The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) yesterday charged a former Managing Director of AT Systematization Berhad (ATS) (currently known as Erdasan Group Berhad), at the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court for causing wrongful loss amounting to RM16.35 million to the company. Choong Lee Aun (Choong), 59, faced 41 charges under section 317A(1) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA) for allegedly making payments totalling RM16.35 million to two companies, Delta Million Dynamic Sdn Bhd and Midas Mode Sdn Bhd, with the intention of causing wrongful loss to ATS. The offences took place between June 2020 and November 2021 in Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Under section 317A(1) of the CMSA, a director or officer of a listed corporation or any of its related corporations shall not do anything with the intention of causing wrongful loss to the listed corporation or its related corporations.   If convicted, Choong faces a jail term of not less than two years and not exceeding 10 years and is also liable to a fine not exceeding RM10 million. Choong claimed trial to all 41 charges in three separate courts and was granted bail at RM420,000 in total. Before Sessions Court judge Puan Suhaila binti Haron, Choong was granted bail at RM200,000 with two local sureties. He was also ordered to surrender his passport to court and to report to the SC’s investigating officer on a monthly basis as additional bail condition by the court.   Separately, Choong was granted bail of RM100,000 and RM120,000 respectively before Sessions Court judges Tuan Azrul bin Darus and Puan Norma binti Ismail. Both courts imposed similar additional bail conditions as the earlier court against Choong. The charges preferred against Choong yesterday were made possible through the close cooperation and collaboration between the SC and both domestic and international law enforcement agencies. The joint efforts reflect the commitment in ensuring that perpetrators of securities laws are brought to justice.   The SC wishes to record its appreciation to the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) and Malaysia Airports Aviation Security (AVSEC) for their invaluable assistance.

Good morning. Let me begin by recording my appreciation to the organisers, the Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia (F-I-M-M), for once again inviting the Securities Commission Malaysia to deliver the keynote address at this year’s annual conference. This year’s theme, “Navigating the Future” resonates strongly with global developments, as it brings together practitioners, thought leaders, and policymakers to discuss emerging trends and explore how our industry can continue to meet the evolving needs of investors. Click here for full details.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce today (Thursday) the introduction of weekly expiries for five single stock option classes on 10 November 2025 (Monday). These weekly stock options will complement the existing monthly contracts, offering investors greater flexibility and enhanced tools for managing short-term market risks. Details of the new weekly stock options: CNOOC Limited (883) CNC 1,000 14 November 2025, 21 November 2025 China Mobile Limited (941) CHT 500 Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (981) SMC 2,500 AIA Group Limited (1299) AIA 1,000 Xiaomi Corporation – W (1810) MIU 1,000   Weekly stock options have become one of HKEX’s most successful derivatives products. Since their launch last November, more than 21 million contracts have been traded, with weekly expiries now representing approximately 22 per cent of the volume of the corresponding single stock options products in Q3 2025. Notably, weekly stock options set a daily trading volume record of 312,545 contracts on 2 October 2025. Details of new weekly stock options are available in the circular issued today. General stock options contract summaries are also available on the HKEX website.

Nasdaq (NDAQ) announces that Valstybės Investicinis Kapitalas, a Lithuanian state-owned company, has become the first to list its bonds under Nasdaq’s new European defense bond framework. The bonds are listed on the Nasdaq Baltic Bond List by the Nasdaq Vilnius Stock Exchange. According to the EU Commission (White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030), access to finance is a major concern for 44% of defense SMEs, compared to civilian SMEs. With increasing interest from the financial sector, the defense industry is positioned for significant growth, as investment policies evolve to support this emerging market. To improve transparency and provide clear guidelines for funding defense projects, Nasdaq has introduced the Nasdaq Defense, Resilience, and Infrastructure Bond Criteria (NDRI). The NDRI acts as a voluntary transparency standard and criterion for obtaining the NDRI label on Nasdaq’s European Bond Markets. Valstybės Investicinis Kapitalas (VIK) completed a €25 million public offering, marking the first tranche of its medium-term note program guaranteed by the Republic of Lithuania. The bonds have a 4-year maturity and carry a yearly interest rate of 3.119%. VIK’s entire bond program is valued at €400 million. Of this total funding, up to €71 million will be dedicated to the construction of the Rheinmetall factory in Lithuania. The remaining funds will be allocated to various other defense and security initiatives, with further details to be disclosed in future tranches. "We are honored to see that the capital markets are opening to defense projects. The current geopolitical situation encourages investors to increasingly trust these projects, recognizing their importance and potential. Investor confidence is a crucial factor in ensuring long-term security and stability in the region," said Vaidas Daktariūnas, CEO of VIK. VIK acts as a strategic investor, attracting private capital by issuing debt securities to fund projects of national importance, including economic resilience, national defense, and security, thereby contributing to the development of capital markets in Lithuania. Roland Chai, President of European Market Services at Nasdaq, commented, "Helping vital companies access public capital is at the heart of what we do at Nasdaq Europe. We commend VIK for utilizing Nasdaq Europe's bond market and leading the way for other defense-related projects to secure market funding. The added criteria provide investors with the insights needed for confident decisions and ensure efficient capital deployment for issuers. Financial markets must adapt to the evolving needs of economies and societies, and Nasdaq is committed to this adaptation." The NDRI framework offers a transparent platform for companies and governments to raise capital efficiently, supporting defense capabilities and resilience. For investors, the NDRI provides detailed insights into the defense industry, facilitating informed decisions and aligning with their investment goals. To qualify under the NDRI, the proceeds of the bond issue must be allocated to projects benefiting the defense, resilience, or infrastructure of EU or NATO member states, or non-member states formally participating in EU or NATO’s frameworks of cooperation. Eligible categories include, but are not limited to, cybersecurity, weapons and ammunition, infrastructure, dual-use technologies, civil resilience programs, and aerospace.

