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AICB BRINGS TOGETHER OVER 1,000 BANKING AND AUDIT LEADERS TO ADVANCE TRUSTED AI, GOVERNANCE AND FUTURE-READY TALENT

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As Malaysia’s financial sector advances its transformation under the Financial Sector Blueprint, banks are accelerating AI adoption while navigating evolving regulation, cyber risks, climate transition and geopolitical uncertainty. This underscores the need for banks to move beyond AI adoption towards trusted implementation, backed by stronger governance, assurance, resilience and future-ready talent.

Addressing these priorities, the Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers’ (AICB) 4th Malaysian Banking Conference (MBC 4.0) and the 2nd Bank Audit Conference (BAC 2.0), convened over 1,000 banking, audit regulatory leaders to explore how the industry can build trust and resilience while unlocking the full potential of AI. The conferences were officially launched by YB Senator Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, Minister of Finance II, and Dato’ Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia.

Organised by AICB’s Chief Internal Auditors Networking Group (CIANG), The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Asian Banking School (ABS), the conferences were held under one platform with the respective themes Banking Reimagined: AI, Trust and the Future of Finance and Audit Reimagined: Innovation, Trust and the Future of Assurance. Conversations and discussions focussed on the critical role of AI, governance, cybersecurity, sustainability and workforce transformation are reshaping the future of banking and assurance.

A key milestone at the conference was the launch of the AICB-Ecosystm AI in Practice: How Malaysia’s Banks & DFIs are Adopting and Governing AI report, jointly developed by AICB, Ecosystm and AICB’s Chief Risk Officers’ Forum. Drawing on responses from close to 90 senior leaders across Malaysian commercial banks, digital banks and development financial institutions, the report provides an industry-wide benchmark on AI adoption, organisational readiness and governance practices across Malaysia’s banking sector.

The report found that while AI is already being deployed in areas such as Know Your Customer onboarding, fraud detection, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism, and employee productivity, only 25% of respondents trust AI-generated outputs enough to act on them in key business decisions. The findings are a pivotal transition for the industry, from AI experimentation to responsible scaling, with trust, governance and assurance emerging as key enablers of long-term success.

YB Senator Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan, Minister of Finance II, who delivered the special ministerial address, said, “The AI Governance Framework developed by AICB’s Chief Risk Officers’ Forum, with the support of BNM and the endorsement of the Association of Banks in Malaysia, reflects the kind of industry-led initiative that the sector needs today. Rather than being a government-led directive on how banks should adopt AI, it represents the banking industry taking the lead in setting its own standards and responsibilities. That is how trust is built, from within the system, not merely imposed upon it.”

Dato’ Seri Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour, Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, in his opening address, added, “Innovation is not just adoption of technology, but also about leadership and governance to ensure that the financial system we build remains trusted and firmly anchored in the needs of society.”

In his welcome remarks, Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman of AICB, said, “As the banking industry embraces AI and emerging technologies, continued investment in talent development and professional excellence will be critical to building resilient institutions and sustaining public confidence. Equipping banking professionals with the right capabilities will enable the industry to respond confidently to future opportunities and emerging risks.”

Workforce readiness emerged as another critical priority throughout the conferences, reflecting the impact of AI and digital transformation on the future of work.  According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, nearly 39% of workers’ core skills are expected to change by 2030, driven largely by AI, automation and digital technologies. Complementing these global findings, an AICB survey conducted in July 2025, covering 99 financial institutions with a response rate of 68%, found that 67% of financial institutions consider their workforce only moderately proficient in meeting future skills requirements. The survey also identified cybersecurity threat intelligence emerged as the area facing the most significant talent scarcity, followed by data science.

The conferences reinforced AICB’s broader commitment to developing future-ready banking professionals through industry-wide initiatives such as the Future Skills Framework and FSF Xcel. Developed in collaboration with industry stakeholders, the FSF identifies the critical capabilities and competencies required to support the future of banking while strengthening the long-term resilience, competitiveness and trustworthiness of Malaysia’s financial sector.

