Day: June 22, 2023

Italian Minister of Justice, Carlo Nordio

panel “the penalty system in tax reform”

Paola Severino, Vice President of Rome’s Luiss University

New York, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New research supported by the Open Society Foundations shows that increasing delays in resolving sovereign debt crises in some of the world’s poorest countries are significantly adding to the human cost of defaults—cutting economic growth, reducing life-expectancy, and worsening child mortality rates.

The analysis, The Human Costs of the Failing Global Debt System, builds on research published last year that showed how going into default leads to economic and human damage that worsens over subsequent years.

Sovereign debt defaults occur when countries fail to pay their debts on time. This can be interest or principal payments to domestic or international creditors. This typically forces a renegotiation of lending terms. The research looked at data from 131 sovereign debt defaults around the world since 1900.

The new paper’s authors, economists Clemens Graf von Luckner and Juan P. Farah-Yacoub, conclude that, in addition, the longer it takes a country to reach a new agreement with its creditors, the greater the increase in human costs:

• When a country’s debt crisis is resolved in less than three years, infant mortality ten years after a default is declared as 2.2 percentage points higher than would have been expected. But when the default continues for more than three years, the difference rises to a staggering 11.4 percentage points higher.
• For the countries studied, on average, life expectancy ten years after default drops by more than one year relative to where it would have been without the default.
• In addition, the shortfall in the rate of increase in real economic output per capita (against what it could have been without default), jumps by 2.5 percentage points in the first year of default, against what it would have been had there been no default. It then continues to grow by 1.5 percentage point on average each year thereafter. Over a decade the gap grows to roughly 14.5 percentage points.

The findings underline the grave damage being caused by the failure of the existing global financial system to deliver prompt resolution to countries in default due in part to the involvement of an increasingly complex mix of creditors—including international financial institutions such as development banks, commercial banks, sovereign lenders including China, and private commercial creditors.

The report also highlights the case of Zambia, which defaulted on its external debt in November 2020 under the economic strains of the Covid pandemic. It has yet to secure a comprehensive debt agreement among all of its public and private creditors and the International Monetary Fund, with its total debt now estimated at over $18 billion.

The authors of this new report calculated that, based on a calculation using Zambia’s birth rates in 2016, the country’s current debt default would result in an additional 3,079 annual deaths of infants before their first birthdays by the year 2030, if the default is prolonged further.

Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said: “The findings here starkly illustrate how a dysfunctional global financial system is causing tragic but entirely avoidable human suffering. The leaders meeting in Paris need to commit to the urgent reforms the world needs to face both deepening poverty and the worsening climate crisis.”

The Open Society Foundations, together with a broad range of civil society groups, are pushing for the leaders gathered at the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact in Paris to commit to policies that will significantly reform the international debt restructuring process to allow for a just and sustainable resolution to a country’s default delivered in a timely manner. These steps include:

1. States establishing a clear process with firm timetables for getting agreement to “cure” defaults—no more three years in limbo like Zambia.
2. The IMF must more aggressively use its authority to “lend into arrears”—which means they can launch their funding support program to indebted countries even if some creditors refuse to accept new debt relief terms. These hold out creditors loans would not get paid, but everyone else participating does.
3. Private creditors (including sovereign bond holders) should not be allowed to refuse to accept debt settlements that creditor countries agree to, and then expect to be paid with the benefits of that relief, or to use the courts to get full repayment. In the United States, the New York State legislature has before it legislation that would end this practice.
4. The International Financial Institutions need significantly more funding from the Global North to give them the resources needed to properly fund recovery from defaults and allow the economic growth needed to avoid defaults in the future.

Office of Communications
Open Society Foundations 
(212) 548-0378
media@opensocietyfoundations.org

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8862959

FRESCA Mixed pops off the summer season with new FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack and the Secret of Summer Sweepstakes

Fresca Mixed Variety Pack

Fresca Mixed Variety Pack

CHICAGO, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For nearly 60 years since FRESCA^®’s inception, fans have been in on the secret of the soda’s one-of-a-kind grapefruit-citrus taste as the perfect cocktail mixer. Now, FRESCA Mixed – the premium, ready-to-drink cocktail brand – is giving cocktail drinkers even more to love with the launch of FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack, including three new flavors just in time for summer.

