August 15, 2023. LONDON, England. Bank of America announces the completion of the first ‘Debt-for-Nature’ transaction in Continental Africa and Africa’s first ever involving private creditors to refinance $500 million of Gabon’s sovereign debt. The new funding will enable Gabon to contribute $125 million to support ocean conservation. The transaction is Africa’s largest debt refinancing for ocean conservation to date and represents the highest amount of new debt raised for a project supported by The Nature Conservancy (“TNC”) Bank of America announces the completion of the first ever debt-for-nature transaction in Continental Africa to refinance $500 million of sovereign debt of the Gabonese Republic (“Gabon”). The transaction will enable the country to contribute $125 million in new funding for ocean conservation, supporting their commitment to protect 30 percent of its lands, freshwater systems, and ocean by 2030. Ocean health is critical to the world economy and the global communities who rely on it to survive. According to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the sustainable ocean economy is nearly $3 trillion, roughly 3 to 5 percent of the global GDP. The challenges faced by our marine ecosystem are recognized by the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) as Goal 14, which aims to conserve and sustainably use the ocean, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Blue bonds are debt instruments, issued by governments and development banks to raise capital from investors to finance marine and ocean-based projects that have positive environmental, economic and climate benefits. Similarly, a Blue Loan is a loan where the proceeds are dedicated to finance or refinance activities that contribute to ocean protection. Bank of America acted as Sole Initial Purchaser, Structuring Agent and Bookrunner on the $500 million issuance, marking the start of what will be a 15-year-long conservation and refinancing project for Gabon. As part of the transaction, Bank of America also acted as Sole Dealer Manager for a tender offer using the proceeds raised from the new Blue Bond issuance used to repurchase a portion of Gabon’s existing sovereign U.S. dollar-denominated Eurobonds. The payments by Gabon will be partially used to fund contributions to an independent Conservation Fund (with TNC as the project manager and technical advisor) and pay into an endowment that will continue to fund conservation after the bonds are repaid. The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) is providing political risk insurance for the Blue Loan to Gabon, which enhances the credit rating of the bond issuance and provides debt relief for Gabon over the next 15 years. This deal also represents the highest amount of new debt raised for a TNC-sponsored project. “As the first debt-for-nature transaction in Continental Africa, this transaction demonstrates Bank of America’s commitment to sustainable finance and our ability to innovate for our clients. We are encouraged by the enthusiastic response from the global investor community and hope this transaction will serve as a blueprint that can be scaled for other countries interested in improving the sustainability of their debt, while putting global capital to work in enhancing natural capital,” said Paul M. Donofrio, vice chair of Bank of America. H.E President Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon said: “The launch of Gabon’s Blue Bond is an important moment, giving us hope that green or blue financial mechanisms will grow significantly in coming years and help countries like Gabon, who effectively protect critical ecosystems whilst also growing our economies. All too often talk of these new mechanisms to reward countries like my own remain just that. In this case, thanks to the work of our partner, Bank of America, The Nature Conservancy, and the US International Development Finance Corporation, we have made it a reality. I call on Developed Nations and our Multilateral Banks to multiply these sorts of initiatives, which could make a significant contribution to addressing the critical challenges of Climate Change and Biodiversity Loss." “As a global financial services organization, we are committed to helping lead our clients towards a more sustainable future by developing innovative investments that put global capital to work,” said Bernard Mensah, President of International at Bank of America. “We are proud to be partnering with TNC, DFC and the Gabonese Republic, to contribute to the growing blue bond market and ultimately increase the speed and scalability of future blended conservation deals.” “The Nature Conservancy’s Blue Bonds for Ocean Conservation program is an ambitious plan that aligns with national and international commitments to scale up ocean conservation around the world and address urgent biodiversity loss through improved ocean management”, said Jennifer Morris, CEO of The Nature Conservancy. “Gabon is the fourth Blue Bonds project for us and combines finance with science and marine planning expertise to help governments reach their conservation and climate goals while also supporting the well-being of their people and economies. Working with Bank of America, we are helping Gabon to ensure protection and management for 30 percent of its ocean – which brings us one step closer to TNC’s bold goal to conserve nearly 10 billion acres of ocean by 2030.” “DFC’s political risk insurance provided critical support for this historic transaction, helping to mobilize capital from institutional investors and catalyze additional investment in Gabon’s marine conservation efforts,” said DFC CEO Scott Nathan. “We are proud to contribute to this kind of innovative financing in Continental Africa, having supported similar efforts in Central and South America. The Gabon Blue Bond will generate nearly $125 million in financing for new marine conservation efforts over the next 15 years, advancing critical conservation goals, protecting endangered species, and supporting the country’s sustainable ‘blue economy.’ Like previous transactions DFC has supported in Belize and Ecuador, the Gabon Blue Bond illustrates how DFC can effectively lift the credit-profile of a bond issuance to deepen capital markets. We are proud to have partnered on this transformative transaction.” In 2020 Bank of America set a goal to mobilize and deploy $1.5 trillion by 2030 to advance the sustainable development goals (SDGs) 193 countries agreed to in 2015, with $1 trillion of that focused on helping clients transition to a low-carbon future. From 2021 through 2022, we mobilized and deployed a cumulative total of $410 billion in sustainable finance, with more than $235 billion of that focused on helping drive affordable clean energy and related priorities. This transaction showcases a model of how to raise conservation funding that promotes sustainable development while simultaneously helping to achieve national development priorities, including the sustainable development and growth of Gabon’s marine economy. Bank of America Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 68 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Reporters may contact: Gaël Gunubu, Bank of America Phone: 00442079965625 gael.gunubu@bofa.com Sheryl Lee, Bank of America Phone: 1.657.234.9950 sheryl.lee2@bofa.com Source Link: https://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/content/newsroom/press-releases/2023/08/bank-of-america-refinances-gabon-sovereign-debt-for-nature-and-o.html

4 August 2023. KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia. The limited review must be performed by the company’s external auditors for four quarterly reports commencing no later from the quarterly report for the financial period ended (FPE) 30 September 2023. Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad [Registration No.: 200301033577 (635998-W)] (Bursa Malaysia Securities) has publicly reprimanded Eksons Corporation Berhad (EKSONS) for breach of paragraph 9.35A(1)(a) of the Main Market Listing Requirements (Main LR) for failing to ensure that the company’s fourth quarterly report for the financial year ended (FYE) 31 March 2022 (QR March 2022) announced on 30 May 2022 took into account the adjustments stated in the company’s announcement dated 29 July 2022 (Adjustments). EKSONS was also required to carry out a limited review of the company’s quarterly report submissions. The limited review must be performed by the company’s external auditors for four quarterly reports commencing no later from the quarterly report for the financial period ended (FPE) 30 September 2023. In addition, EKSONS must review and assess the adequacy and effectiveness of its financial reporting. While Bursa Malaysia Securities had not found any of EKSONS’ directors to have caused or permitted the breach by the company, Bursa Malaysia Securities wishes to highlight and remind that it is the duty of the directors to maintain appropriate standards of responsibility and accountability in ensuring compliance of the Main LR. The Board of Directors of EKSONS at the material time of the announcement of the QR March 2022 was as follows:- (a) Tan Sri Datuk Amar (Dr) Haji Abdul Aziz bin Dato Haji Hussain (b) Tay Hua Sin (c) Dato’ Philip Chan Hon Keong (d) Nik A. Majid bin Mohd. Kamil (e) Hew Mei Ying The finding of breach and imposition of the above penalty on EKSONS was made pursuant to paragraph 16.19(1) of the Main LR upon completion of due process after taking into consideration all facts and circumstances of the matter including the materiality of the breach and impact of the breach to EKSONS and its shareholders/investors and the fact that EKSONS had previously