its results can be found here on the website or in the Active Citizen mobile app.

    Project “Active Citizen” has been operating since 2014. During this time, over seven million people have joined it, taking part in more than 6.6 thousand votes. Every month, 30-40 decisions made by Muscovites are implemented in the city. The project is being developed by the capital Department of Information Technology and the State Institution “New Management Technologies”. The use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence to improve the quality of life of city residents corresponds to the objectives of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation” and the regional project of the capital “Digital Public Administration”. More information about this and other national projects implemented in Moscow can be found on a special page.

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

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://vvv.mos.ru/nevs/item/145278073/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Three UConn Business Students/Alums Helped Shape Network News, Entertainment Industry This Year

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Business student Emily Laput ’26 (CLAS) created her own marketing and consulting firm when she was in high school. That impressed interviewers at NBC Universal in New York City, and helped her capture a coveted summer internship.

    Across the city, recent alum Peter Spinelli ’24 (BUS, CLAS), is working as a production intern at ABC News. He is passionate about increasing the percentage of Gen Z adults who watch TV news.

    And alumna Emilia Kwasniak ’24 (BUS) —a self-described “theater kid” who loved the Nickelodeon show “Victorious” when growing up—is now a long-term temporary employee at the first TV channel created exclusively for kids.

    Students Eager to Apply Business Knowledge in Creative Industries

    Professor Sami Ghaddar, of the Boucher Management & Entrepreneurship Department in the School of Business, says the news and entertainment industries have become increasingly attractive to UConn students because they offer a compelling combination of creativity, adaptability, and strategic opportunity.

    “The diversity of work within these industries is undoubtedly a key factor. The ability to work across various mediums and platforms allows our students to apply their business skills in dynamic and innovative ways,’’ he says. “Moreover, the versatility of a business degree is evident in how students can navigate these rapidly changing fields, leveraging their entrepreneurial mindset to succeed in new and exciting ways.’’

    Kelly Kennedy, Director of Transformative Learning at the School of Business, agreed. She’s meeting more business students who are looking for opportunities beyond traditional employment paths, reflecting a larger generational shift toward more personally meaningful work.

    “Creative industries need to hire analytical business students who are adaptable, driven, and can navigate a fast-paced environment with ease,’’ she says. “The proximity to New York City offers UConn business students both alumni networking opportunities and access to prestigious companies, making it easier to secure competitive internships. Their success speaks to the quality of our academic and experiential programs that equip our business Huskies with the confidence, tenacity, and grit to redefine work on their own terms.’’

    Emily Laput Applied for 200 Summer Jobs

    This summer, Laput, an honors student majoring in marketing and communications, worked as a corporate communications intern at NBC Universal in New York City. But getting a dream summer internship wasn’t an easy task.

    “Professor Kennedy forced me to think about what I want to do and where I want to be. I had worked at an energy nonprofit recently and wasn’t interested in the industry, but entertainment and media offered something new every day,’’ she says. “I applied for more than 200 summer positions, including 20 at NBC Universal, all with customized applications.’’

    She got five first-round interviews at NBC Universal, two second-round interviews, and then the offer.

    Emily Laput ’26 helped promoted a new Minions movie this year (contributed photo).

    “I think what helped me stand out is that in high school I created my own marketing and consultancy firm, and I did fundraising and event planning,’’ says Laput. “Creating my own opportunities really gave me a great start. I’m a junior and I enjoy forging my own opportunities and finding a path to get ahead.’’

    One of her favorite summer tasks was helping promote a new Minions movie, “Despicable Me 4.” Prior to the movie’s release on July 3, she led the creation of a “Day in the Life of a Minion” reel. A native of Beacon Falls, Laput had been the mascot at her high school, which gave her an edge in starting the project. She created an Instagram reel that showed the Minion at the Kelly Clarkson Show, watching a movie trailer, and even buying bananas at the company commissary.

    “This job brings me so much joy, it’s so cool,’’ she said over the summer. “Who else walks into work with the Today Show filming when you enter your office? I was on the Today Show elevator and [anchor] Hoda Kotb said hello to me. That made my day, my whole summer, actually.’’

    In addition, the network partnered with America’s VetDogs to socialize a puppy named Atlas, who will soon be placed with a veteran. Laput handled Atlas’ Instagram posts. She also worked on employee engagement projects and edited the company newsletters. She says the variety of work made the days interesting.

    “When I’d walk into work every day, I’d think, ‘This job was made for me!,’” she says. Originally leaning toward event planning, she now wants to work in internal communications and employee engagement.

    Laput says she’d advise other interns not to wait around for an assignment, but instead suggest projects that interest them.

    “If you have an idea, there’s no risk in throwing it out there. If it isn’t possible, move on,’’ she says. “I think what makes me different is that I ask for work, express interest in things, like video editing, and come up with ideas. If you express your career goals clearly, it lets others know what projects you would enjoy working on, and that’s more exciting.’’

    Peter Spinelli Believes It’s Important to Be Informed 

    Only 11% of Gen Z adults routinely watch the news on television. When Spinelli discovered that fact, as part of a research project for his Content Entrepreneurship class at UConn, he was disappointed.

    “Now that I’m of voting age, I think it is important to know what’s going on in your state and in your country. I want to make sure people are watching,’’ Spinelli says. He believes that 24-hour news streaming and social media can help leverage engagement.

    He has spent the last few months working as a production intern at ABC News in New York. His team recruits on-air talent for the network and some of its affiliates. Spinelli has traveled to journalism conferences in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Austin, Texas, to connect young journalists to the company.

    Peter Spinelli ’24 added journalism courses to his academic work during his senior year (contributed photo).

    “I feel lucky to be traveling with the team. I enjoy the recruiting aspect,’’ he says. “I could see myself being with this team permanently one day. But before I do, I want to gain experience in production.’’

    Spinelli has also vetted potential employees, reviewing their reels and previous work. He has learned more about what the company seeks in on-air talent and gained insight into the decision making that goes on behind the scenes.

    “Being a younger person in the room, they would ask me who I liked and what’s  appealing to a younger person. I appreciated being included in the discussion,’’ he says.

    Spinelli, a native of Shelton, had a marketing internship at a health-insurance company, but wasn’t enamored with the work. In 2023, he pursued an internship at WTNH in New Haven, and that fueled his interest in broadcast journalism and production. He helped reporters with their scripts, edited some videos, and got a chance to try many aspects of the business.

    “I’d be at an animal shelter one day, surrounded by puppies, and at the site of a shooting the next day,’’ he says. “It was fast-paced, and I loved that it was something different every day.’’

    In addition to his coursework as a double major in management and communication, Spinelli says serving as a UConn Tour Guide and as Vice President of the Undergraduate Student Government prepared him well for his current job.

    “As a tour guide, you’re working to present UConn in a positive light and answer questions about the university,’’ he says. “On the other side, the student government is often calling on the administration to do something better. During my time there, we created a food pantry because we knew there were students who were struggling and living on ramen. I have seen both sides.’’

    “Those two jobs both involved telling the student story, from recruiting to advocacy,’’ he says. “Those two experiences prepared me for what I’m doing now, especially when it comes to being impartial and telling both sides of the story.’’

    He credits the flexibility of UConn’s academic programs for allowing him to add journalism courses during his senior year. Before graduation, he applied to 50 jobs and internships. He says he feels lucky to have been hired by ABC, which is a Disney-owned company. His job runs until January, and he would love to stay on permanently.

    One of the most surprising aspects of his job is how welcoming the talent is.

    “They are very responsive to any request. They always come up to chat and never say no to posing for a photo or appearing in a silly video that I’m making for our team’s Instagram,’’ he says. “It’s great to know they’re the people they come across as on TV.’’

    Emilia Kwasniak Enjoys the Business Side of Media

    Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., Emilia Kwasniak was a proud theater kid. One of her favorite TV shows was “Victorious,” a Nickelodeon sitcom revolving around Tori Vega, a promising talent who attends Hollywood Arts, a fictional performing arts high school.

    “It aligned well with me as a theater kid. In that show, all the performing arts kids are super cool,’’ she says, laughing.

    Kwasniak says her long-term temporary job as a media planning coordinator at Nickelodeon involves importing shows, commercials, promos, and ratings, as well as scheduling and marketing strategy. She distinguishes herself by being a quick study and a conscientious worker.

    Emilia Kwasniak ’24 is working at a place that inspired her as a child (contributed photo).

    “I’m so happy to work somewhere that impacted me as a kid,’’ she says. “It is very collaborative here and I’m working with phenomenal people. I’m very lucky.’’

    During her time at UConn, Kwasniak was an Honors student, photo producer for The Daily Campus, and Vice President of Internal Services for UConn Student Television.

    But perhaps the most impactful experience was serving as Director of Media for the HuskyTHON Miracle Network Dance Marathon, which required a year-long commitment to strategizing and executing the fundraiser’s marketing campaign, including photography, videography, and managing a team of 10 student photographers. The event raised a record-breaking $1.7 million for Connecticut Children’s Foundation.

    “Before this experience, working in the entertainment business seemed like a far-fetched dream. But HuskyTHON helped me realize that I could truly succeed in that environment. It’s the largest student-run organization on campus, so on top of the marketing experience I gained, it was also a big time commitment. I had to collaborate with a lot of people and cross-functional teams, which even included employees and families from Connecticut Children’s,’’ she says.

    “There were so many email chains, meetings, and projects that I had to shift my attention to on a daily basis, while consistently maintaining the high quality of my work, so it taught me a great deal about what a professional workplace looks like,’’ she says. “It was essentially like an internship and equipped me with all the professional skills I needed to succeed.’’

    Kwasniak’s greatest accomplishment in that role was producing the announcement video that brought the year-long campaign to life. “It surpassed 100,000 views on Instagram, which is an impressive accomplishment that helped me stand out during my Nickelodeon interview,’’ she says. “As the media planning coordinator, my role is to promote Nickelodeon’s short-and long-term campaigns on our channels, so it was helpful to mention my campaign announcement video and the tangible results that came from promoting it.’’

    Kwasniak credits a one-credit career development course she took with Kennedy for giving her a foot in the door at Nickelodeon. Kennedy had assigned the students to reach out to conduct an informational interview with someone at a company where they might want to work.

    “I knew someone who worked at Nickelodeon and asked for advice,’’ Kwasniak says. They had a great conversation, and the woman gave Kwasniak guidance to enhance her professional experiences.

    “Right before graduation, she called and asked if I’d be interested in a temporary job. I said, ‘I’m beyond interested!’’’ she recalls. “If it weren’t for that class, I wouldn’t have had the confidence to reach out and ultimately wouldn’t have the job.’’

    Kwasniak applied to UConn as a political science major, capitalizing on her love of history and social studies. But she kept exploring other options and wound up majoring in finance.

    “I realized I can work on the business side of media and entertainment. I didn’t think I could create the content, but I could certainly help put it out,’’ she says. Today she promotes events and premiers, including the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show and The Kids’ Choice Awards.

    “If I told 10-year-old me that I work at Nickelodeon now, she would probably think that I’m pranking her,’’ Kwasniak says. “As a kid, I didn’t even realize that working in entertainment was an option for me. I always had this expectation that becoming an adult and working an ‘adult job’ would be boring. Ten-year-old me would be so proud of me for finding a job that I am truly passionate about, and that I look forward to every day. And she would definitely think that I’m the coolest person in the world!’’

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: GITEX DIGI_HEALTH 5.0 Dubai showcases the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven innovations

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    • Innovators and leaders from the most influential medical labs, hospitals, healthcare institutions, research centres and academia gathered in Dubai to discuss AI opportunities
    • Neurology and remote patient monitoring were among the key topics on the agenda for discussion
    • Tech enterprises and providers showcased the most impactful digital solutions to accelerate connectivity and drive transformation

    Transformative health tech solutions were at the heart of conversations at GITEX GLOBAL’s GITEX DIGI_HEALTH 5.0 Dubai (www.GITEX.com), where thousands of tech enthusiasts and healthcare pioneers converged at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) for a day of future health discussions.

    The world’s largest tech event provided a platform to showcase the latest AI-driven digital health and health tech solutions, spotlighting innovations that are reshaping patient care on a global scale.

    The event aligns with the UAE government’s pioneering efforts to advance the digital health ecosystem, with the UAE’s digital health market projected to reach USD $487.30 million by the end of this year. The show also supports Dubai’s commitment to adopting digital practices that benefit medical professionals and patients alike.

    With AI-powered healthcare investments projected to make up 20% of global healthcare spending by year’s end, GITEX GLOBAL set the stage for industry leaders to explore how AI is revolutionising delivery and enhancing outcomes for millions of patients.

    GITEX DIGI_HEALTH 5.0 Dubai brought together global professionals and leaders to build on that figure and discuss the impact the innovative tool is having on the day-to-day operations while also providing an outlook of what the future would hold. It attracted some of the biggest names in the global landscape including labs such as Biogen, Roche and Sanofi as well as tech giants Microsoft, M42, Lenovo. Also present were established medical institutions including Samsung Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School, Roche and many more.

    Pioneering Robotic and AI in Digital Health

    The evolving role of robotics in health tech was a major focus of the showcase and conference programme. Denis Ledenkof, Founder of Robosculptor, showcased how AI-powered robotics is transforming patient care via an autonomous platform for body treatments developed by health industry experts, emphasising robotic technology is providing plenty of benefits.

    He said: “AI is a powerful tool and is leading to better patient preferences. When it comes to robotic treatments, they help improve the experience of patients by just giving them access to a wider range of therapies as well as enhancing accessibility.

    “One example that we’re using is an application that functions similarly to a taxi or delivery app where people can scan for treatments and displays the information that users would be looking for.”

    Alex Aliper, Co-Founder and President of Insilico Medicine, a Hong Kong digital health unicorn – was part of another panel that delved into genomics. He discussed how precision medicine, powered by AI, is revolutionising genetic profiles – an approach set to transform treatments for diseases previously deemed incurable.

    The future of AI in neurology

    Meanwhile, following a study which showed that AI can reduce the risk of new vascular events by 25.6% in stroke patients, Aneesh Singhal, M.D, Director, Comprehensive Stroke Center & Vice-Chair of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, gave an overview of what to expect in the field of neurology.

    In his presentation, he discussed the Golden Bridge II trial, which showed that the use of an AI-based clinical decision support system had a significantly greater impact on the number of vascular events and stroke care quality than standard care in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

    Elsewhere, Jong-Soo Choi, Chief Technology Officer at Samsung Medical Centre, one of Korea’s most renowned hospitals, shared insights into cutting-edge technologies such as Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and gene therapy and how they are setting the stage for the next wave of change.

    Smart lens among innovations unveiled

    Dubai’s own deep tech company Xpanceo made waves with the unveiling of smart contact lens for 3D imaging, and another for data reading, demonstrating wireless data transmission capabilities integrated directly into the lens. These innovations are set to redefine the boundaries of how data in real time is perceived, pushing the digital health landscape into a new era of smart diagnostics.

    Oracle Health also displayed its innovative Clinical Digital Assistant. Leveraging AI-powered driven voice recognition, the assistant autonomously documents physician-patient encounters, interprets the information, and accurately inputs a draft note into the Oracle Health EHR, allowing the physician to quickly review and approve the clinical documentation.

    GITEX GLOBAL is seamlessly connecting the world’s largest network of tech events with GITEX EUROPE Berlin, GITEX ASIA Singapore, GITEX AFRICA Morocco, and GITEX NIGERIA all part of its portfolio. These events are fostering collaboration and driving innovation to shape the tech landscape of tomorrow.

    GITEX GLOBAL this year announced the launch of GITEX DIGI_HEALTH 5.0 Expo-Summit in Thailand, from 10-12 September 2025, in a destination touted with one of the highest potentials to leapfrog the digital health industry, putting the spotlight on digital solutions to address the rising demands across Asia.

