The Central Bank of Brazil and Fenasbac, the National Federation of Associations of Central Bank Servers, decided to select nine projects to monitor and support their different proposals for the application of a hypothetical Brazilian central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital real. Projects from companies and organizations like Aave, Banco Santander, and Mercado Bitcoin…

The post Central Bank of Brazil Chooses Nine Institutions to Study Digital Real Possibilities appeared first on Bitcoin News Miner.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mar 4, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - GROW, an incubation service for blockchain and emerging technology projects, has announced the opening of its operational offices in Sri Lanka. Located in One Galle Face Tower, Colombo, the GROW office opening had in attendance personnel from all sectors of government, including Namal Rajapaksa, the Sri Lanka Minister of Digital Technology and Enterprise Development.

At the ceremony, Namal Rajapaksa relayed the Sri Lanka government's stance on the remarkable achievement.

"We are proud and happy to have you guys here as young entrepreneurs in the blockchain technology sector and taking Sri Lanka, leading Sri Lanka into the new era. As a Government, myself, my secretaries here, the Central Bank, Deputy Governors, all of us, are excited to be here today and to welcome you all," Minister Rajapaksa said.

GROW is Committed to Bolstering Innovation and Adoption of New Technologies

GROW aims at harnessing innovation in the budding Web3 space, creating innovation for youths, building sustainable business models via Web3, and advancing a national strategy for Web3 education with an emphasis on gaming, token economics, and the metaverse.

GROW capitalizes on Sri Lanka's refreshing approach to new technologies and developing markets like Web3, blockchain, and the metaverse. GROW recognizes the untapped potential that is the South Asian market and has set up an operating base in Colombo. This move, GROW hopes, will inspire other emerging platforms in the new technology space to leverage Sri Lanka's excellent approach to these new markets.

GROW is pioneering the introduction of lenient and progressive legislative regulations and policies that will aid Web3 experts in developing decentralized applications [DApps] and ecosystems that will open an avalanche of earning opportunities for the people of Sri Lanka. Additionally, GROW is committed to creating national awareness about these emerging markets and highlighting the undeniable positive impacts on the economy.

Peter Carroll, CEO & Founder of GROW, while speaking at the opening ceremony, reiterated GROW's commitment to recognizing and widening the opportunities in the metaverse, blockchain, gaming, and Web3 markets. Mr. Carroll believes forward-thinking leadership could put Sri Lanka at the center stage—as a vehicle for the proliferation of these exciting and newfangled technologies.

"New technological economies are combining with widespread technological infrastructure and forming the building blocks of our economic future. How they are utilized and regulated will define social mobility for today's youth. At GROW, we firmly believe these times are part of a shift, from the innovation phase of a technology breakout to the early adoption phase of the blockchain-based industries of Web 3.0," CEO Peter Carroll further said.

Citing "sandbox" as what Sri Lanka could be, GROW's founder unequivocally stated that Colombo could be one of the leading hubs for frontier technologies globally.

"I mean, think about it, what drives an entrepreneur? Building! We build ideas, products, and businesses, so what could be more exciting than being here in Colombo and helping to develop the people, economy, and tech infrastructure of a $120 billion state-of-the-art Smart City?

For us, the answer is simple: nothing! We want to engage with the blue-chip companies of Web 3.0 like Animoca Brands, Polygon and encourage them to help us drive opportunity, to educate and build traction because we believe Central and Southern Asia can drive actual adoption.", Peter Carroll said.

About GROW

GROW is an incubation service for blockchain-based projects and emerging markets like Web3 and the metaverse. GROW aims at facilitating the real-world impact of blockchain technology. To achieve this, GROW offers a complete set of innovative features and ideas, advisory networks, and connections for Web3 builders.

Social Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growgrouphq/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GrowGroupHQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/79858038/admin/
Medium: https://thegrowgroup.medium.com/

Media Contact
Brand: GROW
Contact: Ash McDowell, Executive Assistant
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://thegrowgroup.com/