committed a similar breach in respect of the company’s announcement of its fourth quarterly report for the FPE 31 December 2014 which was subsequently amended on 28 May 2015. Bursa Malaysia Securities views the breach seriously as the requirement for listed companies to submit financial statements that are factual, clear, unambiguous, accurate, succinct and contains sufficient information to enable investors to make informed decisions are fundamental obligations of listed companies and of paramount importance in ensuring an orderly and fair market for the securities traded on Bursa Malaysia Securities and necessary to aid informed investment decisions. BACKGROUND EKSONS had reported an unaudited loss attributable to owners of the company of RM10,206,000 in the QR March 2022 announced on 30 May 2022. However, EKSONS had subsequently reported an audited loss attributable to owners of the company of RM15,448,000 in the audited financial statements for the FYE 31 March 2022 (AFS 2022) announced on 29 July 2022 which represented a difference of RM5,242,000 between the QR March 2022 and AFS 2022. The deviation was mainly due to the following – • the QR March 2022 omitted an additional investment sum made in securities amounting to RM10.7 million, which was not accounted for as an unrealised loss in investment arising from an accounting error by the company; and • the reduction in impairment for the inventories held by the company by RM7.1 million from the RM9.5 million provided in the QR March 2022, based on the valuation performed by a professional valuer subsequent to the issuance of the QR March 2022. - End - About Bursa Malaysia Bursa Malaysia is an exchange holding company incorporated in 1976 and listed in 2005, and has grown to be one of the largest bourses in ASEAN today. Bursa Malaysia operates and regulates a fully-integrated exchange offering a comprehensive range of exchange-related facilities, and is committed to Creating Opportunities, Growing Value. Learn more at www.bursamalaysia.com. For media enquiries, please connect with the Group Strategic Communications team: Ashraff Taharem DID: +603 2034 7348 +6019 269 0049 E-mail: ashrafft@bursamalaysia.com Lailatul Fitriyah DID: +603 2034 7280 +6011 2324 0230 E-mail: lailatulfitriyah@bursamalaysia.com

June 26, 2023. TOKYO, Japan. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc. (the “Company”) hereby announces the results of the exercise of voting rights at the ordinary general meeting of shareholders for the Twelfth fiscal period (the “Meeting”) of the Company held on June 23, 2023, as follows. 1. Status of Voting Rights Number of shareholders holding voting rights 49,309 Number of voting rights held by such shareholders 3,628,343 2. Results of Exercise of Voting Rights For Full Notice click onto https://www.smth.jp/english/-/media/th/english/stock/meeting/E230626.pdf [Notes] 1. Approval of a majority of the voting rights held by the shareholders present at the Meeting is required. 2. Approval of a majority of the voting rights held by the shareholders present at the Meeting who hold in aggregate not less than one-third (1/3) of the voting rights of the shareholders entitled to exercise their voting rights, is required. 3. The requirements for resolution were satisfied by total numbers of voting rights that were exercised up to the day before the Meeting and voting rights of partial shareholders who attended the Meeting, that approval and disapproval for each agendum were confirmed, and all agenda were resolved under the Companies Act. Due to the above reason, voting rights of shareholders who attended the Meeting, that approval, disapproval and abstentions were not confirmed, have not been counted. For further information, please contact: IR Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings, Inc. Telephone: +81-3-3286-8354 Facsimile: +81-3-3286-4654

July 04, 2023. SYDNEY, Australia. Transcript of speech by Prime Minister of Australia, President of Republic of Indonesia [Img on Prime Minister of Australia website] ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, it's indeed an absolute pleasure to welcome my friend, President Widodo, here to Australia. It is good to return the incredibly warm hospitality, Mr President, that I received during my first visit to Indonesia just two weeks after my election as Prime Minister. We didn’t give you a ride on a bicycle today but we did have a very nice and pleasant ride on this beautiful harbour here in Sydney. I was absolutely determined at that time to make sure that my first bilateral visit as Prime Minister was to Indonesia. And today, our relationship shifts up another gear. Our countries continue to choose to draw closer together as economic partners, as security partners, and as partners in the global transition to net zero. Australia sees Indonesia’s success as pivotal to our region's success. Indonesia’s prosperity, security and stability makes the Indo-Pacific region more prosperous, more secure and more stable. As Australians feel the pressure from global economic challenges, it's important that we're investing in trading relationships to grow our economy, support good jobs and strengthen our supply chains. And of course, there are few more important trading partners to us than Indonesia. Tomorrow marks three years since our bilateral Free Trade Agreement, the Indonesia Australia Closer Economic Partnership Agreement, entered into force. That agreement came just as the pandemic took hold and global trade slowed. Today, our two-way trade has fully recovered. Over the past year it’s become stronger than ever, up 37 per cent over the last two years. Last year, our two-way goods and services trade reached a record $23.3 billion. But there's so much more to do. Which is why last year, I committed to revitalising our trade and investment relationship by bringing institutional investors together and engaging senior Australian business leaders. And I'm pleased that a number of commercial deals across the health, mining and digital sectors have since been made. To support our expanding business and commercial links, Indonesians will gain access to an extended business visa from three to five years and we will prioritise Indonesian e-passport holders to access our smart gates. We will put arrangements in place also for Indonesians to access the frequent travellers visa. This offers a ten-year visa validity making enormous difference in removing bureaucratic impediments to our closer relationship. We've also made real progress on visa processing times. The median time for Indonesian visitor visa applications has fallen from 60 days in June 2022 to just seven days in May 2023, and the median processing time for a business visa is now just three days. Last year in Jakarta, I announced the $200 million Indonesia-Australia Climate and Infrastructure Partnerships Program. The President and I see real opportunity for both of our countries in the climate and energy transition. And today, I announce that the first tranche of that funding, $50 million, will be used to invest in startups and small to medium enterprises focused on mutual benefit from Indonesia's energy transition and clean energy technology sectors. There is a lot that Australia can offer Indonesia and the region in the energy transition, including the global move towards electric vehicles. We are rich in all of the components and the expertise needed for renewable energy. The President and I welcomed growing cooperation in this area, including through the MoU that was signed between the WA Government and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. We are advancing cooperation and collaboration on this vital matter, which provides an incredible opportunity for us going forward. President Widodo and I also discussed education links and agreed on a range of new initiatives to support professional mobility, up-skill employees and build Australian-Indonesian literacy. Building on the success of Monash University's Campus in Indonesia, I'm delighted to announce that Western Sydney University, Deakin University and Central Queensland University will soon join Monash to bring Australia's world-class tertiary education to Indonesian students and professionals. Finally, we talked about regional peace and security. Our bilateral security cooperation is, of course, underpinned by the Lombok Treaty. The President and I welcomed our Defence Ministers' agreement in February of this year to elevate our defence cooperation to a treaty level agreement. And as I said at my keynote speech at the Shang-ri La Dialogue in Singapore just last month, all countries in the region, large and small, have a collective responsibility to help keep the region peaceful. And Indonesia's contribution to regional security under the President's leadership has been central. President Widodo, your leadership of the G20 last year was exemplary. This year you are again playing a critical role as the Chair of ASEAN and as ever, Australia stands ready to support Indonesia's priorities as Chair. And on that note, I certainly look forward to welcoming you back to Australia next March, when I will host the ASEAN Australia Special Summit. President Widodo, we've cycled together in your country, we've travelled on beautiful Sydney Harbour together, we've met now on four occasions and spoken many, many times, and I'm looking forward to embarking on this, our next journey together in the lead up to the ASEAN Summit, which you will host in Jakarta. Then we meet again at the G20 later this year. Then we meet again in March of next year at the ASEAN Summit, that I will be proud to host. This is all with the objective of a better future for our nations and