    More information on GITEX GLOBAL and to purchase passes, please visit http://www.GITEX.com

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: African Development Bank appoints Dr Kennedy Mbekeani as Director General for East Africa

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has appointed Dr Kennedy K. Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country Manager for Kenya, effective from 16 October 2024.

    Mbekeani, a citizen of Malawi has over 25 years of senior experience in development finance, project management, policy advisory services, and knowledge generation at national and regional levels.

    Prior to this appointment, he served as deputy director general for the Bank’s Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. In this  role  he led the Bank’s business development and delivery for sovereign and non-sovereign investments, and provided advisory services to South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia and Mauritius. His efforts contributed to the Bank’s reputation as a trusted partner for high impact development projects in the region. He also managed relationships with governments and the private sector.

    Mbekeani joined the Bank in 2009 as Chief Trade and Regional Integration Officer. Subsequently he has held various roles including lead regional economist, officer in charge and acting regional director respectively of the Bank’s South African Resource Centre. While serving as country manager for Uganda, he successfully expanded the Bank’s portfolio to over $2 billion.

    Before joining the Bank, Mbekeani worked for  the United Nations Development Programme as a trade, debt and globalisation advisor for East and Southern Africa. He also served as senior research fellow at the Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis, and senior economist at the National Institute for Economic Policy in South Africa.

    He holds a Bachelor of Social Science (Economics and Statistics) degree from the University of Malawi, an MPhil in Monetary Economics from the University of Glasgow, and both an MA and PhD in International Economics from the University of California. He has authored numerous publications focusing on trade, regional integration, and infrastructure development in Africa.

    Commenting on his appointment, Mbekeani said: “I am grateful and feel honoured by the confidence President Adesina placed in me through this appointment, as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office and country manager for Kenya. I look forward to working with the president, the Board of Directors, senior management, our teams and stakeholders to enhance the Bank’s operational efficiency, effectiveness and drive impactful developmental outcomes across the region.”

    President of the African Development Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr Akinwumi Adesina said: “I am delighted to appoint Dr. Kennedy Mbekeani as Director General for the East Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office, and Country manager for Kenya. Kennedy brings extensive experience in managing operations, policy dialogue, coupled with astute diplomacy and well-tested ability to work effectively with countries and development partners. His knowledge of the Eastern Africa region and well-proven experience in delivering robust operations for the public and private sectors will strongly benefit the work and operations of the African Development Bank Group in East Africa and all countries in the region.”

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Bouncing between war-torn countries: Displacement in Lebanon and Syria highlights cyclical nature of cross-border refuge

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jasmin Lilian Diab, Assistant Professor of Migration Studies; Director of the Institute for Migration Studies, Lebanese American University

    Displaced people crossing a hole on the road caused by an Israeli airstrike near the Masnaa crossing. Bilal Jawich/Xinhua via Getty Images

    The escalation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah since September 2024, and Israel’s bombing of civilian areas across Lebanon, have unleashed a profound humanitarian disaster.

    The mass displacement of over 1 million people, including Lebanese citizens, migrant workers and Syrian and Palestinian refugees, has created a crisis within Lebanon. Yet an equally significant phenomenon is occurring away from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel: the movement of people who have been displaced within Lebanon into Syria.

    An estimated 400,000 Lebanese and Syrians have reportedly fled into Syria through overcrowded border crossings.

    Not to be confused with return, this movement represents a reversal of the refugee flow that followed the descent of Syria into civil war in 2011. It is also emblematic of a broader pattern of cyclical displacement crises in the region.

    The complex and intertwined histories of Lebanon and Syria – where each has at various points been a refuge for citizens of the other – challenge the simple binaries often associated with the refugee experience.

    The exchange of roles between Lebanon and Syria highlights not only the fragility of regional stability but the fluidity of displacement – and the deeper implications that cross-border movement has on the sociopolitical dynamics of both countries.

    A history of reciprocal refuge

    The relationship between Lebanon and Syria has long been complex, oscillating between cooperation and tension. Despite Syria’s official withdrawal from Lebanon in 2005 after decades as an occupying force, the two countries remain connected due to shared borders, economic ties and security concerns. Cooperation exists in areas such as trade, but there is significant tension, especially over the presence of over 1 million Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

    Yet, throughout their modern histories, one of the most enduring bonds has been the shared experiences of displacement and refuge, dating back to Lebanon’s civil war. From 1975 to 1990, thousands of Lebanese fled to Syria to escape the sectarian-driven conflict that engulfed their homeland.

    The post-war period, however, was marked by a shift in the dynamics between the two countries. The 2005 withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon marked a new chapter in their relations.

    Tensions rose as Lebanon sought to rebuild and assert its sovereignty after nearly 30 years of Syrian occupation. Yet, the region’s tendency for upheaval soon saw the roles reversed again decades later, when an estimated 180,000 Lebanese took refuge in Syria during the 2006 July war.

    With the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011, it was Lebanon’s turn to serve as a refuge. By 2015, 1 million Syrians fleeing violence made the journey into Lebanon.

    Despite being one of the 44 countries never to have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention, Lebanon is the country hosting the largest number of refugees per capita globally.

    Because Lebanon didn’t sign the convention, it doesn’t formally recognize refugee status, which gives the country what it views as more control over its refugee policies. While Lebanon receives humanitarian support from the United Nations’ refugee agency, refugees remain in a precarious legal status, with limited rights.

    For many Lebanese, this most recent influx of fleeing Syrian refugees has rekindled memories of their own displacement, while for others, it has fueled anti-refugee sentiments.

    Bouncing between 2 war-torn countries

    With the latest escalation of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, history is again repeating itself. Lebanese citizens, primarily from Hezbollah strongholds in South Lebanon and the Beqaa Valley, are seeking refuge in Syria, a country still grappling with its own economic collapse, violence and internal strife.

    While the conflict on Lebanese territory has gone on for more than a year, movements into Syria only picked up in late September 2024 as people have become more desperate to flee.

    As one displaced person forced to flee from Beirut explained to me: “Syria was certainly not a ‘better’ option than Lebanon six months ago, but in the last week, since the attacks on Beirut and political assassinations, Syria is safer – despite everything it is going through. That’s how unsafe we feel in Beirut – we are bouncing between one war-torn country and another.”

    Implications for refugee-host dynamics

    The cyclical nature of displacement between Lebanon and Syria overturns the prevailing political narrative of host-refugee dynamics being fixed and unidirectional.

    Syrian displacement to Lebanon has been portrayed by some Lebanese politicians as one-directional. This appears to be in order to frame Syrian refugees as the sole recipients of aid – as opposed to Lebanese citizens – as well as burdens on Lebanon.

    When displacement occurs in both directions, however, this narrative begins to break down.

    Syrian refugees who once sought safety in Lebanon now see their home country as a safer haven – albeit a fragile and temporary one. Meanwhile, Lebanese citizens face the same kinds of vulnerability and desperation that their Syrian counterparts experienced over the past decade.

    Importantly, testimonies from those who are making the trip from their ‘temporary’ home in Lebanon back to Syria highlight that these movements should not be mistaken for return. Rather, they are in themselves a temporary solution.

    As one Syrian who had fled his Lebanese home explained to me: “No, I am not returning. I am rather leaving one foot in Lebanon and one in Syria. Syria is in no way a safe place. As men, we are at risk of arrest and forced conscription. However, Lebanon is momentarily, at this point in history, much less safe. We do this assessment week by week. I sent my wife and my children first. I will follow.”

    For their part, internally displaced Lebanese entering into Syria insist that these movements are “absolutely temporary.” One told me: “Syria is not foreign to us. It feels close and familiar. But most importantly, it feels temporary and is the right proximity to Lebanon. As soon as things calm down we will come back to our homes. Many of us have nothing to go back to, but even in this case, we will not remain in Syria.”

    The strain of displacement

    Both Lebanon and Syria are, in many ways, ill-equipped to handle the new wave of displacement.

    Syrian children at a refugee camp in Lebanon’s frontier town of Arsal on Feb. 18, 2014.
    Ratib Al Safadi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

    By 2023, Lebanon’s economic collapse had driven 80% of its population into poverty, making it nearly impossible to absorb the additional strain of mass internal displacement.

    Government paralysis, compounded by political deadlock, leaves internally displaced people with little to no state support, mostly relying on aid and community networks to survive.

    Syria, though in the position of “host” in this current migratory flow, is similarly constrained. The country’s infrastructure remains devastated from more than a decade of civil war. Basic services are stretched thin, and the economy has not recovered. Humanitarian organizations coordinating the response are working amid overextended resources and dwindling support.

    A region in perpetual chaos

    As the armed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah escalates, the displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria will, I fear, likely worsen.

    The recent wave of Syrian refugees and Lebanese into Syria reveals the cyclical nature of refuge in the region. Ultimately, the ongoing displacement crisis in Lebanon and Syria serves as a reminder that refuge is often temporary, contingent on the shifting geopolitics of the region.

    The histories of these two countries, where both have served as havens for the other’s displaced populations, underscore the complexity of displacement in the Middle East.

    The fact that Lebanese citizens are now seeking shelter in Syria, a country from which over 1 million refugees fled just over a decade ago, underscores the volatility of regional displacement patterns. It also raises critical questions about the sustainability of international refugee systems that too often rely on static, one-directional models of migration and don’t account for the fluid and often reversible nature of displacement.

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

    – ref. Bouncing between war-torn countries: Displacement in Lebanon and Syria highlights cyclical nature of cross-border refuge – https://theconversation.com/bouncing-between-war-torn-countries-displacement-in-lebanon-and-syria-highlights-cyclical-nature-of-cross-border-refuge-241168

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Territorial Bancorp Says Blue Hill Has Provided No Basis to Deem Its Preliminary Indication of Interest Superior

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    No Proof of Committed Financing and/or Information to Validate Its Claims that a Transaction Could Receive Regulatory Approval and Be Completed

    Hope Bancorp Merger Is the Only Opportunity that Provides Tangible Value, has a Clear Path to Close and Creates a Stronger Territorial

    Territorial Urges Shareholders to Vote FOR Hope Bancorp Merger in Advance of Special Meeting on November 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Hawai‘i Time

    HONOLULU, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Territorial Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: TBNK) (“Territorial” or the “Company”) is mailing the following letter to Territorial shareholders in connection with the Company’s upcoming Special Meeting of Stockholders (the “Special Meeting”) to vote on the proposed merger with Hope Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOPE) (“Hope Bancorp”) and related proposals. The Special Meeting is scheduled for November 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m., Hawai‘i Time. Territorial shareholders of record as of August 14, 2024 are entitled to vote at or before the meeting. Other important information related to the Special Meeting can be found at http://www.TerritorialandHopeCombination.com.

    Dear Fellow Territorial Bancorp Shareholders,

    On November 6, 2024, Territorial Bancorp is holding a Special Meeting of Stockholders (the “Special Meeting”) to vote on our pending merger with Hope Bancorp. Failure to approve the merger could have significant negative consequences for the value of your investment and Territorial’s continued success.

    Don’t be misled: Blue Hill Advisors LLC (“Blue Hill”) has only issued press releases and presentations. Blue Hill has warned that its indication of interest is “non-binding” and has provided no evidence that it would – or could – actually pay for the Company. Moreover, there are very real concerns that Blue Hill could complete a transaction at all.

    Protect your investment: The Territorial Bancorp Board of Directors strongly recommends that all Territorial shareholders vote “FOR” the Hope Bancorp merger and related proposals TODAY. Your vote is important, no matter how many, or few, shares you own.

    The Territorial Board of Directors is Committed to Doing What is in the Best Interest of Territorial Shareholders and Pursuing the Most Value Creating Path

    Blue Hill Has Provided No Information that Would Enable the Territorial Board to Deem Its Preliminary Indication of Interest Superior or Likely to Lead to a Superior Proposal

    In negotiating the Hope Bancorp merger agreement, the Territorial Board obtained important protections for our shareholders – namely a superior proposal provision. This provision enables the Board to have discussions with parties who present an alternative to the Hope Bancorp merger so long as the alternative proposal is real, fully financed and actually or likely “superior” to the Hope transaction. To meet this standard, the alternative proposal must, among other things, be more favorable to our shareholders from a financial point of view and be reasonably likely to close. Blue Hill has not met these and other thresholds.

    • No verifiable evidence Blue Hill can actually pay for your shares and fund the likely additional capital infusion into Territorial Savings Bank required with its acquisition. Blue Hill has only referenced “capital support” and pointed to its assets under management (“AUM”), neither of which are committed financing. Proving committed financing is easy so long as you have it, but Blue Hill has not provided any such evidence, which compounds doubts about its credibility and the credibility of its preliminary indication of interest. Assets under management are assets that belong to other people and Blue Hill has not shown it has any authority to access those funds to pay for Territorial.  
    • No confidence that its proposed transaction is reasonably likely to close.
      • Lack of M&A and regulatory experience: Blue Hill has made vague references to having M&A experience. However, Territorial has found no information to prove that Blue Hill has previously applied for – or secured – regulatory approvals for any transaction of this size and complexity. If Blue Hill has such a track record, where is it? 
      • Evasive about obtaining required regulatory approvals or simply ignoring them: The takeover of an entire bank, as Blue Hill is seeking, is likely a controlled acquisition under banking law. The coordinated efforts of six “discrete” investors per Blue Hill’s proposal would likely be viewed as a group that is “acting in concert,” increasing regulatory scrutiny and requirements – none of which Blue Hill has acknowledged or addressed. Nor have they offered even a guess as to how long these approvals will take.
      • Rejected by regulators: Blue Hill has refused to disclose the identity of its “discrete investors” and replacement Board and management. What is Blue Hill hiding? In addition, no information has been provided on how it would address safety and soundness issues regarding interest rate risk, liquidity, capital and earnings, which are paramount to regulators. Blue Hill’s lack of information all but ensures that regulatory applications would be rejected as soon as they were submitted.
      • Failed tender offer: Territorial has an approximately 50% retail shareholder base and a fragmented institutional investor base. Given these facts, it is highly unlikely that Blue Hill would be able to complete the 70% tender offer it has proposed.
    • No assurances that Blue Hill will stand by its price and not reduce it if the Hope Bancorp merger agreement was terminated or following its unspecified “due diligence.” Keep in mind – Hope Bancorp reduced its proposal for Territorial after conducting due diligence, and Blue Hill has explicitly stated that its indication of interest is conditioned on due diligence and is non-binding.
    • No assurances that Blue Hill won’t put its interests before your own: Blue Hill has entered into secret side agreements with its “discrete” investors. The terms of these agreements have not been disclosed and Blue Hill has not offered any governance structure, much less one that protects your interests.

    On four occasions we have publicly provided Blue Hill with a roadmap of the basic elements that need to be addressed before we would be able to engage in discussions with them under the terms of the Hope Bancorp merger agreement. Despite this, Blue Hill has repeatedly failed to provide credible and verifiable information as to these basic elements.

    Given these and other factors, the Territorial Board has not concluded that the Blue Hill proposal constitutes or is reasonably likely to lead to a superior proposal, as defined by the Hope Bancorp merger agreement. As a result, the only way to unilaterally engage in discussions with Blue Hill would be to break our obligations under the Hope Bancorp merger agreement, which would expose Territorial and our shareholders to substantial, costly litigation risk and the possibility of no transaction at all.

    Territorial Shareholders Are at Great Risk If the Hope Bancorp Merger is Terminated and the Only Strategic Alternative is Blue Hill

    The Value of Your Shares Could Decline Substantially

    • Hope Bancorp addresses Territorial’s business challenges. Blue Hill does not: While the overall market may have changed, Territorial’s business fundamentals have not. As a standalone, monoline, one- to four-family loan focused bank, Territorial faces substantial business and regulatory risks – even in a declining interest rate environment. The Company has been operating at a loss over multiple quarters; loan growth is flat; and revenues are declining.

