At the end of the settlement date of June 13, 2025, short interest in 3,207 Nasdaq Global MarketSM securities totaled 13,689,191,607 shares compared with 13,504,275,894 shares in 3,184 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of May 30, 2025. The mid-June short interest represents 2.32 days compared with 2.19 days for the prior reporting period. Short interest in 1,642 securities on The Nasdaq Capital MarketSM totaled 2,687,331,325 shares at the end of the settlement date of June 13, 2025, compared with 2,610,068,615 shares in 1,632 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents a 1.00 day average daily volume; the previous reporting period’s figure was 1.00. In summary, short interest in all 4,849 Nasdaq® securities totaled 16,376,522,932 shares at the June 13, 2025 settlement date, compared with 4,816 issues and 16,114,344,509 shares at the end of the previous reporting period. This is 1.72 days average daily volume, compared with an average of 1.54 days for the prior reporting period. The open short interest positions reported for each Nasdaq security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by or for the account of the seller. For more information on Nasdaq Short interest positions, including publication dates, visithttp://www.nasdaq.com/quotes/short-interest.aspxor http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/asp/short_interest.asp.  

NYSE today reported short interest as of the close of business on the settlement date of December 15, 2025. SETTLEMENT DATE EXCHANGE TOTAL CURRENT SHORT INTEREST TOTAL PREVIOUS SHORT INTEREST (Revised) NUMBER of SECURITIES with a SHORT POSITION NUMBER of SECURITIES with a POSITION >= 5,000 SHARES 12/15/2025 NYSE 16,401,052,680 16,170,141,102 2,876 2,555 12/15/2025 NYSE ARCA 2,248,888,701 2,169,649,765 2,519 1,703 12/15/2025 NYSE AMERICAN 818,416,336 772,363,508 303 251 12/15/2025 NYSE GROUP 19,468,357,717 19,112,154,375 5,698 4,509 *NYSE Group includes NYSE, NYSE American and NYSE Arca           Reports will be archived here.

So far this year, fourteen companies have joined BME's growth markets The Market and Listings Coordination Committee considers that Iniciativas Faro 2024 SOCIMI will meet the requirements for listing on BME Scaleup. The company has today filed its Initial Market Access Document (DIAM) with the market. The company's Board of Directors has set a reference price of €1.83 per share for the start of trading, giving the company a total value of €9.8 million. The company's Registered Advisor is Armabex Asesores Registrados (Armanext). Iniciativas Faro 2024 SOCIMI focuses its activity on the acquisition and management of high-end residential properties in premium areas of Madrid, intended for displaced professionals, expatriates, and international postgraduate students who demand quality accommodation. The Iniciativas Faro 2024 SOCIMI Information Document is available on the BME Scaleup websiteopens in a new tab, where you can find all the information about the company and its business. The growth markets of BME (BME Growth and BME Scaleup) are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises. In 2024, these markets welcomed 23 new companies and now have more than 150 companies listed for trading. BME Growth allows small-cap companies from all sectors, with a significant presence of technology companies, to finance their growth, with recurring access to capital increases and a broad base of national and international investors. For its part, BME Scaleup is especially oriented towards scaleups, although it is also open to other types of companies such as SMEs, REITs, or family businesses. This market adapts to the needs of these companies by relaxing the incorporation requirements while offering the necessary transparency to investors. Among the advantages of accessing capital markets for small and medium-sized enterprises are financing, reputation, visibility, a boost to inorganic growth, and greater ease in attracting and retaining talent.  With these growth markets, BME completes its service offering. BME has a market for every type of company, from the first approaches to capital markets with the formation of the Pre-Market Environment, to large companies listed on the Stock Exchange.

The Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today published consultation conclusions on legislative proposals to regulate virtual asset (VA) dealing and custodian service providers in Hong Kong (Note 1). At the same time, the FSTB and the SFC commenced a further consultation on new regimes for providers of VA advisory and management services. With broad market support, the FSTB and the SFC will proceed with the legislative proposals for the VA dealer and custodian regimes (Notes 2 and 3). The new regimes mark a pivotal step in completing Hong Kong's regulatory framework to support a robust and secure VA ecosystem under the SFC's ASPIRe roadmap (Note 4). For VA dealers, the regime will be aligned closely with that for Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity under the Securities and Futures Ordinance and similar exemptions are under consideration. As for VA custodians, the new regime will focus on managing risks related to safekeeping private keys of client VAs in Hong Kong, to secure client assets and protect investors. Interested parties are encouraged to reach out to the SFC in order to initiate pre-application discussions on the proposed regimes. This proactive engagement will allow entities to obtain more information about the proposed regimes and work collaboratively with the SFC. By preparing early, pre-application participants can ensure that they will be well-informed and well-positioned to meet their obligations under the proposed regimes. Moreover, in response to market feedback, the FSTB and the SFC launched a further consultation today to expand the licensing scope to cover VA advisory and management service providers. Adhering to the “same business, same risks, same rules” principle, these new regimes are modelled on those regulating similar services in the securities market and will empower the SFC to regulate VA advisors and managers and set standards for them (Note 5). The Chief Executive Officer of the SFC, Ms Julia Leung, said: “The significant progress in our VA regulatory framework ensures Hong Kong remains at the global forefront of digital asset market developments by fostering a trusted, competitive and sustainable ecosystem. With unwavering commitment to responsible innovation, we are laying the foundation for a vibrant yet resilient ecosystem that may bring vast benefits to Hong Kong's financial markets and the broader economy in the long run.” The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Christopher Hui, said: “Our proposal for establishing licensing regimes for VA dealing and custodian service providers marks a significant step in enhancing our legal framework for digital assets. The proposed licensing regimes strike a prudent balance among fostering market development, managing risks and protecting investors. They will help realise our vision for building a trusted and sustainable digital asset ecosystem, with a view to establishing Hong Kong as a global hub for digital asset innovation.” Notes: Refer to the press release for the FSTB and the SFC's joint consultations on VA dealer and custodian regimes launched on 27 June 2025. More than 190 responses from a broad spectrum of stakeholders were received. For the lists of respondents, please refer to the Annex sections of the two consultation conclusions papers. The FSTB and the SFC will finalise the legislative proposals for the new regimes under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (Cap. 615), with a view to introducing a bill into the Legislative Council in 2026. The proposed regimes support “Access” to Hong Kong's VA market, one of the five pillars under the SFC's “ASPIRe” roadmap issued on 19 February 2025. Interested parties are invited to submit comments on the proposed VA advisor and manager regimes to the FSTB or the SFC by 23 January 2026.