importantly, one for our people. And I hope that you have very much enjoyed what we have seen, a productive occasion and an excellent meeting between our ministers as well today. I look forward to our discussions over a one-on-one dinner tonight, just us, and I am very much looking forward to that and continuing to work together for a better future. HIS EXCELLENCY JOKO WIDODO, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA: Thank you, Prime Minister Albanese for the warm welcome. I'm very glad to be able to visit Australia again. Since last year’s Annual Leaders' Meeting in Bogor there have been many positive developments. And I thank you for your commitments. There are some future priorities that we need to do together. Among others first, Indonesia and Australia must build a more substantive and strategic economic cooperation through the joint production of EV batteries. The second on trade, since Indonesia-Australia CEPA entered into force the trade volume has increased by 90 per cent. This will continue to be optimised through cooperation in mutual recognition agreement on fisheries product, quarantine and especially for fruits and increasing the capacities of SMEs. Third on carbon emission reduction, we will focus on invitation of cooperation on the development of carbon capture and storage as well as green energy oriented smelters in Indonesia. The fourth on the construction of the Nusantara capital city, Indonesia encourages Australia's private sector and National Capital Authority of Australia to work together with the Nusantara Capital City Authority on regional and global issues. I conveyed Indonesia's position in ASEAN is clear. We want the Indo-Pacific to become a stable and peaceful region that focuses on collaboration and concrete cooperation. I appreciate Australia’s support towards Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship, and I invite Australia to enhance partnership in the South-Pacific through bilateral cooperation and to participate in the ASEAN Indo-Pacific Forum. And lastly, I look forward to Prime Minister Albanese’s visit to Jakarta this September. Thank you. Source Link: https://www.pm.gov.au/media/australia-indonesia-annual-leaders-meeting

June 29, 2023. CHICAGO, US. The new contract will follow the same listing cycle as CME Group Bitcoin futures and Ether futures contracts. CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, today announced plans to launch Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures on July 31, pending regulatory review. "Historically, ether and bitcoin have been highly correlated; however, as the two assets have grown over time, market dynamics may affect the performance of one more than the other, creating relative value trading opportunities," said Giovanni Vicioso, CME Group Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products. "With the addition of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures, investors will be able to capture ether and bitcoin exposure in a single trade, without needing to take a directional view. This new contract will help create opportunities for a broad array of clients looking to hedge positions or execute other trading strategies, all in an efficient, cost-effective manner." The Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures will be cash-settled to the value of CME Group Ether futures final settlement price, divided by the corresponding CME Group Bitcoin futures final settlement price. The new contract will follow the same listing cycle as CME Group Bitcoin futures and Ether futures contracts. "The launch of CME Group Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures further expands the marketplace for institutions and sophisticated investors who want digital asset exposure in a regulated environment," said Jason Urban, Global Head of Trading at Galaxy. "We're excited to support this product, which will appeal to investors looking to take advantage of changes between the two biggest digital assets by market capitalization. We commend CME Group's ongoing commitment to developing innovative offerings essential to building an enduring ecosystem for this asset class." "The launch of Ether/Bitcoin Ratio futures completes the currency triangle allowing market makers such as XBTO the ability to arbitrage synthetically, for the first time, all three futures legs: the BTC/USD and ETH/USD dollar legs, and the ETH/BTC cross," said Paul Eisma, Head of Options Trading at XBTO. "CME Group's innovative, regulated product will help increase volumes, reduce spreads, and give institutional crypto market participants a vehicle to express relative value between BTC and ETH." "This new ETH/BTC cross-cryptocurrency contract from CME Group should allow investors more flexibility when hedging positions in non-dollar offshore markets," said Brooks Dudley of Marex Capital Markets, Inc. "This marks another important advancement for CFTC-regulated cryptocurrency derivatives." For more information on cryptocurrency options, please visit: www.cmegroup.com/ebr As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and, E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec and EBS are trademarks of BrokerTec Europe LTD and EBS Group LTD, respectively. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. CME-G SOURCE CME Group CONTACT US +1 312 930 3434 Corporate.Communications@cmegroup.com Source Link: https://www.cmegroup.com/media-room/press-releases/2023/6/29/cme_group_to_launchetherbitcoinratiofuturesonjuly31.html

June 22, 2023. PITTSBURGH, US. Ally to also sponsor GOALS’ ‘A Day In The Life’ content series in an effort to increase day-to-day media coverage of women’s sports GOALS, a start-up marketing & sponsorship agency that is fully dedicated to growing women's sports, today announced Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY), a purpose-driven financial services company and a leading supporter of women’s sports, will serve as the presenting sponsor of GOALS’ flagship women’s sports business content: The Business Case For Women’s Sports podcast. GOALS and Ally share the core fundamental belief that it’s good business to invest in women’s sports, and the purpose of this relationship is to demonstrate the business value and social impact opportunities that exist within the women’s sports industry. With Ally’s investment as the show’s presenting sponsor, the podcast will now become a weekly offering, doubling the podcast’s reach and offering. “We know women’s sports still receive a miniscule proportion of sports media coverage - and the business side of women’s sports receives even less,” said Caroline Fitzgerald, Founder of GOALS and the host of The Business Case For Women’s Sports. “Ally understands that in order to grow the women’s sports industry, we must be able to learn about the industry and share best practices. It’s an honor to work with their team to grow the amount of coverage given to the business side of women’s sports.” Launched in 2020 by GOALS, The Business Case for Women's Sports is the leading podcast that exclusively covers the business side of women's sports. The show features digestible interviews with leaders in women's sports to spotlight topics like data insights, marketing strategies and sponsorship deals. Shortlisted as one of the best sports business podcasts in 2021 and 2022 by the Sports Podcast Awards, the podcast is available across every major global audio platform, and has featured several star-studded guests, including former Olympians, Angela Ruggiero & Natalie Hinds, Title Nine CEO, Missy Park, Just Women's Sports CEO, Haley Rosen, Carolyn Braff from Gatorade, Founder of The Sports Bra Women's Sports Bar, Jenny Nguyen, women’s sports journalist, Erica Ayala and more. In addition to sponsoring the GOALS podcast, Ally will also serve as the presenting sponsor of the A Day in the Life at GOALS in Women’s Sports content series. This series takes followers behind the scenes of what it’s like working at a women’s sports start-up and showcases happenings within women’s sports like key events, brand activations and the day-to-day work that helps move the needle forward towards equity in sports. "We’ve seen such a positive impact on our business, and the sports industry as a whole, since we pledged to reach parity across our paid media spending in men’s and women’s sports within five years,” said Stephanie Marciano, head of sports marketing at Ally. “And much of that impact comes directly from being intentional with our dollars and investing in media beyond major networks like GOALS, establishing year-round visibility to women’s sports, not just during the big moments.” “The women’s sports industry changed for the better the moment Ally announced their 50/50 pledge in June of 2022,” said Caroline Fitzgerald. “Ally is leading the charge to create true equity in sports and has set a new standard for how brands can show up to support women in sports.” To learn more about GOALS, visit www.goals-sports.com. To learn more about Ally’s 50/50 pledge to reach equal spending in paid advertising across women's and men's sports programming over the next five years, and their "Watch the Game, Change the Game" campaign, visit watchtochange.com. About GOALS GOALS is a start-up women’s sports marketing and sponsorship agency that is fully dedicated to growing women’s sports. Guided by a core, data-driven belief that women’s sports are the most exciting trend in the sports industry right now, GOALS works to show brands, networks, and investors that it's good business to invest in women's sport. GOALS does this by working with professional women’s sports team & organizations to help them earn more revenue by signing corporate