SOURCE: GROW

Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.com

In response to the ongoing Vladimir-Putin-led Russian invasion of Ukraine, Singapore has announced that it will implement sanctions against the Russian Federation. In a press release made by Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these sanctions and limitations are intended to limit Russia’s ability to wage war against Ukraine and weaken the country’s national sovereignty. To ensure this, Singapore will place sanctions on designated Russian banks, entities, and fund-raising activities. The financial measures also prohibit Singapore’s financial institutions from providing services that might assist Russia’s government in generating extra funds. These measures apply to all financial institutions in Singapore, including banks, finance companies, insurers, capital markets intermediaries, securities exchanges, and payment service providers. The press release said, “For a small state like Singapore, this is not a theoretical principle, but a dangerous precedent. This is why Singapore has strongly condemned Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine.” Since the resolution of the United Nations Security Council to condemn Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was prevented due to Russia’s veto, this is the first time in decades that Singapore would be imposing financial measures on a foreign nation without support from the UNSC. Singapore Blocks Crypto Companies From Helping Russia In addition to blocking financial institutions in Singapore from providing services in Russia, digital payment token service providers are particularly forbidden from supporting transactions that might aid in the circumvention of these financial measures. As defined under the Payment Services Act 2019, cryptocurrencies are commonly referred to as digital payment tokens (DPTs) in Singapore. The sanctions on crypto providers are intended to prevent Russian businesses from using cryptocurrencies to circumvent financial restrictions placed on Russian banks. Russia is still being hammered by international sanctions. Major Russian banks have been barred from using the SWIFT international payments system, while billionaires and officials linked to Vladimir Putin have been subjected to travel restrictions and asset freezes. The central bank of Russia has also been denied access to its $630 billion in foreign reserves.

The post Singapore Imposes Financial Curbs On Russian Banks, Sanctions Crypto Transactions appeared first on Cryptoknowmics-Crypto News and Media Platform.

On Friday (March 4), former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci, who is the founder and managing partner of global alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital (“SkyBridge”), shared his latest thoughts on Bitcoin. SkyBridge Capital is “an SEC-registered investment adviser and global alternative investment manager that invests in hedge funds, digital assets, private equity, and real estate.” On […]

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PRESS RELEASE. INTERNET CITY, DUBAI, March. 5, 2022 – LBank Exchange, a global digital asset trading platform, will list Apollo Inu (APOLLO) on March 9, 2022. For all users of LBank Exchange, the APOLLO/USDT trading pair will be officially available for trading at 21:00 (UTC+8) on March 9, 2022. There are many content creators such […]

JAKARTA, Mar 5, 2022 - (ACN Newswire) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given a period of one to two years for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to make fundamental changes to increase their competitiveness.
On October 14, 2021, Jokowi stated that he was pleased to witness the clustering of container terminal operator and port development firm Pelindo into one holding, which was PT Pelabuhan Indonesia, to cuts logistics costs and helps improve connectivity throughout Indonesia.

According to Jokowi, the clustering forms into one great power, as it builds networking with partnerships abroad. "Through partnering with overseas companies who have networks, the (SOEs') link to all countries can become a huge power," the president remarked.

Through clustering, SOE companies have shown above-standard or even excellent work performance that has contributed significantly to the state budget.

According to data from the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) in 2019, the estimated total budget for infrastructure development in the period of 2020-2024 was US$447 million or Rp6,445 trillion, and 21 percent of them came from or supported by SOEs.

In the third quarter of 2021, the total assets of SOEs reached some US$610.5 million or Rp8,767 trillion, equivalent to some 57 percent of Indonesia's GDP.

Moreover, in January - September 2021, the total consolidated revenues were closed at Rp1,613 trillion, or grew 14% compared to the same period in 2020.

One of the efforts to enhance state firms' performances is through clustering and restructuring.

Clustering efforts have been accomplished by reducing the number of SOEs from 107 to 41, and sector clustering from 27 to 12, where two deputy ministers each oversee six clusters.

Currently, there are 12 sectors that 41 SOEs engage in: energy, oil, and gas; mineral and coal; insurance and pension funds services; plantations and forestry; and telecommunications and media.

Additional industries include the food and fertilizer industry, tourism and supporting services, health industry, manufacturing industry, infrastructure, logistics, and financial services.

On February 18, 2022, SOEs Minister Erick Thohir announced that he would again downsize the number of state-owned enterprises from 41 to 37 in the next two years.

In addition, he expressed his hope that the next SOEs Minister can complete the reducing program to only 30 state-owned enterprises. With a roadmap for a ten-year period, he has targeted to make the scope of state firms more manageable.

So far, the ministry has encouraged and carried out the SOEs transformation through reducing companies that are considered too large in number, and focusing on inefficient business sectors.

Under his leadership, the transformation is focused on human capital through replacing underperforming board of directors with better ones, so many state-owned enterprises can generate profits for the state.

Through restructuring, holdings, mergers, and acquisitions, Thohir has made SOEs' work performances more efficient.

According to Thohir, the SOEs Ministry distinguishes the strategy of the three pharmaceutical SOEs, where Bio Farma focuses on vaccines, Kimia Farma is focused on chemicals, and Indofarma on herbs. Indonesia has extraordinary potential in the herbal sector, but it has not been explored, so the SOEs Ministry had tried to re-map the path in developing it.

"We know that we import 90 percent of the raw material for medicines, and even medical devices. The COVID-19 pandemic has woken us up that we need to create a roadmap for Kimia Farma to focus on chemicals and Indofarma to be positioned on herbs," he explained.

Thohir said that since health and energy are under the same SOEs ecosystem, a connection between sectors needs to be built.

