Day: May 25, 2023

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Metalpha’s Next Generation Fund I Secures a Strategic Investment from Crypto Leader

HONG KONG, May 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Metalpha Technology Holding Ltd (NASDAQ: MATH), a global crypto-based wealth management company, today announced its Next Generation Fund I (“The Fund”), formed in partnership with NextGen Digital Venture Limited, has secured a $5 million anchor investment from the world’s leading crypto company (“The Investor”).

This strategic investment comes at a time of high growth for Metalpha’s licensed fund products, serving broad market demand among institutional investors, family offices and high-net-worth individuals for exposure to crypto.

The Next Generation Fund I provides a regulated and compliant channel to invest in Grayscale Investments LLC’s products through structured derivatives. The Fund is raising $100 million in capital from global investors and has secured $20 million as of March, 2023.

“We are excited about the future of our licensed funds products. We aim to capitalize on the fast growing digital assets industry here in Hong Kong and provide our clients with competitive, complaint products worldwide,” said Adrian Wang, President of Metalpha Technology Holding Ltd.

“We extend our gratitude to Metalpha for their unwavering support and appreciate the recognition from the Investor. As a company that has weathered multiple Bitcoin cycles, their expertise is invaluable to our mission and increased our confidence in the GBTC investment. At NextGen Digital Venture, our aim is to offer legitimate and secure exposure to the rapidly evolving crypto landscape, providing a trusted bridge between traditional and digital assets for investors.” Jason Huang, Founding Partner of NextGen Digital Venture Limited.

Based in Hong Kong, Metalpha aims to provide customers with high-quality investment products and trading capabilities and is committed to delivering the best structured derivative products to cryptocurrency market participants.

About Metalpha Technology Holding Limited
Founded in 2015, Metalpha Technology Holding Limited (NASDAQ: MATH) went public on October 20, 2017. The listed Company, through its subsidiaries, is dedicated to providing investment and wealth management services with a full-service, institutional-grade platform. With dedicated blockchain expertise, the Company aims to become a leader in the field of crypto wealth management services, bringing robust innovation and transparency to the customers and businesses it serves.

About NextGen Digital Venture
Founded in 2023, NextGen Digital Venture aims to be the premier platform in Asia for providing traditional finance with exposure to cryptocurrencies. NDV’s goal is to connect traditional capital with emerging technologies that are on the verge of widespread adoption. NDV team comprises experienced professionals from leading investment firms, top-tier family offices, and successful tech startups, reflecting our unwavering commitment to delivering reliable and trustworthy financial solutions to clients.

Contact
Yiwei Wang
info@metalpha.finance

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8842112

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Constellation Brands to Present at the Bernstein 39th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday, May 31, 2023

VICTOR, N.Y., May 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Constellation Brands, Inc. (NYSE: STZ), a leading beverage alcohol company, announced today that Bill Newlands, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Bernstein 39th Annual Strategic Decisions Conference on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 in New York, NY. The presentation is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m. EDT and is expected to cover the company’s strategic business initiatives, financial metrics, and operating performance, as well as outlook for the future.

A live, listen-only webcast of the presentation will be available on the company’s investor relations website at ir.cbrands.com under the News & Events section. When the presentation begins, financial information discussed in the presentation, and a reconciliation of reported GAAP financial measures with comparable or non-GAAP financial measures, will also be available on the company’s investor relations website under the Financial History section. For anyone unable to participate in the webcast, a replay will be available on the company’s investor relations website through the close of business on November 30, 2023.

ABOUT CONSTELLATION BRANDS
Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) is a leading international producer and marketer of beer, wine, and spirits with operations in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand, and Italy. Our mission is to build brands that people love because we believe elevating human connections is Worth Reaching For. It’s worth our dedication, hard work, and calculated risks to anticipate market trends and deliver more for our consumers, shareholders, employees, and industry. This dedication is what has driven us to become one of the fastest-growing, large CPG companies in the U.S. at retail, and it drives our pursuit to deliver what’s next.