sponsorships, working with brands to project manage new or existing sponsorships within women's sports, and by creating unapologetic & educational content, including the production of our flagship show: The Business Case For Women's Sports podcast. For more information visit www.goals-sports.com About Ally Financial Ally Financial Inc. (NYSE: ALLY) is a financial services company with the nation’s largest all-digital bank and an industry-leading auto financing business, driven by a mission to “Do It Right” and be a relentless ally for customers and communities. The company serves more than 11 million customers through a full range of online banking services (including deposits, mortgage, point-of-sale personal lending, and credit card products) and securities brokerage and investment advisory services. The company also includes a robust corporate finance business that offers capital for equity sponsors and middle-market companies, as well as auto financing and insurance offerings. For more information, please visit www.ally.com and follow @allyfinancial. For more information and disclosures about Ally, visit https://www.ally.com/#disclosures. For further images and news on Ally, please visit http://media.ally.com. MEDIA CONTACTS Carlianna Nachazel - carlianna@goals-sports.com Justin Nicolette (Ally Financial) – justin.nicolette@ally.com Source Link: https://media.ally.com/2023-06-22-GOALS-announces-Ally-as-presenting-sponsor-for-The-Business-Case-For-Womens-Sports-podcast

November 18, 2022. GENEVA, Switzerland. A test using collisions of lead ions was carried out in the LHC and provided an opportunity for the experiments to validate the new detectors and new data-processing systems ahead of next year’s lead-lead physics run. Event displays of the first Pb-Pb collision of Run3 taken on 18 November 2022 (Image: CERN) After the successful start of Run 3 in July this year, which featured proton-proton collisions at the record energy of 13.6 TeV, it was the turn of lead nuclei to circulate in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) again last Friday after a gap of four years. Lead nuclei comprise 208 nucleons (protons and neutrons) and are used at the LHC to study quark-gluon plasma (QGP), a state of matter in which the elementary constituents, quarks and gluons, are not confined within nucleons but can move and interact over a much larger volume. Event display of a lead-argon collision in LHCb (Image: CERN) In the test carried out last Friday, lead nuclei were accelerated and collided at a record energy of 5.36 TeV per nucleon-nucleon collision1. This is an important milestone in preparation for the physics runs with lead-lead collisions that are planned for 2023 and the following years of Run 3 and Run 4. Event display of a heavy ion collision event recorded in ATLAS on 18 Nov 2022, when stable beams of lead ions colliding at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of 5.36 TeV were delivered to ATLAS by the LHC. (Image: CERN) The CERN ion injector complex has undergone a series of upgrades in preparation for a doubling of the total intensity of the lead-ion beams for the High-Luminosity LHC. Achieving this goal requires a technique called “momentum slip-stacking” to be used in the Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS), where two batches of four lead-ion bunches separated by 100 nanoseconds “slip” to produce a single batch of 8 lead bunches separated by 50 nanoseconds. This will allow the total number of bunches injected into the LHC to increase from 648 in Run 2 to 1248 in Run 3 and onwards. After all the upgrades have been completed the LHC will provide a ten-fold higher number of heavy ion collisions with respect to the past Runs. The test was also a crucial milestone for ALICE, the LHC experiment that specialises in the study of lead-ion collisions. The ALICE apparatus was upgraded during the recent shutdown of the LHC and now features several completely new or greatly improved detectors, as well as new hardware and software for data processing. The new detectors provide a higher spatial resolution in the reconstruction of the trajectories and properties of the particles produced in the collisions. In addition, the upgraded apparatus and upgraded processing chain can record the full collision information at a rate two orders of magnitude higher. Events as seen in the CMS detector from Pb-Pb collisions (Image: CERN) Other experiments used the test run to commission their upgraded and newly installed subsystems in the new heavy-ion environment of higher energy and 50ns bunch spacing. ATLAS tested upgrades to its selection (trigger) software, which is designed to enhance heavy-ion-physics data taking in Run 3. In particular, physicists tested a new particle-track trigger designed to spot a wider range of “ultra-peripheral collisions”. CMS upgraded several components of its readout, data acquisition, trigger and reconstruction chains to be able to take full advantage of the high-energy lead-lead collisions. The lead-lead fills delivered by the LHC allowed CMS to commission the entire system with beam and spot the areas that could be further optimized for the 2023 heavy-ion runs. LHCb started commissioning its brand-new detector in the challenging conditions of lead-lead collisions characterised by a very large particle multiplicity. In addition to lead-lead collisions, LHCb collected lead-argon collisions in fixed-target mode using the new SMOG2 system, which is unique to the experiment and is designed to inject noble gases into the LHCb collision area. Even if very short, the 2022 lead-lead programme can be considered a success for the LHC accelerator, the experiments and CERN's heavy-ion injector complex. The four big LHC detectors saw and recorded lead-lead collisions at a new record energy for the first time. Researchers are now looking forward to the heavy-ion physics campaign in 2023 and the following years. 1 In lead-lead collisions, each of the 208 nucleons of one of the lead nuclei can interact with one or several nucleons of the other lead nucleus. Source Link: https://home.cern/news/news/experiments/first-lead-ion-collisions-lhc-record-energy

JUNE 20, 2023 Key Point: “Americans overwhelmingly oppose the next goal of many anti-abortion activists, to enact a federal law banning abortion nationwide. By 80%-14%, those surveyed opposed that idea, including 65% of Republicans and 83% of independents. By 53%-39%, they supported a federal law ensuring access to abortion.” By Susan Page, Rachel Looker and Miles J. Herszenhorn In what was surely a case of unintended consequences, the landmark Supreme Court decision one year ago overturning Roe v. Wade is putting abortion opponents increasingly at odds with public opinion and creating political perils for candidates on their side. In a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, one in four Americans say state efforts that have followed to impose strict limits on abortion access have made them more supportive of abortion rights. The Dobbs decision, which removed access to abortion as a constitutionally protected right, elated the anti-abortion movement but its aftermath is helping boost support for legal abortion to historic highs and reshaping the debate over what has long been the deepest political wedge issue in the nation. “I don’t think it should have been overturned,” Tanya Goodpasture, 53, of Independence, Missouri, said in a follow-up interview after being polled. A Republican who voted for Donald Trump in 2020, she expressed concern about abortion, especially after a fetus’ heartbeat could be detected. But she added: “We’re here to make our own choices and deal with the repercussions.” By almost 4-1, 23%-6%, those whose views on abortion have changed in the past year said they have become more supportive of legal abortion, not less supportive. That includes more women than men, more Democrats than Republicans, and more younger voters than seniors. The shift was pronounced among Black respondents. Almost a third, 32%, said they had become more supportive of abortion access in the past year. And independent women, one of the most critical swing groups in elections, by 28%-5% said they had become more supportive of abortion rights. By almost 2-1, 58%-30%, those surveyed opposed the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. That said, more than three in four said abortion would be an important issue for them; 20% said it would be the single most important issue. But Jamie Nassehi, 63, a builder and a Democrat from Silver Spring, Maryland, said access to abortion has become a more important issue to him in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. “States are criminalizing something that was a precedent for 50 years,” he said. In a reference to the religious right and the more conservative majority on the high court, he said, “If they keep going, this country will be unrecognizable because they force their views on everybody and they’re a minority, really.” Americans overwhelmingly oppose the next goal of many anti-abortion activists, to enact a federal law banning abortion nationwide. By 80%-14%, those surveyed opposed that idea, including 65% of Republicans and 83% of independents. By 53%-39%, they supported a federal law ensuring access to abortion. “When 80% of Democrats and 53% of independents want Congress to pass a law ensuring nationwide access to abortion, you get the picture here,” said David Paleologos, director of Suffolk University’s Political Research Center. “Among women in the all-important independent-voter demographic, 63% support a national law. Even 23% of Republican men and women support it.” Since the Dobbs decision in June 2022, abortion has become unavailable in 14 states, and courts have blocked enforcement of bans in several others, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks reproductive issues. Some new bans were passed by state legislatures and pre-Roe laws have gone back into effect in other states. Georgia is now enforcing a ban at six weeks of pregnancy, Nebraska at 12 weeks, and Arizona and Florida at 15 weeks. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a ban at six weeks, contingent on a pending state court decision. North Carolina has passed a 12-week ban, set to go into effect July 1. The USA TODAY/Suffolk findings were consistent [with] other survey research. The Gallup Poll reports that support for legal abortion rose in reaction to the Dobbs decision and has remained at record highs. Last month, 69% said abortion should generally be legal in the first three months of pregnancy, the highest level since Gallup first asked the question in 1975. In all, a 53% majority said abortion should be legal in most or all cases; 28% said it should be illegal in most or all cases. Rebecca Romano, 35, who works in a retirement community in Mesa, Arizona, said support for legal abortion would be a “very, very big factor” for her vote. An independent, she voted for a third-party candidate in the last presidential election. “I think for the health and wellness of women, it’s a huge issue,” she said. “I feel like we literally just went backwards.” She would like the Supreme Court to change course and recognize access to abortion as a constitutional right. “I feel like Roe vs. Wade needs to be turned over again,” she said. Source Link: https://democrats.org/news/icymi-80-of-americans-oppose-maga-push-for-national-abortion-ban/

June 5, 2023. SAN JOSE, California. Zoom IQ meeting summary and chat compose features allow users to quickly summarize Zoom Meetings without recording and draft content in Zoom Today Zoom Video Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZM) launched key features of Zoom IQ, a smart companion that empowers collaboration and unlocks people’s potential through generative AI. Now available through free trials for customers in select plans,1 the Zoom Meeting summary and Zoom Team Chat compose features will help teams improve productivity, balance workday priorities, and collaborate more effectively. “With the introduction of these new capabilities in Zoom IQ, an incredible generative AI assistant, teams can further enhance their productivity for everyday tasks, freeing up more time for creative work and expanding collaboration,” said Smita Hashim, chief product officer at Zoom. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to large language models, and with Zoom’s federated approach to AI, we are able to bring powerful capabilities to our customers and users through Zoom’s own models as well as our partners’ models.” Zoom’s federated approach to AI leverages its own proprietary large language AI models, those from leading AI companies — such as OpenAI and Anthropic — and select customers’ own models. With this flexibility to incorporate multiple types of models, Zoom’s goal is to provide the most value for its customers’ diverse needs. The first set of Zoom IQ capabilities is now generally available to Zoom customers in select plans as free trials: Meeting summary: Zoom Meeting hosts can now create a summary powered by Zoom’s own large language models and share it via Zoom Team Chat and email without recording the conversation. Hosts receive automated summaries and can share them with attendees and those who didn’t attend to improve team collaboration and speed up productivity. Chat compose: Zoom Team Chat users can now use the generative AI-powered compose feature, which leverages OpenAI’s technology, to draft messages based on the context of a Team Chat thread in addition to changing message tone and length as well as rephrasing responses to customize text recommendations. Zoom is committed to empowering customers with the tools they need to control their data. In order to use these features, customers will need to go to the Zoom admin console and opt into the free trials for each feature. As part of the opt-in, customers will also select data-sharing options with Zoom. Account admins may change this data-sharing selection at any time. Customer data will not be used to train third-party models. More information can be found here. To further help its customers and users, Zoom will continue to enhance its products with Zoom IQ capabilities. The next set of generative AI-powered features, scheduled to be released soon, will allow users to draft email content, summarize Team Chat threads, organize ideas, and draft whiteboard content: Email compose: Harnessing the power of generative AI, users will get email draft suggestions in response to the conversational context from prior Zoom Meetings, Zoom Phone calls, and email threads. Initially available in Zoom IQ for Sales, sales professionals will be able to quickly follow up with customers based on the context of their last conversation. Email compose will be generally available in the coming weeks. Zoom Team Chat thread summaries: Ever step away from the computer only to come back to a flurry of Team Chat messages? Available in the coming months, Team Chat thread summaries will allow users to catch up with the click of a button. Meeting queries: Joining a Zoom Meeting late can be both disruptive and confusing for the latecomer, but not anymore. Meeting queries will allow users to catch up quickly without disrupting the meeting flow by discreetly submitting a query via the in-meeting chat and receiving a generative AI-created summary of what they missed. The meeting queries feature is expected to be generally available in the coming months. Whiteboard draft: Who hasn’t experienced the “cold start” problem? A slow start to a brainstorming session can put a damper on idea generation, but with whiteboard draft, teams will be able to get a set of initial ideas, simply using text prompts. The whiteboard draft feature is expected to be generally available in the coming months. Whiteboard synthesize: Brainstorming sessions typically end with a lot of ideas that need to be organized in order to execute. The whiteboard synthesize feature automatically organizes ideas into categories, so teams can get to work faster. This feature is expected to be generally available in the coming months. About Zoom Zoom is an all-in-one intelligent collaboration platform that makes connecting easier, more immersive, and more dynamic for businesses and individuals. Zoom technology puts people at the center, enabling meaningful connections, facilitating modern collaboration, and driving human innovation through solutions like team chat, phone, meetings, omnichannel cloud contact center, smart recordings, whiteboard, and more, in one offering. Founded in 2011, Zoom is publicly traded (NASDAQ:ZM) and headquartered in San Jose, California. Get more info at zoom.com. Zoom Public Relations Lacretia Taylor press@zoom.us Source Link: https://investors.zoom.us/news-releases/news-release-details/new-generative-ai-powered-zoom-iq-features-are-now-available

March 23, 2023. PORTE DE VERSAILLES, France. AUTONOMY MOBILITY WORLD EXPO (AMWE) is the world’s largest annual gathering of corporations, companies, start-ups, international policymakers, institutions and NGOs focused on sustainable urban mobility solutions AUTONOMY MOBILITY WORLD EXPO (AMWE) combines exhibition stands with a Startup Village, 5 conference programs, test tracks, demos, B2B & B2G meetings, and also the Startup Challenge and Innovation Awards ceremonies. The 7th edition of AUTONOMY MOBILITY WORLD EXPO (AMWE), the unique and established international Expo of the mobility ecosystem took place on March 22-23, 2023 in Paris and welcomed 260+ exhibitors, 5,000+ participants and 400+ speakers. Source Link; https://6761694.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/6761694/Autonomy%202024/POST%20SHOW%20REPORT%202023.pdf

May 19, 2023. HIROSHIMA, Japan. Towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine 1. Preamble At our meeting today in Hiroshima, we, the Leaders of the G7, reaffirmed our commitment to stand together against Russia's illegal, unjustifiable, and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. We condemn, in the strongest terms, Russia’s manifest violation of the Charter of the United Nations (UN) and the impact of Russia’s war on the rest of the world. 15 months of Russia’s aggression has cost thousands of lives, inflicted immense suffering on the people of Ukraine, and imperiled access to food and energy for many of the world’s most vulnerable people. We express our full sympathy and condolences to the Ukrainian people for their loss and suffering. We salute the Ukrainian people for their brave resistance. Our support for Ukraine will not waver. We will not tire in our commitment to mitigate the impact of Russia’s illegal actions on the rest of the world. Today we are taking new steps to ensure that Russia’s illegal aggression against the sovereign state of Ukraine fails and to support the Ukrainian people in their quest for a just peace rooted in respect for international law. We are renewing our commitment to provide the financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support Ukraine requires for as long as it takes. We are imposing further sanctions and measures to increase the costs to Russia and those who are supporting its war effort. And we are taking steps to support partners worldwide as they navigate the suffering caused by the Russia’s war, including through humanitarian assistance. We are also building on the success of our efforts to ensure that Russia is no longer able to weaponize the availability of energy against us and against the world. Since February 2022, we have adopted sanctions, import bans, and other measures to reduce our dependence on Russia’s source of energy. In addition, in Elmau, we agreed to launch a price cap on Russian oil and petroleum products. This is working. Russia’s revenues are down. Global oil and gas prices have fallen significantly, benefiting countries around the world. 