As banks across the region confront similar questions around AI governance, cyber resilience, climate risk and talent readiness, AICB’s MBC 4.0 and BAC 2.0 served as a catalyst for strategic dialogue, cross-industry collaboration and the exchange of forward-looking perspectives, enabling Malaysia’s financial sector to address critical issues, advance professional standards and develop practical responses to an increasingly complex global financial landscape.

As Malaysia’s leading professional body for the banking sector, AICB remains committed to advancing professional banking education excellence, developing the next generation of banking talent and fostering thought leadership that supports an innovative, competitive and trusted financial sector.

About Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers

AICB is Malaysia’s premier professional body for the banking industry, governed by a council comprising representatives from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) and the Malaysian Investment Banking Association (MIBA). With over 39,000 members, our mission is to elevate banking standards by developing professionals who exemplify integrity, expertise and competence.

As the exclusive institute in Malaysia authorised by the UK’s Chartered Banker Institute, we confer the prestigious Chartered Banker status. AICB collaborates with industry leaders to ensure our qualifications remain relevant, equipping bankers with the skills needed to thrive in the dynamic banking sector.

Our commitment goes beyond education, offering members opportunities for growth through innovative learning, advocacy for professionalism, thought leadership and valuable networking initiatives.

For more information on AICB, please visit www.aicb.org.my

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SOURCE The Asian Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB)

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Debevoise Expands Fund Finance Practice with the Return of Zahra Sowder as Partner

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NEW YORK, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Debevoise & Plimpton LLP announced today that Zahra Sowder has joined the firm as a partner in its Fund Finance practice in New York.

Ms. Sowder advises private funds and financial institutions on a broad range of complex fund financing transactions, including subscription lines and NAV facilities, as well as bespoke financing solutions for LP and GP stakes. She also has extensive experience advising corporate borrowers on asset-based financings.

Presiding Partner Peter Furci said, “We continue to invest in our private capital platform to meet growing client demand for sophisticated financing solutions across the fund lifecycle. Zahra’s deep experience in this area, together with her longstanding connection to Debevoise and many of our clients, makes her an exceptional addition to the firm.”

Co-Chair of the Fund Finance Group Ramya Tiller said, “Private capital clients need sophisticated financing advice to support liquidity, fundraising and investment activity. Zahra has deep experience across the products our clients are using most actively, including NAV facilities across all strategies and other complex fund financing solutions. Having previously practiced at Debevoise, Zahra can contribute immediately to our growing practice.”

Ms. Sowder said, “Debevoise played an important role earlier in my career and is ideally suited for this next stage of my practice, especially given its specialized and growing fund finance practice. I look forward to working with colleagues and clients I know well and contributing to the continued growth of the practice.”

Ms. Sowder joins Debevoise from the New York office of another international law firm and previously practiced at Debevoise for more than 15 years as an associate and counsel. She received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law in 2008 and her B.A. from Vassar College in 2002.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/debevoise-expands-fund-finance-practice-with-the-return-of-zahra-sowder-as-partner-302825501.html

SOURCE Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

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As AI Agents Scale, Enterprises Demand Execution Control — Devenex Takes Control

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LAS VEGAS, July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — • Inside the world’s largest organisations, AI agents are no longer experimental. They are executing in production — modifying financial records, triggering payments, approving workflows, and acting with the full operational authority of the enterprises that deployed them. By every credible estimate, the volume and consequence of these actions will increase by an order of magnitude within 24 months.

Yet no infrastructure layer exists to govern what these agents actually do. No systematic policy enforcement before action. No immutable audit trail after. No deterministic control between an agent’s intent and its real-world consequence. The most consequential technology shift in enterprise history is unfolding without an accountability layer.

Today, that changes. Devenex — the Execution Control Plane for AI agents — launches at Google Cloud Next 2026, introducing enterprise-grade governance infrastructure that sits between agent intent and real-world execution. Every action is policy-evaluated, explicitly authorised, identity-bound, and recorded as audit-grade evidence — before it takes effect, giving new life to enterprise AI initiatives.