To celebrate the new variety pack, FRESCA Mixed is furthering its partnership with Emmy-winning host and producer, Andy Cohen, for a second year. Famous for being ‘in the know’ on the juiciest buzz, Cohen is working with FRESCA Mixed to do what he does best – spill secrets and encourage people to do the same with the Secret of Summer Sweepstakes.

Through July 4, fans who divulge a secret of their own at FrescaMixed.com or via QR codes at retailers nationwide are entered for a chance to sip a FRESCA Mixed¹ with Andy Cohen himself at the Sip and Spill virtual event on July 25. But the summer of secrets doesn’t stop there. Fans can continue to enter the sweepstakes through August 31 for a chance at the grand prize: a trip to the Hamptons for four people to make some dish-worthy memories of their own². Additionally, over 200 entrants will win a gift card so they can treat themselves to FRESCA Mixed even when the weather starts to cool down.

“As the number one FRESCA Mixed fan, I’ve been a keeper of the best secret in cocktailing for a long time and I’m thrilled to invite more people to join the club,” said Cohen. “The only proper way to spill secrets is by doing so over a delicious, juicy cocktail – so crack open a FRESCA Mixed and get ready for some dirt at the Sip and Spill event.”

Andy Cohen Secret of Summer

Andy Cohen Secret of Summer

For those who need to get a secret off their chest IRL, FRESCA Mixed is here to help. On June 30, Cohen will join FRESCA Mixed in the Hamptons, where locals and visitors of legal drinking age can visit the FRESCA Mixed Phone Booth to spill their secrets to Cohen live and try one of the new FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz flavors. The FRESCA Mixed Phone Booth will be located in Montauk from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST.

FRESCA Mixed elevated its Vodka Spritz flavor experience by adding three new options to its already popular Original Grapefruit Citrus flavor: Mango Citrus, Mixed Berry Citrus and Pineapple Citrus. All flavors in the FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack are zero sugar, 100 calories, 5% ABV, gluten-free, and made with real vodka distilled four times. FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack is available at retailers nationwide in 8-pack 12oz cans featuring two of each flavor for a suggested retail price of $17.99 to $19.99.

“FRESCA Mixed was introduced to build on the decades-old bartending secret of mixing the classic taste of Fresca with spirits to make an iconic cocktail combination,” said Beth Krigel, Senior Director, Emerging Brands, FRESCA Mixed. “The flavors in the new FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack take this perfect pairing one step further by mixing the signature citrus taste with the flavors consumers want when the weather heats up, bringing fans in on the secret of the newest staple in summer sipping.”

FRESCA Mixed first upped the cocktail game in 2022 with its release of the two original FRESCA Mixed varieties: Vodka Spritz and Tequila Paloma. In addition to the new-to-market variety pack, fans can find both original varieties of FRESCA Mixed in 4-pack 12oz cans at retailers across the nation.

For more information on the new FRESCA Mixed Vodka Spritz Variety Pack and the Secret of Summer sweepstakes, visit FrescaMixed.com and follow the brand on Instagram.

ABOUT FRESCA MIXED
Fresca Mixed is a new line of premium, pre-mixed cocktails crafted with the deliciously bright classic grapefruit citrus taste of FRESCA^® and real vodka or tequila. Since its inception in 1966, FRESCA^® fans have known the soda’s one-of-a-kind grapefruit-citrus taste mixes perfectly with alcohol to create delicious cocktails. Because of this, The Coca-Cola Company and Constellation Brands came together to create the pre-mixed cocktails for fans. Constellation Brands produces, distributes and markets FRESCA^® Mixed featuring the classic taste of FRESCA^® with a twist.

For more information on FRESCA Mixed, visit FrescaMixed.com and follow the brand on Instagram.

¹ Awarded in the form of a $25 Sponsor-specified digital gift card
² NO PURCHASE NECESSARY to enter Sweepstakes. 50 U.S. and D.C., 21 or older. Starts 10:00 AM ET on 5/8/23; Entries must be received by 11:59 PM ET on 7/4/23 to be included in First Prize “Sip and Spill” random drawing; Entries must be received by 11:59 PM ET on 8/31/23 to be included in Grand Prize random drawing to win a four (4) day/three (3) night “Weekend Getaway in the Hamptons”. The Fresca Mixed “The Secret of Summer” Sweepstakes is sponsored by Constellation Brands, Inc. No alcohol awarded with prizes. Void where prohibited. For complete details, see Official Rules at rules.dja.com/frescamixed.