2. Towards a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine We urge Russia to stop its ongoing aggression and immediately, completely and unconditionally withdraw its troops and military equipment from the entire internationally recognized territory of Ukraine. Russia started this war and can end this war. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine constitutes a violation of international law, in particular the UN Charter. We reiterate our firm rejection of Russia’s illegal attempts to acquire Ukrainian territory by force. We underline that a just peace cannot be realized without the complete and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops and military equipment, and this must be included in any call for peace. Russia’s irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, undermining of arms control regimes, and stated intent 2 to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are dangerous and unacceptable. We recall the statement in Bali of all G20 leaders, including Russia. In this context, we reiterate our position that threats by Russia of nuclear weapon use, let alone any use of nuclear weapons by Russia, in the context of its aggression against Ukraine are inadmissible. We once again recall the UN General Assembly resolution A/RES/ES-11/6 titled “Principles of the Charter of the United Nations underlying a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine” adopted in February this year with the broad support of the international community, and will continue to pursue concrete efforts to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine. We remain committed to diplomacy and welcome and support the earnest efforts by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in setting out basic principles in his Peace Formula in line with the UN Charter. With a view to a viable post-war peace settlement, we remain ready to reach arrangements together with Ukraine as well as interested countries and institutions on sustained security and other commitments to help Ukraine defend itself, secure its free and democratic future, and deter future Russian aggression. We are determined to help Ukraine build a positive future for its people. We welcome the key role that Ukraine plays in the European Political Community. 3. Nuclear safety and security We express our gravest concern over Russia’s grossly irresponsible seizure and militarization of the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). We support the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) efforts to strengthen nuclear safety and security of, and the application of safeguards to, nuclear material and facilities in Ukraine, including through the continuous presence of IAEA experts and its focus on ensuring nuclear safety and security at the site. We reaffirm support for the IAEA Director General’s “Seven Indispensable Pillars of Nuclear Safety and Nuclear Security" and highlight the importance of ensuring and promoting the safety and security of nuclear facilities under any circumstances. In this context, we highlight the G7’s contribution to the IAEA’s efforts in Ukraine for this purpose and call on others to provide support. 4. Support to stop Russia’s war of aggression We commit to continuing our security assistance to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s aggression, tailoring our support to Ukraine’s needs. We stress the importance of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in coordinating military and defense assistance by each country provided in line with its national circumstances. 5. Support for recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine We reaffirm our strong commitment to ensuring that Ukraine has the economic support it needs. Under the leadership of Japan’s G7 Presidency, together with the international community, we have ensured Ukraine has the budget support it needs for 2023 and early 2024. We welcome the approval 3 of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and look forward to the swift implementation of Ukraine’s reforms supported by the program. The program will help to stabilize Ukraine’s macroeconomic and financial situation, contribute to longer-term economic sustainability, and help to catalyze further financial support from other countries and institutions as well as the private sector. We welcome the progress made in discussions in the Multi-agency Donor Coordination Platform for Ukraine and reaffirm our intention to further coordinate with Ukraine, partner countries and relevant international organizations. We are committed to addressing Ukraine’s recovery needs. We will continue our joint effort to support Ukraine’s repair of its critical infrastructure, recovery and reconstruction. We are determined to use the Platform as our primary mechanism to ensure that our assistance and support for reforms are well coordinated, properly sequenced, and mutually reinforcing. It will play a central role in coordinating donor support to match Ukrainian needs, advancing Ukraine's reform agenda in line with its European path and helping to promote sustainable private sector-led growth. We also welcome the efforts of the G7+ Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Ukraine Energy Sector Support and reiterate our continued support for restoring and upgrading Ukraine's energy infrastructure. We stand ready to support the sustainable and resilient recovery and green reconstruction of Ukraine, including by sharing our experience, knowledge and expertise regarding humanitarian de-mining and war-related debris and pollution management. We recognize the importance of the role of the private sector for Ukraine’s recovery and reconstruction, including through trade and investment, which may be facilitated through insurance and other tools to manage risk. In this regard, we welcome efforts by the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and our Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) in accordance with their mandates. These efforts include the establishment of the Support for Ukraine's Reconstruction and Economy (SURE) Trust Fund at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) as well as the launch of the Ukraine Investment Platform in Tokyo on May 12 to support Ukraine and affected countries more broadly, through further efficient co-financing and greater collaboration among the DFIs, together with the EBRD. We expect the Ukraine Recovery Conference, which will be held in London in June this year, to reinforce momentum behind Ukraine's recovery and reconstruction. 6. Anti-corruption and justice system reform We welcome the continued determination and efforts of the Ukrainian government and people to combat corruption, and encourage continued implementation of an effective reform agenda that will support good governance and improve investor confidence. We support Ukraine’s efforts to advance necessary institution-building as well as substantive legal reform in line with Ukraine’s European path, especially in the judicial sector and promotion of the rule of law. 7. Sanctions and other measures We remain united in imposing coordinated sanctions and other economic actions to further undermine Russia’s capacity to wage its illegal aggression. Specifically, we are taking the following measures, consistent with our respective legal authorities and processes and international law: i) We will further restrict Russia’s access to our economies. Building on previous measures taken to prevent Russia from accessing inputs in support of sectors key to its military industrial base, we will broaden our actions to ensure that exports of all items critical to Russia’s aggression including those used by Russia on the battlefield are restricted across all our jurisdictions, including exports of industrial machinery, tools, and other technology that Russia uses to rebuild its war machine. We will further target those operating in these key sectors, such as manufacturing, construction, and transportation as well as business services. We will starve Russia of G7 technology, industrial equipment and services that support its war machine. We will continue to shield agricultural, medical, and humanitarian products from our restrictive measures and make every effort to avoid potential spillover impacts on third countries. ii) We will further prevent the evasion and circumvention of our measures against Russia, including targeting entities transporting material to the front. We will continue to work through the Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force and the Enforcement Coordination Mechanism to enhance the effectiveness of our restrictive measures. We are engaging with thirdcountries through which restricted G7 goods, services, or technology may be provided to Russia to strengthen third-countries’ understandings of G7 measures. We note and encourage commitments made by these countries to ensure our measures are not circumvented and have the intended effect. iii) We reiterate our call on third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia’s aggression, or face severe costs. We will reinforce our coordination to prevent and respond to third parties supplying weapons to Russia and