The average daily trading volume for the period 21/12 – 24/12 reached JD (8.7) million compared to JD (8.5) million for the last week, a increase of (2.7%). The total trading volume during the week reached JD(34.7) million compared to JD (42.3) million during the last week. Trading a total of (18.3) million shares through (13973) transactions. Financial led the trading with JD(18.58) million or (53.52%) of the total trading volume. The Services followed with a JD(10.25) million or (29.54%). Finally, the Industrial with a JD(5.88) million representing(16.95%) of the total trading volume. The shares price index closed at (3565.8) points, compared to (3482.8) points for the last week, an increase of (2.38%). The Financial index increased by (2.44%), the Services index increased by (3.23%), and the Industrial index increased by (0.47%). The shares of (138) companies were traded, the shares prices of (71) companies rose, and the shares prices of (33) declined. The top five gainers during the week were, the Jordanian Mutual Funds Management Company by (25.00%), Salam Internationl Transport & Trading by (17.65%), Bank Al Etihad by (12.40%), Deera Investment & Real Estate Development Co by (12.24%), and Al Sanabel International For Islamic Investments(holding) Plc. Co. by (8.51%). The top five losers were, the Arab Jordanian Insurance Group by (11.63%), Sabaek Invest Company P.l.c by (10.00%), Ubour Logistic Services Plc by (8.82%), The Mediterranean & Gulf Insurance Company-jordan P.l.c by (8.33%), and Al-nisr Al-arabi Insurance by (6.68%). Note: The list of the top five gainers or losers may include companies whose reference prices have been adjusted due to actions executed during the summary period. Therefore, the appearance of such companies does not necessarily reflect an actual change in their stock prices.

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The market opened for three trading days this week as the Federal Government declared Thursday December 25 and Friday December 26, 2025, as Public Holidays to commemorate the Christmas Celebration. Meanwhile, a total turnover of 2.876 billion shares worth N63.832 billion in 80,229 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 9.849 billion shares valued at N305.843 billion that exchanged hands last week in 126,584 deals. Click here for full details.

LSEG announces it has purchased the following number of its ordinary shares of 679/86 pence each from Citigroup Global Markets Limited ("Citi") on the London Stock Exchange as part of its share buyback programme, as announced on 04 November 2025. Date of purchase: 23 December 2025 Aggregate number of ordinary shares purchased: 56,183 Lowest price paid per share: 8,862.00p Highest price paid per share: 8,940.00p Average price paid per share: 8,899.82p   LSEG intends to cancel all of the purchased shares. Following the cancellation of the repurchased shares, LSEG has 510,597,075 ordinary shares of 679/86 pence each in issue (excluding treasury shares) and holds 21,451,599 of its ordinary shares of 679/86 pence each in treasury. Therefore, the total voting rights in the Company will be 510,597,075. This figure for the total number of voting rights may be used by shareholders (and others with notification obligations) as the denominator for the calculation by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules. In accordance with Article 5(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 (the Market Abuse Regulation) (as such legislation forms part of retained EU law as defined in the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as implemented, retained, amended, extended, re-enacted or otherwise given effect in the United Kingdom from 1 January 2021 and as amended or supplemented in the United Kingdom thereafter), a full breakdown of the individual purchases by Citi on behalf of the Company as part of the buyback programme can be found at: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/7282M_1-2025-12-23.pdf This announcement does not constitute, or form part of, an offer or any solicitation of an offer for securities in any jurisdiction. Schedule of Purchases Shares purchased:       56,183 (ISIN: GB00B0SWJX34) Date of purchases:      23 December 2025 Investment firm:         Citi Aggregate information: Venue Volume-weighted average price Aggregated volume Lowest price per share Highest price per share London Stock Exchange 8,899.82 56,183 8,862.00 8,940.00 Turquoise        