As of today, Ottobock SE & Co. KG (ISIN: DE000BCK2223) is listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The first price of the share was 72.00 euros. The current share price is available on boerse-frankfurt.com.BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs Bank Europe were accompanying the IPO as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners. Bank of America Securities and UBS Investment Bank acted as Senior Joint Bookrunners, and Jefferies and UniCredit were additional Joint Bookrunners. Commerzbank was Senior Co-Lead Manager. DZ Bank and LBBW were Co-Lead Manager. Lilja & Co. acted as Financial Advisor to Näder Holding and Ottobock. The designated sponsor in Xetra trading is Baader Bank. The specialist on the trading venue Börse Frankfurt is Baader Bank.According to its own information, Ottobock is a medical technology company operating globally in the field of bionics. Its core business areas include prosthetics, orthotics, and exoskeletons. Founded in 1919, the company generated revenue of €1.43 billion last year with a global workforce of almost 9,300 employees and reported an adjusted operating profit (EBITDA) of €321million. Further information can be found in our primary market statistics.

The London Metal Exchange (LME) has today published a roadmap setting out its proposed plan to modernise its options market. It provides clarity on the immediate plans to automate the expiry process and deliver electronic options, both of which will help enhance liquidity and transparency, ultimately broadening market participation. Options are used by a wide range of LME market participants, including producers, consumers, intermediaries and financial participants, to help manage risk. Currently, they are only traded through the inter-office market, but the launch of the LME’s new trading platform has laid the foundation to build an electronic options market and the functionality that it requires. The LME intends to take a phased approach to implementing the changes, although the final timetable and proposals will remain subject to further consultation and regulatory engagement:  Early H2 2026 The first step will be the introduction of automated expiry for LME options, the consultation for which will be published later this year. This will simplify and standardise the expiry process, removing the operational risk and complexity of the current manual processes. It will also align the LME with global best practice and provide greater certainty for participants. Previous market feedback indicated support to move from the current American expiry style (that can be exercised on any day up to the expiry day) to a European expiry style that only allows the option to be exercised on the expiration date. The LME proposes to make this change at the same time as automated expiry.  Late 2026 Outright options, quoted in premium terms, will become available on screen. The LME believes that this will complement the existing bilateral inter-office market and align the LME with other markets. Electronic options will provide greater standardisation and intraday transparency, reducing barriers to entry and making the market more attractive to a broader range of market participants. The launch of onscreen options will be accompanied by a number of features including mass quotes and market maker protections. The LME will also introduce a liquidity provider programme to support onscreen liquidity and intraday price transparency. 2027 The LME will continue to introduce further changes after options become available on screen. These will include complex strategies, more sophisticated market maker protections and changes to end-of-day pricing.  Jamie Turner, LME Chief Operating Officer and Head of Trading, said: “The successful introduction of our new trading platform has opened the door to developing the electronic options market at the LME and today’s paper sets out a clear path forwards for the market. “The market will see a steady stream of enhancements starting with auto-expiry and then outright options on screen. We know that members and market users are enthusiastic about the plans and we will work closely with them as we move to delivery.” LME members have also commented on the plans: Francis Luis, Head of Base Metals Linear Trading, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, said: “The LME’s installation of auto-expiry for options will complement initiatives to minimise operational risk and help clients operate confidently in an ever-growing marketplace.” Filip Meijer, Head of Base Metal Options, StoneX Financial Ltd, said: “It is great to see the LME moving forward with an automatic expiry process and a potential future electronic offering. It will not only enhance transparency, but attract a more diverse group of users.” The LME has already started work on this programme and will be engaging with the market to shape the requirements and ensure readiness. Background The roadmap can be found on the LME’s website  The LME considered the introduction of electronic options in its Options Market Discussion Paper DP 20 that can also be found on the LME’s website

