AM BEST MAINTAINS UNDER REVIEW WITH POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS STATUS FOR CREDIT RATINGS OF CENTURY INSURANCE COMPANY (GUAM) LIMITED

HONG KONG, Dec 18 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AM Best has maintained the under review with positive implications status for the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb+” of Century Insurance Company (Guam) Limited (CIC Guam) (Guam).

These Credit Ratings (rating) were placed under review on July 3, 2019, following an announcement that DB Insurance Co., Ltd. (DBI) has entered into an agreement with CIC Guam’s parent company, Tan Holdings Corporation (THC), to acquire an 80% stake in each of THC’s three insurance subsidiaries, including CIC Guam and two other insurers in Saipan and Papua New Guinea. DBI also is expected to secure the management rights in all three companies. At that time, AM Best indicated that the ratings would remain under review until the transaction was completed, and an assessment of the subsequent impact to CIC Guam’s business and credit profile could be determined.

The under review with positive implications status has been extended as regulatory approval is still pending. The companies now anticipate a transaction closing date in early 2020. CIC Guam’s ratings will remain under review until the close of the transaction, while AM Best continues to conduct further discussions with CIC Guam’s and DBI’s management teams to fully assess the rating impact.

Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication. Unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media - Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data provider specializing in the insurance industry. The company does business in more than 100 countries. Headquartered in Oldwick, NJ, AM Best has offices in cities around the world, including London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2019 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191217005710/en/ 

Contact

Yizhou Hong
Senior Financial Analyst
+852 2827 3426
yizhou.hong@ambest.com

Jason Shum
Associate Director, Analytics
+852 2827 3424
jason.shum@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Source : AM Best

--BERNAMA

AM Best maintains under review with positive implications status for CIC Guam

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18-- AM Best has maintained the under review with positive implications status for the Financial Strength Rating of B++ (good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘bbb+’ of Century Insurance Company (Guam) Limited (CIC Guam) Guam.

These ratings were placed under review on July 3, following an announcement that DB Insurance Co Ltd (DBI) has entered into an agreement with CIC Guam’s parent company, Tan Holdings Corporation (THC).

The agreement involved the acquisition of 80 per cent stake in each of THC’s three insurance subsidiaries - CIC Guam and two other insurers in Saipan and Papua New Guinea.

DBI is also expected to secure the management rights in all three companies.

At that time, AM Best indicated that the ratings would remain under review until the transaction was completed, and an assessment of the subsequent impact to CIC Guam’s business and credit profile could be determined.

The under review with positive implications status has been extended as regulatory approval is still pending.

The companies now anticipate a transaction closing date in early 2020. CIC Guam’s ratings will remain under review until the close of the transaction, while AM Best continues to conduct further discussions with CIC Guam’s and DBI’s management teams to fully assess the rating impact.

-- BERNAMA

CEIS, HSF unveil production trends of China's rubber, areca nut, agarwood

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 -- Overall supply of natural rubber is expected to be tight in the first quarter of 2020, which will likely lead to the continuous rising of rubber prices, according to an annual report on the Xinhua-HSF natural rubber series price indexes (2018-2019).

The report was released jointly by China Economic Information Service (CEIS) of Xinhua News Agency and Haiken Group (HSF) at the 2019 Boao Forum for Entrepreneurs held in south China’s Hainan Province.

The report shows that sufficient supplies of natural rubber on a global scale will continue in the short term due to the large production capacity.

The two enterprises also released a report on the areca nut industry in 2018-2019.

The report shows that without a significant increase in the demand side, the areca nut fruits purchase price is expected to decline this month.

Meanwhile, CEIS and Chengmai County Government of Hainan Province released a report on the climate index of the agarwood industry.

The report reveals that China’s agarwood industry climate index in the first half of 2020 will be 130.19 points, well above the 100-point, implying the domestic agarwood enterprises' high expectations for the industry development.

According to CEIS vice-president Kuang Lecheng, the continuous release of rubber, areca nut and agarwood indices will help build brands of Hainan’s characteristic agricultural products.

-- BERNAMA

EPIQ ANNOUNCES NEW CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Carlos Gonzalez Joins Epiq Leadership Team

NEW YORK, Dec 5 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epiq, the global leader in the legal services industry, announced today that Carlos Gonzalez has joined as chief information officer, reporting directly to David Dobson, CEO. Carlos is a seasoned leader who brings 20 years of global, technology experience in building scalable and high performing IT operations for large companies including IBM, American Home Mortgage, and Allscripts. He has significant experience across infrastructure, network, security, and data center operations management utilizing multiple technologies with a track record of improving reliability and creating enterprise success.

“Carlos is a world class technology leader with a very impressive track record of success.  Our strategy to continue to invest in technology, people and process to drive more value for our clients will be accelerated with him joining our team,” said David Dobson, chief executive officer of Epiq.

“Epiq’s focus on delivering best of breed technology solutions to its impressive client base drew me to join this great team and organization,” said Gonzalez.  “I believe we can build on our past technology successes while innovating for the future. This will allow us to continually improve the solutions and services we deliver to our clients to help them transform their business operations.”

Gonzalez most recently served as vice president and chief information officer at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, one of the largest hospitals on Long Island and is recognized by US News & World Report’s 2019-2020 as a Best Regional Hospital. His background managing large-scale systems and operations has helped several organizations grow and achieve advancements in technology, including projects to increase stability and improve performance while reducing risk.

About Epiq
Epiq, a global leader in the legal services industry, takes on large-scale, increasingly complex tasks for corporate counsel, law firms, and business professionals with efficiency, clarity, and confidence. Clients rely on Epiq to streamline the administration of business operations, class action and mass tort, court reporting, eDiscovery, regulatory, compliance, restructuring, and bankruptcy matters. Epiq subject-matter experts and technologies create efficiency through expertise and deliver confidence to high-performing clients around the world. Learn more at www.epiqglobal.com.

Press Contact
Shanna Schultz
Epiq
+1 713 933 2922
shanna.schultz@epiqglobal.com
 

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/279014ca-1e2e-4765-b2b9-28f003ab72fe
 

SOURCE: Epiq Systems Inc

--BERNAMA

B2Broker expands liquidity with 61 new Crypto CFD pairs

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 -- B2Broker is expanding its Crypto CFD liquidity offering with the introduction of 61 new pairs, adding a whole new range of pairs including all major cryptocurrency to top most tradable national currencies.

The currencies include US Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling, Australian Dollar, Canadian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar and Russian Ruble.

B2Broker was the first liquidity provider to launch 39 Crypto CFD pairs with a leverage of 1:5 and is now in the enviable position of offering a total of 100 pairs.

It also provides the most tradable crypto cross pairs, including BTC/XRP and BTC/ETH.

B2Broker is recognised as having been one of the first liquidity providers to provide CFD liquidity for institutional clients, offering the highest level of support available, with round-the clock trading for all 100 crypto pairs and support in English, Russian, Chinese, Arabic and Spanish.

Brokers can connect to the liquidity service quickly and easily, with bridges offered as part of the package to clients operating MT5 and MT4 trading platforms.

Clients with large trade sizes can trade easily with filling of execution taking place in just milliseconds.

-- BERNAMA

WENCOR ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION PARTNERSHIP WITH KORRY ELECTRONICS

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga., Dec 4 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Korry Electronics Co. has selected Wencor as their exclusive aftermarket distribution partner within Europe, Middle East, and the Americas effective immediately. Under the new agreement, Wencor will support the commercial and general aviation markets with Korry human-machine interface (HMI) solutions which includes switches, cockpit controls, displays and panels. 

“We are excited to build this new relationship,” said Chris Curtis, Wencor Chief Executive Officer. “As the aviation industry moves forward, Wencor remains committed to providing innovative solutions that enable aerospace reliability, availability and cost efficiency. Adding the Korry product line to our portfolio supports that objective. ”

Rob Gibbs, President of Korry, commented, “We are delighted to be partnering with Wencor for distribution of the Korry portfolio of parts.  With a worldwide network of stocking locations and strong partnerships with airlines and MRO shops, Wencor can add great value and improved service to our customers.“ Korry has been a trusted name in HMI solutions for more than 80 years.