      These and other factors led to the Board’s decision to cut Territorial’s dividend to essentially $0 and enter into the Hope Bancorp merger agreement. While our challenges would be addressed by Hope Bancorp’s larger, stronger, more diversified platform, Blue Hill offers nothing to benefit the business if the Hope Bancorp agreement is terminated. Indeed, with Blue Hill, Territorial would have the same standalone hurdles that it does today and potentially much worse.

    • With Blue Hill, the value of your shares and protection of your rights could be substantially diminished: If Blue Hill is unable to complete a 100% tender, the remaining Territorial shareholders would be left with an illiquid, stub minority investment in a controlled company and with limited rights. Stub stocks generally trade at a lower price and valuation and can be highly volatile.
    • A Blue Hill transaction would be taxable; the Hope Bancorp merger is not. Blue Hill’s tax consequences could potentially leave shareholders with less – in some cases substantially less – than the per share value Blue Hill has proposed.
    • Territorial shareholders will not immediately receive any payment for their shares while any transaction with Blue Hill is sitting in regulatory limbo. Given the time-value-of-money, delays mean that the net value of Blue Hill’s preliminary indication of interest, if completed, would be substantially less than what it has proposed. Meanwhile, your stock would remain tied up during the Blue Hill tender and could not be sold.

    The Hope Bancorp Merger Is the Best, Most Value-Creating Opportunity for Territorial Shareholders at Close and Over the Long-term

    Unlike the illusion that Blue Hill is promoting, the value creation and other benefits from the Hope Bancorp merger are real and achievable.

    • 100% tax free, stock-for-stock transaction: 0.8048 shares of Hope Bancorp for each Territorial share owned
    • ~25% premium to Territorial’s closing stock price just prior to merger announcementi
    • 1,000%+ increase to Territorial’s standalone dividend (from $0.01 to $0.11 per share)ii
    • Upside value opportunity by being invested in larger, more diversified company with a strong capital position and larger investment platform that is better positioned to navigate varying market environments
    • $10.5M of incremental value from annual merger enabled cost savings and synergies
    • Proven management team with strong record of superior value creation – total shareholder returns (“TSR”) outperforming peers
    • Choice as shareholders could also choose liquidity now if they prefer not to stay invested in the combined organization

    The merger will also create significant benefits for our customers, employees and local Hawai‘i communities. Hope Bancorp values the relationships we have established and wants to build on them.

    • We will continue to operate under the Territorial name.
    • Our local branches and operations will be led by local teams – Territorial’s customers can benefit from additional choices and rely on the same people they know and respect.
    • Employees will continue to receive competitive compensation and benefits and will have additional career opportunities.
    • We will continue to support and invest in our local communities.

    The Territorial Board Continues to Recommend that Shareholders Vote FOR the Hope Bancorp Merger

    The Territorial Board takes its fiduciary responsibilities seriously. Absent more information from Blue Hill, there is no basis to engage with Blue Hill or reach a determination that their illusory, non-binding, highly conditional preliminary indication of interest is superior, likely to lead to a superior proposal, or is in Territorial shareholders’ best interests.

    In contrast, with Hope Bancorp, we will become part of a larger, more diversified regional bank, unlocking new value creation opportunities for shareholders while building on our more than 100-year legacy of serving and supporting our local Hawai‘i communities.

    We are on a path to complete the Hope Bancorp transaction by the end of this year, subject to the condition that a majority of our shares are voted in favor of it. Your vote is important – no matter how many, or how few, shares you own. Every vote counts.

    So please, join me and the entire Territorial Board and management team by voting FOR the Hope Bancorp merger by internet, phone or mail today.

    Sincerely

    Allan S. Kitagawa
    Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

    Your Vote Is Important, No Matter How Many or How Few Shares You Own!
    Please take a moment to vote FOR the proposals set forth on the enclosed proxy card — by Internet, telephone toll-free or by signing, dating and returning the enclosed proxy card or voting instruction form. Vote well in advance of the Special Meeting on November 6, 2024 at 8:30 a.m. Hawaiʻi Time. 

    If you have questions about how to vote your shares, please contact: 
    Laurel Hill Advisory Group 

    Call toll-free: (888) 742-1305
    Banks and brokers should call: (516) 933-3100
    Email: info@laurelhill.com


    About Us

    Territorial Bancorp Inc., headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, is the stock holding company for Territorial Savings Bank. Territorial Savings Bank is a state-chartered savings bank which was originally chartered in 1921 by the Territory of Hawaiʻi. Territorial Savings Bank conducts business from its headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and has 28 branch offices in the state of Hawaiʻi. For additional information, please visit https://www.tsbhawaii.bank/.

    Additional Information about the Hope Merger and Where to Find It

    In connection with the proposed Hope Merger, Hope has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) a Registration Statement on Form S-4, containing the Proxy Prospectus, which has been mailed or otherwise delivered to Territorial’s stockholders on or about August 29, 2024, as supplemented September 12, 2024. Hope and Territorial may file additional relevant materials with the SEC. INVESTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY PROSPECTUS, AND ANY OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT ARE FILED OR FURNISHED OR WILL BE FILED OR FURNISHED WITH THE SEC, AS WELL AS ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS TO THOSE DOCUMENTS, CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN OR WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION AND RELATED MATTERS. You may obtain any of the documents filed with or furnished to the SEC by Hope or Territorial at no cost from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Some statements in this news release may constitute 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 relate to, among other things, expectations regarding the low-cost core deposit base, diversification of the loan portfolio, expansion of market share, capital to support growth, strengthened opportunities, enhanced value, geographic expansion, and statements about the proposed transaction being immediately accretive. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words “will,” “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates” or similar expressions. With respect to any such forward-looking statements, Territorial Bancorp claims the protection provided for in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties. Hope Bancorp’s actual results, performance or achievements may differ significantly from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. The closing of the proposed transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, the approval of Territorial Bancorp stockholders, and other customary closing conditions. There is no assurance that such conditions will be met or that the proposed merger will be consummated within the expected time frame, or at all. If the transaction is consummated, factors that may cause actual outcomes to differ from what is expressed or forecasted in these forward-looking statements include, among things: difficulties and delays in integrating Hope Bancorp and Territorial Bancorp and achieving anticipated synergies, cost savings and other benefits from the transaction; higher than anticipated transaction costs; deposit attrition, operating costs, customer loss and business disruption following the merger, including difficulties in maintaining relationships with employees and customers, may be greater than expected; and required governmental approvals of the merger may not be obtained on its proposed terms and schedule, or without regulatory constraints that may limit growth. Other risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: possible further deterioration in economic conditions in Hope Bancorp’s or Territorial Bancorp’s areas of operation or elsewhere; interest rate risk associated with volatile interest rates and related asset-liability matching risk; liquidity risks; risk of significant non-earning assets, and net credit losses that could occur, particularly in times of weak economic conditions or times of rising interest rates; the failure of or changes to assumptions and estimates underlying Hope Bancorp’s or Territorial Bancorp’s allowances for credit losses; potential increases in deposit insurance assessments and regulatory risks associated with current and future regulations; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Hope Bancorp or Territorial Bancorp; the risk that any announcements relating to the proposed transaction could have adverse effects on the market price of the common stock of either or both parties to the proposed transaction; and diversion of management’s attention from ongoing business operations and opportunities. For additional information concerning these and other risk factors, see Hope Bancorp’s and Territorial Bancorp’s most recent Annual Reports on Form 10-K. Hope Bancorp and Territorial Bancorp do not undertake, and specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of events or circumstances after the date of such statements except as required by law.

    Investor / Media Contacts:
    Walter Ida
    SVP, Director of Investor Relations
    808-946-1400
    walter.ida@territorialsavings.net

                                                                    

    i Based on Territorial and Hope Bancorp’s closing prices as of 4/26/24 (day before merger announcement)
    ii Based on 0.8048 fixed exchange ratio and Hope Bancorp’s $0.14 current per share dividend

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: LanzaTech Awarded $3 Million from U.S. Department of Energy to Advance Conversion of Waste CO2 into Valuable Chemicals

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) (“LanzaTech” or the “Company”), the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein, has been awarded $3 million by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), as part of a broader $29 million investment program to advance its carbon management priorities. LanzaTech’s Project ADAPT (“Accelerating Decarbonization via Advanced Production Technologies”) was selected to address FECM’s priority of converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into environmentally responsible and economically valuable products.

    LanzaTech’s Project ADAPT builds upon the Company’s existing capabilities of using CO2 as a feedstock to produce isopropanol at a pilot scale and aims to advance the process and platform with the following key focus areas:

    1. Versatility in Feedstock Use: Enhancing the platform’s ability to process a range of gas mixes with CO2
    2. Microbial Strain Optimization: Employing advanced gene-editing techniques to develop tailored microbial production strains for making isopropanol and other prevalent chemicals
    3. Cost and Efficiency Improvements: Refining the end-to-end process to be more cost-effective, efficient, and more robust

    Isopropanol is a common alcohol used in an array of everyday products such as cleaning agents and is also a precursor to the propylene value chain. Propylene, which is a building block for packaging, medical supplies, automotive products, among many other applications, has a thriving demand market that is projected to approach $150 billion and 180 million tons by 2030. Importantly, isopropanol production has the ability to achieve greenhouse gas savings of over 200% when produced from recycled CO2 instead of fossil carbon, and a non-fossil commercial production pathway does not exist today.

    Project ADAPT will primarily be funded by the FECM investment of $3 million and includes a Company funded cost share portion of approximately $0.8 million, totaling an estimated project cost of $3.8 million. Revenue and costs related to this project will be reported as Joint Development Agreement and Contract Research results for LanzaTech, and the majority of revenue is expected to be received and benefit financial results in 2025 and 2026.

    “We are thrilled to receive this support from the U.S. Department of Energy to progress our work around scaling the conversion of waste CO2 to make some of the world’s most needed chemicals,” said Dr. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “CO2 is an essential feedstock of today and the future, and Project ADAPT leverages our expertise and existing operations to accelerate the commercialization of transformational carbon capture and utilization technologies that deliver cleaner and more sustainable energy and products.”

    The projects supported by FECM’s investment program are in keeping with the Biden-Harris Administration’s aggressive climate ambitions of reaching a carbon-neutral power sector by 2035 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

    About LanzaTech
    LanzaTech Global, Inc. (NASDAQ: LNZA) is the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein for everyday products. Using its biorecycling technology, LanzaTech captures carbon generated by energy-intensive industries at the source, preventing it from being emitted into the air. LanzaTech then gives that captured carbon a new life as a clean replacement for virgin fossil carbon in everything from household cleaners and clothing fibers to packaging and fuels. By partnering with companies across the global supply chain like ArcelorMittal, Zara, H&M Move, Coty, On, and LanzaJet, LanzaTech is paving the way for a circular carbon economy. For more information about LanzaTech, visit https://lanzatech.com.

    Forward Looking Statements
    This press release includes forward-looking statements regarding, among other things, the plans, strategies, and prospects, both business and financial, of LanzaTech. These statements are based on the beliefs, assumptions, projections and conclusions of LanzaTech’s management. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, many of which are outside LanzaTech’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. LanzaTech cannot assure you that it will achieve or realize these plans, intentions or expectations. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and you should not rely on forward-looking statements.

    Generally, statements that are not historical facts, including those concerning possible or assumed future actions, business strategies, events or results of operations, are forward-looking statements. These statements may be preceded by, followed by or include the words “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “plans,” “scheduled,” “anticipates,” “intends” or similar expressions. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, the following:

    • Timing delays in the advancement of projects to the final investment decision stage or into construction;
    • Failure by customers to adopt new technologies and platforms;
    • Fluctuations in the availability and cost of feedstocks and other process inputs; • The availability and continuation of government funding and support;
    • Broader economic conditions, including inflation, interest rates, supply chain disruptions, employment conditions, and competitive pressures;
    • Unforeseen technical, regulatory, or commercial challenges in scaling proprietary technologies, business functions or operational disruptions; and
    • Other economic, business, or competitive factors, and other risks and uncertainties, including the risk factors and other information contained in LanzaTech’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, as well as other existing and future filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

    Any forward-looking statement herein is based only on information currently available to LanzaTech and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. LanzaTech undertakes no obligations to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

    LanzaTech Global, Inc.

    Investor Relations
    Kate Walsh
    VP, Investor Relations & Tax
    Investor.Relations@lanzatech.com

    Media Relations
    Kit McDonnell
    Director of Communications
    press@lanzatech.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Polytechnicians at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    Last week, the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum 2024 (SPIGF-2024) was held at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre, in the exhibition and scientific-business programme of which the Polytechnic University traditionally takes an active part.

    The forum visitors were able to get to know the university better in the Polytechnic’s unified catalogue. More than eight pages were devoted to the main areas of activity of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Transport.

    SPIGF is one of the key global events in the gas industry. The participation of Polytechnic divisions in the exhibition program of the forum opened up a wide range of opportunities for meeting potential customers and exchanging experience, says Anatoly Popovich, Director of IMMiT.

    Specialists from the Laser and Additive Technologies Research Laboratory (LIAT) at IMMiT presented their developments at the Polytechnic stand: components of the hot tract of gas turbine engines repaired by laser cladding, 7 and 10 mm thick samples welded in one pass without edge preparation using laser welding and hybrid laser-arc welding, and the mobile laser cladding complex “Nomad”, designed to restore large-sized products on the customer’s premises.

    If for some reason the enterprise cannot bring the product to the laboratory, then its specialists go to the site with a mobile complex. At the moment, they have already restored four rotors of the GTK-10-4 gas pumping units. In the laboratory itself, the “Nomad” is also used for laser welding and restoration of smaller products.

    The forum’s rich program brought together all the most advanced and significant areas of the industry. The opportunity to present the developments of the research laboratory at the forum made a significant contribution to determining the optimal scenarios for the further development vector of the division, – shared Mikhail Kuznetsov, head of the Scientific Research Laboratory “LiAT” of IMMIT SPbPU.

    The Institute of Industrial Management, Economics and Trade presented educational programs created and implemented in partnership with PJSC Gazprom and its subsidiaries at the SPbPU exhibition stand: two master’s programs and two programs of additional professional education. The master’s program “IT Economics and Business Analysis” is a corporate master’s program of the university and Gazprom Neft, aimed at training specialists in the field of business analysis. This master’s program is reinforced by modules of specialized focus and project activities within the framework of research work built on business cases of Gazprom Neft. At the forum, we productively discussed with our partners strategic plans for the development of new corporate educational programs and other areas of joint activity taking into account current changes in the economy, – said Irina Rudskaya, Director of the Scientific and Educational Center for Information Technology and Business Analysis of Gazprom Neft.

    The Master’s program “Human Resources Management and Organizational Development”, created and implemented jointly with Gazprom Gazifikatsiya with the information and status support of the presidential platform of the ANO “Russia – Country of Opportunities”, was presented by the Higher School of Industrial Management of IPMEiT. The program was developed based on practical tasks and requests of the university’s corporate partners and is aimed at training specialists capable of implementing organizational design at all stages of the company’s life cycle, forming the company’s HR brand, developing and implementing a human resource management strategy based on building individual personnel development trajectories.

    This year, together with our partners Gazprom Gazifikatsiya, Gazprom Pitanie and the Russia — Land of Opportunities platform, with grant support from Gazprom, we created six online courses that we modularly integrated into the program’s curriculum, explained Olga Kalinina, Director of the Higher School of Industrial Management.

    Based on the created online courses, IPMEiT also presented two continuing education programs on motivation, personnel selection and personnel branding, developed for specialists in the field of HR management and heads of structural divisions of the oil and gas and energy industries. The presentation of the continuing education programs was attended by a student of the master’s program “Digital Business Management”, specialist of the personnel efficiency support group of Gazprom Neft exploration and production Ekaterina Khodarkevich, and a student of the bachelor’s program “Oil and Gas Enterprise Management”, an employee of the marketing department of Gazpromneft-SM Daniil Guryev.