continue to take actions against thirdcountry actors who materially support Russia’s war. iv) We will also work to further curtail Russia’s use of the international financial system to further its war in Ukraine. We are prepared to take further measures against those willfully supporting the financing of Russia’s war. We are taking steps to further reduce avenues for Russia to circumvent our financial measures including by preventing third-country branches of Russian banks from being used to avoid sanctions. We will continue to take necessary actions against Russia’s financial sector while coordinating to preserve financial channels for essential transactions. v) We will continue to reduce Russia’s revenue to finance its illegal aggression by taking appropriate steps to limit Russia’s energy revenue and future extractive capabilities, building on the measures we have taken so far, including export bans and the price cap for seaborne Russian- 5 origin crude oil and refined oil products. We have dramatically reduced our reliance on Russian energy and commodities. We are determined to continue on this path so that Russia is no longer able to weaponize energy against us. We will further reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to assist countries seeking to diversify their supplies. We will also continue efforts to reduce Russia’s revenue from metals. Further, we remain committed to upholding the price caps on Russian oil and petroleum products and we will enhance our efforts to counter evasion of these caps while avoiding spillover effects and maintaining global energy supply. vi) In order to reduce the revenues that Russia extracts from the export of diamonds, we will continue to work closely together to restrict trade in and use of diamonds mined, processed or produced in Russia and engage with key partners with the aim of ensuring effective implementation of future coordinated restrictive measures, including through tracing technologies. 8. Responsibility for Damage We will continue our efforts to ensure that Russia pays for the long-term reconstruction of Ukraine. In this context, we welcome the establishment, in the framework of the Council of Europe and to meet the request from the UN General Assembly, of a Registry of Damages Caused by the Aggression of the Russian Federation Against Ukraine. In line with the commitment made through the REPO Task Force, we will continue to take measures available within our domestic frameworks to find, restrain, freeze, seize, and, where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit the assets of those individuals and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with Russia’s aggression. We are taking steps to fully map holdings of Russia’s sovereign assets immobilized in our jurisdictions. We reaffirm that, consistent with our respective legal systems, Russia’s sovereign assets in our jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine. 9. Accountability There must be no impunity for war crimes and other atrocities, such as Russia’s attacks against civilians and critical civil infrastructure. We acknowledge the efforts made at the United for Justice international conference organized by the Government of Ukraine, and recall the Bucha Declaration that calls for accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed on the territory of Ukraine. In this context, we reiterate our commitment to holding those responsible to account consistent with international law, including by supporting the efforts of international mechanisms, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC). We strongly condemn the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainians, including children, from the occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia, and will continue to follow the progress of the ICC investigation in this regard, with the utmost attention and call for the return of these children. We also deplore instances of conflict-related sexual and gender-based 6 violence against Ukrainians. We welcome the establishment of the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. In addition, welcoming the efforts by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in this context, we underscore the importance of the protection of education of all children, in particular those impacted as well as the preservation of Ukrainian cultural properties and heritage damaged and threatened by the war of aggression. We are also paying attention to the impact of Russia’s aggression on international sport. While fully respecting the autonomy of sporting organizations, we are focused on fair sporting competition as well as on ensuring that Russian and Belarusian athletes are in no way appearing as representatives of their states. 10. Support to vulnerable countries Parallel to our support to Ukraine, we reaffirm our commitment to address the growing needs of vulnerable countries which have been aggravated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. In particular, we stress that Russia’s weaponization of food has compounded economic vulnerabilities, exacerbated already dire humanitarian crises, and escalated global food insecurity and malnutrition to unprecedented levels. We welcome the significant emergency financing delivered by the IMF through the Food Shock Window approved in October 2022 and support additional efforts towards vulnerable countries. We will continue to provide rapid assistance to help affected countries and populations, including through the Global Alliance for Food Security (GAFS). We will continue to support the export of Ukrainian agri-products including through the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes. In this regard, we support the expansion and extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) and we call upon Russia to stop threatening global food supplies and allow the BSGI to operate at its maximum potential. We remain committed to the Grain from Ukraine initiative. Our contributions support the delivery of humanitarian food assistance to the most vulnerable countries in partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP). We remain dedicated to concrete collaborative actions in order to enhance energy security and achieve climate commitments. We will continue to work together in solidarity to limit the impacts from the global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine to support vulnerable and affected countries, such as through the International Energy Agency Task Force on Natural Gas and Clean Fuels Market Monitoring and Supply Security. 11. Conclusion We hereby pledge, from Hiroshima, the "symbol of peace", that G7 members will mobilize all our policy instruments and, together with Ukraine, make every effort to bring a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible. Source Link: https://www.g7hiroshima.go.jp/documents/pdf/230519-01_g7_en.pdf

February 07, 2023. SYDNEY. FY23 YTD net profit contribution substantially up on FY22 YTD mainly due to exceptionally strong results in commodities including gas and power contributions across all regions. Varied conditions for Macquarie’s diverse businesses in the three months to 31 December 2022 (3Q23) resulted in a good quarter for the Group Net profit after tax (NPAT) for the nine months to 31 December 2022 (FY23 YTD) slightly up on the nine months to 31 December 2021 (FY22 YTD) – a period which included a record December 2021 quarter (3Q22) result Macquarie's annuity-style businesses' (Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and Banking and Financial Services (BFS)) combined 3Q23 net profit contribution1 substantially down on the prior corresponding period (3Q22) mainly due to larger green energy sector asset realisations in MAM in the prior corresponding period. This was partially offset by continued growth in BFS FY23 YTD net profit contribution significantly down on FY22 YTD primarily due to larger green energy sector asset realisations in MAM in the prior corresponding period. This was partially offset by continued growth in BFS Macquarie's markets-facing businesses' (Commodities and Global Markets (CGM) and Macquarie Capital) combined 3Q23 net profit contribution substantially up on prior corresponding period primarily due to the CGM result for 3Q23, which was substantially up on half year ended 30 September 2022 (1H23) driven by commodities including gas and power contributions across all regions partially offset by a lower level of realisations and lower fee and commission income in Macquarie Capital FY23 YTD net profit contribution substantially up on FY22 YTD mainly due to exceptionally strong results in commodities including gas and power contributions across all regions in CGM partially offset by a lower level of realisations and lower fee and commission income in Macquarie Capital Group financial position comfortably exceeds regulatory requirements Group capital surplus of $A12.5 billion 2, 3 Bank CET1 ratio 13.3% (Harmonised: 16.9%4), Leverage ratio 5.2% (Harmonised: 5.9%4), LCR 203%5, NSFR 117%5 Macquarie Group Limited (Macquarie) (ASX: MQG; ADR: MQBKY) today provided an update on business activity in the third quarter of the financial year ending 31 March 2023 (3Q23). Macquarie Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Shemara Wikramanayake, said: “Varied market conditions have resulted in a good quarter for the Group reflecting the diversity of our activities.” The annuity-style businesses’ combined 3Q23 net profit contribution was substantially down on 3Q22. For FY23 YTD, net profit contribution significantly down on FY22 YTD, primarily due to larger green energy sector asset realisations in MAM in the prior corresponding