Wencor will provide increased availability and customer intimacy as both companies work together on innovative solutions that deliver value and quality to customers in the ever changing aerospace market. 

About Wencor

Wencor has been a trusted partner in aerospace for over 60 years, offering CMM and DER repairs, PMA and an extensive network of distribution solutions to help make flights safer and more cost effective. We support most of the commercial airlines, repair stations and OEMs worldwide through our corporate affiliates Wencor, Soundair Aviation Services, PHS/MWA Aviation Services, Aerospace Coatings International, Flight Line Products, Accessory Technologies Corporation, Fortner Engineering & Manufacturing, Silver Wings, and Kitco Defense. Wencor Group is headquartered in the Atlanta, Georgia area with additional offices in Utah, Miami, Seattle, California, Alabama, New York, Amsterdam, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, and Istanbul. For more information, please visit www.wencorgroup.com.

About Korry

Korry has been a trusted name in human-machine interface (HMI) solutions for the Aerospace and Defense industry since 1937.  Korry provides leading edge Utility Control Systems, Touchscreen Controllers, Integrated Control Panels, Displays and Backlights, Data Concentrators, Pushbutton Switches and Indicators, Knobs and Night Vision Optical Filters.  Korry products are internationally known for their quality in design, manufacturing and service.  For more information about Korry, please visit www.korry.com.

Contact

416 Dividend Drive
Peachtree City, Georgia 30269 USA

Phone: 678.490.0140
Fax: 678.490.0142
www.wencorgroup.com

SOURCE: Wencor Group

--BERNAMA

OMERS appoints Blake Hutcheson as CEO, effective June next year

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 -- Blake Hutcheson is the new OMERS’ chief executive officer (CEO), effective June 1, 2020, succeeding Michael Latimer, who will retire on May 31, next year.

In a statement, OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, said the transition would commence in early January, consistent with OMERS succession plan, and remain seamless over the period.

Hutcheson is currently the president and chief pension officer of the company since April 2018.

He has helped transform the Pension Services area within the organisation, while carrying out responsibility for Strategy, Operations, Communications, Government Relations, Legal and Data & Technology.

Early this year, under his team’s leadership, OMERS approved a 2025 and 2030 Strategy, which will provide clear direction for the next five and 10-year period.

Hutcheson has been a highly successful CEO for over 20 years and has served on more than 25 Boards and Committees of both public and private entities.

Under Latimer’s leadership as CEO, OMERS assets have grown from US$65 billion to well over US$100 billion, growing over 50 per cent. (US$1 = RM4.14)

Over the same period, the organisation successfully deployed US$33 billion of capital as a result of its asset mix shift into private investment asset classes while expanding its global footprint and opening offices in Singapore, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, Boston and San Francisco.

-- BERNAMA

​SARAWAK YOUTH EMPOWERMENT THROUGH SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

KUCHING, Dec 3 (Bernama) -- Sarawak youngsters are changing the social sector, by competing in social entrepreneurship competition organised by Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) and Youth Trust Foundation to facilitate the process of becoming a digital economy driven state.

The Youth Sarawak Social Challenge 2019 was a competition open to all secondary school students and young adults around Sarawak. There were 2 categories – The ‘Youth Sarawak Social Project Challenge’ - for secondary public and private school students. The other – ‘Youth Sarawak Social Business Challenge’ - for students, young working adults, youth between 18 and 35 years old.

The 2019 challenge required the teams to develop social business ideas to improve the socio-economic livelihoods of communities in Sarawak. 

9 schools and 9 teams consisting of youths from a different background from around Sarawak participated in the challenge which began in August this year.

“Social Entrepreneurship is an area that the Sarawak Government, through SMA and its partners, aims to bolster and enhance further. It is in line with the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy, where digitally-enabled entrepreneurship is focused on uplifting the community and creating positive change in Sarawak. We are inspired that so many youths and students had taken up the call to participate with their ideas on helping the state,” – Hazwan Razak, Head of Digital Village, SMA.

The students and youths attended a 3-day ‘boot camp’ held at the M Hotels, Kuching learnt problem-solving skills, pitching skills, financial management and more. All 9 teams from each category pitched their fine-tuned ideas to a panel of judges on the third day of the boot camp. Out of 9 teams from each category, 5 teams were selected to go to the next phase, the market validation phase.

The 5 teams from each category were given 7 weeks of market validation with a budget of RM 1, 000 for the secondary school category and RM1,500 for the young adults category to kick start their projects.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36312

Mary Kay addresses global female empowerment at UN Forum in California

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 -- Mary Kay Inc, alongside Warner Bros, Qualcomm and others recently addressed the economic, social and sustainability benefits of global gender equality at the United Nations Global Compact for Gender Equality forum in Los Angeles, California.

Mary Kay Inc chief operating officer, Deborah Gibbins participated at the UN event as part of a panel tackling corporate leadership in gender equality.

The regional event invited attendees to explore the many ways in which businesses can take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) to promote gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and community.

Endorsed by chief executives, the Global Compact is a practical framework for the development, implementation and disclosure of sustainability policies and practices, offering participants a wide spectrum of workstreams, management tools and resources.

With over 10,000 corporate participants and other stakeholders from over 160 countries engaged via 68 country networks, it is the largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative in the world.

SDG 5 refers to the fifth of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The goal focuses on ending all discrimination against women and girls, not only a basic human right, but crucial for a sustainable future. It is proven that empowering women and girls spurs economic growth and development.

-- BERNAMA

AM Best gives excellent credit ratings to Korean Reinsurance Company

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 -- AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘a’ of Korean Reinsurance Company (KRE), South Korea.

The stable outlook of these credit ratings reflect KRE’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorised as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, favourable business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

KRE’s risk-adjusted capitalisation, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio is assessed as strongest, which AM Best expects to remain stable over the medium term, according to a statement.

As a listed company on the Korea Exchange, the company demonstrates a high level of financial flexibility, which is proven by a track record of successful capital raising through the issuance of hybrid bonds in overseas and domestic capital markets.

Its conservative approach to asset allocation remains supportive of the company’s current balance sheet strength assessment, although loans and alternative investment holdings have increased.

KRE’s operating performance is assessed as adequate, underpinned by a five-year average combined ratio of 98.9 per cent and return-on-equity ratio of 6.8 per cent, holding a large book of personal line proportional treaties, which accounted for more than half of net premium written last year.

With more than 60 years of directly working with primary insurers in South Korea, the company benefits from its strong relationship with domestic clients, profound market knowledge, and an immense amount of data it accumulated for better pricing and risk management.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data provider specialising in the insurance industry. More information at http://www.ambest.com.

-- BERNAMA

Toshiba releases DT02-V Series of Surveillance HDDs for DVR, NVR platforms

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 -- Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (Toshiba) has released the DT02-V Series of Surveillance HDDs, its new series created for digital video recorder (DVR) and network video recorder (NVR) platforms.

The new series utilises the latest magnetic recording technologies to achieve high areal density, helping to improve reliability compared to the prior MD04ABA-V Series.

With up to 6TB capacity, the new DT02-V Series supports a maximum of 32 high-resolution camera streams and is suitable for use in leading surveillance DVR and NVR platforms with as many as eight drive bays.

“Our latest surveillance HDD family, the DT02-V Series, delivers up to 6TB of storage capacity, and is designed for use with leading surveillance DVR and NVR platforms,” said Toshiba general manager (Storage Products Sales & Marketing Division), Shuji Takaoka.

“It also provides a variety of capacity options while improving reliability for high resolution surveillance video streams.”

The DT02-V Series 4TB samples are now available. Meanwhile, the 6TB samples will be planned from January 2020, and a 2TB sample is expected to be available in March 2020.

Toshiba is among the leading general devices companies, offering customers and business partners outstanding solutions in discrete semiconductors, system LSIs and HDD. More information at https://toshiba.semicon-storage.com.