The FSB and partner organisations have completed most of the international policy work under the G20 Roadmap for enhancing cross-border payments. Policy initiatives have not yet translated into the desired real-world gains for end-users, though there have been improvements in some areas. In order to fulfil the G20 objectives, the FSB and partner organisations will work with key stakeholders to support implementation of actions under the Roadmap at the jurisdictional level.   The Financial Stability Board (FSB) today published a consolidated progress report for 2025 on the actions taken by the FSB, the Bank for International Settlements Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) and other partner organisations under the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments. To more effectively monitor progress, the annual progress report has been integrated with the report on key performance indicators (KPIs). Over the past year several significant milestones have been achieved. These include the FSB’s recommendations to level the playing field between bank and non-bank payment services providers and to mitigate data-related frictions in cross-border payments, and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s revision of standards for data in cross-border payments (Recommendation 16 on Payment Transparency). While the majority of the Roadmap actions have been completed, these efforts have not yet translated into tangible improvements for end-users at the global level. It is unlikely that satisfactory improvements at the global level will be achieved in line with the 2027 Roadmap timetable. The global speed of wholesale payments has increased, possibly laying the foundation for faster retail payments and remittances in the future. The speed of remittances has also improved globally, which means those end-users relying on financial support from family members abroad are receiving payments more quickly. However, the average global cost of such payments remains high, notwithstanding some improvements in the most expensive regions. There continues to be significant variations across regions. More needs to be done at the regional and jurisdictional level to turn the international policy work into real-world gains for end-users and to support economic growth. Individual jurisdictions need to take practical steps to implement measures that will have downstream benefits. Private sector stakeholders should also explore and implement changes to improve the end-user’s cross-border payments experience. “The FSB and South African G20 Presidency remain committed to achieving the goals of the Roadmap and urge the public and private sectors to make tangible improvements to domestic payment systems as the first and last mile of a cross-border payment depend on domestic payment rails”, said Lesetja Kganyago, Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and Co-Chair of the FSB Cross-border Payments Coordination Group. Over the coming year, the FSB and other partner organisations will focus on enhancing monitoring and supporting implementation of the agreed policy recommendations under the G20 Roadmap. “We are committed to facilitating implementation of agreed policy recommendations and to engage actively with the private sector, G20 and non-G20 jurisdictions to make this happen,” said Fabio Panetta, Governor of Banca d’Italia, Chair of the CPMI and Co-Chair of the FSB Cross-border Payments Coordination Group. Background In 2020, the Saudi Arabian G20 Presidency made enhancing cross-border payments a priority and asked the FSB to develop and coordinate a G20 Roadmap. To give impetus to this work, the FSB, in collaboration with the CPMI and other partner organisations, developed a prioritisation plan that focused on actions that would most effectively contribute to achieving the goals of the Roadmap for faster, cheaper and more transparent and accessible cross-border payments. To give ambition and accountability to the Roadmap’s goals, in 2021, the G20 endorsed a set of global quantitative targets, the majority of which are set for end-2027. To more effectively monitor progress, the annual progress report has been integrated with the report on KPIs measuring the end-user experience. The FSB coordinates at the international level the work of national financial authorities and international standard-setting bodies and develops and promotes the implementation of effective regulatory, supervisory, and other financial sector policies in the interest of financial stability. It brings together national authorities responsible for financial stability in 24 countries and jurisdictions, international financial institutions, sector-specific international groupings of regulators and supervisors, and committees of central bank experts. The FSB also conducts outreach with approximately 70 other jurisdictions through its six Regional Consultative Groups. The FSB is chaired by Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England. The FSB Secretariat is located in Basel, Switzerland and hosted by the Bank for International Settlements.    

Australians looking to grow their wealth continue to turn to exchange traded funds (ETFs) as a key investment vehicle. ASX has welcomed its 400th ETF with the listing of the Global X S&P Australia GARP ETF (ASX: GRPA), and the size of the market now exceeds $300bn in funds under management (FUM), reflecting the demand in investor appetite for ETFs. ASX has experienced significant growth in the ETF market, with FUM climbing from $219 billion in September 2024 to over $300 billion in September 2025, an increase of more than $80 billion. Over the past five years, FUM has more than quadrupled, rising from $71 billion in 2020. Notably, the number of ETFs available on the ASX has almost doubled over the last five years, growing from 216 ETFs in September 2020. ETFs continue to attract investors and financial advisers seeking simple, cost effective and diversified exposure across equities, bonds, commodities and alternative assets. Andrew Campion, General Manager, Investment Products & Strategy, said: “The ASX investment product market is not only expanding but accelerating. We’ve seen extraordinary momentum across the Exchange Traded Fund market, and investors are increasingly using ETFs to access a broad range of investment strategies and asset classes from international equities and fixed income through to alternatives. “What previously took years to achieve is now being realised in just months, driven by increasing investor demand, diversified offerings and strong trading volumes. "As more Australian investors turn to listed investments, and with ETFs set to play a leading role in the next generation of portfolios, ASX is proud to play a pivotal role in supporting investors to grow their wealth across the country.” With more than 2 million Australians now investing in ETFs the demand for diversified, transparent and accessible investment options is showing no signs of slowing.

From the perspective of promoting information provision in English on a real-time basis, today, the FSA is introducing an AI translation system to its Japanese website. Users of the FSA's Japanese website will be able to browse the content of the website in English, except for some pages. The FSA will continue efforts to strengthen information provision in English. 【Browsing method】 When you click the "Language" button on the upper right of the Japanese website, and select "Machine translation" displayed on the screen, the results of the translation by AI are displayed. If you select "Global Site," the screen changes to the conventional English website. 【Points to note】 Files in formats other than HTML (e.g., PDF files and image data), old contents from before the establishment of the FSA, some dedicated websites, and contents in English on the existing English website are not covered. The AI translation system that the FSA is introducing this time is a system of machine translation using AI. The content is translated mechanically based on certain rules, and the translation results are not necessarily accurate. Please note that the original Japanese contents are treated as the official contents. For details, see the "Terms of Use of the Financial Services Agency Website"（https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/rules/index.html ）

Click here to download Shenzhen Stock Exchange's market bulletin, issue 26.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today designated Jennifer Crosthwaite as Senior National Bank Examiner. The Senior National Bank Examiner designation recognizes examiners who have distinguished themselves through high-quality performance as field examiners, serving as subject matter experts and acting as trusted advisors on highly complex and technical bank supervision issues. This is the highest honor the OCC bestows upon national bank examiners. “It gives me great pleasure to recognize Ms. Crosthwaite’s excellence and outstanding contributions to the OCC and the institutions she has supervised by bestowing this revered designation,” said Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan V. Gould. “In the OCC’s 162-year history, only a select few examiners have been distinguished as Senior National Bank Examiner, and I am honored to congratulate Ms. Crosthwaite on achieving this prestigious recognition and joining this elite group.” Ms. Crosthwaite joined the OCC in 1984 and received her National Bank Examiner designation in 1988. Throughout her career at the OCC, Ms. Crosthwaite has made important contributions across the agency’s Community Bank, Regional and Midsize Financial Institution, and Large and Global Financial Institution lines of business. She has served as the Capital Markets Team Lead and Enterprise Risk Management Team Lead for some of the largest institutions the OCC supervises. Since 2021, Ms. Crosthwaite has been the OCC’s Examiner-in-Charge at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Ms. Crosthwaite is a recognized leader at the OCC, sought out for her technical skills and expertise, her ability to navigate challenging supervision issues, and her strong support for ongoing examiner development.