Contact:
Stephanie McGuane
stephanie.mcguane@cbrands.com

A video accompanying this announcement is available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86a7bce7-0352-4e03-98f0-dc26d1ce7100

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e63eacd5-6566-46ca-aa9e-a0acbe4c63c3

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/22d50598-93ac-4020-af60-3824b431571a

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8862526

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made exceptional progress in the 2023 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook rankings. From 2022 to 2023, the Kingdom advanced from 24th to 17th rank, marking a tremendous leap in its global standing.

According to the yearbook, six of the twelve capital market indices showed upward strides while maintaining their positions in two others. This achievement exemplifies the CMA’s continued efforts and steps to improve and expand the Kingdom’s capital markets by implementing relevant global best practices.

The Stock Market Index and M&A activity saw the most significant gains, indicating a positive rise in Saudi Arabia’s financial sector and boosting investor confidence in the national economy. Notably, the Kingdom’s growth in the Venture Capital ranking suggests a growing environment for venture capital availability, which provides a critical support system for emerging businesses. The CMA’s approval of the Regulatory Framework for Equity Crowdfunding demonstrates the organization’s solid commitment to cultivating an innovative and competitive capital market ecosystem.

The CMA’s efforts have also made results in corporate board oversight, with the Kingdom achieving first place among G20 nations. This demonstrates the CMA’s commitment to maintaining strong governance standards, which is critical for investor trust.

In addition, the Authority has made numerous contributions in its ongoing efforts to advance in the global competitiveness indicators for 2023, the most notable of which was holding a meeting with the National Competitiveness Center to discuss available cooperation opportunities to improve the Kingdom’s ranking. Furthermore, the prospect of participation in competitiveness lectures and workshops attended by specialists from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), with which the National Competitiveness Center partners, was considered.

Also, the National Competitiveness Center received an update on the private sector’s target demographic for the survey (listed companies, brokerage firms, auditors, Authority committee members), as well as an update on the data sources for the Authority’s indicators, as needed.

It’s important to note that CMA have implemented several significant changes recently, which had a positive impact on these advancements. Notably, the CMA’s approval of the Rules for Foreign Investment in Securities which is expected to have a positive impact on boosting liquidity in the Saudi market, deepening and raising its attractiveness, and enhancing its global status. The rules will also help transform knowledge and experiences among local capital institutions and investors, strengthening institutional investors’ involvement in the Saudi capital market. Meanwhile, the new Companies Law for Listed Joint Stock Companies and the approval of the Amended Prudential Rules aim to enhance the stability of the capital market institutions to further boost the confidence of the capital market participants and create an attractive investment environment to support national economic growth.

CMA aims to increase the Saudi capital market’s attractiveness, raise its efficiency, and boost its competitiveness regionally and internationally through developing the market to achieve its strategic plan, which aims to place the Saudi market on top of the Middle East’s markets and rank it as one of the most important capital markets in the globe.

Contact:
Capital Market Authority
Communication & Investor Protection Division
+966114906009
+966557666932
Media@cma.org.sa
www.cma.org.sa

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8862831

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FreedomPay, a global leader in Next Level Commerce, announces a partnership with Visa to integrate Visa’s network tokenization capabilities within FreedomPay’s global identity and tokenization framework. The true omnichannel global tokenization product will provide network tokens across card brands, helping to keep merchants compliant with cross-border and in-region data and privacy regulations, while helping merchants qualify for lower interchange rates for certain Visa network tokenized transactions.

“With the growing number of connected devices, changing consumer behaviors and shifting privacy regulations, the benefits of utilizing network tokens are many. Using the Visa Acceptance Platform, Visa has the scale and flexibility to seamlessly provision them for FreedomPay’s clients around the globe, helping to improve customer experience, improve authorization rates and reduce fraud,” said Bill Dobbins, SVP, Head of Acquiring and Enablement at Visa.

Network tokenization will also help streamline the customer journey, providing a seamless experience across borders and merchant locations. The new capabilities will be integrated into FreedomPay’s larger identity suite, offering a 360-degree view of the customer to the merchant, creating a more personalized checkout experience through data-driven loyalty and incentives.