-- BERNAMA

TELEDYNE INTRODUCES TWO-CAMERA SMART SYSTEM FOR AUTOMATION SUPPORTING VISIBLE, LWIR AND 3D SENSORS

Compact and versatile, the new VICORE smart system targets factory floor applications BILLERICA, Mass., Dec 11 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies [NYSE:TDY] company and global leader in industrial vision solutions, is pleased to announce its newest smart system, VICORE™. This flexible system offers excellent performance for inspection applications using traditional 2D, thermal, and 3D imaging or a combination thereof. Its small, book-style format consumes minimal cabinet space and provides convenient, front-accessible connections for cameras, I/O and system components. This includes a dedicated industrial Ethernet port that offers efficient communication with complementary factory devices using Ethernet/IP or Profinet. VICORE can be setup and deployed as a standalone system, with attached HDMI display and keyboard, or as a remotely accessible networked device through its LAN port. “The VICORE system is sensor friendly, cabinet friendly, 3rd party device friendly and user friendly,” says Steve Geraghty, General Manager of Teledyne DALSA Industrial Products. “This is truly a smart choice for anyone looking for performance and flexibility in system design at an affordable price.” To maximize user and application reach, VICORE offers a choice of embedded application software. New users, or users of Teledyne smart camera technology, can be up and running in minutes with their easy-to-use iNspect™ software. For users that need additional flexibility or customization, Teledyne’s flagship Sherlock™ 7 software has them covered. For users looking to measure height features using 3D profile sensors, our newly released Sherlock™ 8 software will do the trick. Sherlock 8 expands on Sherlock 7 capabilities and offers improved ease-of-use.         VICORE is the smart choice for: Dual camera applications Low-cost high resolution (up to 25 Megapixel) applications Thermal applications using Teledyne Calibir™ cameras 3D applications using Teledyne Z-Trak™ profile sensors Surface applications using Genie™ Nano with multi-segment lighting (Shape from Shading) Teledyne DALSA is part of the Teledyne Imaging group and a world leader in the design, manufacture and deployment of digital imaging components for the machine vision market. Teledyne DALSA image sensors, cameras, smart cameras, frame grabbers, software, and vision solutions are used in thousands of automated inspection systems around the world and across multiple industries including semiconductor, solar cell, flat panel display, electronics, automotive, medical, packaging and general manufacturing. For more information, visit www.teledynedalsa.com/mv. Teledyne Imaging is a group of leading edge companies aligned under the Teledyne umbrella. Teledyne Imaging forms an unrivalled collective of expertise across the spectrum with decades of experience. Individually, each company offers best-in-class solutions. Together, they combine and leverage each other’s strengths to provide the deepest, widest imaging and related technology portfolio in the world. From aerospace through industrial inspection, radiography and radiotherapy, geospatial surveying, and advanced MEMS and semiconductor solutions, Teledyne Imaging offers world-wide customer support and the technical expertise to handle the toughest tasks. Their tools, technologies, and vision solutions are built to deliver to their customers a unique and competitive advantage.   All trademarks are registered by their respective companies. Teledyne DALSA reserves the right to make changes at any time without notice.   Media Contact: Geralyn Miller Senior Manager, Global Media Relations & Content Development 519-886-6000 ext. 2187 geralyn.miller@teledyne.com Sales Contacts: Sales.americas@teledyne.com Sales.europe@teledyne.com Sales.asia@teledyne.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5a1b31a4-8dcf-4365-8a17-e34a84de71cf. SOURCE: Teledyne DALSA --BERNAMA

Perlin, ICC, AirCarbon partnership to reduce worldwide aviation emissions

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 -- The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Perlin and AirCarbon have partnered to customise AirCarbon’s blockchain based carbon trading platform to facilitate carbon credit schemes to reduce worldwide aviation emissions.

The partnership is in recognition of the significant and growing environmental impact of commercial air traffic, according to a statement.

Launched on the sidelines of this year’s United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 25) in Madrid, the partnership seeks to promote a market-based approach for reducing carbon emissions in the aviation industry globally.

Leveraging ICC’s extensive global network and Perlin’s domain expertise in distributed technology for enterprise, the partnership will seek to facilitate global adoption of the AirCarbon Exchange, the world's first blockchain based distribution and trading network for CORSIA compliant carbon credits.

CORSIA, International Civil Aviation Organization’s Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation was signed in Montreal in 2016 by 191 countries.

As CORSIA continues to expand and shape the aviation industry, the partnership will seek to advance blockchain-backed carbon credit schemes to mitigate future liabilities for people and planet.

The partnership has come at a significant moment in history as industry-led initiatives seek to address the growing climate crisis before emissions reach a critical tipping point for irreversible and catastrophic global temperature rises.

The partners will seek to directly address the threat posed by significant and growing emissions from aviation by facilitating the efficient and economic sourcing and trade of credible carbon offsets for the aviation industry.

-- BERNAMA

MoEngage accomplishes Amazon Web Services Retail Competency status

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 -- MoEngage Inc, an intelligent customer engagement platform has achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Retail Competency.

Achieving the status differentiates MoEngage as an AWS Partner Network (APN) member that delivers highly specialised technical proficiency.

MoEngage leverages AWS to deliver personalised, real-time messaging at scale. MoEngage delivers over one billion personalised communications every day, profiling over 500 million users from 35 countries.

Using MoEngage, retailers can drive higher retention, lifetime value and marketing return on investment.

AWS Retail Competency Partners have demonstrated technical proficiency and proven customer success across numerous innovative solution areas in retail spanning Data Lakes, AI/ML, Voice, Recognition, IoT, Microservices and Retail Transformation.

They undergo rigorous validation by AWS to ensure alignment to AWS best practices for building the most secure, high-performing, resilient and efficient cloud infrastructure for industry applications.

AWS enables scalable, flexible and cost-effective solutions from startups to global enterprises. To support the seamless integration and deployment of these solutions, AWS established the AWS Competency Program to help customers identify Consulting and Technology APN Partners with deep industry experience and expertise.

-- BERNAMA

​AXIOMSL'S PLATFORM AND REGULATORY CAPITAL SOLUTION RECOGNIZED BY AMERICAN FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY AWARDS (AFTAS) 2019

AxiomSL Wins for Best Middle Office Initiative NEW YORK & LONDON & FRANKFURT, Germany & SINGAPORE & MEDELLIN, Colombia Dec 10 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- AxiomSL, the leading provider of regulatory reporting and risk management solutions, today announces that it was awarded an AFTAs for Best Middle Office Initiative by WatersTechnology. “We are extremely pleased to have received an AFTAs award for the second year in a row,” said Alex Tsigutkin, Founder and CEO of AxiomSL. “It is especially meaningful because it recognizes AxiomSL’s ControllerView® data integrity and control platform and its regulatory capital calculation solution.” Under Basel III, financial institutions (FIs) must maintain capital coverage and hold liquid assets to safeguard solvency and financial stability during economic stress. Calculating risk weighted assets (RWA) and regulatory capital overwhelms systems that lack clear data architectures and whose black-box engines obfuscate calculations. Without transparency into risk data and calculations, FIs’ analytic and regulatory-compliance foundations are weak and cannot support astute regulatory capital decision-making. “Basel IV-driven expansion now requires transparency across all processes to achieve seamless and efficient compliance. These processes include data sourcing, enrichment, aggregation, model management, pre-processing, validation, reconciliation, and reporting. And they must be underpinned by dynamic data-lineage capabilities, intuitive user-controlled workflow automation, and end-to-end user-friendly visualization,” Tsigutkin commented. FIs need enhanced, innovative technology that facilitates the convergence of risk and financial functions with end-to-end automated solutions. “I am immensely proud to be acknowledged for our innovative solutions for the middle office by WatersTechnology. AxiomSL’s proven technology provides technical agility and scalability. FIs benefit from fast processing that enables pre-submission assessments and adaptability to business-mix and regulatory-requirement changes. AxiomSL clients operate on large datasets, leveraging data and processes across siloes to deliver trusted regulatory capital calculations and information that can enable fine tuning of regulatory capital, satisfy risk and regulatory requirements/audits, and inform business decision-making with enterprise-wide impacts,” concluded Tsigutkin. As AxiomSL continues to innovate, many clients are opting to deploy risk and regulatory solutions on its RegCloud™ — a secure, efficient, cost-effective means to manage expanding disparate data volumes and implement meaningful risk governance and regulatory programs. http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36370