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today announced recent activities to increase transparency and foster compliance in the exempt market, a segment of Canada’s capital markets where securities can be sold without the protections associated with a prospectus. These activities align with our Strategic Plan that identified the ongoing growth of the private markets. We are approaching this work from two perspectives. We are enhancing awareness of our requirements and monitoring the use of the offering memorandum prospectus exemption (OM exemption) under section 2.9 of National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions, as well as increasing transparency for retail investors who participate in the exempt market and may be exposed to heightened investment risks such as the risk of loss, limited liquidity, and lack of information. “The aim is to advance investor protection for all investors by increasing transparency about the business activities of non-reporting issuers raising capital in the exempt market using the OM exemption and limiting the distribution of non-compliant non-reporting issuers,” said Sonny Randhawa, Executive Vice President, Regulatory Operations at the OSC. “Exempt market does not mean unregulated market. Within Regulatory Operations, the OSC’s Corporate Finance and Registration, Investigations and Examinations divisions are working in tandem to encourage compliance with regulatory requirements by both issuers and dealers in the exempt market to support investor protection.” As part of these efforts, the OSC’s Corporate Finance division is introducing an AFS non-delivery list, a list of non-reporting issuers that have relied on the OM exemption in Ontario but have not delivered annual financial statements to the OSC. Delivery of financial statements to the OSC is a condition of the OM exemption. Publishing this list on the OSC website provides greater transparency about the exempt market by notifying investors and other market participants of companies that have not delivered their annual financial statements to the OSC.  The OSC’s Registration, Investigations and Examinations division (RIE) will be examining exempt market dealers (EMDs) involved in the distribution of certain non-reporting issuers that failed to deliver their annual financial statements to the OSC. RIE’s examinations will consider the know-your-product practices of registrants when distributing securities of these issuers. As part of its ongoing work to oversee EMDs, RIE recently identified significant compliance deficiencies that led to the suspension of an EMD and its chief compliance officer. The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at https://www.osc.ca.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced that it has hired June Kim as its new Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Public Markets. Kim has nearly three decades of investing experience, most recently as senior investment director of total fund management at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). “June brings a proven track record of success in both the public and private sectors, and we are thrilled to welcome her to the CalPERS team,” said Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost. “We look forward to June’s leadership and insight as she brings a wealth of investing knowledge to help CalPERS fulfill its mission to deliver retirement security to our members.” At CalPERS, Kim will report to Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore and work closely with the agency’s managing investment directors to lead decision-making across the portfolio. Her appointment will be effective December 1. "We searched the globe for the right mix of experience and leadership and found the best person for the job right in our own backyard,” Gilmore said. “CalPERS will benefit from June’s knowledge of global public markets, her understanding of long-term horizons, and her experience in managing high-performing teams.”  At CalSTRS, Kim oversaw asset allocation, balance sheet management and investment risk across the fund, which was valued at $374.3 billion as of Aug. 31, 2025. Prior to that role, Kim served as the investment director of global equity at CalSTRS for 10 years. “I am honored to join the team at CalPERS and continue the important work of providing a strong and secure retirement for those who have served California,” Kim said. “The mission at CalPERS is so crucial as we deliver on the promise of supporting the financial future of our members.” “To say that June has made a huge contribution to CalSTRS’ investment success would be an understatement. She has been invaluable," said CalSTRS Chief Investment Officer Scott Chan. "Her recent efforts to develop the Total Fund Management division have laid the foundation for future growth. We will miss her deeply, but we're happy she has joined our colleagues at CalPERS to serve public sector workers in California." Before joining CalSTRS, June served as head of equities for the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association. She also worked as an investment officer for the City of Los Angeles. Kim worked in the private sector before joining public service, with experience at Northern Trust Global Investments, Citibank, Barclays Global Investors, and Wilshire Associates. She graduated with a degree in business economics from the University of California at Los Angeles and is a 2019 Finance Leaders Fellow of the Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.  Kim will succeed Dan Bienvenue, who left CalPERS in April to become managing director of the private equity firm General Atlantic.

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation (FINRA Foundation) and the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education® (AFCPE®) are excited to announce the 2025 cohort of the FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship. This year, 30 military spouses will take steps toward achieving their Accredited Financial Counselor® (AFC®) designation, setting the foundation for meaningful careers in financial counseling. Since 2006, the FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship has successfully prepared over 700 military spouses to obtain their AFC certification while building a thriving global network of more financially confident and empowered military families. Heather Walrath, an AFC and prior Fellowship recipient, offered her insights on what the opportunity has meant to her and her clients: “The AFC has been crucial in my ability to really empower military families. There are a lot of people operating in this space without the proper training. Having the AFC credential shows my clients that I am committed to continual learning to better support their unique needs. The designation is also very recognized within the DOD community. As an AFC, I've really valued the networking and being part of a community that wants to uplift - not only financial counseling professionals - but also the people we serve.” By equipping military spouses with the expertise required for flexible, rewarding careers in financial counseling, the Fellowship strengthens financial security and enhances overall readiness across military communities. "Our Military Spouse Fellows continue to demonstrate the profound impact that targeted financial education can have on military families," said Gerri Walsh, President of the FINRA Foundation. "As this program enters its 20th year, we've seen how empowering military spouses with professional skills creates a multiplier effect—strengthening both their own career prospects and the financial resilience of the entire military community." “This year marks the 20th anniversary of the FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship,” said Rachael DeLeon, Executive Director of AFCPE. “Our latest class joins a passionate and supportive community that is dedicated to improving the financial well-being of military service members and their families. To date, FINRA Fellows have served more than 280,000 individuals, positively impacting military communities across the United States and around the world.” The FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellowship is open to qualifying spouses of active-duty or retired Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, and Army or Air National Guard or reserve component service members, as well as spouses of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Professionals. For more information and to sign up for program updates, visit afcpe.org/education/finra-foundation-fellowship/.

Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) participated for the sixth consecutive year, alongside several global stock exchanges in the "Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy" initiative and the activities of the World Investor Week, held during the first week of October 2025. This participation comes as part of the annual initiative organized by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE). The CEO of the ASE, Mr. Mazen Wathaifi, said that the ASE’s participation in this activity, besides a number of global stock markets, falls within its commitment to actively engage in the various activities and initiatives of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), and their various committees. Such participation enables the stock exchange to stay updated with the latest developments related to its functions and to remain aligned with relevant international standards. He added that this event reflects the stock exchange’s continuous commitment to promoting financial literacy and raising investment awareness among members of the community. World Investor Week highlights the vital role of investor education and protection.  He pointed out that during this week, stock exchanges efforts around the world unite in support of this campaign by organizing bell-ringing ceremonies, workshops, and various events aimed at promoting financial awareness and literacy as key elements in building inclusive markets. This year’s campaign focuses on several key themes, such as digital finance and technology, as well as fraud and scam prevention. Wathaifi pointed out that throughout the week, ASE will publish educational materials via its official website and social media platforms, targeting various categories of investors. The aim is to enhance investment awareness, highlight investors' rights and responsibilities, and shed light on investor protection mechanisms in the financial market. He further emphasized that through these activities, ASE aims to enhance investment culture and empower investors to make well-informed decisions, familiarize them with developments in financial technology and digital finance. He stressed the importance of enhancing financial literacy as one of the key pillars for achieving financial inclusion and sustainability in financial markets. On the sidelines of the stock exchange’s participation alongside global stock exchanges in this event, and in line with the themes of the week and its ongoing efforts to enhance its information security, a specialized training workshop will be held for ASE employees, delivered by the Ministry of Digital Economy, focusing on personal data protection. It is worth mentioning that "World Investor Week" is an annual international awareness initiative organized in the first week of October of each year by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) aiming to enhance financial culture and raise awareness for investors on all matters related to investment in securities and the capital market. More than 120 members of this international organization participate in its annual activities.

ULMA Inversiones, Sociedad Cooperativa has registered a new bond issue on BME's fixed income market, MARF, for €20 million. This new bond issue has a term of 14 years, with a final maturity date of 25 September 2039, with partial repayments starting in September 2035. It has an annual coupon of 4.57%, payable every six months, and a nominal value of €100,000 per unit. The bonds issued are backed by the personal guarantee of the nine cooperatives of the ULMA Group. ULMA returns to the MARF after registering its first promissory note programme in 2017, for €50 million, and its inaugural bond issue in 2019, also for €50 million.  Banca March is participating as Registered Adviser and Paying Agent for the issue. The issue has been fully subscribed by PGIM Private Capital Limited (PRICOA). J&A Garrigues advised ULMA in relation to Spanish law and Gómez Acebo & Pombo Abogados advised PRICOA under UK law. ULMA Inversiones, Sociedad Cooperativa, is a second-degree cooperative society that forms part of the ULMA Group, which in turn is one of the largest industrial cooperative groups in Spain. ULMA is present in 81 countries (including the US, Canada, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, France, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Italy, Poland, Russia, Germany and Romania) and comprises nine businesses operating in the following areas: construction solutions, packaging machinery, smart warehouses, forging, prefabricated drainage and architectural systems, conveyor rollers, handling services, greenhouse manufacturing and embedded electronics. The Group employs around 5,800 professionals. In 2024, ULMA Construcción, ULMA Packaging and ULMA Forged Solutions accounted for almost 80% of the group's total revenue. Last year, revenue increased in most business lines to a total of €1.151 billion. The ULMA Group also achieved EBITDA of €225.6 million.

Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today.1 I value the opportunity to spend time with community bankers and fellow federal and state bank regulators. This conference, now in its 13th year, is always a great forum for those interactions. All of us benefit from the research presented here, which helps us understand the opportunities for banks to strengthen communities, and the challenges that community banks face. So, I want to thank the researchers presenting. Thank you also to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) for co-sponsoring this gathering, and to the Federal Reserve staff who each year do their part to bring it about. More broadly, I very much appreciate the close and longstanding collaboration between the Federal Reserve, the CSBS, and the FDIC. Throughout my career, a major focus of my work has been building stronger communities. To do much of that building, households and small businesses need access to credit, and I have known for a long time that community banks and community bankers play an indispensable role in the towns, rural areas, and cities they serve. Stronger community banks mean stronger communities. Community banks, sometimes the only banking option in a community, offer a consequential difference in customer experience. Even in communities that may also have local branches of larger banks, there is often a considerable, and I think meaningful, differentiation in the customer satisfaction at a community bank. At branches of larger banks, the customer experience can be subject to layers of authorizations involving phone calls and approvals (or denials) from people who are not part of the community and may lack a deep understanding of local industries and conditions. Much of this relates to the understandable need for larger institutions to adopt more standardized and centralized processes, powered by technology, to boost efficiency and lower costs. It is easier than ever before to apply for an increasing variety of loans online, and this is something that community banks are taking advantage of as well. But this is where the benefit that community banks provide really shows. Community bankers are part of their communities. They know and care about their customers. They have an inherent advantage in understanding the needs and the challenges of local businesses and households. This is not just a matter of being friendly and welcoming to customers. Beyond the numbers on a loan application, what community bankers understand about their neighbors is "soft information" that can be used to make better credit decisions. Relationship banking, especially with local business owners, is critical for those businesses—but also for community banks—because it gives them an ongoing edge in the ever-intensifying competition from larger banks and nonbank lenders. Knowing your customer is also crucial in preventing crime, such as fraud, which remains a top concern for community bankers. The pressure of competition is a very real challenge for community banks, but the advantages I speak of are real as well. I know you heard yesterday from several banks, including those that are modestly sized and have competed very effectively with much larger banks. Community banks have earned the trust and the business of people in their communities because of an understanding that the banks' successes depend on their communities succeeding. Those common interests are a powerful force that drives customer retention amid all the competition. What is the future of community banking? I note that the session immediately after my remarks today is "Innovation and Technology in Small Business Lending." Indeed, technology is a big part of this year's conference, so you won't be surprised to hear me say that I believe it is a big part of what will determine the future of community banking. I know you've already gotten the results of this year's Annual Survey of Community Banks by CSBS, where "technology and related costs" ranked second as a concern, behind only cybersecurity, which is itself largely about technology. Most respondents said that the adoption of new or emerging technologies was very or extremely important, and not a single banker said it wasn't important at all. Until fairly recently, the big technological disruption in banking came from fintech and an onslaught of new lending from nonbanks. This year's CSBS survey reported the largest-ever increase in respondents who saw heightened competition from nonbank payment services firms. Larger banks are also competing with community banks online. Increased choice for small businesses and consumers is a good thing, but community banks have had to continue to innovate to compete. Community banks often turn to third-party service providers to help them offer products and services to compete with larger banks and fintechs. Managing the risks related to these third-party arrangements has been a considerable job for community banks. The Fed and other regulators have offered guidance about this task, to serve as a resource and to make the supervisory implications of third-party risk management as predictable as possible. As with many of the big questions facing community banking, technology represents risk and opportunity. It allows community banks to reach customers more effectively and to offer new products and services, but it also demands investment and vigilance. One of the challenges for community banks is to adopt technologies or form partnerships that allow them to deepen customer relationships but not attenuate or replace them. In interactions with Federal Reserve supervisors about third-party services, banks tell us that they hear a lot of sales pitches for algorithmic lending, outsourcing customer service, and the like, when what they are really looking for is an app that can enhance relationship banking: their natural advantage. Any discussion about technological advances has to give prominent attention to artificial intelligence, and I note that later this morning a paper on the use of AI technology will be part of an upcoming session. Before I get into what AI might mean for community banking, let me say that AI has been of particular interest to me, and I have spoken about it several times this year, because of the technology's potential to transform both our economy, and in other fundamental ways, how we live and interact with each other in society.2 While there is high uncertainty about these outcomes, I believe that the speed at which AI is being implemented means that we should all be thinking about the full range of possibilities and be prepared for any one of them to come to pass, perhaps sooner than we think. AI was included for the first time in the CSBS survey in 2024, when AI for customer support was an important focus for 31 percent of respondents, a share that jumped to 47 percent in this year's survey. Of course, earlier forms of AI have been used by larger banks in customer service for many years, and the big development for community banks seems to be that newer forms of GenAI could be lowering costs and expanding access enough to make it cost-effective for smaller institutions. Customer service is one obvious area where AI could change community banking, but there are others. Cybersecurity and fraud have been and continue to be leading concerns for community bankers, and AI represents new opportunities for addressing these concerns. It is my understanding that automated fraud detection, in particular, hasn't been cost effective for some community banks, which haven't been able to compete with larger banks that have the economies of scale to deploy these services. But the huge buildout in AI capacity now underway, along with the explosion in the number of firms seeking to get into AI-based services, may have the potential for driving down costs enough to make AI-based fraud detection more feasible for community banks. Yet, AI represents new risks as well as new opportunities.3 In addition to community banks worrying about criminals defrauding them or their customers with forgeries on checks or in credit card transactions, they face a new threat from entirely forged identities, with so-called "deepfakes." Deepfakes use GenAI to recreate voices and images of real people, allowing fraudsters to hold convincing conversations using simulated voices that sound like the individual they are impersonating, responding in ways that person might realistically respond. Using only a brief sample of audio and access to information about individuals on the internet, criminals employing GenAI can impersonate a close relative in a crisis or a high-value bank client seeking to complete a transaction at their bank. What was once the stuff of movies is now a reality, and a lot is at stake. The direct and indirect costs of all cybercrimes have already grown from 1 percent to 10 percent of global gross domestic product.4 The use of deepfakes in cybercrime is growing very quickly. According to one source, there has been a twentyfold increase in deepfake attacks over the last three years.5 Community bankers also need to be aware of the potential for AI to affect customers' livelihoods. I tend to be an optimist about the potential for AI to make workers more productive, raise living standards, and create more jobs in new industries, but I am realistic in my expectation that it could cause considerable dislocation of workers and businesses, at least in the short run.6 Communities dependent on a small number of employers or a single industry that is significantly affected by AI could experience these dislocations. At the same time, the large investments underway in data centers, many of them in remote or rural areas where electricity is less expensive, could bring new business for community banks. For example, during the most recent Community Advisory Council (CAC) meeting, the Federal Reserve Board heard about a major data center built in Ellendale, North Dakota, a community of less than 1,500 people. The CAC member noted that the addition of a major data center had vastly increased the community's needs for services. At this point it is hard to tell how much AI will truly transform the economy and banking, but I think that community bankers will need to be prepared to change, as ever, if your communities are affected. I have covered a couple topics so far today. I have spoken about the advent of fintech, and the way it is transforming banking and competition between community banks and larger banks—risks and opportunities. I have spoken about technology more generally, and specifically about how artificial intelligence may change the economy and banking. Many of these uncertainties echo those that most workers and businesses are facing in our fast-evolving economy. One group of people that I believe have dealt very effectively with a changing economy are community bankers. Considering the changes that have swept over our banking and financial system over the decades, if you are a community banker sitting here today, that itself is a testament to your ingenuity, resilience, and adaptability. But I would be remiss if I didn't discuss a further challenge to community banks in this regulatory environment—deregulation of large banks. As community bankers well know, it was not community banks that fueled the 2008 financial crisis—it was the largest, most complex firms whose excessive risk-taking nearly brought down the system. In the years since, strong reforms—higher capital, tougher liquidity requirements, and rigorous stress testing—have helped to safeguard our economy. Yet recent proposed rollbacks in capital standards for the largest banks, in the supervisory framework for large financial institutions, and in the rigor of stress testing of large banks threaten to erode those protections. These shifts would not make the system safer; they would leave community banks once again exposed to the fallout if the largest players stumble. Because we cannot afford to repeat those mistakes, I have spoken out against weakening standards for large banks, and I will continue to do so. In closing, I'll note my admiration for community bankers who know how to confront uncertainty, to sort out the risks and the opportunities, and make the decisions and investments that have allowed community banks to continue to play the indispensable role you serve for your customers and communities. We all share an interest in responsible regulation, which means promoting the safety and soundness of community banks and compliance with applicable law but also ensuring that regulation is appropriate to the size, business model, and risk profile of regulated institutions. We all want community banks to succeed and continue to play their important role in the communities they serve. One reason that I believe community banking has a bright future is that all the people here today recognize the unique and essential function of community banks in our financial system and are helping to support community banking. Thank you. 1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board and the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text 2. See Michael S. Barr, "Artificial Intelligence and the Labor Market: A Scenario-Based Approach," speech delivered at the Reykjavík Economic Conference 2025, Central Bank of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland, May 9, 2025. Return to text 3. See Michael S. Barr, "Deepfakes and the AI Arms Race in Bank Cybersecurity," speech delivered at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York, NY, April 17, 2025. Return to text 4. International Monetary Fund, Global Financial Stability Report, Chapter 3 (October 2024). See also, "Why We Need Global Rules to Crack Down on Cybercrime," World Economic Forum, January 2023. Return to text 5. "Fraud attempts with deepfakes have increased by 2137% over the last three years," Signicat, February 20, 2025, https://www.signicat.com/press-releases/fraud-attempts-with-deepfakes-have-increased-by-2137-over-the-last-three-year. Return to text 6. See Michael S. Barr, "Artificial Intelligence and the Labor Market: A Scenario-Based Approach." Return to text