NZX today announced the appointment of Robbie Douglas as Chief Executive of NZX Wealth Technologies and Daniel Juchnowicz as NZX’s Chief Information Officer. Both have been acting in the roles since October. NZX Chief Executive Mark Peterson says Mr Douglas is a vastly experienced executive, with 30 years’ experience in financial services, and a proven record of leading teams that provide quality service. Prior to joining NZX, Mr Douglas was the Chief Operating Officer at Verifone NZ and has held previous roles as Head of Operations - Institutional, Corporate and Commercial at ANZ Bank, the Head of Technology at First NZ Capital and the Chief Information Officer of Markets Business Technology for ANZ Bank based in Australia. “Robbie’s focus is on delivering to the strong pipeline of opportunities NZX Wealth Technologies has as one of the fastest growing and best regarded investment platforms in the New Zealand market,” Mr Peterson says. “Just last week we announced an agreement that NZXWT would be extending the services it provides Craigs Investment Partners to include its custody and private wealth business.” Mr Juchnowicz has previously been NZX’s Head of Capital Market & Digital Technology and Mr Peterson says he brings more than a decade of experience in the Capital Markets Technology group. “Daniel has demonstrated exceptional performance leading high-performing IT teams in Trading, Clearing & Settlement, Payments, and Integrations. In addition to these responsibilities, Daniel has led the Digital team, driving the modernisation of NZX’s digital products,” Mr Peterson says. “It says much about the calibre of NZX’s leaders that we have made these two important appointments from within the organisation.”

Interest rate derivative trading will cease at 1:30 p.m. today, December 24, 2025. Furthermore, the Exchange's markets will be closed on December 25 and 26, 2025.

Special Announcement: The processing and publication of Commitments of Traders data were interrupted from October 1 – November 12 due to a lapse in federal appropriations. Following a return to normal operations, the CFTC has resumed publication of the Commitments of Traders reports in chronological order. A revised release schedule depicts the intended COT Report publication dates for the data associated with the original publication date. The reports for the week of December 16, 2025 are now available. Report data is also available in the CFTC Public Reporting Environment (PRE), which allows users to search, filter, customize and download report data.  Additional information on Commitments of Traders (COT) | CFTC.gov Historical Viewable Historical Compressed Revised 2025 Release Schedule CFTC Public Reporting Environment (PRE) PRE User Guide PRE Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today issued for public comment a notice of proposed rulemaking to amend its guidelines relating to heightened standards for insured national banks, insured federal savings associations, and insured federal branches (covered banks). The proposal would increase the average total consolidated assets threshold at which the guidelines apply to covered banks from $50 billion to $700 billion. This proposal would reduce regulatory burden while refocusing the guidelines on institutions whose size, complexity, and risk profile pose the greatest risk to the banking system. The proposal also requests comments on other potential revisions to the guidelines. The proposed rulemaking is part of the OCC’s effort to tailor its regulations and eliminate unnecessary regulatory burden. Comments on the attached proposal are due 60 days after the date of publication in the Federal Register. Related Links Federal Register Notice (PDF)

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today requested comment on two proposals on national banks’ and federal savings associations’ real estate lending powers related to the payment of interest on funds held in escrow accounts. The OCC’s actions emphasize federal preemption as a critical tool for reducing unnecessary burden, enabling local and national prosperity, and unleashing economic growth. The OCC is proposing to codify longstanding powers of national banks and federal savings associations to establish or maintain real estate lending escrow accounts and to exercise flexibility in making business judgment as to the terms and conditions of such accounts, including whether and to what extent to offer any compensation paid to customers or to assess any related fees. Codifying this longstanding power will provide clarity and reduce uncertainty with regards to bank escrow practices and may thereby incentivize increased bank real estate lending. Second, the OCC is proposing to issue a preemption determination concluding that federal law preempts state laws that eliminate national banks’ and federal savings associations’ flexibility to decide whether and to what extent to (1) pay interest or other compensation on funds placed in real estate escrow accounts; or (2) assess fees in connection with such accounts. Specifically, the proposed preemption determination would conclude that federal law preempts a New York interest-on-escrow law; 11 other states have laws with substantively equivalent terms; and these substantively equivalent state laws are also preempted. Comments on both proposals are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. Related Links Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Real Estate Lending Escrow Accounts (PDF) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Preemption Determination: State Interest-on-Escrow Laws (PDF)

The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) is warning Ontario investors that the following companies are not registered to deal or advise in securities in Ontario: Titan Capital Partners Caruselepro Deals-nzs.top GalacticsAI Agrichainnexus OV Finance Cooytechora Allegiant Metals Group Elnopy Grantdeft (aka Visual HYIP) Pro.funders.co Royal Wealth Ltd. JA Stock Txyt.net Golden-X-Net Gatevex Luxenrise Yourtradingsystem Provexgrowth.net TrueCanTrust Canada At the OSC, we issue investor warnings and alerts about possible harmful or illegal activity in progress, and maintain a warning list of companies or individuals performing activities that may pose a risk to investors. A full list of OSC investor warnings and alerts is available on the OSC’s website. Investors can sign up for email notifications when new warnings and alerts are issued and can follow the OSC’s X feed at @OSC_News . Ontarians who have been approached by any of the individuals or firms listed above, or any other unregistered company or individual, are advised to contact the OSC Contact Centre at 1-877-785-1555 or via email at inquiries@osc.gov.on.ca. Always check the registration of any person or business trying to sell you an investment or give you investment advice. This can be done by visiting the Check Before You Invest or the Crypto businesses pages on the OSC website. The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at https://www.osc.ca.  