JAPAN'S FRIENDSHIP TIES PROGRAMS JENESYS 2019 ASEAN INBOUND PROGRAM 14TH BATCH

Theme; Culture and Art Exchange Country: Singapore TOKYO, Nov 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Eleven university undergraduate/graduate students from Singapore are scheduled to visit Japan from December 2nd to December 10th as part of the Japan’s Friendship Ties Programs, “JENESYS 2019” promoted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). They will visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nara to experience international program under the theme of “Culture an Art Exchange”. In Tokyo, they will visit Tokyo National Museum and Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum to have better understanding of Japanese culture and learn how to protect/utilize its cultural properties by observing how they publicize it to make the most of historic, artistic, and academic value of art. In Kyoto, they will experience school exchange program at Kyoto Institute of Technology, and visit Kinkaku-ji, Kiyomizu-dera which is world heritage. In Nara, they will experience home stay program, and visit traditional craft workers and Todaiji-temple, Kasuga grand shrine to observe traditional crafts and arts which is inherited for many years. Through this program, we hope the friendly relationship between Japan and Singapore will be strengthened, and the participants proactively share the appeals of Japan and other information after returning to home country. [For reference]: Japan Exchange Program JENESYS 2019 People with the ability and future mission to deliver messages between Japan and the countries and regions of Asia and Oceania are invited and dispatched in order to promote an understanding of Japan with regard to politics, economics, society, culture, history, foreign policy, and the like, and pro-Japanese people and experts on Japan are discovered in order to strengthen Japan’s message to other countries and expand Japan’s diplomatic foundation by having the guests and dispatches take the initiative to spread information about the diplomatic stance, appeals, and other facets of Japan. (Itinerary) Monday, December 2nd [Arrival] [Orientation] [Lecture] The Japan-Singapore relations and The Foreign Policy of Japan Tuesday, December 3rd [Observation] Tokyo National Museum [Observation] Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum Wednesday, December 4th [School Exchange] Tama Art University, Hachioji campus [Move] From Tokyo to Kyoto Thursday, December 5th [School Exchange] Kyoto Institute of Technology [Observation] Rokuon-ji (Kinkaku-ji), Otowasan Kiyomizu-dera temple (World Heritage) Friday, December 6th [Theme-related Observation] Yamamoto Kawara, Takigawa Jisha Kenchiku [Theme-related Observation] Kegonshu Daihonzan Todai-ji temple, Kasuga grand Shrine (World Heritage) Saturday, December 7th [Homestay] Yamato-Asuka New Tourism Sunday, December 8th [Homestay] Yamato-Asuka New Tourism [Move] Move to Tokyo Monday, December 9th [Courtesy Call] Embassy of Singapore in Japan [Workshop] [Reporting Session] Tuesday, December 10th [Departure] View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191129005130/en/ Contact Inquiries about the program JENESYS 2019 ASEAN + Timor-Leste Project Implementing Agency JTB Kasumigaseki Operations Department Contact personnel: Junji Mise, Yutaka Shintani TEL: +81 3-6737-9447 Weekdays: 9:00-18:00 (Closed on weekends and holidays) Email: jenesys2019asean@jtb.com Source : JTB Corp.    --BERNAMA

JAPAN'S FRIENDSHIP TIES PROGRAMS JENESYS 2019 ASEAN INBOUND PROGRAM 13TH BATCH

Theme; Movie and Art Exchange

-13th Asian International Children’s Film Festival-
Countries; ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste

TOKYO, Nov 29 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- 105 youth from 11 countries, ASEAN countries and Timor-Leste, are scheduled to visit Japan from December 2nd to December 9th as part of the Japan’s Friendship Ties Programs, “JENESYS 2019” promoted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA).

They are scheduled to participate in “13th Asian International Children’s Film Festival” which is held on December 7^th in Minamiawaji, Hyogo prefecture, and interact with Japanese youth through watching films they have created by themselves. As part of theme related observation, they will visit Kobe Kitano Ijinkan-gai and Awaji Ningyo Joruri in Hyogo, and Otsuka international museum in Tokushima, to see various styles of Art in Japan.

Furthermore, they will visit Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and have a lecture on Japanese Diplomacy in Asia, and observe historic places and attractive natures of Japan. In Minamiawaji, they will participate in School Exchange and interact with Japanese students to have a better understanding of Japan and deepen their interests in Japan.

Through this program, we hope the friendly relationship between Japan and ASEAN, Timor-Leste will be strengthened, and the participants proactively share the appeals of Japan and other information after returning to home country.

[For reference]: Japan Exchange Program JENESYS 2019
People with the ability and future mission to deliver messages between Japan and the countries and regions of Asia and Oceania are invited and dispatched in order to promote an understanding of Japan with regard to politics, economics, society, culture, history, foreign policy, and the like, and pro-Japanese people and experts on Japan are discovered in order to strengthen Japan’s message to other countries and expand Japan’s diplomatic foundation by having the guests and dispatches take the initiative to spread information about the diplomatic stance, appeals, and other facets of Japan.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36280

Teledyne DALSA's new Multified TDI camera captures multiple images in single scan

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 -- Teledyne DALSA, a Teledyne Technologies company and global leader in machine vision technology has announced the availability of its newest charge-domain CMOS TDI camera – the Linea HS 16k Multifield TDI camera.

Multifield imaging allows end-users to capture multiple images such as brightfield, darkfield and backlit images simultaneously in a single scan, according to a statement.

Based on a multi-array TDI sensor architecture, the 16k camera offers 100-kHz x 3 line rate or 5 GPix/sec data throughput for high-performance imaging applications such as flat panel display, PCB and wafer inspection, life science, aerial imaging and web inspection.

The Linea HS 16k Multifield camera uses integrated dichroic filters with minimum spectral crosstalk to spectrally isolate and capture up to three field images. Combined with advanced lighting, multifield significantly improves tact time and detectability.

Combined with Teledyne’s Xtium™2 CLHS series of high-performance frame grabbers, these new products represent a breakthrough in data throughput.

Built on field-proven technology, the next generation CLHS fiber optic interface provides reliable and high throughput data transmission.

More information at www.teledynedalsa.com/imaging.

-- BERNAMA

Cognite opens Japan office as Asia-Pacific headquarters

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 26 -- Cognite, a global industrial software provider has opened an office in Tokyo, Japan as its headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region.

In the same statement, Nori Tokusue, an entrepreneur with decades of experience in the enterprise software industry will lead Cognite's business growth in the Japanese market as the company’s regional vice-president.

Cognite officially opens the office during a full-day event on Nov 26, at the Embassy of Norway in Tokyo. The event introduces customers, partners and the media to Cognite’s local and global executives.

Cognite co-founders Dr John Markus Lervik, chief executive officer, and Stein Danielsen, chief solutions officer, will present Cognite’s product portfolio, including the company's key software package, Cognite Data Fusion (CDF).

CDF empowers industrial companies to reduce costs, increase profits and boost their safety and sustainability efforts, according to a statement.

Following a media roundtable with Lervik and Danielsen, sessions will outline how CDF and end-user applications can deliver value for the Japanese market in areas such as production optimisation, smart maintenance and digital worker.

The expansion to the Asia-Pacific region comes at a time of steady growth in adoption for Cognite’s leading industrial software package, CDF. More information at https://www.cognite.com.