World’s first Sustainability-Linked Financing Sukuk by Emirates Islamic successfully listed on Nasdaq Dubai This listing drives the total value of outstanding Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai past the USD 100 billion mark Nasdaq Dubai welcomed the successful listing of Emirates Islamic’s USD 500 million Sustainability-Linked Financing Sukuk, marking the world's first Sukuk issuance of its kind. Issued under Emirates Islamic’s USD 4 billion Sukuk Programme, the landmark Sukuk underscores the bank’s leadership in sustainable Islamic finance and its role in advancing the UAE’s sustainability agenda. The Sukuk attracted strong international investor demand, highlighting the increasing appeal of sustainable Islamic finance, with orders reaching USD 1.2 billion, an oversubscription of 2.4 times. This enabled the bank to tighten the profit rate to 4.540% per annum, at a spread of 95 basis points over 5-year US Treasuries. To mark the successful listing, Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Chairman of Emirates Islamic and Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD, rang the bell at Nasdaq Dubai’s market-opening ceremony alongside Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and Dubai Financial Market (DFM). Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim, Chairman, Emirates Islamic and Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates NBD, said: "The listing of our pioneering Sustainability-Linked Financing Sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai underscores Emirates Islamic’s financial strength and our commitment to achieving the UAE’s Net Zero 2050 ambitions. This landmark transaction, a global first, demonstrates our ability to deliver advanced, Shari’ah-compliant solutions that resonate with a diverse international investor base, reflecting the growing appetite for sustainable Islamic finance.” Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai and DFM, added: "The listing of Emirates Islamic’s USD 500 million Sustainability-Linked Financing Sukuk represents a landmark moment for Nasdaq Dubai and the wider Islamic finance industry. It highlights Dubai’s growing role as a leading global hub for Islamic and sustainable capital markets, while reinforcing our commitment to providing issuers and investors with innovative financing solutions that support the UAE’s long-term economic development and climate ambitions." Following this listing, Emirates Islamic Sukuk's total outstanding listings on Nasdaq Dubai have reached USD 2.77 billion. This brings the total value of all outstanding Sukuk listed on the exchange to over USD 100 billion, further cementing Nasdaq Dubai's position as a leading global hub for Islamic fixed-income products. As a premier platform for both fixed income and ESG instruments, Nasdaq Dubai now hosts USD 140 billion in fixed income and USD 28.7 billion in ESG listings, including USD 1.55 billion in sustainability-linked issuances.