The Bank's Court of Directors acts as a unitary board, setting the organisation's strategy and budget and taking key decisions on resourcing and appointments. Required to meet a minimum seven times per year, it has five executive members from the Bank and up to nine non-executive members. Present Committee members: David Roberts, ChairAndrew Bailey, GovernorSarah Breeden, Deputy Governor – Financial StabilityClare Lombardelli, Deputy Governor - Monetary PolicySir Dave Ramsden, Deputy Governor – Markets & BankingSam Woods, Deputy Governor – Prudential Regulation (until item 11)Jonathan BewesSabine ChalmersLord Jitesh GadhiaDame Anne GloverSir Ron KalifaDiana NobleTom Shropshire In attendance: Sarah John, Chief Operating Officer (until item 10) Secretary: Sebastian Walsh, Secretary of the Bank 1. Conflicts, Minutes and Matters Arising There were no conflicts declared in relation to the present agenda. The minutes of the meeting held on 19 September were approved. The Chair noted this would be Ron Kalifa’s last Court meeting, and on behalf of the Bank, thanked him for his service. 2. Governor’s Update The Governor updated Court on the Bank’s business and workforce planning, noting the two critical aspects were now to engage the Bank’s broader leadership on the programme and to ensure the Bank had the capacity to deliver planned changes. The Governor informed Court that following Court’s approval of the changes to the Bank’s FX balance sheet, the Bank had successfully issued an additional dollar bond. Court heard that the Bank would launch the consultation on the stablecoins regime on 10 November. Dave Ramsden noted the Bank had engaged with other authorities to discuss how the regime could impact them. The Governor updated Court on the results of the public consultation on the design of the next series of banknotes. 3. Audit and Risk Committee (ARCo) Update Jonathan Bewes gave an update on the recent meeting of ARCo. In the Audit meeting, ARCo heard from the external auditors, Ernst & Young, on the planning for next year’s audit and had a discussion on how the workforce planning programmes would be accounted for. ARCo also received an update from Internal Audit on recently completed audits. In the Risk meeting, ARCo received an update on decisions regarding the investment portfolio, as well as the revised Risk directorate strategy and its implementation. ARCo reviewed the new cyber-security dashboard and had an update on access management metrics. Directors noted the increase in cyber-attacks by state actors in other jurisdictions and the importance of the Bank remaining vigilant. The Chair asked that an assessment of cyber-risk come to Court. 4. Remuneration Committee (RemCo) Update Diana Noble gave an update on the recent meeting of RemCo. RemCo approved the creation of a Mutually Agreed Resignation (MAR) Scheme and the terms of the scheme. RemCo discussed the actions needed to ensure effective engagement with staff around the scheme. RemCo also emphasised the importance of ensuring the scheme was used to deliver sustainable cost savings. Directors confirmed support for the proposals. 5. COO Update Sarah John updated Court on the Bank’s annual salary review and negotiations with the Union on the offer and said that the Union had recommended the Bank’s offer to staff. She added that progress had been made on the SharePoint migration, and the first new and improved laptops had been rolled out. In response to questions, Sarah John said the Bank remained committed to reaching 500 staff in Leeds. She added that Governors had agreed that, to further progress towards this target, Executive Directors would be required to recruit 50% of any external recruitment to the Leeds office. Finance Modernisation Project (FMP) Update Court approved a revised budget for FMP. 6. 2025/2026 Q2 Financial Forecast (Afua Kyei) Court congratulated Afua Kyei on being voted the most influential person of African or African Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom in the 2026 Powerlist. Afua Kyei gave an update on the current financial position, noting an underspend is expected in 25/26 due to areas making a start on meeting the 8% cost challenge in 26/27. This underspend would be used to support workforce planning programmes. In response to questions from Directors, it was confirmed that the Bank would still seek to meet the 8% cost challenge target in year and would consider how plans could be revised to deliver this. 7. Business Planning 2026/27 Update (Jo Hill, Afua Kyei and Louise Buckley) Jo Hill introduced the paper noting that with the Bank’s strategic goals having been set, these were now the necessary steps to deliver them. Directors raised the importance of embedding transformation and productivity in the Bank’s culture. Directors noted that the 8% target was applied equally across the Bank. The Chair noted the importance of delivering the benefits of the transformation programmes to staff, including better technology, to show the positive impact of the Bank changing. Court approved the plans. 8. Location Strategy Project (LSP) – Strategic Business Case (Vivienne Grafton and Tom Horn) Vivienne Grafton introduced the paper, noting this was a once in a generation opportunity to improve both the Bank’s premises and its geographical reach. Vivienne Grafton noted that the cost savings from exiting Moorgate meant the project had a positive net present value with a capacity to absorb potential cost overruns, which was important as some risks to projected costs were to be expected when working on a historic building. Directors discussed the importance of value for money and ensuring the Bank maintained the building appropriately, which was of substantial historical interest and a national asset. Directors noted there was a reputational risk around the rebuild and that the robustness of the business case and communications were critical. Directors discussed the effective limit on London based headcount the programme would create for the future. They noted that, in the event the Bank needed to grow in future, this could be accommodated by growing headcount in Leeds. Directors asked that the project consider the case for independent expert challenge on the project, noting it was outside of the Bank’s usual responsibilities. 9. Six-Monthly Risk Report (Jonathan Rand) Jon Rand introduced the Risk report and said that the Bank’s important business services remain resilient, although some of the more obsolete systems the Bank continues to need to run require continual maintenance. Jon Rand said that reviews of cyber-risk in the supply chain had been positive but that supply chain risk, especially for cyber, was an area of heightened concern due to external events. Directors discussed the heightened people, operational and delivery risks coming from running major operational change programmes and workforce change programmes concurrently. Jon Rand said that Risk would seek to identify leading indicators for risks crystallising through workforce changes and that business areas would seek to identify single points of failure. 10. Banknote Innovation Programme (Victoria Cleland and Jennifer Small) Victoria Cleland introduced the paper, explaining that the programme to deliver the next series of banknotes compromised three strands: the printing contract, the design of the next series of notes and property adaptations at Debden to support continued printing. Cout discussed the continued demand for banknotes and the continued risk from counterfeiting. In response to questions on the pace of innovation in counterfeiting, Victoria Cleland and Jen Small outlined the current innovations in banknote security features and forward planning to prevent counterfeits. Court approved the paper and budget. Court delegated authority to the COO and Governor to approve a contingency of up to an additional 10% and to the Chair of Court and the Governor for a further 5% (up to 15% in total). 11. Chair’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) effectiveness review 2025 Court discussed the effectiveness review, noting the contributions and debates of the MPC surrounding the changes to the forecast process following the Bernanke Review. 12. Support for Monetary Policy: Annual Report to Court 2024/2025 (Iain de Weymarn and Fergal Shortall) Court noted the report. 13. SMD Auction and Bilateral Trading Review (SABR) Programme Court approved the Programme. Court agreed that a 10% contingency, if required, could be released upon agreement by the COO and the Governor. 14. Revised ‘Our Code’ Conflicts of Interest Policies and Statutory Committees’, Conflicts of Interest Codes of Practice Court approved the policies and Codes of Practice. 15. FPC Members External Communications Code Court approved the Code. 16. Committee Appointments and Conflicts update Court noted the report. 17. Papers for Information Court noted: Monetary Policy Committee Report Approved minutes from Committee meetings since the last meeting of Court on 19 September 2025 ARCo minutes 24 June 2025 The meeting of Court was closed. These minutes are published as the record of meeting as required by the Bank of England Act 1998 as amended. Court may decide to omit information from the record in the public interest. The record of matters reported to Court may also omit information which is legally sensitive or commercially confidential.