-- BERNAMA

TILE ANNOUNCES MOST PROACTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE ALERTS YET

TILE ANNOUNCES MOST PROACTIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE ALERTS YET New Smart Alerts Beta to Notify Users When They Leave Something Behind Anywhere in the World SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov 26 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Tile, the world’s leading smart location company, announces plans to relaunch Smart Alerts (beta). Beginning this December, Smart Alerts will extend beyond user-defined locations, such as home or work, to prevent users from leaving items behind, no matter where they are or where they go. Tile Premium subscribers will be notified when they leave any Tiled items behind after remaining in a location for more than five minutes. This means if a user enters a coffee shop with their Tiled keys, wallet and laptop, but then leave that coffee shop fifteen minutes later with only their keys and wallet, they will receive a notification that their laptop was left behind.  “Tile is known for helping customers find their lost items. We’re taking a tremendous leap forward and extending that promise to prevent loss from occurring in the first place with Smart Alerts. Imagine the peace of mind knowing that you’ll receive an alert anytime you leave an important item behind, no matter where you are,” said CJ Prober, CEO of Tile. Smart Alerts will also offer the ability to set designated safe zones to customize where and what prompts an alert. For example, a customer might want to know if they left their Tiled jacket at work, but they may not want to know if they left that Tiled jacket at home. “We first launched Smart Alerts in 2018 to collect feedback and hone our approach to ensure we were providing the best possible user experience,” said Simon Flemming-Wood, Chief Experience Officer at Tile. “Since then, we’ve continued to enhance our proprietary combination of Bluetooth, geofencing and mesh technologies. The result? The most proactive left-behind notification on the market that we’re continuing to improve.” Smart Alerts is a key feature of Tile Premium, Tile’s subscription service. Additional features include automatic battery replacements, extended warranty, unlimited sharing, 30-day location history and premium care. Premium has boasted impressive growth since launch with total users growing 414% so far this year. Smart Alerts have helped Premium subscribers over 14 million times to-date. With expanded international growth and new services planned for 2020, Premium is quickly becoming a must-have service for the Tile Community. http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36238

Former Cleveland Clinic CEO joins InnovaHealth Partners as senior adviser

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 -- Former Cleveland Clinic chief executive officer (CEO), Delos M. ‘Toby’ Cosgrove, MD, has joined InnovaHealth Partners (InnovaHealth) as senior adviser.

InnovaHealth president and CEO, Mortimer ‘Tim’ Berkowitz III said: “As a pioneering surgeon, medical technology innovator and exceptional healthcare leader, Toby shares our strategic vision of expanding market access for innovative medical technologies that meet large unmet clinical needs.

“His broad global reach and experience will augment our investment pipeline, ability to add value to our portfolio companies and further cement our strategic relationships in the medical technology industry.”

As Cleveland Clinic CEO and president, Dr Cosgrove focused on improving patient experience and medical outcomes, reorganising services and strengthening the organisation’s finances.

Dr Cosgrove, a recognised cardiothoracic surgeon, has performed more than 22,000 operations before retiring from surgery in 2006, and has earned an international reputation for his expertise in valve repair.

He was the first surgeon to complete a minimally invasive mitral-valve surgery in 1996, and holds 30 patents for medical innovations.

-- BERNAMA

KYRIBA ANNOUNCES NEW CLIENT GROWTH IN APAC HAS DOUBLED IN PAST 12 MONTHS

Multinationals Like Isuzu Motors Adopt Kyriba’s Treasury & Liquidity Management Solution to Support International Growth Objectives

SINGAPORE, Nov 26 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Kyriba, the global leader in cloud treasury and finance solutions, today announced increased demand from multinational organizations and corporations in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). Kyriba has doubled the number of clients in the region in the past 12 months compared to the same time in Q3 last year. This rapid growth is attributed to the need for global, real-time visibility of cash positions, and established expertise in international markets, giving APAC organizations the ability to expand their operations while facing market headwinds.

“We have adopted Kyriba as part of our digitalization objectives to empower our finance and treasury teams with digital technology solutions that enhance data analysis of our financial positions in real-time,” said Seng Ti Goh, General Manager of Finance and Administration at Isuzu Motors Asia. “Having fast data analysis enables our finance teams to better partner with all of our various business divisions in automotive manufacturing.”

Many notable multinationals in addition to Isuzu Motors, including DiDi and HAND in China; Uno Minda and Tech Mahindra in India; InstaReM in Singapore; Eisai and Suntory Beverage & Food in Japan, have adopted Kyriba as part of their digital transformation objectives in 2019 to better navigate increased global uncertainty.

Market volatility and indicators of a global economic downturn have significant implications for multinational corporations. For the APAC region, the World Bank reports Asia’s regional growth is projected to decline 13 percent from 2018 to 20211 with similar deceleration in China.

“We are rapidly growing in our key markets, Japan and Singapore, and we now have a stronger customer base in China and India, with additional traction in Malaysia and Indonesia,” said JaeSon Kim, APAC Managing Director at Kyriba. “We are innovating solutions to unlock value for our clients, which puts them in a strategic position to grow even during times of global instability.”

Outside of the Asia Pacific region, currency exchange losses reached $44B for North American and European corporates, according to a recent Kyriba Currency Impact Report, an analysis of the reported effects of currencies to North American and European companies’ Q2 2019 earnings. The report serves as a key benchmarking tool for global corporations.

Kyriba will be attending C-Engage, in Singapore at the Grand Hyatt on Nov. 26. Meet the team and learn more about how Kyriba is helping CFOs and CIOs with digital transformation in APAC. For more information about Kyriba’s strategic approach to fueling international expansion in APAC and other regions while protecting corporate value, contact www.kyriba.com.

About Kyriba Corp.

Kyriba empowers CFOs and their teams to transform how they activate liquidity as a dynamic, real-time vehicle for growth and value creation, while also protecting against financial risk. Kyriba’s pioneering Active Liquidity Network connects internal applications for treasury, risk, payments and working capital, with vital external sources such as banks, ERPs, trading platforms, and market data providers. Based on a secure, highly scalable SaaS platform that leverages artificial and business intelligence, Kyriba enables thousands of companies worldwide to maximize growth opportunities, protect against loss from fraud and financial risk, and reduce costs through advanced automation. Kyriba is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in New York, London, Paris, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, and other major locations. For more information, visit www.kyriba.com.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36228

CHATHAM FINANCIAL ACQUIRES LONDON-BASED JCRA GROUP

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., Nov 13 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Chatham Financial announced today that it has acquired the JCRA Group, significantly expanding the firm’s presence in Europe to create a global powerhouse in financial risk management solutions.

Chatham and JCRA specialize in providing debt and derivatives solutions to commercial real estate, private equity, infrastructure, financial institutions, and corporate clients. Chatham and JCRA collectively serve over 3,000 clients and advise on more than 20,000 transactions with a notional amount in excess $700 billion each year. The merged firm will lead the industry in capital markets expertise, transaction volume, and technology—providing clients access to the data, tools, and advice they need to manage financial risk.

“Clients of both firms will benefit from our enhanced ability to manage their exposure to capital market risks and innovate alongside them,” said Brian Conly, Managing Partner, Global Head of Private Equity & Infrastructure, and Co-Head of Europe. “Chatham’s expanded European team will continue to deliver best-in-class trade execution while helping clients navigate rapidly evolving markets, from LIBOR replacement to Brexit.”

With decades of experience helping clients manage capital market risk, the caliber of the Chatham and the JCRA teams and their deep expertise will create an unparalleled advisory practice. With almost 700 employees, the combined firm will continue to focus on providing interest rate, foreign currency, inflation, and commodity hedging services, hedge accounting, valuation, and debt management solutions—all backed by Chatham’s proprietary technology platform.

“One of Chatham’s purposes is to help make markets transparent, accessible, and fair for all market participants. We’re excited about how, together with JCRA, we can have an even greater impact,” said Clark Maxwell, Chief Executive Officer of Chatham Financial. “For almost 30 years, we have gained vast experience from the volume and variety of projects and transactions we’ve managed. Our increased breadth of expertise will further strengthen our ability to tackle any challenge our clients need to solve.”

JCRA’s Chief Executive Officer, Jackie Bowie, will join Chatham as Co-Head of Europe. “We’re enthusiastic about the future,” said Bowie. “The combined team’s knowledge of the European markets, now supported by Chatham’s leading technology platform, will raise the bar for what clients expect when transacting in the debt and derivative markets.”

This transaction represents a successful exit for JCRA’s external investor, Connection Capital. The integrated firm will continue to be independent and 100% employee owned, serving clients from offices in London, Singapore, Melbourne, Toronto, Denver, Krakow, and Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

About Chatham Financial

Chatham Financial is the largest independent financial risk management advisory and technology firm. A leader in debt and derivative solutions, Chatham provides clients with access to in-depth knowledge, innovative tools, and an incomparable team of nearly 700 employees to help mitigate risks associated with interest rate, foreign currency, and commodity exposures. Founded in 1991, Chatham serves more than 3,000 companies across a wide range of industries — handling over $700 billion in transaction volume annually and helping businesses maximize their value in the capital markets, every day. To learn more, visit chathamfinancial.com.

Boilerplate statistics for Chatham Financial updated to include JCRA information.