    Professor of the Higher School of Industrial Management Alexander Ilyinsky took part in the round table of the Energy Initiative “International Business Congress” on the topic “Promising technologies for monetizing natural gas and ensuring energy security”. Alexander Ilyinsky also held business negotiations with the General Director of Gazprom Flot Yuri Shamalov, where they discussed promising areas of cooperation in the field of educational and scientific activities.

    Aleksandr Volkov, a practicing teacher, associate professor at the Higher School of Industrial Management, and CEO of the Grand Media Service communications agency, moderated the conference “Gas Industry Companies in New Realities: How to Be Most Effective in PR and Digital Communications?” and gave a presentation on a proven tool for comprehensive promotion in the gas industry, Public Performance. Among the audience were students from the Higher School of Industrial Management studying in the educational programs “Marketing” and “Oil and Gas Enterprise Management”.

    Students of the Higher School of Engineering and Economics took part in the round table “Distributed generation as a solution to the problems of energy-deficient regions”, where the prospects for implementing innovative solutions for distributed generation were discussed: own generation of electricity and heat supply.

    Students of the Higher School of Administrative Management, led by the head of the IPMEiT Directorate, Associate Professor of the Higher School of Administrative Management Maxim Ivanov, attended the conference “New Technologies for the Oil and Gas Industry”, the panel session “Technological Leadership: New Horizons” and the round table “Current Issues of Legislative Support for the Oil and Gas Industry”. They got acquainted with samples of modern equipment and advanced technologies at the RosGazExpo exhibition, an exposition of the subjects of the Russian Federation, which presented projects demonstrating their potential in the oil and gas sector.

    Such forums captivate with their scale and friendly, but at the same time businesslike atmosphere. The stand of the Polytechnic University stood out from the rest and attracted many visitors, it was impressive. We went around the stands that were related not only to the oil and gas industry, but also to the agricultural, transport industry and to the specialization of various regions of Russia. We learned that many representatives of large companies are graduates of the Polytechnic University, and, of course, they were happy to tell us about their work, – the students of the Higher School of Economics shared their impressions.

    Students of the Higher School of Industrial Management of the educational programs “Industrial Management (Energy)” and “Management of Oil and Gas Enterprises” together with teachers Olga Konovalova and Vyacheslav Melekhin participated in the round table “Union of Science and Industry in the Transformation of the World Energy Market”, where current issues and trends in the development of the international energy market, transformation of the gas market, the role of international cooperation and joint educational programs were discussed.

    The Gas Forum is certainly a large-scale event that has become a platform for demonstrating the technological and innovative capabilities of the domestic industry. For our students, this is an invaluable experience of participating in one of the most important events in the Russian economy, says Olga Konovalova, associate professor at the Higher School of Management and Management.

    Students of IPMEiT demonstrated significant results in the Virtual Academy from Gazprom. From June 3 to July 15, as part of the preparation for the SPIGF-2024 Youth Day, an educational program and selection round of the Virtual Academy project were held. This year, more than 130 candidates from 30 countries representing 45 universities participated in it. The Virtual Academy program included lectures in English by leading experts and scientists in the field of energy and information technology. Participants completed individual tasks and submitted them for expert assessment. As a result of the competitive selection, only 30 candidates with the best results received an invitation to the Youth Day. Among them, three students of the Higher School of Industrial Management: Nikita Kuznetsov and Leonid Alkhimovich (Bachelor’s program “International Business”) and Arab Yusof Abad Mohammad (international program “Development of International Business”). Moreover, Nikita Kuznetsov’s team, where he was the captain, took first place based on the results of participation in the case.

    This year, our institute made its small contribution to the work of the Polytechnic University at the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum. We prepared for individual events in advance, planned the participation of both adult colleagues-teachers and students. We paid special attention to the preparation of those students who already work in oil and gas and energy companies, undergo practical training or internships there, – noted the director of IPMEiT Vladimir Shchepinin.

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

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://vvv.spbstu.ru/media/nevs/partnership/polytechnics-at-the-Petersburg-international-gas-forum/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Training course on market access for governments acceding to WTO concludes in Geneva

    Source: WTO

    Headline: Training course on market access for governments acceding to WTO concludes in Geneva

    The governments represented were Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Belarus, Bhutan, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Participants were given guidance on how to prepare initial goods offers, consolidate bilateral market access agreements and verify schedules of concessions and commitments on goods.
    Speaking at the opening session, the Director of the WTO Accessions Division Maika Oshikawa emphasised the importance of the training programme in strengthening acceding governments’ negotiation capacities. “Managing market access negotiations on goods alone can be a challenging task, even for the biggest economies with capacities,” she told participants. “This training is designed not only to equip you to start negotiations but, more importantly, to successfully conclude them.”
    The curriculum included lectures and interactive exercises organized by WTO experts. A roundtable took place with representatives of selected WTO members active in accessions and another with negotiators from recently acceded governments. The objective was to gain insights on market access negotiations with specific WTO members, known as “bilateral negotiations”. Participants also simulated the negotiation of bilateral market access agreements on goods.
    Participating in the course was Bokhodirjon Bobokulov, Chief Inspector at Uzbekistan’s State Customs Committee, who said: “I gained practical knowledge on negotiating market access, analysing non-tariff barriers and aligning trade policies with WTO principles. This training has equipped me with essential tools to engage more effectively in international trade discussions.”
    Another course participant, Sharmarke Abdi Jama, Senior Trade Advisor in the Office of the President of Somalia, underlined the importance of preparation and strategy in market access negotiations: “The course significantly enhanced my understanding of tariff schedules and taught me how to find a balance when it comes to stakeholders’ interests in the negotiations, while also aligning with global trade rules. The combination of theoretical insights and practical exercises will be particularly beneficial to my work.”
    Also taking part in the course was Diveen Abduraheem, Head of the Trade in Goods Division at Iraq’s Ministry of Trade. Underscoring the comprehensive nature of the training programme, she stressed: “Through this course, I improved my understanding of WTO rules and trade agreements. It enhanced my negotiation skills and taught me how to analyse trade data effectively. Overall, the course has prepared me for real-world trade negotiations.”
    A training course on navigating WTO rules in accession negotiations took place in December 2023.

    Share

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI: YieldMax™ ETFs Announces Distributions on FIAT (105.76%), CONY (101.35%), ULTY (100.99%), YMAX (51.97%), YMAG (62.33%) and Others

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    CHICAGO and MILWAUKEE and NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — YieldMax™ today announced distributions for the YieldMax™ ETFs listed in the table below.

    ETF
    Ticker    1    		 ETF Name Reference
    Asset    		 Distribution
    per Share    		 Distribution
    Frequency    		 Distribution
    Rate    2,4,5    		 30-Day
    SEC Yield    3    		 Ex-Date &
    Record Date    		 Payment
    Date
    YMAX YieldMax™ Universe Fund of Option Income ETFs Multiple $0.1747 Weekly 51.97% 62.93% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    YMAG YieldMax™ Magnificent 7 Fund of Option Income ETFs Multiple $0.2261 Weekly 62.33% 50.85% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    CONY YieldMax™ COIN Option Income Strategy ETF COIN $1.1098 Every 4 Weeks 101.35% 3.70% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    FIAT   YieldMax™ Short COIN Option Income Strategy ETF COIN $1.4513 Every 4 Weeks 105.76% 3.22% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    MSFO YieldMax™ MSFT Option Income Strategy ETF MSFT $0.5077 Every 4 Weeks 33.76% 3.33% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    AMDY YieldMax™ AMD Option Income Strategy ETF AMD $0.9212 Every 4 Weeks 84.48% 3.24% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    NFLY YieldMax™ NFLX Option Income Strategy ETF NFLX $0.7929 Every 4 Weeks 59.84% 3.45% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    ABNY YieldMax™ ABNB Option Income Strategy ETF ABNB $0.8003 Every 4 Weeks 61.67% 2.84% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    PYPY YieldMax™ PYPL Option Income Strategy ETF PYPL $1.1042 Every 4 Weeks 75.73% 2.94% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    ULTY YieldMax™ Ultra Option Income Strategy ETF Multiple $0.8267 Every 4 Weeks 100.99% 0.00% 10/17/2024 10/18/2024
    Scheduled for next week: YMAX YMAG MSTY YQQQ AMZY APLY AIYY DISO SQY SMCY


    The performance data quoted above represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor’s shares, when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted above. Performance current to the most recent month-end can be obtained by calling     (833) 378-0717.

    Note: DIPS, FIAT, CRSH and YQQQ are hereinafter referred to as the “Short ETFs”.

    Distributions are not guaranteed.   The Distribution Rate and 30-Day SEC Yield are not indicative of future distributions, if any, on the ETFs. In particular, future distributions on any ETF may differ significantly from its Distribution Rate or 30-Day SEC Yield. You are not guaranteed a distribution under the ETFs. Distributions for the ETFs (if any) are variable and may vary significantly from period to period and may be zero. Accordingly, the Distribution Rate and 30-Day SEC Yield will change over time, and such change may be significant.

    Investors in the Funds will not have rights to receive dividends or other distributions with respect to the underlying reference asset(s).

    1All YieldMax™ ETFs (except YMAX,YMAG and ULTY) have a gross expense ratio of 0.99%. YMAX and YMAG have a Management Fee of 0.29% and Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses of 0.99% for a gross expense ratio of 1.28%. “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses” are indirect fees and expenses that the Fund incurs from investing in the shares of other investment companies, namely other YieldMax™ ETFs. ULTY has a gross expense ratio of 1.24% but the investment adviser has agreed to a 0.10% fee waiver through at least February 28, 2025.

    2The Distribution Rate shown is as of close on October 15, 2024. The Distribution Rate is the annual distribution rate an investor would receive if the most recent distribution, which includes option income, remained the same going forward. The Distribution Rate is calculated by annualizing an ETF’s Distribution per Share and dividing such annualized amount by the ETF’s most recent NAV. The Distribution Rate represents a single distribution from the ETF and does not represent its total return. Distributions may also include a combination of ordinary dividends, capital gain, and return of investor capital, which may decrease an ETF’s NAV and trading price over time. As a result, an investor may suffer significant losses to their investment. These Distribution Rates may be caused by unusually favorable market conditions and may not be sustainable. Such conditions may not continue to exist and there should be no expectation that this performance may be repeated in the future.

    3 The 30-Day SEC Yield represents net investment income, which excludes option income, earned by such ETF over the 30-Day period ended September 30. 2024, expressed as an annual percentage rate based on such ETF’s share price at the end of the 30-Day period. As of such date, the ULTY subsidized and unsubsidized 30-Day SEC Yields were 0.00% and 0.00%, respectively. The subsidized yield reflects fee waivers in effect while the unsubsidized yield does not adjust for any fee waivers in effect.

    4 Each ETF’s strategy (except those of the Short ETFs) will cap potential gains if its reference asset’s shares increase in value, yet subjects an investor to all potential losses if the reference asset’s shares decrease in value. Such potential losses may not be offset by income received by the ETF. Each Short ETF’s strategy will cap potential gains if its reference asset decreases in value, yet subjects an investor to all potential losses if the reference asset increases in value. Such potential losses may not be offset by income received by the ETF.

    5 As of the date hereof, distributions for the following ETFs have included return of investor capital: TSLY, OARK, APLY, AMZY, NVDY, GOOY, JPMO, XOMO, PYPY, CONY, DISO, FBY, MSFO, NFLY, SQY, AMDY, MRNY, AIYY, MSTY, ULTY, YMAX, YMAG, YBIT, SNOY, CRSH,GDXY and FIAT. For additional information, please visit http://www.YieldMaxETFs.com/TaxInfo.

    Each Fund has a limited operating history and while each Fund’s objective is to provide current income, there is no guarantee the Fund will make a distribution. Distributions are likely to vary greatly in amount.

    Standardized Performance

    For YMAX, click here. For YMAG, click here. For TSLY, click here. For OARK, click here. For APLY, click here. For NVDY, click here. For AMZY, click here. For FBY, click here. For GOOY, click here. For NFLY, click here. For CONY, click here. For MSFO, click here. For DISO, click here. For XOMO, click here. For JPMO, click here. For AMDY, click here. For PYPY, click here. For SQY, click here. For MRNY, click here. For AIYY, click here. For MSTY, click here. For ULTY, click here. For YBIT, click here. For CRSH, click here. For GDXY, click here. For SNOY, click here. For ABNY, click here. For FIAT, click here. For DIPS, click here. For BABO, click here. For YQQQ, click here. For TSMY, click here. For SMCY, click here. For PLTY, click here

    Prospectuses

    Click here.

    Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information are in the prospectus. Please read the prospectuses carefully before you invest.

    There is no guarantee that any Fund’s investment strategy will be properly implemented, and an investor may lose some or all of its investment in any such Fund.

    Tidal Financial Group is the adviser for all YieldMax™ ETFs and ZEGA Financial is their sub-adviser.

    THE FUND, TRUST, AND SUB-ADVISER ARE NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY UNDERLYING REFERENCE ASSET.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable to all YieldMax ETFs referenced above, except the Short ETFs)

    YMAX and YMAG generally invest in other YieldMax™ ETFs. As such, these two Funds are subject to the risks listed in this section, which apply to all the YieldMax™ ETFs they may hold from time to time.

    Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

    Call Writing Strategy Risk. The path dependency (i.e., the continued use) of the Fund’s call writing strategy will impact the extent that the Fund participates in the positive price returns of the underlying reference asset and, in turn, the Fund’s returns, both during the term of the sold call options and over longer time periods.

    Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in options contracts. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including options, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearing house, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members.

    Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions.

    Options Contracts. The use of options contracts involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, including the anticipated volatility, which are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political, changes in the actual or implied volatility or the reference asset, the time remaining until the expiration of the option contract and economic events.

    Distribution Risk. As part of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund seeks to provide current income. There is no assurance that the Fund will make a distribution in any given period. If the Fund does make distributions, the amounts of such distributions will likely vary greatly from one distribution to the next.

    High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings.

    Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund, including options contracts, may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil.

    Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund.

    New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

    Price Participation Risk. The Fund employs an investment strategy that includes the sale of call option contracts, which limits the degree to which the Fund will participate in increases in value experienced by the underlying reference asset over the Call Period.

    Single Issuer Risk. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment in the Fund to be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment which diversifies risk or the market generally. The value of the Fund, which focuses on an individual security (ARKK, TSLA, AAPL, NVDA, AMZN, META, GOOGL, NFLX, COIN, MSFT, DIS, XOM, JPM, AMD, PYPL, SQ, MRNA, AI, MSTR, Bitcoin ETP, GDX®, SNOW, ABNB, BABA, TSM, SMCI, PLTY), may be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole.

    Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions, if any, may decline.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable only to BABO and TSMY)

    Currency Risk: Indirect exposure to foreign currencies subjects the Fund to the risk that currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar. Currency rates in foreign countries may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates and the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

    Depositary Receipts Risk: The securities underlying BABO and TSMY are American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”). Investment in ADRs may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market.

    Foreign Market and Trading Risk: The trading markets for many foreign securities are not as active as U.S. markets and may have less governmental regulation and oversight.

    Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers involve certain risks that may not be present with investments in securities of U.S. issuers, such as risk of loss due to foreign currency fluctuations or to political or economic instability, as well as varying regulatory requirements applicable to investments in non-U.S. issuers. There may be less information publicly available about a non-U.S. issuer than a U.S. issuer. Non-U.S. issuers may also be subject to different regulatory, accounting, auditing, financial reporting and investor protection standards than U.S. issuers.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable only to GDXY)

    Risk of Investing in Foreign Securities. The Fund is exposed indirectly to the securities of foreign issuers selected by GDX®’s investment adviser, which subjects the Fund to the risks associated with such companies. Investments in the securities of foreign issuers involve risks beyond those associated with investments in U.S. securities.