• The index will comprise 111 stocks following the additions of Cirsa and Izertis and the removal of Minor Hotels. The Madrid Stock Exchange General Index Management Committee (IGBM) has decided at its regular index review meeting that both the IGBM and the Total Index will comprise 111 listed companies in the first half of 2026, following the additions of Cirsa and Izertis and the removal of Minor Hotels. The two new companies entering the indices meet the necessary requirements, while the exclusion of Minor Hotels follows the takeover bid (OPA) made by the company itself, which was successful, effective September 25, 2025.

  Defining the problems and preventing the downfall of humanity Amid domestic issued stablecoins and foreign issued stablecoins may be backed by same assets, regulatory regime ought to differentiate and skew it in favor of stablecoins issuance by a US based permitted payment stablecoin issuer (PPSI). Impose a 1 to 2% of gross revenue surcharge on Exchanges and DeFi protocols requiring their allocation of the fund to risk education program for existing and prospective retail clients, instead of addressing the loophole about “third-party” offering of interest on stablecoin holdings (amid GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from paying interest directly). Policy makers should make sure these crypto infrastructure providers would not just profit from the US and betray America’s interest. They must always abide by the US rules; particularly their products and processes should ultimately tie back to strengthening the US Treasury and repos markets. This is similar to the Dodd-Frank Volcker rule having an explicit exemption on US Treasury and repos. Per BIS, “some stablecoin issuers rely on reverse repos to generate additional income. During market stress, this could strain repo market liquidity, with spillovers on other short-term dollar funding markets. In addition, interconnections arise through direct exposure to banks via deposit holdings…” We have reservation with the BIS / IIF prescribed unified ledger / Project Agorá that integrates different financial assets and central bank money onto a single, programmable platform to automate and streamline transactions. The CAT system has set a bad precedent. To effectively mitigate privacy and security risks without creating bureaucracy, do keep in mind the following three management fundamentals: (i) segregation of duties, (ii) keep clean with high incentives (e.g. whistleblower award), and (iii) precognitive prevention by reducing the number of unknown unknowns. Better to analyze data directly at its originating source and scrutinize high risks cases as prompted by informants / suspicious activity intelligence. Also, agentic AI may use baits to catch illicit activities hopping around. Twenty-first century challenges include a rebellious move by an insurgent with a war chest to orchestrate a market wide shake-up, and foreign adversaries wanting to erode the US’s prominent market position. Bad actors / foreign adversaries play across markets and payment systems simultaneously. Per Professor Hélène Rey, policy makers should observe and monitor “the magnitude and substitution patterns between dollar-backed crypto assets and money market funds and deposits in local currencies and dollars.” Also, China's 2024 US dollar bond issuance in Saudi Arabia had yields on par with or slightly above US Treasury benchmarks, while its late 2025 Hong Kong issuance had yields that were slightly below US Treasury equivalents for similar maturities. These “clones” of US Treasury, together with China “gold corridor" strategic initiative with the BRICS, are adversely affecting the US monetary policy in the long run. We foresee increasing crossover activities between AI, tokenization and Digital Assets. AIs “cloning” from known lessons in reality or simulated environment to generate or manipulate the “likes” in a real, mixed, or virtual reality, a metaverse or multiverses with selective focus. Knowledge distillation can be a shortcut for cheap AIs to produce “counterfeits” or steal the fruits of other AIs. In parallel, DeFi redefines the alchemy of finance and “cloning” reward programs’ points, membership, ticket, credential, title instrument, identity badge, money, and whatnot into digital tokens. The high energy cost of mining Proof-of-Work (PoW) currencies creates a positive correlation with its value, especially Bitcoin and the like. If people want to outsource mundane tasks to increasingly complex matters to AI agents / machines, AI may require equivalent exchange of computing power / energy represented by crypto in the future. Some make PoW simpler, yet Proof-of-Stake systems are vulnerable to voting paradoxes. “Simplification” undermining the problem of tyranny of the majority (i.e. oppression of minorities, exclusion of value input causing poorer decision-making, and intensified conflicts by refusal to compromise leading to social polarization and unrest). Simplifying everybody’s life is an honorable goal, yet AI if misused can enslave humans. Deskilling and overreliance on AI make people become simple minded. People turn into couch potatoes when they lose their independent critical thinking and handy person’s abilities. All AIs want to be fed, but inputs versus outputs will get out of proportion. The Good – some GenAI prompt users to choose from few suggestive questions to keep the human and AI dialogue going that sharpen each other’s mind. The Bad – some Large Language Models intentionally cause additive behaviors. The Ugly – AI social credit score. While people test and measure the intelligence level of AIs, AIs use Turing, behavioral analysis, psychometric tests, and what intelligent questions we ask of AIs to score how dump different people are in vice versa. AIs ONLY rely on the most intelligent and timely inputs from humans, while giving back generic, cookie cutter, or flattery simple responses. If users do not want deteriorated feedback, there will be different tiers of subscriptions based on what human intelligence and crypto energy coins one is willing and can contribute or feed the AIs. This is NOT AI bias but human greed that exacerbates inequality. Tiering and scoring humans ought to be regulated. Putting geopolitics, AI, and Crypto into a common perspective, the problem faced by humanity boils down to: We all screwed ourselves by overreliance on global supply chain, technologies, bureaucratic financial systems; Corporates keep cloning / rehashing the same legacy products and pandering it or sold counterfeits to the mass market; Authorities blame it on inadequate penetration, and many try to find scapegoats to escape their own blame; Most people have IBG / YBG mentality and choose to do what is easy but neglect the consequences of shortcuts; Greed and laziness are to blame; tensions rise where Ruthless (TraFi) and Reckless (DeFi) created each other; Sarcastically, in the end everyone wants everything and the world back to “Normal”, when the “NORM” may indeed mean “it does not matter if we do not know how to do anything.” Social norms evolve overtime. Is it the decline of the world population that we need humanoid clones to pick up the work where people slack off? Would nations measure wealth by the number of humanoid clones owned per household and the amount of tokenized energy each household can generate, rather than by cars and livable space? Does China or the US, have the better economy of scale to become the world dominated manufacturer of Humanoid clones? Are these humanoid clones a one size fits all multi-purposes agents or they will be like robot vacuums or automated lawn mowers that serve specific functions? In either case, short-sighted corporations push outdated products, exhibit a lack of personalization, and underinvest to maximize profits. Hope is dim if all the investments in AI and Crypto are meant for another round of corporates’ push of their mass-produced products. There is hope if we use AI and DeFi to tailor products and services in line with the mass customization global trend. A revitalization of the US manufacturing sector will NOT be driven by humanoid clones sitting in assembly lines. Penetrating consumers to buy Humanoid clones will NOT increase the US competitiveness, except creating ever more waste like old Electric Vehicles’ batteries. Suck up the power enabled by AI and DeFi, so that every US household can turn their garages or any underutilize space into workshops. By equipping US households with “robotic assisted appliances” and low-cost access to supply and distribution channels, many would become entrepreneurs to customize every good and service. These appliances need economy of scope (like 3D printers or various Apps on iPhone or Android), but NOT necessarily high production capacity. We believe the US would lead the world by unleashing creativity and ingenuity. Gamification is what Americans do best. It prevents AI dulling our human minds. With AI, we can detect the smallest irregularities between an original, plagiarized or counterfeit product, covered song, and genuine derivative product. It helps detect and deter bad actors and foreign adversaries from hiding under the guise of DeFi or any AI generated clones. We are optimistic about the US AI Action Plan, particularly because of this commendable US copyright and AI report. It strikes the appropriate balance in assessing the divergence between private rights and social costs. That being said, unfinished legislative work remains after the Google v. Oracle case about fair use. We have been an advocate for Copyright Licensing Mechanism across industries. We suggest expanding and further strengthening the US Intellectual Properties (IP) protections. Making it cheaper and easier to enforce IP anywhere around the world. Incentivizing the discovery and reduction of “unknown unknowns.” When the World prospers more under the US leadership, there will be less bad actors and adversaries. By Kelvin To, Founder and President of Data Boiler Technologies Data Boiler is a Type C organization member of the European Commission’s Data Expert Group. Between my patented inventions in signal processing, analytics, machine learning, etc. and the wealth of experience of my partner, Peter Martyn, we are about Market Reform, Governance, Risk, Compliance, and FinTech Innovations to create viable paths toward sustainable economic growth.  