About JCRA

JCRA is an independent financial risk advisor specialising in hedging and debt advice. With 30 years’ experience in structuring and advocating for competitive pricing in derivative products, JCRA designs financial hedging solutions and provides debt advice globally to clients in real estate, project finance, infrastructure, private equity and social housing, as well as corporates. JCRA was named Risk Management Advisory Firm of the Year at the GlobalCapital Global Derivatives Awards 2019.

www.jcragroup.com

View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191112006204/en/

Contact

U.S. based inquiries:
Prosek Partners – Josh Clarkson
On behalf of Chatham Financial
+1 646 818 9259
jclarkson@prosek.com

European based inquiries:
Greentarget - Jamie Brownlee / Ben Finnis
On behalf of JCRA Group
+44 207 250 7000
jamie.brownlee@greentarget.co.uk / ben.finnis@greentarget.co.uk

Source : Chatham Financial

--BERNAMA

ZEN-NOH organises ´Japan Food Campaign 2019´ in Singapore

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 -- The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations (ZEN-NOH) is currently holding the ‘Japan Food Campaign 2019’ from Nov 15 to 30 in Singapore.

The campaign marks the T2 Diamond Table Tennis Tournament held for the first time in the republic, beginning today until Nov 24.

In cooperation with ‘Gyu-Kaku’ and ‘TEPPEI SYOKUDO’ which operate restaurants in Singapore, ZEN-NOH supports the tournament by providing Japanese food for players, official guests and VIPs.

Gyu-kaku provides dishes made from wagyu beef and rice purchased from ZEN-NOH at nine restaurants, including Chijmes, UE Square, Novena Square, Kinex and The Star Vista.

Meanwhile, TEPPEI SYOKUDO provides rice balls made from ‘SAKURA RICE’ with limited quantities at four restaurants - Millenia Walk, ION, Takashimaya and Asia Square outlet.

T2 Diamond is a high-level tournament in which only the world’s top 16 players take part. It draws close attention because players can get more points necessary to take part in the Olympic games.

Under contract with ZEN-NOH, Kasumi Ishikawa, 8th in the world ranking, also participates.

-- BERNAMA

AZBIL STARTS OVERSEAS SALES OF CEILING TEMPERATURE SENSOR FOR OFFICE BUILDINGS

- Sensor blends in with surroundings, installs easily, and boasts high accuracy -

TOKYO, Nov 21 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Azbil Corporation (TOKYO:6845) announced that it has started sales outside of Japan of the Company’s ceiling-mounted temperature sensor (round type), an indoor temperature sensor for use with office building HVAC systems.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191120005393/en/

In recent years, office buildings have fewer pillars and walls, necessitating temperature sensors to be installed into ceilings. Because Azbil’s ceiling-mounted temperature sensor is a mere 40 mm in diameter and 5 mm thick with a color scheme allowing it to blend in with a room’s surroundings, it does not detract from the room’s aesthetic. Installation has been simplified through the use of springs to snap the sensor into place, making screws unnecessary. Improvements to the internal construction have led to a faster response time and increased accuracy, enabling the sensor to contribute to maintaining a comfortable indoor environment. Ever since the product was launched in Japan in July 2018, over 20,000 units have been installed in office buildings and other structures, and the sensor has received a favorable reception due to its unobtrusive design, ease of installation, and high accuracy.

Azbil’s overseas launch of the sensor is centered on office buildings and other structures in East Asia and the Company is targeting 100 million yen in sales of the product for the first year. Additionally, the sensor complies with various international safety and environmental directives, such as those required by CE marking1, REACH2, and China RoHS3.

1 A certification required for certain products in order to be sold in Europe. It indicates that such products meet essential EU safety, health and environmental protection requirements.
2 Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. This European Union regulation concerns the management of chemical substances.
3 Restriction of hazardous substances; regulations in China and other regions to limit the amount of hazardous substances electric/electronic devices can contain.

Guided by the azbil Group philosophy of “human-centered automation,” Azbil will continue to develop and offer products and systems that provide people with safety and comfort.

About Azbil Corporation
Azbil Corporation, formerly known as Yamatake Corporation, is a leading company in building and industrial automation, using its measurement and control technologies to provide customers with high value-added solutions to make their operations more efficient and sustainable. Founded in 1906, Azbil serves customers across the globe in a broad range of industries and aims to contribute to people's safety, comfort and fulfilment, and global environmental preservation. At the end of March 2019, Azbil employed 9,600 people worldwide and generated ¥262 billion in revenue.
For more information, please visit https://www.azbil.com/.

http://mrem.bernama.com/viewsm.php?idm=36189

Yili launches new ´Silicon Valley´ of global health industry

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 -- China’s dairy giant, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group recently launched ‘Yili Future Intelligence and Health Valley’ project, striving to boost the health industry in the region.

The project is located in Hohhot, capital of north China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Yili Future Intelligence and Health Valley will build a new ‘Silicon Valley’ of the global health industry, to promote the revitalisation of China's dairy industry.

The intelligent valley is a large-scale complex project which integrates industry, city and tourism, to build a livable region, where the environment is well protected.

The valley will keep in synergy with the overall planning of regional development, to establish a comprehensive industry system integrating production, college, research, culture, tourism, business and residence.

According to a development plan, the investment in the core start-up area is expected to be at least 240 billion yuan of economic contribution to the industrial chain and create about 60,000 jobs. (100 yuan = RM59.18)

During the launching, Yili Group signed a cooperative agreement on industrial chain partnerships with its global partners, which will inject new momentum into the high-quality economic development of Inner Mongolia.

-- BERNAMA

Dickson Chu appointed to Verrency's global advisory board

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 -- Global payment innovation company, Verrency has appointed Dickson Chu, an accomplished payments executive and business builder, to its global advisory board.

“Dickson’s vision, passion and his depth of experience in precisely the area in which Verrency operates are invaluable as we continue our expansion across the United States and overseas,” said Verrency founder and chief executive officer, David Link.

Chu has held leadership roles at prominent companies including Paypal, Wells Fargo, Yahoo!, Living Social and Citi. He is also a board director and active adviser to a number of emerging payment companies.

Currently heading the BBVA’s San Francisco office for New Digital Businesses, Chu has overall BBVA group responsibility for the governance, budget and strategic direction of BBVA’s growing global portfolio of Fintech businesses.

Prior to BBVA, Chu was chief product officer and EVP Corporate Development at Ingo Money where he was responsible for strategy, product management, strategic alliances and M&A.

Verrency’s industrial-grade platform fits on top of a bank’s, processor’s or wallet’s existing infrastructure, opening the door for rapid delivery of enhanced features and new services without the need to change existing legacy technology or migrate portfolios.

More information at https://www.verrency.com.

-- BERNAMA

Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo kicks off 3 exhibitions tomorrow

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 -- The Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT) will hold three exhibitions and an MOT collection exhibition simultaneously, beginning Nov 16.

Firstly, a solo exhibition ‘Dumb Type - Actions + Reflections’, by Japan’s leading media artist group, Dumb Type which was formed in 1984 by multimedia performance artists consisting mainly of Kyoto City University of Arts students.

The second is the ‘mina perhonen/minagawa akira TSUZUKU’ exhibition which introduces the 25-year history of the fashion and textile brand ‘mina perhonen’ established by Japanese designer Akira Minagawa.

The third is ‘MOT Annual’, a group exhibition that seeks to invite inquiries and discussions by focusing on one aspect of contemporary art.

‘MOT Annual 2019 Echo after Echo: Summoned Voices, New Shadows’ addresses the fundamental question of ‘Why do people make things?’ together with artists expressing themselves in tune with existing domains like image, language, history, material and so on.

Along with the three exhibitions, the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo displays ‘MOT Collection Part 3: Present Day and in Times Past - Multiple Perspectives’, its superb collection to commemorate its re-opening after renovation.

The exhibition will end on Feb 16, 2020. More details at https://www.mot-art-museum.jp/en/

-- BERNAMA

Mark Green heads Imperial Capital's Special Situations & Structured Credit

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 -- Imperial Capital LLC (Imperial Capital), a full-service investment bank has hired Mark Green as Head of Special Situations and Structured Credit, based in New York.

Green will be responsible to expand the firm’s credit sales, trading and investment banking efforts further via credit event-driven situations, structuring expertise and investment strategies to allow clients develop valuable solutions to issues they face and benefit from market opportunities across a range of asset classes.