Eventus, a leading provider of comprehensive, at-scale trade surveillance and financial risk solutions, today announced the launch of Frank AI, its artificial intelligence solution purpose-built for financial compliance teams and surveillance analytics. Eventus' use of deterministic AI for the trade surveillance solution ensures that clients achieve secure, repeatable and transparent results – a necessity for regulatory inquiries and audits. Harnessing technologies including natural language processing (NLP) and large language models (LLMs) and fully integrated into the firm's Validus platform, Frank includes a suite of AI tools and behavioral analytics to help clients automate complex processes, improve accuracy, dramatically reduce alert noise and enhance operational efficiency, as well as identify nuanced patterns of misconduct more effectively in their trade surveillance and risk monitoring programs. Frank is compatible with many public LLMs, including OpenAI, Anthropic and Google, enabling it to continually leverage updates from the world's foremost AI companies to remain at the cutting edge of performance and capability. Enterprise-grade security – including an on-premise deployment option – with comprehensive data protection is a fundamental part of the offering. Travis Schwab, Eventus CEO, said: "We're excited about the groundbreaking nature of Frank AI and the power it puts into our clients' hands for compliance and risk analysis. It provides extreme flexibility, adapting to different analytical needs and user expertise levels. We've spent the past year investing significantly in processing infrastructure to provide us with much greater scale to handle the needs of the world's largest financial institutions. As we transition our clients to the new architecture, they can deploy Frank AI within hours, enjoy seamless integration with their existing technology infrastructure and leverage the full range of capabilities it will provide. Clients in beta testing have been enthusiastic about its effectiveness and potential." Frank AI enables queries using conversational English as a chat interface into Validus data, allowing users to transform their daily workflow and interact on-demand with their real-time data intuitively without compromising on transparency, repeatability or security. They can ask free-form questions without needing advanced programming or coding expertise and generate reports as well as extract insights and deterministic results from their queries. Users can automate manual tasks, including report generation and query building. For example, instead of navigating complex database queries or multiple system interfaces, an analyst can say: "Show me all cross-market wash trading patterns involving equity and futures for Client XYZ in the past 30 days, including related party analysis." Frank AI processes this request, analyzes the relevant data across multiple asset classes and presents comprehensive results with full audit trails – a task that previously required hours of manual investigation across multiple systems. Unlike generic generative AI models which interpret existing text and provide probabilistic answers, Frank AI was designed specifically for financial compliance and surveillance analytics. Repeatable querying ensures accuracy, reducing the risk of AI "hallucinations," or incorrect, unpredictable or misleading responses common in generative AI. Data never leaves the secure host, enabling full compliance and protection of sensitive information. The AI is trained on Validus-specific data tables for contextual accuracy and relevant results, with users able to retrieve, analyze and interact with live data, returning precise, fact-based results. Frank AI assists users in generating reports with structured, actionable insights rather than open-ended text interpretation. Martina Rejsjö, Eventus Vice President, Product Management, said: "Frank AI sets a new standard for AI in financial compliance by solving the fundamental challenge that has prevented widespread AI adoption in regulated environments – the need for deterministic, auditable and secure AI responses. Frank AI delivers consistent, traceable results that compliance teams can trust and regulators can verify. Our commitment to the need for explainability and regulatory readiness has defined our AI roadmap. This breakthrough enables our clients to harness the power of AI while maintaining full regulatory compliance and operational control." Eventus has used machine learning for many years, primarily for alert remediation. No competitor combines advanced analytics with procedural automation, preserving supportable information and explainability that compliance professionals need to satisfy any audit or regulatory inquiry. Frank AI takes the firm's advanced intelligence capabilities to an entirely new level, Schwab said. For more information on Frank AI, visit https://www.eventus.com/frank-ai-overview. 

Perspecta Diligence combines advanced AI with human expertise, adding an additional layer of confidence in output with reduced false positives and contextual insights  Leading global corporate intelligence and cyber security consultancy S-RM has announced the launch of Perspecta Diligence, an AI-powered due diligence solution designed to help organisations efficiently triage and assess third-party risk at scale.   Perspecta Diligence addresses the growing pressure on compliance teams to deliver accurate screening and due diligence quickly, despite increasingly complex supply chains and tighter budgets. Sitting between traditional sanctions and watchlist screening and enhanced due diligence, it offers a scalable, cost-effective way to conduct reliable checks on lower- and medium-risk third parties.  At the heart of the solution is Perspecta Pulse, a bespoke AI platform powered by Xapien. Xapien’s combination of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and sophisticated AI tooling makes third-party research faster, more accurate, and more robust, enabling Perspecta Pulse to deliver in minutes comprehensive due diligence reports that go beyond sanctions, PEP, and watchlist searches.   To give clients additional assurance, S-RM overlays this process with human expertise. A team of more than 200 analysts review AI outputs, removing and verifying a large number of false positives and adding contextual insights. This produces reliable, digestible reports that can be shared confidently with compliance teams, management, and stakeholders.  The platform can be adopted as a stand-alone solution through a simple interface for uploading subjects and downloading reports, or integrated seamlessly via an API into existing Third-Party Risk Management programmes. It also complements S-RM’s broader services, including Compliance Due Diligence for higher-risk entities and S-RM Monitor for continuous monitoring of adverse media and compliance events.  Chris Oehlert, Head of Third-Party Risk Solutions at S-RM, said: “Perspecta Diligence represents a significant investment in AI and innovation to meet market demands. By combining automated research with expert human review, we are helping organisations manage third-party risk more efficiently, at scale, and with greater confidence.”  Martin Devenish, Board Director and Global Head of Corporate Intelligence at S-RM, said: “Our clients are increasingly faced with complex supply chains and third-party populations. Perspecta Diligence provides a solution that saves time, reduces costs, and enhances the quality of due diligence, supporting smarter decision-making across compliance programmes.”  Zachary Rothstein, Head of Growth and Partnerships at Xapien, said: “The Perspecta Diligence platform is a powerful example of how AI and human expertise can come together to transform compliance workflows. By powering S-RM’s new solution with Xapien’s AI-driven platform, we’re enabling compliance teams to perform faster, more reliable due diligence without compromising on accuracy or assurance. It’s exciting to see our technology helping a leading intelligence firm like S-RM deliver real, measurable impact for their clients.”  S-RM will showcase Perspecta Diligence at the UK Risk Summit in London on 9 October.