    Risk of Investing in Gold and Silver Mining Companies. The Fund is exposed indirectly to gold and silver mining companies selected by GDX®’s investment adviser, which subjects the Fund to the risks associated with such companies.

    The Fund invests in options contracts based on the value of the VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX®), which subjects the Fund to some of the same risks as if it owned GDX®, as well as the risks associated with Canadian, Australian and Emerging Market Issuers, and Small-and Medium-Capitalization companies.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable only to YBIT)

    YBIT does not invest directly in Bitcoin or any other digital assets. YBIT does not invest directly in derivatives that track the performance of Bitcoin or any other digital assets. YBIT does not invest in or seek direct exposure to the current “spot” or cash price of Bitcoin. Investors seeking direct exposure to the price of Bitcoin should consider an investment other than YBIT.

    Bitcoin Investment Risk: The Fund’s indirect investment in Bitcoin, through holdings in one or more Underlying ETPs, exposes it to the unique risks of this emerging innovation. Bitcoin’s price is highly volatile, and its market is influenced by the changing Bitcoin network, fluctuating acceptance levels, and unpredictable usage trends.

    Digital Assets Risk: Digital assets like Bitcoin, designed as mediums of exchange, are still an emerging asset class. They operate independently of any central authority or government backing and are subject to regulatory changes and extreme price volatility. Potentially No 1940 Act Protections. As of the date of this Prospectus, there is only a single eligible Underlying ETP, and it is an investment company subject to the 1940 Act.

    Bitcoin ETP Risk: The Fund invests in options contracts that are based on the value of the Bitcoin ETP. This subjects the Fund to certain of the same risks as if it owned shares of the Bitcoin ETP, even though it does not. Bitcoin ETPs are subject, but not limited, to significant risk and heightened volatility. An investor in a Bitcoin ETP may lose their entire investment. Bitcoin ETPs are not suitable for all investors. In addition, not all Bitcoin ETPs are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940. Those Bitcoin ETPs that are not registered under such statute are therefore not subject to the same regulations as exchange traded products that are so registered.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable only to the Short ETFs)

    Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

    Price Appreciation Risk. As part of the Fund’s synthetic covered put strategy, the Fund purchases and sells call and put option contracts that are based on the value of the underlying reference asset. This strategy subjects the Fund to certain of the same risks as if it shorted the underlying reference asset, even though it does not. By virtue of the Fund’s indirect inverse exposure to changes in the value of the underlying reference asset, the Fund is subject to the risk that the value of the underlying reference asset increases. If the value of the underlying reference asset increases, the Fund will likely lose value and, as a result, the Fund may suffer significant losses.

    Put Writing Strategy Risk. The path dependency (i.e., the continued use) of the Fund’s put writing (selling) strategy will impact the extent that the Fund participates in decreases in the value of the underlying reference asset and, in turn, the Fund’s returns, both during the term of the sold put options and over longer time periods.

    Purchased OTM Call Options Risk. The Fund’s strategy is subject to potential losses if the underlying reference asset increases in value, which may not be offset by the purchase of out-of-the-money (OTM) call options. The Fund purchases OTM calls to seek to manage (cap) the Fund’s potential losses from the Fund’s short exposure to the underlying reference asset if it appreciates significantly in value. However, the OTM call options will cap the Fund’s losses only to the extent that the value of the underlying reference asset increases to a level that is at or above the strike level of the purchased OTM call options. Any increase in the value of the underlying reference asset to a level that is below the strike level of the purchased OTM call options will result in a corresponding loss for the Fund. For example, if the OTM call options have a strike level that is approximately 100% above the then-current value of the underlying reference asset at the time of the call option purchase, and the value of the underlying reference asset increases by at least 100% during the term of the purchased OTM call options, the Fund will lose all its value. Since the Fund bears the costs of purchasing the OTM calls, such costs will decrease the Fund’s value and/or any income otherwise generated by the Fund’s investment strategy.

    Counterparty Risk. The Fund is subject to counterparty risk by virtue of its investments in options contracts. Transactions in some types of derivatives, including options, are required to be centrally cleared (“cleared derivatives”). In a transaction involving cleared derivatives, the Fund’s counterparty is a clearing house rather than a bank or broker. Since the Fund is not a member of clearing houses and only members of a clearing house (“clearing members”) can participate directly in the clearing house, the Fund will hold cleared derivatives through accounts at clearing members.

    Derivatives Risk. Derivatives are financial instruments that derive value from the underlying reference asset or assets, such as stocks, bonds, or funds (including ETFs), interest rates or indexes. The Fund’s investments in derivatives may pose risks in addition to, and greater than, those associated with directly investing in securities or other ordinary investments, including risk related to the market, imperfect correlation with underlying investments or the Fund’s other portfolio holdings, higher price volatility, lack of availability, counterparty risk, liquidity, valuation and legal restrictions.

    Options Contracts. The use of options contracts involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying reference asset, including the anticipated volatility, which are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political, changes in the actual or implied volatility or the reference asset, the time remaining until the expiration of the option contract and economic events.

    Distribution Risk. As part of the Fund’s investment objective, the Fund seeks to provide current income. There is no assurance that the Fund will make a distribution in any given period. If the Fund does make distributions, the amounts of such distributions will likely vary greatly from one distribution to the next.

    High Portfolio Turnover Risk. The Fund may actively and frequently trade all or a significant portion of the Fund’s holdings.

    Liquidity Risk. Some securities held by the Fund, including options contracts, may be difficult to sell or be illiquid, particularly during times of market turmoil.

    Non-Diversification Risk. Because the Fund is “non-diversified,” it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it was a diversified fund.

    New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized management investment company with no operating history. As a result, prospective investors do not have a track record or history on which to base their investment decisions.

    Price Participation Risk. The Fund employs an investment strategy that includes the sale of put option contracts, which limits the degree to which the Fund will participate in decreases in value experienced by the underlying reference asset over the Put Period.

    Single Issuer Risk. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment in the Fund to be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment which diversifies risk or the market generally. The value of the Fund, for any Fund that focuses on an individual security (e.g., TSLA, COIN, NVDA), may be more volatile than a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of a traditional pooled investment or the market as a whole.

    Inflation Risk. Inflation risk is the risk that the value of assets or income from investments will be less in the future as inflation decreases the value of money. As inflation increases, the present value of the Fund’s assets and distributions, if any, may decline.

    Risk Disclosures (applicable only to YQQQ)

    Index Overview. The Nasdaq 100 Index is a benchmark index that includes 100 of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, based on market capitalization.

    Index Level Appreciation Risk. As part of the Fund’s synthetic covered put strategy, the Fund purchases and sells call and put option contracts that are based on the Index level. This strategy subjects the Fund to certain of the same risks as if it shorted the Index, even though it does not. By virtue of the Fund’s indirect inverse exposure to changes in the Index level, the Fund is subject to the risk that the Index level increases. If the Index level increases, the Fund will likely lose value and, as a result, the Fund may suffer significant losses. The Fund may also be subject to the following risks: innovation and technological advancement; strong market presence of Index constituent companies; adaptability to global market trends; and resilience and recovery potential.

    Index Level Participation Risk. The Fund employs an investment strategy that includes the sale of put option contracts, which limits the degree to which the Fund will benefit from decreases in the Index level experienced over the Put Period. This means that if the Index level experiences a decrease in value below the strike level of the sold put options during a Put Period, the Fund will likely not experience that increase to the same extent and any Fund gains may significantly differ from the level of the Index losses over the Put Period. Additionally, because the Fund is limited in the degree to which it will participate in decreases in value experienced by the Index level over each Put Period, but has significant negative exposure to any increases in value experienced by the Index level over the Put Period, the NAV of the Fund may decrease over any given time period. The Fund’s NAV is dependent on the value of each options portfolio, which is based principally upon the inverse of the performance of the Index level. The Fund’s ability to benefit from the Index level decreases will depend on prevailing market conditions, especially market volatility, at the time the Fund enters into the sold put option contracts and will vary from Put Period to Put Period. The value of the options contracts is affected by changes in the value and dividend rates of component companies that comprise the Index, changes in interest rates, changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the Index and the remaining time to the options’ expiration, as well as trading conditions in the options market. As the Index level changes and time moves towards the expiration of each Put Period, the value of the options contracts, and therefore the Fund’s NAV, will change. However, it is not expected for the Fund’s NAV to directly inversely correlate on a day-to-day basis with the returns of the Index level. The amount of time remaining until the options contract’s expiration date affects the impact that the value of the options contracts has on the Fund’s NAV, which may not be in full effect until the expiration date of the Fund’s options contracts. Therefore, while changes in the Index level will result in changes to the Fund’s NAV, the Fund generally anticipates that the rate of change in the Fund’s NAV will be different than the inverse of the changes experienced by the Index level.

    YieldMax™ ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC. Foreside is not affiliated with Tidal Financial Group, YieldMax™ ETFs or ZEGA Financial.

    © 2024 YieldMax™ ETFs

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – The CE marking and China Export marking – E-001996/2024

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-001996/2024
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Jorge Martín Frías (PfE)

    To be sold in the EU, it is mandatory for many products to bear the CE marking, which shows that the manufacturer has assessed the product and that it is considered to comply with a number of EU requirements. Moreover, it is obligatory for products manufactured anywhere in the world that are to be placed on the EU market.

    In 2006, China created a logo for its exports, China Export, whose font and size are similar to its European counterpart. It was designed to compete fraudulently with the legitimate CE marking and circumvent controls. In this way, the Chinese logo prevents China’s products from getting assessed to find out whether they meet the requirements set by the European Economic Area, which in turn leads to confusion among EU consumers.

    Furthermore, there is the problem that the CE marking is not registered as an EU logo, and for that reason China cannot be required to cease using the Asian imitation.

    In light of this situation:

    Is the European Commission going to confront this problem and study measures, such as modifying the current CE logo, to resolve this issue that has been ongoing for 18 years, and take the necessary action to put an end to this fraud?

    Submitted: 9.10.2024

    Last updated: 16 October 2024

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: REPORT on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine – A10-0006/2024

    Source: European Parliament

    DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

    on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

    (COM(2024)0426 – C10‑0106/2024 – 2024/0234(COD))

    (Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

    The European Parliament,

    – having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2024)0426),

    – having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C10‑0106/2024),

    – having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

    – having regard to the budgetary assessment by the Committee on Budgets,

    – having regard to the undertaking given by the Council representative by letter of 9 October 2024 to approve Parliament’s position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

    – having regard to Rule 60 of its Rules of Procedure,

    – having regard to the letter from the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

    – having regard to the report of the Committee on International Trade (A10-0006/2024),

    1. Adopts its position at first reading, taking over the Commission proposal;

    2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

    3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

     

     

    EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

    The ongoing war of aggression by Russia has significantly increased Ukraine’s financial needs. To address these challenges, both the European Union (EU) and the international community are being called upon to provide additional funding.

     

    In response, the European Commission has put forward a legislative proposal aligned with a G7 initiative. This proposal aims to utilize the extraordinary revenues from immobilized Russian assets to cover Ukraine’s urgent financial needs. Specifically, the proposal seeks to establish the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM), which will enable Ukraine to service and repay loans of up to €45 billion. These loans will be repaid using the windfall profits generated from frozen Russian assets. The EU’s proposed macro-financial assistance (MFA) includes an amount of up to €35 billion, intended to support Ukraine’s immediate financing needs. This assistance will be delivered in a predictable, long-term, and timely manner.

     

    A key feature of this MFA is that Ukraine will not be required to repay the loan directly. Instead, repayments will be covered by windfall profits generated from interest accrued on immobilized Russian assets. Additionally, the terms of this loan will align with the conditions under the Ukraine Facility.

     

    The rapporteur emphasizes the importance of a swift procedure in order for the EU to adopt this proposal by the end of October 2024 to ensure that the MFA loan can be released by the end of 2024.

     

     

     

    ANNEX: ENTITIES OR PERSONS FROM WHOM THE RAPPORTEUR HAS RECEIVED INPUT

    Pursuant to Article 8 of Annex I to the Rules of Procedure, the rapporteur declares that she has received input from the following entities or persons in the preparation of the report, prior to the adoption thereof in committee:

    Entity and/or person

    Bálint Ódor, Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives, Council of the European Union

    The list above is drawn up under the exclusive responsibility of the rapporteur.

    Where natural persons are identified in the list by their name, by their function or by both, the rapporteur declares that she has submitted to the concerned natural persons the European Parliament’s Data Protection Notice No 484 (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/data-protect/index.do), which sets out the conditions applicable to the processing of their personal data and the rights linked to that processing.

     

     

    BUDGETARY ASSESSMENT (11.10.2024)

    for the Committee on International Trade

    on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

    (COM(2024)0426 – C10‑0106/2024 – 2024/0234(COD))

    Rapporteur for budgetary assessment: Janusz Lewandowski 

     

    The Committee on Budgets has carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and has reached the following conclusions:

    – having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2022/2496 of 15 December 2022 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027[1],

    – having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/765 of 29 February 2024 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027[2],

    – having regard to Regulation (EU) 2024/792 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 February 2024 establishing the Ukraine Facility[3],

    – having regard to Regulation (EU) 2022/2463 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 establishing an instrument for providing support to Ukraine for 2023 (macro-financial assistance +)[4],

    – having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2022/335 of 28 February 2022 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine[5],

    – having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/577 of 12 February 2024 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine[6],

    – having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/1470 of 21 May 2024 amending Decision 2014/512/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of Russia’s actions destabilising the situation in Ukraine[7],

    – having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union[8],

    – having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources[9],

    A. whereas the Commission proposed a draft amendment to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2022/2496 that made it possible to allow contingent liabilities stemming from financial assistance to Ukraine for 2023 and 2024 only to be treated in the same manner as financial assistance for Member States;

    B. whereas there is a need for greater sustained budgetary support to Ukraine;

    C. whereas Ukraine’s financing needs are expected to significantly outstrip current IMF projections and total at least USD 38 billion for 2025, making the amounts available under previous rounds of macro-financial assistance (MFA), the Ukraine Facility and the current round of MFA insufficient to ensure the required level of support, particularly for 2026 and 2027;

    D. whereas Council Decision (CFSP) 2024/577 provides rules for allocating extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilised Russian state assets to the Ukraine Peace Facility and the Ukraine Facility, considering that EUR 210 billion of Russian Central Bank assets are currently held by financial institutions in the EU;

    E. whereas the G7 leaders announced the launch of Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine, which would make USD 50 billion available to Ukraine and would be secured through immobilised Russian state assets;

    F. whereas the next tranche of the IMF’s loan to Ukraine is also linked to the entry into force of the proposed regulation;

    1. Takes note of the proposal for the creation of the new Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism, which will provide non-repayable financial support with a view to assisting Ukraine to repay loans provided for its support and will be endowed mainly by the amounts transferred in accordance with Annex XLI to Council Regulation (EU) 833/2014[10], as well as by any potential amounts stemming from voluntary contributions from Member States, third countries or other sources, for up to EUR 45 billion;

    2. Takes note of the conditions and obligations that Ukraine must fulfil in order to receive and use the non-repayable financial support provided by the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism, particularly the obligation for the repayment of the principal, interest and any other costs of the MFA loan or eligible bilateral loans;

    3. Takes note of the proposal for the creation of a new MFA instrument for the benefit of Ukraine, providing support of up to EUR 35 billion, pending other contributions under the G7 agreement on Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration Loans for Ukraine, over a duration of 45 years; takes note of the fact that the Commission’s proposal seems to be based on the assumption that the Russian state assets will remain immobilised for 45 years and on various assumptions regarding the future flows of extraordinary revenues stemming from the immobilisation of Russian sovereign assets held in the EU;