“Structured credit is an important strategic priority and Mark brings with him strong transaction experience, client relationships, and is the right partner to drive growth,” said US Credit head, Tim Sullivan.

Prior to joining Imperial Capital, Green was the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Chatham Road Capital, a credit-focused investment firm he co-founded that exploited market imbalances and inefficiencies in the public and private markets.

“I am thrilled to join Imperial Capital and grateful for the opportunity to lead this business. The firm is well positioned to expand its capabilities and I look forward to providing innovative and strategic solutions to clients while pursuing attractive risk adjusted returns for Imperial Capital’s current and future investors,” said Green.

Green earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS degree from Skidmore College, according to a statement.

More information at https://www.imperialcapital.com.

-- BERNAMA

C2C MARKETPLACE APP PROVIDER MERCARI BEGINS CROSSBORDER SALES TO OVER 100 COUNTRIES

TOKYO, Nov. 15, 2019 /Kyodo JBN-AsiaNet/ --

- Overseas Buyers Can Now Purchase Items Using Proxy Service -

On November 15, 2019, Mercari, Inc. began offering crossborder sales* through the Mercari consumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace app in partnership with Buyee, a proxy service for crossborder e-commerce operated by a wholly owned subsidiary of BEENOS Inc.

*Some categories of items not available

Image:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105775/201911073215/_prw_PI1lg_xavEk7L3.png


With its mission to create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy & sell, Mercari, Inc. develops and operates Mercari, a marketplace app through which individuals can buy and sell items easily and safely. Mercari is Japan's largest C2C marketplace, with approximately 14 million monthly users, a gross merchandise value (GMV) of approximately 530.7 billion JPY*, and a total of over 1.1 billion items listed to date.

*From the full-year financial results for FY2019 through June

Mercari has seen a large amount of interest from overseas, with a sixfold increase in visits to Mercari's web version from outside of Japan since 2017, indicating a strong potential demand for purchases by users abroad. Based on its mission to create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy & sell, and the potential market scale of the crossborder e-commerce market, Mercari has decided to start offering crossborder sales through proxy service Buyee.

Buyee is a proxy service with over one million registered users, available in over 100 countries and regions throughout the world. Through this partnership with Buyee, users overseas can browse and search items listed on Mercari in Japanese, English, and Chinese (traditional and simplified), and purchase items using popular overseas payment methods, such as PayPal, Alipay, and UnionPay. Offering crossborder sales will allow people overseas to purchase items from Mercari, instead of limiting this only to users in Japan, and Mercari expects this to lead to increased sales opportunities. Items will only become available for purchase on Buyee if a certain amount of time has passed since their listing on Mercari.

- How It Works
1. When an overseas user places an order on Buyee ( https://buyee.jp/mercari/ ), an official Buyee account purchases the item on Mercari for the user.
2. The seller of the item on Mercari ships the item to Buyee's warehouse in Japan.
3. When the item arrives, Buyee staff checks the item and rates the seller, and the seller receives sales proceeds.
4. Buyee ships the item to the buyer overseas, and handles all further steps.

Image:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105775/201911073215/_prw_PI2lg_pT33Vyk3.png


- Proof of Concept for Crossborder Sales
Starting in August 2019, Mercari carried out a proof-of-concept study on crossborder sales of items that had been listed for a certain amount of time on Mercari. From this study, Mercari has identified item categories popular among users overseas.

Image:
https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M105775/201911073215/_prw_PI3lg_4761IX8h.png


The most popular category among overseas users was merchandise featuring popular characters. Many of these users are interested in things that can only be bought in Japan, such as merchandise from Japanese animation works and games.

Mercari will continue looking for ways to provide a safe and secure marketplace globally and fulfill its mission to create value in a global marketplace where anyone can buy and sell.

- About Mercari
Company name: Mercari, Inc.
Head office: Roppongi Hills Mori Tower, 6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6118
Business: Planning, development and operation of the Mercari marketplace app
Representative: Shintaro Yamada

- About BEENOS
Company name: BEENOS Inc.
Head office: 7F Gotenyama Trust Tower, 4-7-35 Kita-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 140-0001
Business: Domestic and international e-commerce
Representative: Shota Naoi
*Buyee is operated by wholly owned subsidiary tenso, inc.

*For information about using the Mercari logo and icon, please check the site below.

https://www.mercari.com/jp/logo-guidelines/


Source: Mercari, Inc.

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DHI TELECOM ACQUIRES SINGAPORE-BASED YOGOFI MOBILE WI-FI

DHI TELECOM ACQUIRES SINGAPORE-BASED YOGOFI MOBILE WI-FI

NORTHERN TRUST AND BONDEVALUE PARTNER TO DELIVER FRACTIONALISED BOND OWNERSHIP USING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Northern Trust to Provide Asset Servicing Solutions for BondEvalue’s Distributed Ledger Technology-based Bond Trading Platform

SINGAPORE, Nov 13 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Northern Trust (Nasdaq:NTRS) and BondEvalue today announce a strategic partnership to deliver integrated asset servicing and digital solutions for fractional ownership of fixed income bonds. BondEvalue’s regulated platform will facilitate trading of fractionalised investable assets based on wholesale bonds, while Northern Trust will be its exclusive asset servicing provider.

BondEvalue’s platform combines the power of blockchain-based distributed ledger technology (DLT) to enable enhanced transparency and liquidity, while making institutional grade investment opportunities available to new classes of investors.

This partnership follows the recent news that the BondEvalue platform had been granted permission to enter the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Sandbox Express to launch its blockchain-based bond exchange.

Justin Chapman, global head of Market Advocacy & Innovation Research at Northern Trust said: “Northern Trust is a strong advocate for the potential of blockchain. Our partnership with BondEvalue has the potential to allow a wider group of investors access to investments which were historically only available to larger institutions. It enables us to continue to lead and develop future market solutions supported by our focus on digitisation and blockchain technology innovation.”

Rahul Banerjee, founder, BondEvalue, said: “We are excited to work with Northern Trust in making bond markets more efficient and transparent for bond investors, via our fractional bond exchange. It is important for us to have a partner who recognises the potential of DLT and is nimble in their technological adoption. As we journey towards making bonds more widely accessible, we are delighted to have Northern Trust as a partner who offers investors and exchange participants the confidence in the integrity of the platform offering.”

Yen Leng Ong, country executive for Southeast Asia at Northern Trust, added: “Singapore has an advanced regulatory framework which enables the establishment of our relationship with BondEvalue. The partnership is a further step in our blockchain technology capability buildout for Asia-Pacific. And this marks a significant milestone for the Singapore branch, as Northern Trust’s regional headquarters.

The Memorandum of Understanding between Northern Trust and BondEvalue was signed on 5 November 2019.

About Northern Trust
Northern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq:NTRS) is a leading provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals. Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has a global presence with offices in 20 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 23 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of September 30, 2019, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US $11.6 trillion, and assets under management of US $1.2 trillion. For 130 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader for exceptional service, financial expertise, integrity and innovation. Visit northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.

Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at https://www.northerntrust.com/terms-and-conditions.

About BondEvalue
BondEvalue is a Singapore based fintech that has been changing the Asian fixed income markets since 2016. The founders have decades of leadership experience in debt markets, on both business and technology sides. BondEvalue brings innovation to bond price discovery, AI-based news, analytics, and delivers these services via mobile, web and APIs. In November 2019, BondEvalue unveiled the world’s first blockchain-based bond exchange that allows investors to trade BondbloX, which are $1,000 fractions of traditional wholesale bonds. The platform operates on a B2B2C model and connects to the end investor via their bank or broker. Please visit bondevalue.com for further information. More details can be found on www.bondevalue.com.

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TASSAT'S ACQUISITION OF SEF REGISTRATION APPROVED BY CFTC

This SEF transfer approval marks an important milestone in Tassat’s plan to launch its cryptocurrency derivatives exchange and list its first contract

NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Bernama-BUSINESS WIRE) -- Tassat Group LLC, a global provider of financial technologies and products for the traditional and digital asset markets announced today that the CFTC has approved its acquisition of a Swap Execution Facility (“SEF”) registration.