Every day, people reach for our high-end, iconic imported beer brands such as those in the Corona brand family like the flagship Corona Extra, Modelo Especial and the flavorful lineup of Modelo Cheladas, Pacifico, and Victoria; our fine wine and craft spirits brands including The Prisoner Wine Company, Robert Mondavi Winery, Casa Noble Tequila, and High West Whiskey; and our premium wine brands such as Kim Crawford and Meiomi.

As an agriculture-based company, we have a long history of operating sustainably and responsibly. Our ESG strategy is embedded into our business and our work focuses on serving as good stewards of the environment, enhancing social equity within our industry and communities, and promoting responsible beverage alcohol consumption. These commitments ground our aspirations beyond driving the bottom line as we work to create a future that is truly Worth Reaching For.

To learn more, visit www.cbrands.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

MEDIA CONTACTS INVESTOR RELATIONS CONTACTS
Amy Martin 585-678-7141 / amy.martin@cbrands.com
Carissa Guzski 315-525-7362 / carissa.guzski@cbrands.com		 Joseph Suarez 773-551-4397 / joseph.suarez@cbrands.com
Snehal Shah 847-385-4940 / snehal.shah@cbrands.com
David Paccapaniccia 585-282-7227 / david.paccapaniccia@cbrands.com

A downloadable PDF copy of this news release can be found here: http://ml.globenewswire.com/Resource/Download/4058b60c-16d5-49a8-8661-9b53e0c83e79

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8845013

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Willscot Mobile Mini to Participate in Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference

PHOENIX, May 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings Corp. (“WillScot Mobile Mini” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: WSC), the North American leader in innovative flexible space and storage solutions, today announced that Tim Boswell, President and Chief Financial Officer, and Nick Girardi, Senior Director of Treasury and Investor Relations, will participate in a presentation and host private investor meetings at the Baird Global Consumer, Technology & Services Conference in New York, NY, on June 7, 2023. The presentation will take place at 3:10 pm ET.

About WillScot Mobile Mini

WillScot Mobile Mini trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol “WSC.” Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, the Company is a leading business services provider specializing in innovative flexible space and storage solutions. WillScot Mobile Mini services diverse end markets across all sectors of the economy from a network of approximately 240 branch locations and additional drop lots throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Additional Information and Where to Find It

Additional information can be found on the company’s website at www.willscotmobilemini.com.

Contact Information
Investor Inquiries: Media Inquiries:
Nick Girardi Jake Saylor
investors@willscotmobilemini.com jake.saylor@willscot.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8844362

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Payment Card Volume Topped $40 Trillion Worldwide in 2022

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., May 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New data from the Nilson Report shows that purchases of goods and services tied to credit, debit and prepaid cards combined with credit card cash advances and debit card withdrawals reached $40.645 trillion in 2022. This was a 4.4% increase over 2021. For the first time in the history of the global payment card industry total volume exceeded $40 trillion.

Total volume was generated by cards carrying the brands of Visa, UnionPay, Mastercard, American Express, JCB and Diners Club/Discover. These are the networks with global merchant and ATM acceptance locations. Collectively, global network cards generated 624.86 billion transactions worldwide to purchase goods and services in 2022, up 7.5% over 2021.

“Transactions on global card networks grew in 2022 and opportunities exist for continued growth in all world regions over the next five years,” said David Robertson, Publisher of the Nilson Report.

China-based UnionPay ranked as the largest global network when measuring market share of total volume. Cards with the UnionPay brand accounted for $40 out of every $100 in total volume. Those cards accounted for 34% of card purchase transactions worldwide.

Visa brand credit and debit cards accounted for 35% of total volume worldwide in 2022, second to UnionPay. However, Visa’s 39% market share of all payment card purchase transactions made it the top global network in that category.

Mastercard ranked third largest worldwide with a 20% share of total volume and a 24% share of all card transactions for purchases of goods and services.

The Nilson Report’s latest issue, #1241, also includes figures for American Express, JCB and Discover/Diners Club.

ABOUT THE NILSON REPORT
For more than 52 years, the Nilson Report has been the most respected provider of data and news about the payment card industry. Available worldwide by subscription only, the Nilson Report surveys over 2,000 financial institutions and other payment card businesses to produce statistics about card issuers, card networks, merchant acquirers and technology providers. This business intelligence is not available from any other source. The twice-monthly newsletter also includes informative feature articles, concise updates regarding new products and services, monthly listings of investments and acquisitions by companies in the payment industry and news about executive appointments.