Devenex is not a monitoring tool. It is not a workflow engine. It is the control plane that ensures no AI-initiated action executes without governance — giving CIOs, CTOs, CROs and enterprise security leaders the confidence to deploy agents at scale without sacrificing accountability.

THE STRUCTURAL GAP

Analyst consensus has converged on a single conclusion: enterprise AI execution capability is outpacing the controls designed to keep it accountable.

Gartner projects that by 2028, a third of enterprise software will incorporate agentic AI — up from less than one percent in 2024. McKinsey identifies governance and risk as the primary barriers to scaling enterprise AI, ahead of model quality or talent. Deloitte’s 2026 enterprise survey finds that 80 percent of leaders piloting AI agents cite security and compliance as the leading obstacle — up from 68 percent a year earlier.

The pattern is consistent across every credible source: enterprises are deploying agents faster than they can govern them. An AI agent that modifies a customer record, approves a discount, or initiates a wire transfer without a governing policy layer is not automation. It is an unmanaged compliance event, a latent security exposure, and a board-level liability.

Devenex addresses this gap at the infrastructure level — not as a feature bolted onto existing tools, but as a purpose-built control plane designed for governed enterprise execution from the ground up.

THE EXECUTION CONTROL PLANE

Devenex operates as the authorisation and governance layer between enterprise decision-making — whether initiated by humans, AI agents, or automated systems — and the execution of actions across enterprise systems of record.

Every action processed through Devenex produces four structured artifacts:

Intent Record. 

Execution Plan. 

Governed Execution. 

Execution Evidence. 

This model ensures that enterprises maintain full traceability from intent to outcome — satisfying EU AI Act, SOC 2, ISO 42001, and sector-specific regulatory requirements.

ENTERPRISE CAPABILITIES

Pre-Execution Policy Enforcement.  Every agent action is evaluated against organizational policy before execution. Nothing executes unchecked. Enterprises gain control over what agents are permitted to do — reducing compliance risk and eliminating ungoverned action.

Dynamic Human-in-the-Loop Governance.  High-consequence actions are routed to designated reviewers without halting low-risk automation. Approval workflows are configurable at the agent, action, or policy level — ensuring human oversight where it matters without creating operational bottlenecks.

Immutable Audit Infrastructure.  Every governed execution is recorded to an append-only ledger. Enterprises gain continuous compliance evidence without manual reporting.

Unified Observability Across Agents.  Live and retrospective visibility into agent activity, policy adherence, and anomaly patterns. Security, compliance, and operations teams share a single authoritative view of enterprise execution.

BUILT FOR ENTERPRISE REALITY

Devenex delivers flexible deployment models—SaaS, hybrid, and self-deployed—enabling organizations to adopt at their own pace.

Engineered to be framework-agnostic and cloud-native, Devenex integrates seamlessly across diverse enterprise environments. The platform does not replace existing systems of record, integration platforms, or identity providers. It governs execution across them.

LEADERSHIP

“For four decades, Abacus has earned the trust of enterprises navigating their most consequential technology transitions. Devenex represents the next chapter — purpose-built infrastructure for a world where AI agents execute with the authority of the organisations that deploy them. Governance at this layer is not optional. It is a precondition for enterprise AI at scale.”

— Aly Kuly Khan
Co-Founder & Chairman, Devenex

“For four decades, we’ve built the layers enterprises run on — systems of record, integration, workflow automation, API and iPaaS governance. Each wave solved the problem the previous one created. Today, AI agents are executing actions on architecture that was never designed to govern them. This isn’t an AI problem. It’s an architectural gap — and it’s the one our experience has prepared us to solve. Enterprises cannot answer four questions about any agentic action: who authorized it, what policy governed it, why it executed as it did, and whether they can prove it after the fact. In regulated environments, these aren’t edge cases — they’re the baseline. Devenex is the execution control plane that answers all four, by design, at execution time.”