With this transfer approval, Tassat will move forward with plans to list its first cryptocurrency derivative product, an institutional-focused, margined, physically-deliverable Bitcoin swap. This derivative contract will be listed on its own SEF registered as Tassat Derivatives LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tassat Group LLC.

Tassat will be providing additional details about its Bitcoin swap contract, the development of its exchange and will be announcing a formal launch date in the near future.

• Tassat has been actively on-boarding institutional participants (eligible contract participants or ECPs) and running User Acceptance Tests
• The Bitcoin swap will be traded view a central limit order book
• Shortly after the initial launch, Tassat plans to introduce additional ECP-focused workflows including Request for Quote (RFQ) and block trading functionality.

The transfer of the SEF registration was made effective on November 6, 2019.

Thomas Kim, Tassat CEO said: “Having a Swap Execution Facility will enable Tassat to bring to market the flexible and innovative derivative products our institutional customers need to efficiently manage digital asset risk. Additionally, our exchange will provide the workflows and infrastructure needed to gain exposure, trade and hedge digital assets in much the same way as in other traditional asset classes. We look forward to working closely with the institutional community and the CFTC to make this a reality”.

Tassat has been working closely with buyside traders and liquidity providers to develop its products.

Philippe Bekhazi, CEO of XBTO said: "We are keen to transact with a new physically deliverable swap product and look forward to participating in Tassat’s exchange. We have been active participants in their UAT and believe they will be introducing a product that will help drive the industry forward."

John Slazas Managing Partner at DARMA Capital said: “We are thrilled to see an exchange enter the market that is focused on offering innovative and regulated products. This is a positive step in the continued maturation of the digital currency asset class. We’ve watched Tassat grow and are excited to see them achieve this milestone as they move one step closer to offering products which we look forward to trading."

Upon launch, Tassat will join the CME and Bakkt in being among the first US venues to offer CFTC-regulated cryptocurrency derivatives products. Thereafter Tassat plans to introduce additional derivatives products encompassing a range of underlying assets, durations and contract types to meet the needs of a wider range of institutional participants.

About Tassat

Tassat LLC, a New York-based global financial technology company, provides innovative solutions to financial markets utilizing blockchain-based technologies to enable frictionless asset transfer and settlement. In addition to developing and introducing this leveraged physically-deliverable Bitcoin derivatives for institutional investors, Tassat has developed the first IOSCO compliant OTC reference rates for Bitcoin and Ethereum based on executable bid-offer data from over 10 institutional market makers. Tassat also built the first blockchain-powered 24/7/365 payments platform approved by the NYDFS for a New York based commercial bank.

For additional information, please visit www.tassat.com or connect with the Company on Twitter or LinkedIn.

View source version on businesswire.com:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191108005300/en/

Contact

Media:
Articulate Communications
tassat@articulatecomms.com
646-661-4223

Source : Tassat Group LLC

--BERNAMA

Ceylon Graphite subsidiary receives Environmental Protection License for Sri Lanka project

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 -- Ceylon Graphite Corp (Ceylon Graphite) has announced its wholly owned subsidiary, Sarcon Development (Pvt) Ltd (Sarcon) was granted an Environmental Protection License (EPL) for its K1 Graphite Mining Project at Karasnagla, Sri Lanka.

The License from the Central Environmental Authority bearing No 17501 (R0) dated Oct 14 under provisions of the National Environmental Act 47 of 1980 and amended by Acts No 56 of 1988 and No 53 of 2000, of the Government of Sri Lanka.

“Sarcon looks forward to working closely with the CEA and other Government Departments in Sri Lanka with the aim of being environmentally conscious and abiding with all the rules set by the authorities as our business grows,” said chief executive officer, Bharat Parashar.

The CEA is the Environmental Regulator in Sri Lanka and was established by an Act of Parliament, according to a statement.

The company also announced that a subsidiary of Sarcon, BPA Lanka (Private) Ltd has purchased land next to the K1 project that will allow the company to construct an adit from the main shaft.

In the same statement, the company also announced its director, George Smitherman’s resignation.

More information at https://www.ceylongraphite.com.

-- BERNAMA

AXIOMSL RECOGNISED AS BEST SOLUTION FOR ‘RISK DATA AGGREGATION AND REPORTING’

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 8 (Bernama) -- -AxiomSL, a regulatory reporting and risk management solutions provider has bagged the best solution for ‘Risk Data Aggregation and Reporting’ by Chartis Research.

Chartis Research is a provider of research and analysis on the global market for risk technology.

According to AxiomSL founder and chief executive officer, Alex Tsigutkin, this was meaningful as it recognises AxiomSL’s ControllerView® data integrity and control platform and its risk capital calculation and reporting solution.

“Data integrity is a fundamental precondition for a comprehensive risk data aggregation infrastructure as it provides senior management with an accurate picture of the organisation’s risk exposures.

“Combined with our robust data-lineage module, ControllerView provides executives with an audit-enabled view of risk exposures and enables attestation to the data’s timeliness, completeness and accuracy,” said Tsigutkin.

AxiomSL combines its deep industry experience and intelligent data-management platform to deliver solutions and services around regulatory and risk reporting, liquidity, capital and credit, operations, trade and transactions and tax analytics.

More details at https://www.axiomsl.com/

-- BERNAMA

VISTAJET CROWNED BEST OPERATOR FOR THE FOURTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR

Company’s unmatched operational standards and service excellence win recognition at the AsBAA Icons of Aviation Awards 2019

HONG KONG, Nov 7 (Bernama-GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VistaJet, the first and only global private aviation company, continues an outstanding 2019 by being crowned Asia’s best operator for the fourth consecutive year at the AsBAA Icons of Aviation Awards. The honor celebrates excellence and recognizes best practices in the private aviation industry across the continent, and comes following VistaJet’s receipt of the inaugural award for Most Innovative Company at the 2018 ceremony.

VistaJet is celebrating its 15-year anniversary in 2019, having transformed from a start-up with two aircraft in Europe to a global aviation unicorn with more than 70 long-range jets. A leading innovator in the industry, VistaJet has continued to see record growth year on year, with a 31% increase in new Members in 2018 and a 25% rise in flights globally. Asia performed strongly with a 26% growth in flights, and the momentum continues with the launch of customer-centric programs including VistaPet, the most comprehensive global pet travel program, and VistaJet World, a portfolio of once-in-a-lifetime exclusive global travel experiences.

In October 2019, VistaJet announced that it will introduce the first fleet of Bombardier Global 7500 aircraft, entering service from January 2020. The Global 7500 is the largest and longest-range business jet available on the market today. Its ultra-long-range flight capability and large cabin with four living spaces, including a permanent private stateroom suite, are particularly appealing to customers in Asia, where long-haul comfort is highly sought after. The jet can fly non-stop over popular long-range routes such as Hong Kong to New York and Singapore to San Francisco, and can cut travel time by up to 21% compared to the next fastest jet, offering the ultimate private flying experience in terms of productivity and efficiency.

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JUMIO IDENTITY VERIFICATION REALIZES BIG GAINS IN SPEED, ACCURACY, AND USER EXPERIENCE FROM THE COMPANY'S AI INVESTMENTS

JUMIO IDENTITY VERIFICATION REALIZES BIG GAINS IN SPEED, ACCURACY, AND USER EXPERIENCE FROM THE COMPANY'S AI INVESTMENTS

SweeGen defends, protects Reb M intellectual property

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 30 -- Stevia-based sweetener company, SweeGen has defended and protected its production of Reb M by its highly titer-effective and cost-effective patent-protected process - Reb M produced via Reb D4.

SweeGen’s statement is in response to what it says were distorted claims about intellectual property made by PureCircle in the media today.

On this basis, SweeGen has no doubt that the upcoming patent litigation with its competitor, PureCircle will vindicate its rights in the Reb M marketplace.

In its recently published international patent application PCT/US/2017/056457, SweeGen, the exclusive licensee, disclosed its Reb M via Reb D4 process and expects the claims to grant.

SweeGen is confident that it will prevail not only in the upcoming litigation with PureCircle, but also in the marketplace for sweeteners generally, as being the pioneer of successful production of high purity non-GMO rebaudiosides, and in particular of Reb M.

More information at www.sweegen.com.

-- BERNAMA