The Nilson Report does not accept advertising of any kind. No company can pay to be featured in the Nilson Report.

For more information on our publication, to start a free trial subscription, or to request an interview with David Robertson, contact: Lori Fulmer, lfulmer@nilsonreport.com

SOURCE: the Nilson Report, www.nilsonreport.com

GlobeNewswire Distribution ID 8845942

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Vietnamese activist known as ‘Onion Bae’ sentenced to 5 ½ years in prison

UPDATED AT 03:00 a.m. ET on 2023-05-25

A court in the central Vietnamese city of Danang sentenced activist Bui Tuan Lam – known as “Onion Bae” – to five years and six months in prison Thursday, along with four years of probation, one of his lawyers Le Dinh Viet told RFA.

He was convicted of propaganda under Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code, which carries a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 12, after being found guilty of criticizing the government online.

Bui, 39, who ran a beef noodle stall in Danang, achieved notoriety in 2021 after posting an online video mimicking the Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, known as “Salt Bae.”

The video was widely seen as a mockery of Vietnam’s minister of public security, To Lam, who was caught on film being hand-fed one of Salt Bae’s gold-encrusted steaks by the chef at his London restaurant at a cost of 1,450 pounds (U.S.$1,790). 

The minister was in the U.K. as part of a Vietnamese government delegation which attended the COP26 climate change conference in Scotland.

Critics wondered how the official could afford the extravagant meal on a monthly salary of $660.

In Bui’s video clip, he calls himself “Onion Bae” and dramatically sprinkles spring onions into a bowl of soup, mimicking the signature move of the celebrity chef.

Bui was later summoned by Danang police for questioning and arrested and charged in September 2022.

Article 117 of the country’s Penal Code criminalizes “making, storing, distributing or disseminating information, documents and items against the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.” It is frequently used by authorities to restrict freedom of expression and opinions deemed critical of the government.

According to Danang People’s Procuracy’s indictment, Bui posted 19 articles on his Facebook account and 25 videos and articles on his YouTube account from April 17, 2020, to July 26, 2022. The articles and videos included content that it claimed were “distorting, defaming people’s government” and “fabricating and causing confusion among people.”

“The Vietnamese authorities deem just about anything as ‘propaganda against the state’ to crack down on activists and dissidents,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch ahead of the verdict. 

“The Vietnamese government should abolish rights-abusing article 117 of the penal code and stop prosecuting Bui Tuan Lam and others for criticizing the Vietnamese Communist Party.”

Bui 2.jpeg
Bui Tuan Lam with his handmade human rights products. Credit: Facebook: Le Thanh Lam

Bui is a seasoned activist, spending many years speaking out against China’s territorial claims in parts of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam and also campaigning to protect the environment. He received threats from the Danang police after providing food to local people during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

After his “Onion Bae” video went viral the police ordered him to close his noodle stall, which he did for a short while ahead of his arrest.

“The authorities have hounded him for his posts and videos, showing the length that Vietnamese authorities can go to deny people the enjoyment of their right to freedom of expression, no matter how benign, satirical or light-hearted,” said Amnesty International Interim Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer before the verdict was handed down. 

“Satire is not a crime,” she added.

Authorities prevented Bui Tuan Lam’s lawyers from meeting with him ahead of the trial, claiming last month that he refused representation. After his wife Le Than Lam demanded to meet with Bui to find out the truth the People’s Procuracy of Danang issued a notice allowing lawyers to represent him.

The court approved Le Dinh Viet’s registration to be Bui Tuan Lam’s lawyer for the trial. But when Viet went to Danang Police’s detention facility where Bui Tuan Lam was being held, he said staff didn’t allow him to see his client, claiming the judge hadn’t had time to review the investigation report. 

Lawyers Le Dinh Viet and Ngo Anh Tuan were allowed to represent Bui in court on Thursday but the latter was removed from the court after requesting a fair debate between defense lawyers and prosecutors, Le Dinh Viet told RFA.