— Shoaib A. Khan
Co-Founder & CEO, Devenex

AVAILABILITY & ENGAGEMENT

Devenex is available immediately, with deployment support from Abacus teams across the globe.

Enterprise pilot programmes are open to qualified organisations seeking to bring governed execution to production AI workloads.

Learn more at www.devenex.com

THE ROAD AHEAD

Enterprise AI is entering its execution era. The question is no longer whether agents can act — it is whether they can act accountably. The organisations that solve this first will scale AI faster, operate with greater confidence, and carry less risk than those that treat governance as a downstream problem.

Devenex exists to make governed execution the default operating model of the enterprise. Not as an aspiration. As infrastructure.

About DevenEx

Devenex is the Execution Control Plane for AI agents — enterprise infrastructure that governs every action across systems with policy enforcement, explicit authorisation, and audit-grade evidence. Built for the agentic era, Devenex sits between intent and execution so that no enterprise action moves forward ungoverned. Devenex is built by the team behind Abacus, bringing four decades of enterprise trust to AI execution governance.

About Abacus

Abacus is a global professional services leader in technology, outsourcing, and people solutions. With nearly 40 years of experience, 5,000+ professionals across four continents, and 1,500+ enterprise clients, Abacus designs bespoke solutions that enable organisations to create the future of business and embrace change for sustainable growth.

Media Contact

Devenex
www.devenex.com
Shoaib Khan
shoaib.khan@abacuscambridge.com
+1 (347) 701-4221

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CASIO Makes Classroom-Ready Calculator Free for Everyone with Launch of fx-300ES PLUS Online Emulator

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Casio’s fx-300ES PLUS Online Emulator is the First Web-Accessible Emulator of the Iconic Scientific Calculator, Giving Students, Parents and Teachers Free, Instant Access

JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Casio America, Inc. today announced a free online emulator for its fx-300ES PLUS scientific calculator, available now at ClassPad.net. The first web-accessible emulator of its kind for the fx-300ES series gives students and educators instant access to a fully functional digital calculator—at no cost—from any internet-connected device.

“The 300ES PLUS has been a staple in math and science classrooms for years because it’s reliable and easy to use,” said Marko Wityk, Senior General Manager of EdTech at Casio America. “This emulator takes that same experience and makes it available to any student. Whether they’re finishing homework or teachers are walking a class through a problem, this tool removes any barriers standing in the way of learning.”

Designed for Classrooms

The emulator requires only a free login through Google, Google Classroom, Microsoft, or Clever, platforms already in use at schools nationwide. Users gain access to a fully functional digital calculator replicating the fx-300ES PLUS, along with other scientific and graphing calculator options from Casio.

Key features include:

Projection mode – The emulator screen can be enlarged for display on a projector or interactive whiteboard, letting teachers walk the entire class through problems step-by-step.Key log – Displays a running log of each key used in a problem, allowing students to easily follow along with the teacher.Natural Textbook Display – See math problems and fractions exactly as they would appear in textbooks, homework, or exams.Zero cost and instant access – No app download needed and no purchase or subscription required now or in the foreseeable future.Device-agnostic – Compatible with any web-enabled device, from school Chromebooks to home laptops to tablets and other mobile devices.Screenshot – Capture an image of the calculator display to compare results and functions. Screenshots are copied to the clipboard for use in other applications as well.

The fx-300ES PLUS emulator is available now, free of charge, at ClassPad.net. Users can log in with an existing Google, Google Classroom, Microsoft, or Clever account. No additional registration is required.

The physical calculator remains available at major retailers nationwide and online at casio.com, typically priced around $15. Education pricing is available to teachers and schools by contacting edtech@casio.com.

About Casio America, Inc.
Casio America, Inc. is a subsidiary of Casio Computer Co., Ltd., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of consumer electronics and business equipment solutions. Casio’s EdTech division is dedicated to empowering students, educators, and parents with tools that make learning more accessible and effective. Casio products are sold through authorized Casio dealers. For more information, visit casio.com.

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SOURCE Casio America, Inc.

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