period. This was partially offset by continued growth in BFS. The markets-facing businesses’ combined 3Q23 net profit contribution was substantially up on 3Q22. For FY23 YTD, net profit contribution was substantially up on FY22 YTD. This was mainly due to exceptionally strong results in commodities including gas and power contributions across all regions in CGM partially offset by a lower level of realisations and lower fee and commission income in Macquarie Capital. Macquarie Group’s financial position comfortably exceeds APRA’s Basel III regulatory requirements, with a Group capital surplus of $A12.5 billion2,3 at 31 December 2022, up from $A12.2 billion at 30 September 2022. The Bank Group’s APRA Basel III Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.3 per cent (Harmonised: 16.9 per cent4) at 31 December 2022, up from 12.8 per cent at 30 September 2022. The Bank Group’s APRA leverage ratio was 5.2 per cent (Harmonised: 5.9 per cent4), the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) was 203 per cent5 and the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) was 117 per cent5 at 31 December 2022. Third quarter business highlights Ms Wikramanayake provided an overview of business activity undertaken during 3Q23: MAM had assets under management (AUM) of $A797.8 billion at 31 December 2022, broadly in line with 30 September 2022. In the quarter, Public Investments AUM fell one per cent to $A513.5 billion, driven by foreign exchange movements and net flows, partially offset by positive market movements. Private Markets AUM6 rose three per cent to $A284.3 billion, driven by fund investments and increased asset valuations. At 31 December 2022, Private Markets had equity under management of $A193.1 billion with $A31.6 billion to deploy after raising $A7.4 billion in new equity, investing $A5.3 billion and divesting $A0.5 billion. BFS had total deposits7 of $A125.7 billion at 31 December 2022, up eight per cent on 30 September 2022. The home loan portfolio of $A105.4 billion increased four per cent on 30 September 2022, while funds on platform8 of $A117.0 billion increased five per cent. During 3Q23, the business banking loan portfolio increased two per cent to $A12.5 billion, while the car loans portfolio decreased ten per cent to $A6.6 billion. CGM had exceptionally strong results across the commodities platform, particularly in global Gas & Power and Oil products, driven by increased trading, physical execution and logistics and client risk management opportunities from unusually volatile market conditions. CGM also saw solid contribution from client risk management, market access and financing activity across the Financial Markets businesses including fixed income, foreign exchange, credit, futures and equities. CGM also saw a strong performance from Asset Finance driven by Technology, Media & Telecoms and Structured Lending with strong annuity revenues continuing across the platform. Macquarie Capital completed 84 transactions globally valued at $A92 billion in 3Q239. Fee revenue was significantly down on prior corresponding period however up on prior period. Investment-related income was significantly down on the prior corresponding period and prior period, with significant realisations in the comparative periods. The Principal Finance credit portfolio stood at over $A16 billion10 with more than $A1 billion deployed in 3Q23 through focused investment in credit markets and bespoke financing solutions. Outlook The Group highlighted business-specific factors impacting its short-term outlook: Macquarie Asset Management Base fees expected to be broadly in line with raising and deployment in Private Markets and the impact of recent Public Investments acquisitions, substantially offset by unfavourable market movements Net Other Operating Income11 expected to be significantly down due to non repeat of Macquarie Infrastructure Corporation gains partially offset by higher performance fees Green Investment Group expected to be significantly down due to strong financial year ending 31 March 2022 (FY22) performance. Material gains on realisations in 1H23 not expected to recur in the half year ended 31 March 2023 (2H23) Banking and Financial Services Growth in loan portfolio, deposits and platform volumes Market dynamics to continue to drive margins Ongoing monitoring of provisioning Higher expenses to support volume growth, technology investment and regulatory requirements Macquarie Capital – subject to market conditions: Transaction activity is expected to be substantially down on a record FY22, with market conditions weakening in the financial year ending 31 March 2023 (FY23) Investment-related income expected to be broadly in line with FY22 with increased revenue from growth in the Principal Finance credit portfolio, offset by lower revenue from asset realisations. No material realisations are expected in the March 2023 quarter (4Q23) Continued balance sheet deployment in both debt and equity investments Commodities and Global Markets - subject to market conditions, which make forecasting difficult: Commodities income, which has benefitted from strong trading conditions in FY23 YTD, is expected to be substantially up on FY22, including the impact of timing of income recognition on gas and power transport and storage contracts Increased contribution from the Financial Markets platform across client and trading activity Continued contribution from Asset Finance across sectors (excluding FY22 gain on disposal of certain assets) From a Corporate perspective, the FY23 compensation ratio and effective tax rate are expected to be within the range of historical levels. We continue to maintain a cautious stance, with a conservative approach to capital, funding and liquidity that positions us well to respond to the current environment. The range of factors that may influence our short-term outlook include: Market conditions including global economic conditions, inflation and interest rates, significant volatility events, and the impact of geopolitical events Completion of period-end reviews and the completion rate of transactions The geographic composition of income and the impact of foreign exchange Potential tax or regulatory changes and tax uncertainties Ms Wikramanayake said, “Macquarie remains well-positioned to deliver superior performance over the medium term. This is due to our deep expertise in major markets; strength in business and geographic diversity and ability to adapt the portfolio mix to changing market conditions; an ongoing program to identify cost saving initiatives and efficiency; ongoing technology spend across the Group; a strong and conservative balance sheet; and a proven risk management framework and culture.” Net profit contribution is management accounting profit before unallocated corporate costs, profit share and income tax. All numbers in this presentation have been reclassified to reflect the transfer of the Green Investment Group from Macquarie Capital to Macquarie Asset Management effective 1 Apr 22. The capital surplus shown is above regulatory minimums including the capital conservation buffer (CCB), per APRA ADI Prudential Standard 110, calculated at 8.5% RWA on a Level 2 basis for Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL). This surplus also includes provision for internal capital buffers, forthcoming regulatory changes, as well as differences between Level 2 and Level 1 capital requirements, including the $A500m Level 1 operational capital overlay imposed by APRA from 1 Apr 21. Based on materiality, the 8.5% used to calculate the Group capital surplus does not include the countercyclical buffer (CCyB) of ~9bps. The individual CCyB varies by jurisdiction and the Bank Group’s CCyB is calculated as a weighted average based on exposures in different jurisdictions. Basel III applies only to the Bank Group and not the Non-Bank Group. ‘Harmonised’ Basel III estimates are calculated in accordance with the BCBS Basel III framework, noting that MBL is not regulated by the BCBS and so impacts shown are indicative only. APRA imposed a 15% add-on to the Net Cash Outflow component of the LCR calculation, and a 1% decrease to the Available Stable Funding component of the NSFR calculation, effective from 1 Apr 21. The LCR Net Cash Outflow add-on increased to 25% from 1 May 22. As at 31 Dec 22. Private Markets Assets under Management (AUM) is calculated as the proportional ownership interest in the underlying assets of funds and mandated assets that Macquarie actively manages or advises for the purpose of wealth creation, adjusted to exclude cross-holdings in funds and reflect Macquarie’s proportional ownership interest of the fund manager. Private Markets AUM excludes uninvested equity. Deposits in BFS include home loan offset accounts and exclude corporate/wholesale deposits. Funds on platform includes Macquarie Wrap and Vision. Dealogic & IJ Global for Macquarie Group completed M&A, investments, ECM and DCM transactions converted as at the relevant report date. Deal values reflect the full transaction value and not an attributed value. Comparatives are presented as previously reported. Principal Finance committed portfolio as at Dec 22. Net Other Operating Income includes all operating income excluding base fees as well as income related to Green Investment Group (GIG). Media contacts Australia and New Zealand T: +61 2 8232 2336 Email regional contact Americas T: +1 212 231 1310 Email regional contact Asia T: +852 3922 4772 Email regional contact Europe, Middle East and Africa T: +44 20 3037 4014 Email regional contact Source Link: https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/about/news/2023/macquarie-group-3Q-2023-trading-update.html