On the other hand, oil and gas firm Pertamina has begun to build petrochemicals, and one of the derivatives of petrochemicals is to create paracetamol. If Pertamina is merged with a health state firm into one ecosystem, Indonesia would no longer need to import paracetamol.

The ministry also consolidated and launched the tourism holdings and its sub holdings into one cluster, consisting of airport operator Angkasa Pura I and Angkasa Pura II, as well as some aviation and hotel companies.

Thohir put together the infrastructure construction SOE and cement SOE into one cluster, as he viewed that the two need each other and are expected to synergize.

Meanwhile, the tourism, logistics, and support cluster consists of Hotel Indonesia, temple tourism managing firm PT TWC, which manages the temples of Prambanan and Borobudur and Ratu Boko, and Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).

State-owned Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) also announced that it relied on clustering to strengthen the distribution of smallholder business credits (KUR), as well as to help boost the productivity of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, on February 23, three state-owned companies have agreed to collaborate on building green industry clusters in Indonesia that will prioritize the efficient and effective use of sustainable resources. The three state firms are electricity company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), oil and gas company PT Pertamina, and fertilizer company PT Pupuk Indonesia.

The clustering efforts began in 2020, as many state firms decided to be merged. Thohir also significantly increased the performance target of SOEs to double their outputs in 2024, especially on profits, which are projected to reach some US$20.8 billion or Rp300 trillion.

To be successful

Performance of banks incorporated in the Association of State-Owned Banks (Himbara) throughout 2021 showed satisfactory results through well-implemented credit restructuring, economist and capital market practitioner Lucky Bayu Purnomo said.

According to Purnomo, credit restructuring has resulted in more efficient and effective management of operational expenditures. In December 2021, the total profit of Himbara banks shot up to US$5 billion or Rp72.05 trillion, significantly increasing by 78.06 percent, compared to 2020 at US$2.8 billion or Rp40.34 trillion.

Thohir said each Himbara bank has a specific business focus, such as BRI prioritizes the MSME and ultra micro-segments, Mandiri is dedicated to enhancing the national corporates and entrepreneurs, BNI on international business, and BTN focuses to reduce backlog numbers and help people, including millennials, to make it easier to purchase a home.

"We hope that Himbara's role can be more prominent and become the main national economic driver through enrichment in various segments that provides positive impacts for stakeholders and Indonesian society," he said.

Previously, SOE holdings that had been formed were plantation holdings under PT Perkebunan Nusantara III, forestry holding under Perum Perhutani, fertilizer holding under PT Pupuk Indonesia, and cement holding under PT Semen Indonesia.

Under Thohir's leadership, the holdings of SOEs that have been completed are the mining holdings under Mining Industry Indonesia (MIND ID), oil and gas holdings under PT Pertamina, pharmaceutical holdings under PT Biofarma, state-owned hospital holdings under Pertamedika IHC, insurance and underwriting holdings Indonesia Financial Group (IFG), and tourism and aviation holdings under Aviasi Pariwisata Indonesia or InJourney.

Fixing SOEs through the establishment of holdings is a task that must be carried out sustainably to yield powerful government-owned corporations that can compete on the international stage.

Photo: ANTARA / HO-Kementerian BUMN / pri
Reporter: Kenzu Tandiah; Editor: Rahmad Nasution (c) ANTARA

Copyright 2022 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. www.acnnewswire.comPresident Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has given a period of one to two years for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to make fundamental changes to increase their competitiveness.

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP (“GPM”), a leading national shareholder rights law firm, continues its investigation on behalf of Celsius Holdings, Inc. (“Celsius” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CELH) investors concerning the Company’s possible violations of the federal securities laws. If you suffered a loss on your Celsius investments or would like to inquire […]

The post Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP, a Leading Securities Fraud Law Firm, Continues Its Investigation of Celsius Holdings, Inc. (CELH) on Behalf of Investors appeared first on Fintech News.

ATLANTA & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, today announced that its Board of Directors has elected Marti Tirinnanzi as a new Director, effective March 4, 2022. Ms. Tirinnanzi, who currently serves on the Board of Directors of ICE Mortgage Technology, Inc. and Board […]

The post Intercontinental Exchange Announces the Election of Marti Tirinnanzi to the ICE Board of Directors appeared first on Fintech News.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$GRAB–The law firm of Kirby McInerney LLP is investigating potential claims against Grab Holdings Limited (“Grab Holdings” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: GRAB). The investigation concerns whether Grab Holdings has violated the federal securities laws and/or engaged in other unlawful business practices. Grab Holdings operates a transportation and fintech platform in Southeast Asia. In […]

The post Kirby McInerney LLP Announces an Investigation of Shareholder Claims on Behalf of Grab Holdings Limited (GRAB) Investors appeared first on Fintech News.