    4. Takes note of the fact that there is no grace period for the repayment of the principal or interest for the MFA instrument;

    5. Takes note of the fact that the MFA instrument, unlike previous instruments, does not give Ukraine the option to request interest rate subsidies covered by Member States;

    6. Takes note of the preconditions for support, such as effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system and the rule of law, and respect for human rights, including for those of minorities, and takes note of the consequences of not meeting, or no longer meeting, these preconditions;

    7. Takes note of the future negotiation between the Commission and Ukraine on the Memorandum of Understanding containing the guidelines that will underpin all future disbursements to Ukraine and must be consistent with the qualitative and quantitative steps contained in the Annex to Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1447 of 14 May 2024 on the approval of the assessment of the Ukraine Plan[11] and any amendments thereto; takes note of the fact that the assessment criteria for the funds allocated through the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism are aligned with the assessment criteria established in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2024/792 in order to guarantee effective support and optimal use of resources for Ukraine’s recovery and development; calls on the Commission to pay particular attention to consulting the Verkhovna Rada and involving relevant stakeholders, including civil society organisations;

    8. Takes note of the derogation from Article 31(3), second sentence, of Regulation (EU) 2021/947[12], which implies that the External Action Guarantee will not be used to guarantee the borrowing of the amounts to be lent in the framework of this MFA and that, therefore, the guarantees for this MFA will be provisioned by the headroom; calls for caution in extending borrowing without a clear guarantee mechanism, with a view to ensuring that any additional borrowing does not jeopardise the Union’s financial stability;

    9. Takes note of the derogation from Article 214(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/2509, preventing the establishment of a provisioning rate, because of the use of the headroom for the provisioning of guarantees;

    10. Recalls all the mandatory provisions to be included in the MFA Loan Agreement, particularly those related to the early repayment of the amounts borrowed should it be recognised that Ukraine has engaged in any act of fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity detrimental to the financial interests of the Union;

    11. Takes note of the repayment arrangements, and particularly of the waterfall structure to be established in the MFA Loan Agreement and the potential implications for the EU budget;

    12. Takes note of the provisions on the transmission of information to Parliament and the Council, as laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement on good interinstitutional cooperation and governance and specifically within the framework of the annual budgetary procedure, ensuring full accountability and oversight of how funds are managed and disbursed; acknowledges the urgent need to implement the proposed regulation and calls for the relevant draft amending budget to include only the changes arising from the entry into force of the proposed regulation; expects the proposal to provide an update on the borrowing plan as per Article 52(1)(d)(iii), third indent, of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509; expects to be informed, in a timely manner, of the implementation of borrowing as per Article 223(4)(b) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, including of any potential early repayments and the construction of a buffer, if applicable;

    13. Takes note of the fact that, according to the financial legislative statement, the implementation of the proposal does not require any additional human resources or administrative expenditure; reiterates its understanding that new policy priorities or tasks must be accompanied by adequate resources and staff to properly implement them;

    14. Regrets the proposal’s lack of clarity about whether the Union budget has final liability, particularly in the framework of a loan guaranteed solely by the headroom, independently of the support from the Ukraine Loan Mechanism, for example in the event of significant changes to the sanctions regime underwriting the mechanism;

    15. Requests that the Commission clarify the potential interplay and complementarity in the funding provided by the Ukraine Facility, in particular under Pillar I for 2025, and by the MFA, and explain how the latter will be linked to relevant political and reform-related conditions that are consistent with and support the conditionality under the Ukraine Facility, in particular the Ukraine Plan;

    16. Requests that the Commission provide the budgetary authority with details of the aggregation of liabilities to the headroom, contingent on borrowing and lending operations;

    17. Recalls that a further amendment to the MFF, adopted by unanimity in the Council, would be required in order to extend the ability of the Union to treat the financial assistance to Ukraine in the same manner as financial assistance to Member States until the end of the current MFF;

    18. Regrets the urgency of this proposal, stemming partly from the lack of flexibility granted by the Commission proposal on the amendment of the MFF, and the subsequent Council decision pressuring Parliament to co-legislate in a very limited time frame;

    19. Calls on the Committee on International Trade, as the committee responsible, to recommend the approval of the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine.

     

     

    LETTER FROM THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS (2.10.2024)

    Mr Bernd Lange

    Chair

    Committee on International Trade

    BRUSSELS

     

     

    Subject:  Opinion on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine (COM/2024/426 final) (2024/0234(COD))

     

     

     

    Dear Mr Lange,

     

    Under the procedure referred to above, the Committee on Foreign Affairs has been asked to submit an opinion to your committee. By way of a written procedure, the committee Coordinators decided to send the opinion in the form of a letter. Due to the extreme urgency of the procedure, the committee Coordinators adopted the opinion at their meeting on 30 September 2024.

     

    Yours sincerely,

     

     

     

     

     

    David McAllister

     

     

      

    SUGGESTIONS

     

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs:

     

    1. Expresses its complete solidarity with the people of Ukraine, along with its full support for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders;

    2. Welcomes the commitments of the EU and its Member States to provide humanitarian assistance, military support, economic and financial aid and political support in every possible way until Ukraine’s victory;

    3. Commends the Commission’s proposal to establish the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism, which contributes to answering Parliament’s call on the EU and its Member States to achieve the broadest possible international support for Ukraine, and builds upon the decision of the Council to direct extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilised Russian state assets to the Ukraine Assistance Fund and the Ukraine Facility as well as upon the G7’s decision to offer Ukraine a USD 50 billion loan secured through immobilised Russian state assets;

    4. Expresses its conviction that the new Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism is a substantive step towards making Russia financially compensate for the massive damage it continues to cause in Ukraine; insists that this should not preclude the establishment of a sound legal regime for the confiscation of Russian state assets frozen by the EU, to be used for the benefit of Ukraine; urges the Commission and the EEAS to step-up their work in that direction;

    5. Acknowledges that the Commission’s proposal is based on the assumption that Russian assets will remain immobilised until Russia definitively and irreversibly ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine.  Therefore urges the Council to adopt swiftly a decision to that effect;

    6. Invites the Commission, when evaluating whether Ukraine has met the precondition set out in Article 11 of the proposal, to apply the same standards it applies when it evaluates whether Ukraine has met the precondition set out in Article 5 of Regulation (EU) 2024/792 on the establishment of the Ukraine Facility; in particular, in its assessment, the Commission shall also take into account the context in Ukraine and the consequences of the application of martial law in Ukraine; invites the Commission to transmit its assessment simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council;

    7. Calls on the Commission to ensure that, when it agrees with Ukraine the policy conditions to be set out in the MoU pursuant to Article 12 of the proposal, it is satisfied that Ukraine has complied with (i) the provisions set out in Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2024/792 and provided all the relevant explanations, as appropriate; and (ii) the qualitative and quantitative steps provided for in Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1447 and its annex. At the same time, calls on the Commission to make sure, when deciding on the release of funds pursuant to Article 13 of the proposal, that its assessment complies with Article 18 of Regulation (EU) 2024/792 and, in particular, takes into account the criteria listed in paragraph 3 thereof, where relevant; urges the Commission, in that context, to make sure that all decisions adopted by Ukraine on the use of the funds allocated to it in the framework of the proposed regulation respect democratic procedures and are supported by meaningful consultations with all relevant institutions and stakeholders, including the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, anti-corruption institutions and representatives of the civil society;

    8. Calls on the Commission to transmit the MFA Loan Agreement to the European Parliament as soon as it will be signed;

    9. Requests that the Commission include by default in its yearly report on the implementation of the proposed Regulation a review of the adequacy of the arrangements contained in the Regulation itself.

     

    PROCEDURE – COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

    Title

    Establishing the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism and providing exceptional macro-financial assistance to Ukraine

    References

    COM(2024)0426 – C10-0106/2024 – 2024/0234(COD)

    Date submitted to Parliament

    20.9.2024

     

     

     

    Committee(s) responsible

    INTA

     

     

     

    Committees asked for opinions

     Date announced in plenary

    AFET

    10.10.2024

     

     

     

    Not delivering opinions

     Date of decision

    AFET

    27.9.2024

     

     

     

    Rapporteurs

     Date appointed

    Karin Karlsbro

    30.9.2024

     

     

     

    Simplified procedure – date of decision

    30.9.2024

    Discussed in committee

    14.10.2024

     

     

     

    Date adopted

    14.10.2024

     

     

     

     

    BUDG

    7.10.2024

     

     

     

    Result of final vote

    +:

    –:

    0:

    31

    4

    0

    Members present for the final vote

    Brando Benifei, Lynn Boylan, Udo Bullmann, Raphaël Glucksmann, Bart Groothuis, Céline Imart, Karin Karlsbro, Rihards Kols, Sebastian Kruis, Bernd Lange, Ilia Lazarov, Thierry Mariani, Gabriel Mato, Ştefan Muşoiu, Daniele Polato, Majdouline Sbai, Francesco Torselli, Catarina Vieira, Jörgen Warborn, Iuliu Winkler, Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski

    Substitutes present for the final vote

    Mika Aaltola, Dan Barna, Nina Carberry, Anna Cavazzini, Hana Jalloul Muro, Ľubica Karvašová, Marina Mesure, Branislav Ondruš, Pierre Pimpie, Jessika Van Leeuwen

    Members under Rule 216(7) present for the final vote

    Peter Agius, Marie Dauchy, Elio Di Rupo, Virginie Joron

    Date tabled

    15.10.2024

     

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: GITEX GLOBAL 2024: Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution unveiled to the world on “AI Super Tuesday”

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    • International exhibitors presented the most groundbreaking innovations helping shape the future of society and industry
    • “Cybersecurity Day” next up as world’s largest and best-rated tech event reaches halfway stage on Wednesday

    Hot on the heels of a memorable first day where GITEX GLOBAL 2024 (http://apo-opa.co/4hlR7gj) opened the doors for its biggest-ever international edition, the entire global tech ecosystem experienced another action-packed agenda on Tuesday at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).

    Taking place from 14-18 October, GITEX GLOBAL presents a record-breaking edition in its 44th year – welcoming over 6,500 exhibitors, 1,800 startups, 1,200 investors alongside governments from more than 180 countries.

    With five themed days locked in across the 2024 event programme, a technology taking the world by storm was the focal point as “AI Super Tuesday” presented the most groundbreaking innovations helping shape the future of society and industry.

    A technology with vast transformative potential

    As AI takes centre stage in drug discovery, the world could soon witness the most significant shift in medicine since the advent of modern pharmaceuticals. But with such rapid advancements, a mesmerising Tuesday session – ‘The Next Leap in Medicine: Are we on the Edge of a Breakthrough?’ – saw experts discuss whether AI transformation is fast approaching or further away than some anticipate.

    Dr. Shameer Khader, Global Head and Executive Director – Computational Biology Cluster, Precision Medicine and Computational Biology at global pharmaceutical company Sanofi, gave AI an emphatic endorsement. He said: “Drug discovery on average takes 10-15 years and one project around $1.5-2 billion in cost. Is that something sustainable? The model must change, and we should harness AI capabilities and value across the ecosystem. We should optimise every single process to reduce development costs, streamline the drug discovery lifestyle, and build data disease models and infrastructure.”

    In a special case study, audiences became acquainted with ‘BabyX’ – an interactive simulation of a lifelike infant through AI. This virtual animated baby learns and reacts like a human infant with a built-in virtual brain with detailed likeness to that of a human. Functioning through biological AI and an operating system called Brain Language, stimulated neurochemical reactions help BabyX decide how she will react – something that could prove revolutionary in the future AI economy.

    Elaborating on the significance of BabyX, Dr. Mark Sagar, its creator who co-founded New Zealand-based Soul Machines, pointed out the defining difference between human and AI intelligence, adding: “As humans, we learn from a young age though exploring the world and experimenting. Play is such a key part of making intelligence open-ended and inventive, but it’s one thing what’s missing from current AI. If we’re ever going to regulate general AI intelligence, we need to build cognitive architecture that yields intelligent behaviour through a comprehensive approach.”

    A catalyst for forward-facing collaboration

    Alongside the profound transformative potential of AI, GITEX GLOBAL’s status as a catalyst for collaboration and forward-facing projects was on full display. A number of exciting high-profile partnerships were officially unveiled at the world’s largest and best-rated tech event, with one involved KAOUN – the world-leading organiser of business events and trade fairs, leading all GITEX events outside the UAE.

    Tuesday saw KAOUN sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Digital Dubai Authority to grow the GITEX ecosystem, support Dubai’s internationalisation strategy, and explore new partnership opportunities. Additionally, AWS and e& entered into a $1 billion-plus agreement as part of new strategic alliance to deliver cloud solutions and supporting AI deployment and digital transformation across the region. 

    Tuesday casts spotlight on AI’s cross-sector impact and demands

    Elsewhere on the Super AI Tuesday agenda, another applauded show illustrated how high-performance computing is steering humanity’s quest for the next generation of aircraft. During ‘Quantum Maturation: Introducing The “Quantum Mobility Quest”’, companies were urged to move beyond the physical limits of present-day computing today and scale up future-focused solutions to unlock aviation’s vast potential.

    Isabell Gradert, Vice President of Central Research & Technology, Airbus, Germany, said: “Aviation is embedded in the tapestry of our global-leading industries and is one with the highest computation needs. Quantum computing is seen as the next big gamechanger in the aviation industry and has the potential to solve the most complex aerospace challenges and create a paradigm shift in the way aircrafts are built and flown. This is a very exciting time.”

    Additionally, audiences familiarised themselves with a wide of services and solutions being showcased by GITEX GLOBAL exhibitors. UAE-based Presight, the region’s leading big data analytics company powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI), unveiled its Intelli Platform, an AI-powered management and operations platform that lets cities, transport, energy, and infrastructure organisations immediately use Generative AI.

    AWS also cast a spotlight on AWS Bedrock, a fully managed service that enables enterprises to easily build, customise, and deploy generative AI applications using foundation models from top AI providers, all through the AWS platform.

    GITEX GLOBAL 2024 continues Wednesday as “Cybersecurity Day” welcomes an ensemble cast of thought leaders and experts to explore the emerging threats landscape, counter-infringement strategies, and tools organisations require in an increasingly digital world.

    GITEX Editions (https://apo-opa.co/4h8xBn9) also presents Intelligent Connectivity (https://apo-opa.co/4hayjAy) with visitors set to explore how industry leaders can bridge digital divides and harness emerging technology to drive innovation and economic growth. The World Future Economy Digital Leaders Summit (https://apo-opa.co/4hlR8kn) also continues with another star-studded cast of world-renowned experts and innovative minds.  

    GITEX GLOBAL is seamlessly connecting with the world’s largest network of tech events, including GITEX EUROPE Berlin, GITEX ASIA Singapore, GITEX AFRICA Morocco, and GITEX NIGERIA. These events are fostering collaboration and driving innovation to shape the tech landscape of tomorrow.

    More information on GITEX GLOBAL, please visit http://www.GITEX.com

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI: HUMBL Issued U.S. Patent for System and Method for Transferring Currency Using Blockchain

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    San Diego, CA, Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HUMBL, Inc. (OTC: HMBL) is pleased to announce the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 12,118,613 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the “System and Method for Transferring Currency Using Blockchain.” This patent was formally issued by the USPTO on October 15, 2024.

    As more traditional assets and currencies become tokenized on blockchain, the potential industry applications for this patent include, but are not limited to: digital wallets, digital asset exchanges, traditional stock exchanges, traditional banks, financial services and brokerages, global remittance and payment providers, transfer agents, foreign exchange, credit card services, government services and more.