“Today’s trial I feel is similar to the political cases that I have been involved in. Law enforcement itself was not sufficiently exercised during the hearing of the case,” he said, criticizing the so-called “expert conclusions” given by members of Danang’s Department of Information and Communication during Thursday’s trial.

“Those assessment conclusions have many violations, including violations of expertise authority, violations of the roles of experts, even some which violate the basic principles of the law on judicial expertise.”

“In my opinion, given the circumstances and developments of today’s trial, the issuance of the judgment does not guarantee the objectivity nor guarantee the legal rights of defendant Bui Tuan Lam.”

Bui pleaded “not guilty” plea, saying he exercised the right to freedom of expression. His lawyers said he would appeal the verdict.

Bui’s wife and family were not allowed to attend the trial. Le Dinh Viet said they had been detained by the police.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn.

Updated with a quote from one of Bui’s lawyers.

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(EDITORIAL from Korea Times on May 25)

Tokyo must remember Asians’ sufferings during WWII

Korea-Japan relations have never been as good as now in the last quarter of a century.

Last Sunday, President Yoon Suk Yeol and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid tribute to Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima for the first time.

It was a brief ceremony that ended with a wreath and 10 seconds of silence. Seoul and Tokyo issued no official statements. However, the joint visit must have touched the hearts of Korean victims of the 1945 nuclear attack and consoled their souls.

Japan had neglected the monument for Korean victims. Initially, Tokyo refused to allow it to enter the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It was not until 1999 that the cenotaph was moved inside. Former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, famous for his joint declaration with Kim Dae-jung, was the only Japanese leader to pay tribute to the memorial the same year. Korea hadn’t done much better, as Yoon was the first president to visit there.

The event was significant enough. However, the government cheapened its meaning with an overstretched comment, describing it as the “beginning of action to solve the past.” However, the claim is preposterous, considering that Japan still denies the coerciveness of conscripted workers. The presidential office later added that many of the 50,000 Koreans killed or wounded in Hiroshima were forced laborers who hadn’t chosen to be in the city.

Even if it was a first step in the right direction, this moment only clarified that the two countries have a long way to go before reaching their destination.

What Tokyo wanted from the resulting joint visit there by G7 leaders was to imprint its status as a victim. Under the banner of a nuclear-free world, Japan implied that it would no longer remain a victim, which endures nuclear threats from China, Russia and even North Korea by reemerging as a military power, if only in conventional terms, for now.

Rearmament has long been Japan’s goal, following its defeat in World War II. The late nationalistic leader Shinzo Abe accelerated the pace of this aim, and even Kishida, his dovish successor, shows no signs of deceleration. As things stand now, the world’s third-largest economy will also become the third-strongest military power in just a few years, by spending 3 percent of its GDP on a buildup of arms. Even Japan’s pacifist groups can no longer check the process in this new security environment. According to opinion polls, young Japanese people infused with “non-masochistic” historical views support it more strongly.

Japan’s neighbors, including its former colonies like Korea, can do little to slow, let alone block, proceedings. The only country that can do so is America. But Washington encourages Tokyo to step on the pedal in order to keep China and Russia in check and play its role in Asia.

Still, Seoul and other Asian governments can ill afford to watch, with arms crossed, the possible repeat of an unhappy history. For instance, their leaders must not say, “Who would say anything about Japan?” like President Yoon did earlier this year. For Tokyo, Pyongyang only provides a convenient pretext because its ambitions go further beyond.

All countries have the right to self-defense. However, as far as Korea is concerned, Japan must do two things beforehand. First, it must win the hearts of the Korean people by admitting its past wrongs and apologizing once and for all. Second, Tokyo should vow not to send its troops to this peninsula without Seoul’s consent under any circumstances.

According to surveys, about three-quarters of Koreans think seeking better ties with Japan is possible even before all historical matters are solved. But even a larger share of people believe that genuine bilateral cooperation is only possible by settling old scores. That explains why the government must take a two-track approach.

It is difficult to expect that from the incumbent one-way administration. We hope it will not make too many things irreversible for succeeding governments.

A leader’s determination cannot justify everything.

Source: Yonhap News Agency