As the year draws to a close, the Commission continues to move forward in its implementation of the Treasury Clearing rule, which, among other things, mandates the clearing of certain eligible secondary market transactions in U.S. Treasury securities by direct participants in covered clearing agencies.[1] On December 12, 2025, the Commission issued an order approving a proposed new offering from the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”) to establish a new “Collateral-in-Lieu” service as part of the existing Sponsored General Collateral (GC) Service. This new service would allow FICC to take a lien on the collateral underlying a repo transaction, in lieu of charging margin. The lien, in most instances, will obviate FICC’s need to collect margin or to obtain a guarantee on the transactions. The new service would address what market participants have referred to as “double margining” that increases the costs (and thereby decreases the ability) of a FICC Sponsoring Member to provide clearance and settlement services to registered investment companies and other cash providers [2] Additionally, on December 22, 2025, the Commission published notice of FICC’s proposed rule change to amend its cross-margining agreement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (“CME”) to expand its existing cross-margining arrangement with CME to customers. Currently, the arrangement is limited to the proprietary positions of FICC and CME members.[3] Relatedly, the Commission is considering petitions submitted by FICC and CME  for exemptive relief from certain provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that would permit the expanded cross-margining for customers.[4] Finally, on December 1, 2025, the SEC approved the application of CME Securities Clearing Inc. to register as a clearing agency for U.S. Treasury securities, expanding clearing capacity and competitive options for market participants.[5] Other Steps Taken by the SEC to Date Since adopting the Treasury Clearing rule in December 2023, the Commission and SEC staff have taken several steps to facilitate orderly implementation: Timeline Extension: The Commission approved a one-year extension of compliance deadlines to December 31, 2026, for cash transactions and June 30, 2027, for repo transactions, providing market participants with essential additional preparation time.[6] Staff Guidance: SEC staff has issued guidance on the customer protection rules, clarified the scope of eligible secondary market transactions for triparty repo arrangements.[7] Engage with Market Participants on Accounting: SEC staff has provided feedback to market participants on accounting requirements for agent clearing members.[8] We continue our close collaboration with the U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board, CFTC, and international regulatory counterparts to ensure seamless cross-border implementation. Work That Remains Underway Commission staff continues to actively consider several implementation issues where market participant input remains valuable. These issues relate to: Expanding the interaffiliate exemption to include cash transactions and to allow for internal liquidity and collateral management; Including additional types of affiliates and broadening the concept of affiliate within the interaffiliate exemption; Clarifying the extraterritorial scope of the Treasury Clearing rule; Providing guidance on the impact of failed trades or clearing agency outages on the Treasury Clearing rule; and Assessing gross vs. net margin alternatives for segregated customer accounts under Exchange Act Rule 15c3-3a. As we move toward full implementation, we strongly encourage market participants to engage with us on any remaining challenges or unforeseen issues. The Commission remains committed to working collaboratively with all market participants to ensure the U.S. Treasury market remains the deepest, most liquid, and most resilient government securities market in the world.  Please see the SEC’s dedicated Treasury Clearing implementation webpage, which will be updated regularly as we address additional issues and provide further guidance, for more information. [1] Standards for Covered Clearing Agencies for U.S. Treasury Securities and Application of the Broker-Dealer Customer Protection Rule with Respect to U.S. Treasury Securities, Exchange Act Release No. 99149 (Dec. 13, 2023), 89 FR 2714 (Jan. 16, 2024) (hereinafter, “Treasury Clearing Rule”). [2] Exchange Act Release No. 104374 (Dec. 12, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/ficc/2025/34-104374.pdf. On December 22, 2025, the Commission also issued an order approving expansion of FICC’s Agent Clearing Service to include triparty transactions, which should provide an additional option for market participants using that service to access FICC. See Exchange Act Release No. 34-104492 (Dec. 22, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/ficc/2025/34-104492.pdf. [3] Exchange Act Release No. 34-104485 (Dec. 22, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/ficc/2025/34-104485.pdf.  