    The patent abstract is as follows: A financial services system that utilizes a user device and a blockchain with a blockchain ledger. The system includes a host database with a non-transitory computer-readable medium and a host controller that executes the code. The host controller enables communication between a first digital wallet on the user device and either a local currency account or a digital currency account to initiate a deposit. This deposit is assigned a transaction ID, which is recorded on the blockchain ledger and includes a deposit currency value. The method for transferring currency involves enabling communication between the first digital wallet and either a local currency account or a digital currency account with a host controller of the host database, assigning a transaction ID to the deposit, and recording the transaction ID that includes a deposit currency value on the blockchain ledger.

    “While these have been some long years spent getting this patent issued, we are appreciative of the USPTO in terms of their thorough and transparent review, which we believe resulted in a comprehensive and fair outcome,” said Brian Foote, CEO of HUMBL. “Staying in the U.S. to do our work in blockchain has, admittedly, been a very challenging process. However, we believe strongly in the thoughtful advancement of this technology in our country; as well as the improved access, costs, speeds, security and visibility that our blockchain currency transfer system can bring to consumers, corporations, capital markets and governments at scale.”

    A provisional patent application was first filed on January 7, 2020, and the earliest publication date was July 8, 2021. The lead author of the patent is HUMBL CEO, Brian McLaren Foote, with co-author contributions from Adam Wolfe and Jeff Hinshaw. To read in more detail about the patent, please visit: Bibliographic Data – Application – Patent Center – USPTO.

    About HUMBL

    HUMBL is a consumer technology company focused on delivering innovative solutions across its fully-verified user profiles, digital wallet and web platform. Our mission is to build, simplify and enhance the digital experience for our customers worldwide with verified communications and transactions.

    Safe Harbor Statement

    This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “may,” “will,” “could,” and similar expressions. All forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with the ability to achieve anticipated benefits of the patent, as well as competition, and general market conditions. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.

    Contact Information

    PR@HUMBL.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Wrap Technologies, Inc. Regains Nasdaq Listing Requirements Compliance

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TEMPE, Ariz., Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Wrap Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: WRAP) (the “Company”), a global leader in innovative public safety solutions, announced today that it received written notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) informing the Company that it has regained compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) regarding periodic reporting. Nasdaq has advised the Company that the matter is now closed.

    Details of the restructuring, vision and new go-to market strategy are expected to be provided on the Company’s Third Quarter Earnings call.

    About Wrap 

    Wrap Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: WRAP) is a leading global provider of advanced public safety solutions, integrating ultramodern technology, cutting-edge tools, and comprehensive services to address the complex, modern day challenges facing public safety organizations around the world. Guided by a no-harm principle, Wrap is dedicated to developing groundbreaking solutions that empower public safety agencies to safeguard the communities they serve in a manner that fosters stronger relationships, driving safer outcomes, empowering public safety and communities to move forward together.

    Wrap’s BolaWrap® solution encompasses an innovative and patented hand-held remote restraint device, strategically engineered with Wrap’s no-harm guiding principle to proactively deter escalation by deploying a Kevlar® tether that safely restrains individuals from a distance. Combined with BolaWrap® training, certified by the esteemed International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST), Wrap enables officers from over 1000 agencies across the US and 60 countries around the world, with the expertise to effectively use BolaWrap® as an early intervention measure, mitigating potential risks and injuries, averting tragic outcomes. With the goal to save lives with each wrap.

    Wrap Reality™, the Company’s advanced virtual reality training system, is a fully immersive training simulator and comprehensive public safety training platform equips first responders with the discipline and practice to prevent escalation, de-escalate conflicts, and apply appropriate tactical use-of-force measures to better perform in the field. By offering a growing range of real-life scenarios, Wrap Reality™ addresses the dynamic nature of modern law enforcement situations for positive public safety outcomes. Building safer communities one decision at a time.

    Wrap’s Intrensic solution is a comprehensive, secure and efficient body worn camera and evidence collection and management solution designed with innovative technology to quickly capture, safely handle, securely store, and seamlessly track evidence, all while maintaining full transparency throughout the process. With meticulous consolidation and professional management of evidence, confidence in law enforcement and the justice system soars, fostering trust and reliability in court outcomes. Intrensic’s efficient system streamlines the entire process seamlessly, empowering all public safety providers to focus on what matters. Expediting justice with integrity.

    Connect with Wrap:

    Wrap on Facebook
    Wrap on Twitter
    Wrap on LinkedIn

    Trademark Information
    Wrap, the Wrap logo, BolaWrap®, Wrap Reality™ and Wrap Training Academy are trademarks of Wrap Technologies, Inc., some of which are registered in the U.S. and abroad.  All other trade names used herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective holders.

    Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements – Safe Harbor Statement
    This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should”, “believe”, “target”, “project”, “goals”, “estimate”, “potential”, “predict”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “intend”, and variations of these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Moreover, forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond the Company’s control. The Company’s actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including but not limited to: the Company’s ability to maintain compliance with the Nasdaq Capital Market’s listing standards; the Company’s ability to successful implement training programs for the use of its products; the Company’s ability to manufacture and produce product for its customers; the Company’s ability to develop sales for its products; the acceptance of existing and future products; the availability of funding to continue to finance operations; the complexity, expense and time associated with sales to law enforcement and government entities; the lengthy evaluation and sales cycle for the Company’s product solution; product defects; litigation risks from alleged product-related injuries; risks of government regulations; the business impact of health crises or outbreaks of disease, such as epidemics or pandemics; the impact resulting from geopolitical conflicts and any resulting sanctions; the ability to obtain export licenses for counties outside of the United States; the ability to obtain patents and defend IP against competitors; the impact of competitive products and solutions; and the Company’s ability to maintain and enhance its brand, as well as other risk factors mentioned in the Company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and other SEC filings. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and were based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of management. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.

    Wrap’s headquarters are in Tempe, Arizona.

    For more information, please visit wrap.com.

    Investor Relations Contact:

    800.583.2652
    ir@wrap.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: FACT SHEET: U.S. Achievements in the Global Fight Against  Corruption

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    Corruption poses a grave and enduring threat to U.S. national interests and those of our partners. When officials abuse their entrusted power for personal or political gain, the interests of authoritarians and corrupt actors win – at the expense of citizens, honest businesses, and healthy societies. As the Biden-Harris Administration took office, this longstanding challenge had metastasized. In some countries, oligarchs were teaming up with foreign kleptocrats to warp policy and procurement decisions in exchange for kickbacks – with no accountability. Corrupt officials were laundering stolen assets through the U.S. and global financial systems, while local investigators were ill-equipped to follow the money. Reformers in countries saddled with corruption had scarce public resources to actually address development needs. The Biden-Harris Administration tacked these challenges starting Day One, to ensure democracy delivers and corrupt actors are held to account.
    The first National Security Study Memorandum of the Biden-Harris Administration established countering corruption as a “core U.S. national security interest,” leading to the issuance in December 2021 of the first United States Strategy on Countering Corruption. Since then, the United States has taken action at home and around the world to curb illicit finance, hold corrupt actors accountable, forge multilateral partnerships, and equip frontline leaders to take on transnational corruption. The result has been historic progress in protecting the U.S. financial system from money-laundering, including in the residential real estate sector, while enhancing corporate transparency. This Administration has mobilized record levels of foreign assistance dedicated to anti-corruption, including $339 million in Fiscal Year 2023 alone – almost double the yearly average during the previous four years. This new assistance has unlocked support for anti-corruption institutions, leveled the playing field for law-abiding businesses, enabled journalists to team up across borders, and more. Expanded law enforcement cooperation and capacity-building have generated convictions of corrupt actors as well as the seizure, forfeiture, and return of criminal proceeds, while new anti-corruption offices at the Department of State (State) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) energized diplomatic and stakeholder engagement. The United States imposed sanctions on more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, and established – for the first time in any jurisdiction globally – a new visa restriction for those who enable corrupt activity.
    U.S. progress on anti-corruption has produced concrete benefits for the American people and stakeholders around the world – enhancing prosperity, economic security, safety, and democracy, as outlined below. To bolster and sustain this work, the U.S. government has also modernized its approach to addressing corruption as a cross-cutting priority. Today, Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics Daleep Singh will highlight the benefits of this work to American businesses and workers at a White House anti-corruption roundtable with leaders from 15 major U.S. companies.
    Advancing economic opportunity abroad
    Improving the business enabling environment: U.S. assistance advanced governments’ capacity to prevent, detect, investigate, and prosecute corruption, while encouraging anti-bribery compliance. State expanded its Fiscal Transparency Innovation Fund – to help willing partners improve budget transparency – while holding countries to account for progress in its Fiscal Transparency Report. In the past two years alone, a newly expanded State-Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) program facilitated U.S. collaboration with foreign counterparts on more than 50 transnational corruption and money laundering cases with a U.S. nexus. In coordination with State, experienced legal advisors from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) assisted foreign justice partners around the world in investigating and prosecuting corruption and money laundering cases, and recovering assets. And DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, in partnership with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, has recovered more than $1.7 billion and returned or assisted in returning more than $1.6 billion for the benefit of the people harmed by the corruption.
    Enforcing our bans on foreign bribery and money-laundering – and pressing other countries to do the same: To enable honest companies to compete overseas, the United States upheld its commitments under the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention by enforcing its foreign bribery and related laws and working with partners to monitor other countries’ progress in implementing the Convention, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2024. Since the start of the Administration, DOJ has imposed more than $3.5 billion in total monetary sanctions under the Foreign Corruption Practices Act (FCPA) in 16 corporate resolutions, and announced charges against more than 70 individuals. For instance, this April the former Comptroller General of Ecuador was convicted of money laundering relating to his receipt of over $10 million in bribes from, among others, the Brazil-based construction conglomerate Odebrecht S.A. The Securities and Exchange Commission continued civil enforcement of the FCPA, with approximately $1 billion in total monetary sanctions in 22 corporate resolutions, spanning conduct in 24 countries, since the start of the Administration. DOJ is also enforcing the recently enacted Foreign Extortion Prevention Act, which criminalizes demands for bribes by foreign officials from U.S. companies and others. In addition, this August DOJ announced a new Corporate Whistleblower Awards Pilot Program to uncover and prosecute corporate crime – with a particular focus on foreign and domestic corruption, as well as violations by financial institutions of their obligations to take steps to detect and deter money laundering.
    Seizing windows of opportunity: U.S. assistance has become more agile via the establishment of USAID’s Anti-Corruption Response Fund (providing flexible support to countries experiencing new opportunities or backsliding), the State-DOJ Global Anti-Corruption Rapid Response Fund (providing assistance and case mentoring to foreign partners on short notice), and USAID’s Democracy Delivers initiative (which has marshalled $500 million in funding from the United States and others to help reformers deliver, including on their anti-corruption commitments). These innovations, informed by USAID’s Dekleptification Guide, are enabling the U.S. government to more nimbly pivot toward environments where local momentum can be bolstered by outside assistance.
    Bolstering integrity in high-risk sectors: In April 2024, the United States and its partners launched the Blue Dot Network – a mechanism to certify infrastructure projects that have met global standards for quality and sustainability, including transparency in procurement and provisions to limit opportunities for corruption. The United States also supported the launch of PROTECT, a collective action project to address corruption risk in the supply chain for critical minerals.
    Strengthening corruption safeguards in the Indo-Pacific: In June, the United States and thirteen other partners held a signing ceremony, after concluding eight rounds of negotiations in record time, for the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) Fair Economy Agreement. The Agreement aims to create a more transparent, predictable trade and investment environment across IPEF partners’ markets, including through binding obligations to prevent and combat corruption. The Department of Commerce (Commerce) and State are accelerating implementation by offering new anti-corruption technical assistance to IPEF partners, including workshops on procurement corruption.
    Dialoguing with the private sector: In 2021, State launched the Galvanizing the Private Sector as Partners in Combatting Corruption initiative, which connects companies and governments to strengthen business integrity and encourage governance reform. Commerce’s International Trade Administration organized the 2024 forum of the Business Ethics for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises Initiative – the world’s largest public-private partnership on ethical business conduct – at which stakeholders formalized policy recommendations on business integrity in public procurement.
    Protecting the U.S. financial system from abuse
    Expanding corporate transparency: To deter kleptocrats and criminals from laundering money through anonymous shell companies, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) operationalized a new filing system for certain companies operating in the United States to report their beneficial owners – the real people who own or control them – pursuant to the bipartisan Corporate Transparency Act. Treasury held hundreds of outreach events across all states and territories, reaching thousands of stakeholders, to enable companies to quickly and easily comply with this reporting requirement.
    Closing loopholes for money-laundering: Treasury finalized rules to close two major loopholes in the U.S. financial system: (1) to increase transparency in the U.S. residential real estate sector, to ensure that law-abiding homebuyers are not disadvantaged by individuals laundering their ill-gotten gains, and (2) to safeguard the investment adviser industry from illicit finance. Treasury also proposed a rule to modernize financial institutions’ anti-money-laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) programs, to make them more effective and risk-based. Together, these rulemakings represent historic advances for the U.S. AML/CFT regime, in line with international standards, that will help the United States urge other countries to undertake similar reforms to curb illicit finance. The Biden-Harris Administration has also called on Congress to close even more loopholes that facilitate money-laundering by passing the ENABLERS Act.
    Blocking assets and denying entry to corrupt actors: Since the start of the Administration, Treasury has designated more than 500 individuals and entities for corruption and related activities, across six continents. That includes blocking the assets of 20 individuals and 48 companies in Fiscal Year 2024 for corruption in Afghanistan, Guatemala, Guyana, Paraguay, Western Balkans, and Zimbabwe. In tandem, State publicly issued corruption-related visa restrictions for 76 foreign officials and family members in Fiscal Year 2024, and 292 over the course of the Administration. These actions have protected the U.S. financial system from corrupt actors and promoted accountability in domestic jurisdictions. For example, just one week after the U.S. issuance of a public visa restriction on former Director of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) Intelligence Services Osman Mehmedagic for significant corruption, he was arrested by BiH authorities for abuse of office.
    Taking aim at enablers of corruption: In December 2023, President Biden issued an historic Presidential Proclamation establishing a visa restriction for those who facilitate and enable significant corruption and their immediate family members. This new visa restriction complements existing commitments to use sanction and law enforcement capabilities to target private enablers of public corruption. Earlier this year, the FBI and DOJ secured a guilty plea and a criminal penalty of $661 million from Gunvor – one of the largest commodities trading firms in the world – for facilitating bribery of Ecuadorian officials and laundering those bribes through U.S. banks. In addition, USAID launched new activities to incentivize integrity within professions that serve as gatekeepers to the international financial system.
    Upholding international standards: The United States has helped lead efforts to expand anti-corruption work at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), including improving assessment tools, mitigating risks associated with “golden passport” programs, and highlighting how non-financial sectors can be abused by corrupt actors.
    Keeping America and our partners safe
    Addressing corruption risk in the security sector: Security sector corruption can divert essential supplies, empower malign actors, threaten the safety of U.S. service members, and undermine U.S. military missions writ large. In the past year, the Department of Defense (DOD) incorporated corruption risk into its security cooperation planning – subjecting certain proposals to further scrutiny and identifying risk mitigation measures as needed. State also created new resources to weigh corruption risk as part of security sector assistance decision-making. In addition, State’s Global Defense Reform Program and DOD’s institutional capacity building programs advanced more transparent, accountable, and professional defense institutions. DOD continued running a training course on combatting corruption for partner military commanders and civilian leaders.
    Tackling organized crime and corruption: Transnational criminal organizations often rely on corruption to enable their criminal activities and evade accountability – which fuels narcotrafficking into the United States, human smuggling, cybercrimes, and more. The U.S. government is deploying anti-corruption tools to target criminal networks and their financial enablers, in line with the 2023 White House Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.
    Standing up to Russia’s aggression: The United States has adapted to address the wartime needs of Ukraine’s anti-corruption stakeholders, as they close off a key vector for Russian dominance and advance Ukraine’s democratic future. In 2023, Ukrainian anti-corruption investigators and prosecutors achieved an 80 percent increase in prosecutions and a 50 percent increase in convictions, plus opened cases against high-ranking officials including the former head of the Ukrainian Supreme Court.  With U.S. support, Ukraine has advanced significant reforms on asset disclosure, launched a whistleblower portal, strengthened the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, and enhanced transparency and integrity in reconstruction.
    Securing a greener future: The United States has integrated an anti-corruption lens across sectors, with particular emphasis on addressing corruption vulnerabilities that threaten a secure, just energy transition for all. This includes USAID support to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), increased mining transparency in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia, and innovations that address transnational corruption in green energy mineral supply chains across 15 countries.
    Protecting global health: Corruption curtails the ability of states to respond to pandemics and undercuts access to basic healthcare. USAID is tackling this challenge by releasing cutting-edge guidance on anti-corruption in the health sector and launching integrated programming. For example, in Liberia the United States is working with the government to curb theft of pharmaceuticals through civil society monitoring, law enforcement trainings, and public awareness campaigns.
    Addressing the root causes of migration: Combating corruption is a core component of improving conditions in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras – so people do not feel compelled to leave their homes, in line with the U.S. Strategy for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration in Central America. Recent U.S. actions have included training up to 27,000 justice sector stakeholders in those countries to more effectively address corruption.
    Defending democracy by rooting out corruption
    Tackling electoral corruption: When candidates can be bankrolled by foreign adversaries and institutions captured by kleptocrats, citizens lose faith in their governments—or even in democracy itself. In response, USAID has launched new programs to bolster electoral integrity, strengthen independent media, and increase the transparency of political finance in high-risk locations.
    Lifting up civil society and independent media: The U.S. government has substantially expanded support to frontline activists and journalists, including through the Global Anti-Corruption Consortium. In addition, a new State Department initiative is training hundreds of journalists in transnational corruption investigations, while USAID’s new investigative journalist networks in Asia and Southern Africa are building capacity to track corruption across sectors and across borders. The Secretary of State established a new award for Anti-Corruption Champions, which has honored dozens of courageous civil society leaders and embattled reformers. In 2022, the United States also hosted the largest regular gathering of civil society activists fighting corruption – the International Anti-Corruption Conference – in Washington, DC, with keynote remarks from APNSA Jake Sullivan.
    Protecting sovereignty: Authoritarian actors like Russia and the PRC use bribery to interfere in the policy, procurement, debt, and electoral processes of other countries – undermining both sovereignty and democracy. The United States is standing up to this tactic by building the resilience of frontline actors to detect and deflect foreign-backed strategic corruption, educating partners about the kleptocrats’ playbook, harnessing sanction tools to deter threats, and increasing collaboration between practitioners working on anti-corruption and those addressing foreign malign influence – both within the USG and with likeminded partners. For example, in June the United States joined with Canada and the UK to expose Russia’s use of corruption and covert financing, among other tactics, to undermine democratic processes in Moldova.
    Restoring trust in American democracy: The Biden-Harris Administration has established the strongest ethics standards of any U.S. presidency. On his first day in office, the President signed an Executive Order requiring administration officials to take a stringent ethics pledge, which extends lobbying bans, limits shadow lobbying, and makes ethics waivers more transparent. The Administration also restored longstanding democratic norms by protecting DOJ cases from political interference, releasing the President’s and Vice-President’s taxes, and voluntarily disclosing White House visitor logs. And in the last year, the Office of Government Ethics finalized rules updating the standards for ethical conduct and legal expense funds for executive branch employees.
    Protecting American democracy from malign finance: Just as we defend democracy around the world, the U.S. government is working to keep American democracy safe from foreign adversaries. Actions to curb money laundering in the United States can help reduce the ability of foreign and domestic actors to make illegal campaign contributions and evade U.S. election laws. President Biden has called on Congress to go even further by passing the DISCLOSE Act, which would curb the ability of foreign entities and special interests to use dark money loopholes to influence our elections.
    Revitalizing participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP): The United States rejoined the Steering Committee of OGP – a platform for civil society and governments to forge joint commitments and learn from each other– and provided assistance for OGP’s work on anti-corruption. Domestically, the United States has turbocharged OGP implementation by creating the U.S. Open Government Secretariat at the General Services Administration, an Open Government Federal Advisory Committee, an Interagency Community of Practice – spanning federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, and engaged with hundreds of stakeholders to exchange lessons and expand transparency, accountability, and public participation. The United States also launched the first-ever Request for Information to feed into the 6th U.S. OGP National Action Plan and announced development of a toolkit to help federal agencies more meaningfully engage with the public.
    Modernizing and coordinating U.S. government efforts to fight corruption
    Institutionalizing anti-corruption as an enduring priority: Over the past four years, Departments and Agencies have made substantial organizational improvements to elevate corruption concerns. For example:
    The State Department’s new Office of the Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption leads the integration of anti-corruption priorities into bilateral and other policy processes, conducts targeted diplomatic engagements, and drives strategic planning, including through the Department’s senior-level Anti-Corruption Policy Board. In the past year, the Office jumpstarted implementation of the Combating Global Corruption Act and completed an analysis of anti-corruption assistance to inform future State Department decision-making.
    USAID’s new Anti-Corruption Center, within the newly established Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance, serves as a hub of technical expertise and thought leadership – driving the integration of corruption considerations across USAID’s portfolio, supporting USAID Missions in developing localized approaches, managing a suite of programming focused on transnational corruption, and using its convening power and policy insights to forge strategic partnerships. Since 2022, USAID has released its first-ever Anti-Corruption Policy, which outlines a cross-sectoral approach to constraining opportunities for corruption, raising the costs of corruption, and incentivizing integrity – plus a host of tools to drive uptake across USAID.
    FBI’s International Corruption Unit expanded an agreement with the State Department to deploy six regional anti-corruption advisors to strategic locations around the world, where they organize regional working groups with local law enforcement officials, provide case-base mentorship, and facilitate coordination with the International Anti-Corruption Coordination Centre.