“FreedomPay is trusted by the largest brands across hospitality, retail, F&B and more to provide repeatable and scalable next level solutions for security, data management and compliance, and to create a personalized and seamless customer journey around the globe,” said David Knowlton, CTO at FreedomPay. “By partnering with Visa for network tokenization, FreedomPay will provide merchants with more flexibility and geographic coverage, including in harder-to-access regions, when managing customer and card data.”

Additional features will also be supported without any changes to the merchant’s systems such as supporting card on file use cases with digital wallet taps as well as token life cycle management.

About FreedomPay

FreedomPay’s Next Level Commerce platform transforms existing payment systems and processes from legacy to leading edge and enables merchants to unleash the power of pay. As the premier choice for many of the largest companies across the globe in retail, hospitality, lodging, gaming, sports and entertainment, foodservice, education, healthcare and financial services, FreedomPay’s technology has been purposely built to deliver rock solid performance in the highly complex environment of global commerce.

The company maintains a world-class security environment and was first to earn the coveted validation by the PCI Security Standards Council against Point-to-Point Encryption (P2PE/EMV) standard in North America. FreedomPay’s robust solutions across payments, security, identity, and data analytics are available in-store, online and on-mobile and are supported by rapid API adoption. The award winning FreedomPay Commerce Platform operates on a single, unified technology stack across multiple continents allowing enterprises to deliver an innovative Next Level experience on a global scale. www.freedompay.com

Jennifer Tayebi
Hill+Knowlton Strategies for FreedomPay
+1 734 395 0780
jennifer.tayebi@hkstrategies.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8862332

The 6,000 km rally over 10 days took place in February this year, starting in France and concluding in Morocco, with the aim of helping underprivileged children in Africa.

Deriv sponsored 2 drivers for the 2023 edition of the 4L Trophy rally.

Deriv sponsored team in action during the 4L Trophy rally.

PARIS, June 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Deriv, one of the leading online brokers, has been actively participating in humanitarian efforts that are aligned with its core values of being reliable, fair, transparent, and responsible. Earlier this year, Deriv sponsored a team of two young professionals who successfully completed the 4L Trophy rally, an annual humanitarian car rally that raises funds for the cause of underprivileged children in Africa.

The 4L Trophy rally started in France and ended in Morocco, covering a 6,000 km journey over 10 days. It required participants to drive through challenging terrain, navigating their way through various checkpoints. A long journey for a noble cause: deliver stationery and textbooks for underprivileged children along the way.

Deriv humanitarian ride through the desert in Morocco.

“The challenges of navigating unfamiliar terrain, camping in the middle of nowhere, and crossing the finish line were thrilling and rewarding,” Clement David, one of the drivers sponsored by Deriv, said. “But what made the experience truly special was the opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives by delivering much-needed school supplies.”

Deriv supports humanitarian drive in Morocco during the 4L Trophy rally.

Deriv-sponsored team interacts with children in need in Morocco during the course of the 4L Trophy rally.

Jean-Yves Sireau, founder and CEO of Deriv, said: “Deriv’s participation in the 4L Trophy rally is a testament to our commitment to making a positive impact on the communities we serve. We believe in supporting causes that empower individuals and communities to thrive, and education is a critical component of that.”

“We believe that businesses have a responsibility to give back to society,” added Sireau. “Through our philanthropic efforts, we hope to inspire other organisations to do their part in making the world a better place.”

Deriv supports humanitarian drive in Morocco during the 4L Trophy rally.

The 4L Trophy rally is just one example of Deriv’s involvement in humanitarian initiatives. Earlier this year, the company had also donated 11 boxes of clothes to Fundacion Unidos por Cristo (Asunción, Paraguay), a residential home that provides comprehensive care to children and adolescents at risk.

To learn more about Deriv and its humanitarian initiatives, follow Derivlife and the company’s Instagram account.

About Deriv

Deriv started its journey in 1999. Its mission since has been to make online trading accessible to anyone, anywhere. Deriv’s product offering includes intuitive trading platforms, over 200 tradable assets (in markets such as forex, stocks, and cryptocurrencies), unique trade types, and more. Deriv embraces its commitment to the community, elevating its humanitarian initiatives to new heights across its network of 20 offices spanning 16 countries.

PRESS CONTACT
Aleksandra Zuzic
aleksandra@deriv.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/84da82a4-68fe-4100-b936-f179348cbb9e
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/61b1b768-e495-4845-aaaa-b96adda137a6

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 1000826460