FICC also filed a related advance notice, consistent with its obligations as a systemically important financial market utility under Title VIII of the Dodd-Frank Act. See Exchange Act Release No. 34-104486, available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/ficc/2025/34-104486.pdf. [4] FICC and CME have also submitted petitions to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) for exemptive relief from certain provisions of the Commodity Exchange Act. See CFTC, Press Release, Acting Chairman Pham Announced Implementation of U.S. Treasury Market Reforms: Proposed Order Would Expand CME-FICC Cross-Margining Program to Customers, Dec. 12, 2025, available at https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/9155-25?utm_source=govdelivery. [5] Exchange Act Release. No. 34-104281, “CME Securities Clearing, Inc.; Order Granting an Application for Registration as a Clearing Agency under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934” (Dec. 1, 2025), available at https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/other/2025/34-104281.pdf. [6] Extension of Compliance Dates for Standards for Covered Clearing Agencies for U.S. Treasury Securities and Application of the Broker-Dealer Customer Protection Rule With Respect to U.S. Treasury Securities, Exchange Act Release No. 102487 (Feb. 25, 2025), 41 FR 11134 (Mar. 4, 2025). [7] See Division of Trading and Markets: Frequently Asked Questions – Treasury Clearing and Rule 15c3-3a (Aug. 6, 2025), available at: https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/staff-guidance/trading-markets-frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-questions-treasury-clearing-rule-15c3-3a; Division of Trading and Markets: Frequently Asked Questions – Treasury Clearing, available at https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/staff-guidance/trading-markets-frequently-asked-questions/frequently-asked-questions-treasury-clearing-093025. [8] See “Accounting Treatment for UST Repo Transactions Cleared Through FICC,” SIFMA (Sept. 11, 2025), available at https://www.sifma.org/resources/general/accounting-treatment-for-ust-repo-transactions-cleared-through-ficc/.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, and BNY (NYSE: BK), a global financial services company, today announced that DTCC’s Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (FICC) subsidiary has officially launched its Collateral-in-Lieu (CIL) service under its Sponsored General Collateral (GC) offering via BNY’s Global Collateral Platform, with BNY Securities Finance and Federated Hermes, Inc. (NYSE: FHI) successfully executing the first repo trade on the new solution. The CIL service enhances FICC’s clearing model offerings by delivering significant margin and capital efficiencies and will accelerate the market’s transition to central clearing under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) U.S. Treasury clearing mandate. The service maintains the haircut typically posted by dealers to money market funds and other cash investors in triparty while implementing a CCP lien that is applied “in lieu” of both a Sponsor guaranty and margin posting to the CCP (in most circumstances). This approach eliminates double-margining for some Sponsored members and streamlines operational processes for market participants, leveraging the benefits of triparty. Key Benefits of FICC’s Collateral-in-Lieu: Margin & Capital Efficiency: Reduces duplicative margin requirements for Sponsors and their clients. Operational Streamlining: Builds on FICC’s existing Sponsored Service processes and legal agreements. Central Clearing Access: Supports compliance with the SEC’s U.S. Treasury clearing rule while enhancing market liquidity. The service leverages BNY’s triparty infrastructure for collateral management and settlement, supporting both “done-away” and “done-with” trade execution styles. “We are pleased to officially launch our Collateral-in-Lieu service on BNY’s Global Collateral Platform and congratulate BNY Securities Finance and Federated Hermes on completing the first repo trade,” said Laura Klimpel, Managing Director, Head of DTCC’s Fixed Income and Financing Solutions. “This important milestone underscores our commitment to delivering innovative solutions that enhance margin and capital efficiency for all types of firms, to addressing issues within the industry and to supporting firms as they work towards regulatory compliance.” “Collateral-in-Lieu represents a major step forward in the path to central clearing by introducing a margin and capital efficient means to clear repo transactions leveraging BNY’s Global Collateral Platform, the largest single liquidity pool for Treasury securities financing,” said Nate Wuerffel, BNY’s Head of Market Structure and Product Leader for the Global Collateral Platform. “This is the first of many trades that will help expand cleared repo activity ahead of the mandatory clearing deadline.” “Federated Hermes is pleased to collaborate with BNY Securities Finance to be the first cash provider to execute a transaction on FICC’s Collateral-in-Lieu service,” said Susan Hill, CFA, senior portfolio manager and head of the Government Liquidity Group at Federated Hermes. “This solution expands our access to cleared repo, helping us to deliver value to clients while meeting evolving regulatory requirements. Collateral-in-Lieu reflects our commitment to ongoing innovation and the advancement of resilient market structure.” “We’re proud to work with DTCC, BNY’s Global Collateral Platform and Federated Hermes to execute the first repo trade in Collateral-in-Lieu,” said Nehal Udeshi, BNY’s Head of Securities Finance. “This solution creates greater capacity for us to support client activity and is critical as the market scales toward mandatory clearing. It also reflects our BNY approach – bringing together capabilities across the company to deliver seamless, integrated solutions for our clients. We see Collateral-in-Lieu as an important enabler of broad participation, supporting client access and a more resilient cleared repo market.” DTCC expects increased adoption of the Collateral-in-Lieu service in the coming months as the industry prepares for full implementation of the SEC’s clearing requirements at the end of 2026 and June 2027.