    Expanded interagency capacity has been complemented by the National Security Council’s establishment of a dedicated Director for Anti-Corruption position, for the first time, to ensure whole-of-government coordination and advance anti-corruption within key policy processes.
    Leading in multilateral fora: The United States has regained its leadership role in the international bodies that shape anti-corruption norms globally and can sustain momentum across time. In particular, the United States stepped into the presidency of the UN Convention against Corruption Conference of States Parties (UNCAC COSP), proudly hosting in December 2023 thousands of stakeholders in Atlanta, Georgia, led by the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield. As part of its commitment to championing the role of non-governmental actors in the fight against corruption, the United States facilitated record civil society participation in UNCAC working group meetings, hosted the first UNCAC Private Sector Forum, and supported inclusive implementation of UNCAC commitments in Latin America, East Africa, and Southeast Asia. The United States also participated in several peer reviews of our own anti-corruption practices over the last three years, and proudly made these results public. Alongside these multilateral fora, we convened the Global Forum on Asset Recovery action series to accelerate practitioner cooperation across the United States, Algeria, Honduras, Iraq, Moldova, Nigeria, Seychelles, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and Zambia.
    Understanding corruption dynamics: The Intelligence Community developed and disseminated new resources to bolster intelligence prioritization, collection and analysis on corrupt actors and their networks. USAID commissioned research on topics like countering corruption through social and behavioral change and State initiated an interagency anti-corruption learning agenda and a small grants program to support it.
    Deepening external partnerships: The United States convened a series of coordination meetings with other bilateral donors and philanthropies in order to harmonize our anti-corruption approaches and galvanized anti-corruption resources across the donor community through the Integrity for Development campaign. USAID’s Countering Transnational Corruption Grand Challenge for Development brought together technologists, businesses, activists, and others to collaboratively address concrete corruption challenges.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s Hainan sees robust foreign trade in first three quarters

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    China’s Hainan Province posted imports and exports of goods totalling 205.95 billion yuan (about 28.93 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three quarters of this year, a record high in the same period and up 20.2 percent year on year, customs statistics showed Wednesday.

    It is the first time that the province’s trade in goods has exceeded the 200 billion yuan mark in the same period, according to information revealed at a press conference held by the Haikou Customs.

    The province’s trade in goods with Belt and Road partner countries reached 117.25 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 43.9 percent year on year and accounting for 56.9 percent of the province’s total. Meanwhile, Hainan’s goods trade with ASEAN countries surged 70 percent year on year.

    The export of the province’s industrial finished products grew rapidly during the period, accounting for over 70 percent of the total export value, becoming a strong factor in driving the overall growth of its foreign trade, said Haikou Customs.

    Notably, with the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port, the number of newly registered foreign trade companies in Hainan has exceeded 70,000 since June 2020, bringing significant increment to the development of the province’s foreign trade.

    During the first three quarters of this year, the general trade with longer industrial chains and higher added value accounted for more than 70 percent of Hainan’s total foreign trade, according to the customs.

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI: Paytronix Gift Card Trend Report: Digital Card Sales Surge 7% Year over Year

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEWTON, Mass., Oct. 16, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Paytronix, the leader in guest engagement for restaurants and convenience stores, today unveiled the much-anticipated 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Trend Report. It’s most robust to date, it finds that while the number of cards sold in 2023 is on par with 2022, overall revenue from gift card sales is up four percent year over year. Among Paytronix clients, the number of digital gift cards sold grew 7% in 2023 to make up 34% of the total gift card market and become the fastest-growing gift card segment

    Download the 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Report for all the numbers and insights.

    “Forward-thinking restaurants are embracing digital gift cards, offering seamless purchasing, sending, redemption, and reloading experiences through mobile apps and websites,” said Lee Barnes, the Chief Data Officer of Paytronix. “In our latest report we’re helping brands understand that, by viewing gift cards as more than just a sales channel, they can expand their reach, empower their advocates, drive loyalty, and create personalized experiences that keep guests coming back for more.”

    Adopting a Mobile-First Strategy
    The report explores why a mobile-first approach to digital gift cards is becoming increasingly important for restaurants. Mobile gift cards can easily integrate with a restaurant’s existing app, loyalty program, and online ordering system. This cohesion creates a unified digital ecosystem that deepens a guests’ experiences and keeps their favorite establishment at their fingertips.

    Mobile gift cards seamlessly merge with popular digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing guests to easily store and access their gift cards for online orders and in-store purchases via NFC or QR code scans. A mobile-first approach to gift cards also provides valuable data on customer behaviors and preferences that can be used to create personalized promotions, fine-tune a loyalty program, and guide strategic business decisions.

    Key findings from the report include:

    Digital Cards Redeemed Twice as Fast – While unredeemed gift cards may seem profitable in the short term, encouraging swift redemption can cultivate lifelong customers. Report data reveals that the average online card was redeemed in 16.8 days, while cards purchased in-store took 35.3 days for redemption.

    Increasing Sales – Year-over-year gift card sales continue to increase with 2023 revenue up 6 percent over 2022. Digital gift cards grew the most with sales up 229% between 2019 and 2023. Gift card growth among full-service restaurants (FSRs) also jumped with sales up around 1% (2022, 2,259,621 to 2023 2,342,083).

    Most Popular – By far the most popular denomination are $25 cards, which made up 34% of cards sold in 2023. But $50 cards were the biggest mover with an increase of 17% in sales.

    Holiday Sales – Year-over-year change in holiday gift cards were up five percent, with 80 percent of all physical gift cards, both in-store and third-party, sold in November and December.

    Methodology
    The 2024 Paytronix Gift Card Report draws on data sourced from aggregate gift card sales for 241 merchants continually operating gift card programs between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2023. These merchants all had at least six months of gift card sales data starting in July 2018.

    About Paytronix
    Paytronix is the leader in Digital Customer Engagement for restaurants, convenience stores, and other retailers who seek to build lasting guest relationships. Paytronix continually advances digital guest engagement by developing technologies that uncover new insights about guest attitudes and behaviors that create brand preferences. For more information visit Paytronix.com.

    Media Contact:
    Calen McGee
    Paytronix Systems, Inc.
    cmcgee@paytronix.com
    646-957-7758

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: African Development Bank Group Appoints Moono Mupotola as Deputy Director General for Southern Africa

    Source: Africa Press Organisation – English (2) – Report:

    ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, October 16, 2024/APO Group/ —

    The African Development Bank Group (www.AfDB.org) has appointed Moono Mupotola, as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and BusinessDelivery Office, effective 16th October 2024. 

    Mupotola, a Zambian national, brings over 25 years of development experience across Africa to her new role. Her expertise spans infrastructure development, trade and regional integration. Since December 2020, until her appointment, she served as the Bank’s Country Manager for Zimbabwe where she has been instrumental in the Bank’s support for the country’s re-engagement with the international community and in its efforts to address outstanding debt and arrears obligations. 

    Mupotola’s career at the African Development Bank began in 2009, when she was appointed Division Manager for Regional Integration and Trade. She was appointed Director of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Regional Integration and Trade in 2015, and Director of Regional Integration Coordination Office in 2018. 

    Her oversight of the Lusophone Compact, a program supporting the private sector in six Portugues-speaking African countries, demonstrated her commitment to advancing regional integration. She also initiated several vital programs, including the Bank’s Africa Trade Fund, the Visa Openness Index, and the Regional Integration Index with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the African Union Commission. 

    Mupotola managed the African Development Fund’s Regional Operations Envelope and oversaw the Bank’s regional project preparation facility. She led the Bank’s trade and regional integration agenda by supporting research, infrastructure projects, capacity-building programs and the reform of regulations and policies in regional member countries. 

    Before joining the African Development Bank Group, Mupotola held several senior positions. These included Regional Policy Specialist for the Food and Agriculture Organization in Zimbabwe, Trade Specialist at the Southern African Development Community Trade Hub in Botswana and Zimbabwe, and Division Head of Trade and Marketing at the Ministry of Agriculture in Namibia. She also served as a Researcher at the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit and a Banker at Zambia National Commercial Bank. 

    Mupotola holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Bennington College, Vermont, United States of America and an MPhil in Development and Sociology from Cambridge University, United Kingdom.  

    Commenting on her appointment, she said: “I am deeply honored by this opportunity and grateful to President Adesina for his trust and confidence in me. The role of Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office is challenging and exciting. I look forward to working efficiently with our teams and stakeholders to deliver on the Bank’s vision and High 5 priorities for sustainable development.” 

    Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, stated: “I am delighted to appoint Mrs. Moono Mupotola as Deputy Director General for the Southern Africa Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery Office. Moono has extensive experience in regional operations, having served previously as Director of Regional Operations. She was subsequently assigned to Zimbabwe as Country Manager. Moono has demonstrated exceptional leadership, diplomatic acumen and strong execution capacity in working with the Government of Zimbabwe and all the development partners in advancing the structured dialogues for the arrears clearance for Zimbabwe, as well as major reforms. Her astute leadership and experience and in-depth knowledge of the countries in the Southern Africa region will significantly advance the work and partnerships with the African Development Bank Group in the region.” 

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Financial news: Decommissioning of the client part of the “CED” software

    MILES AXLE Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Moscow Exchange – Moscow Exchange –

    Dear users of EDI services,

    We inform you that the service “Client part of the software “CED”” will be decommissioned from January 1, 2025. This service provides the ability to conclude purchase and sale agreements in electronic form between organizations participating in the CED system. There are no plans to transfer this functionality to other systems. For the purpose of concluding purchase and sale agreements in electronic form, we recommend using the MOEX Dealing / Trade Radar systems, which have the closest similar functionality (these systems do not have the ability to sign documents with an EDS, which can be implemented using the back office systems of your organization). The services will be canceled by Moscow Exchange PJSC unilaterally. Signing of any additional agreements or applications is not required. We ask you to bring this information to the attention of the responsible departments. For all questions related to this notice, you can contact us at itssales@moex.com

    Contact information for media 7 (495) 363-3232PR@moex.com

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

    Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    https://www.moex.com/n74032

    MIL OSI Russia News –