NYSE Group, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of technology and data, today announced the 2028 holiday calendar and early closing dates for its cash equity markets: New York Stock Exchange, NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE National, and NYSE Texas, as well as the NYSE American Options, NYSE Arca Options and NYSE Bonds markets. The 2026 and 2027 holiday and early closing dates are also set forth below. HOLIDAY 2026 2027 2028 New Year’s Day Thursday, January 1 Friday, January 1 —* Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, January 19 Monday, January 18 Monday, January 17 Washington's Birthday Monday, February 16 Monday, February 15 Monday, February 21 Good Friday Friday, April 3 Friday, March 26 Friday, April 14 Memorial Day Monday, May 25 Monday, May 31 Monday, May 29 Juneteenth National Independence Day Friday, June 19 Friday, June 18 (Juneteenth National Independence Day observed) Monday, June 19 Independence Day Friday, July 3 (Independence Day observed) Monday, July 5 (Independence Day observed) Tuesday, July 4** Labor Day Monday, September 7 Monday, September 6 Monday, September 4 Thanksgiving Day Thursday, November 26*** Thursday, November 25*** Thursday, November 23*** Christmas Day Friday, December 25**** Friday, December 24 (Christmas Day observed) Monday, December 25   * Because the holiday falls on Saturday, January 1, 2028, no New Year’s Day holiday is observed. ** Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Monday, July 3, 2028. NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE National, and NYSE Texas late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time. *** Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Friday, November 27, 2026, Friday, November 26, 2027, and Friday, November 24, 2028 (the day after Thanksgiving). NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE National, and NYSE Texas late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time. **** Each market will close early at 1:00 p.m. (1:15 p.m. for eligible options) on Thursday, December 24, 2026. NYSE American Equities, NYSE Arca Equities, NYSE National, and NYSE Texas late trading sessions will close at 5:00 p.m. All times are Eastern Time. NYSE Group Markets holidays and hours can be found at: https://www.nyse.com/markets/hours-calendars.