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ICI Welcomes Bipartisan Sponsors of Bill to Stop States from Seizing Long-Term Investors’ Savings

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WASHINGTON, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Investment Company Institute released the following Viewpoints blog. To learn more about why this issue matters and how the SAFER Act would help protect American investors, watch our video on LinkedIn.

Millions of American investors have adopted the advice given by financial advisors to invest for the long term and then leave those savings alone. In some states, however, following this guidance can get your account seized. That was the warning sounded at an event featuring the sponsors of the bipartisan SAFER Act, Representatives Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), who joined ICI leaders to make the case for a federal solution to the problem of state unclaimed property laws that can treat buy-and-hold investors as though they have disappeared. 

ICI President and CEO Eric Pan opened the event by outlining the nature of this growing threat. More than 128 million Americans invest in regulated funds, many with the intention of holding them for years, following the advice of many financial educators to “stay in the market, invest for the long term.” They put their money away and go about their lives, confident that the savings will be there when they need it. But under some states’ laws, an account that shows no activity can be declared abandoned and taken into state custody through a process called escheatment.

Pan walked through what seizure means in practice. When a state escheats an investment account, it typically liquidates the holdings — so even an investor who eventually recovers the money gets back only what the account was worth at seizure, with no credit for years of market gains. For retirement accounts, the forced liquidation can also trigger unforeseen tax consequences. And recovering the money at all can take years of paperwork and persistence. Meanwhile, some states are moving in the wrong direction, loosening their rules to make it easier to capture assets. 

“This is where the leadership of Congressmen Lawler and Liccardo is so important,” Pan said. “They’ve introduced the SAFER Act, a federal solution to a problem that exists across the United States. This patchwork of different legal standards, and the fact that the legal standards change constantly, creates a lot of confusion and creates this risk and harm that we’re so worried about.” 

In a panel discussion, the two lawmakers described the issue as an obvious place for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground, given Americans’ widespread use of investment accounts for saving.

“We are, for the most part, a group of Americans who sit on our investments, which is more or less the right strategy,” Liccardo said, noting that this is exactly the approach that inactivity standards put at risk. 

Liccardo pointed to the widely reported case of Walter Schramm, an investor who bought Amazon shares in the late 1990s and then did what many long-term investors do: leave the account be. Delaware deemed the account abandoned and liquidated the shares in 2008, when they worth about $8,000. By the time Schramm discovered what happened years later, the position would have been worth roughly $100,000.

The financial incentives driving state behavior are a concern, Liccardo noted. Unclaimed property has become one of Delaware’s largest sources of revenue, bringing in more than half a billion dollars a year — a powerful reason for states to loosen their standards rather than tighten them. 

Lawler contrasted legitimate unclaimed property programs and what some states are doing now. “It’s one thing to get an asset because it’s truly abandoned,” he said. “It’s another to basically target a group of investors who have a long-term strategy of just not touching the asset and being passive.”

The right standard, Lawler argued, is the obvious one: before seizing investment assets, a state should have to prove the owner is actually deceased. He posited that most Americans would be shocked to learn how little protection they have. “You think you have ownership of this asset, but the state, under current law, can just take it.”

The SAFER Act would establish federal guardrails ensuring that inactivity alone cannot be the basis for escheatment and that states confirm the death of an owner and that no estate or beneficiary has claimed the assets before escheating investment accounts. It would also require states to leave unclaimed investments in place, rather than liquidating them, until they can prove abandonment.

Both lawmakers said the path to fixing the problem is through public awareness of the threat some state laws pose to Americans financial security. “Ultimately the American people will rise up,” Liccardo said. “It may take a little while. We just have to get the information to them.”

Contact: media@ici.org 

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ici-welcomes-bipartisan-sponsors-of-bill-to-stop-states-from-seizing-long-term-investors-savings-302832606.html

SOURCE Investment Company Institute

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Link Engineering Company (LINK) Receives VCA Authorization for Euro 7 Brake Emissions Type-Approval Testing

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July 22, 2026

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LIMBURG, Germany, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Link Engineering Company (LINK) announced that its laboratory in Limburg, Germany, has been authorized by the United Kingdom’s Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) to conduct witnessed brake emissions testing for vehicle type-approval programs.

This authorization enables LINK to support manufacturers pursuing Euro 7 compliance while expanding its brake emissions testing capabilities. Building on its ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, LINK was among the first organizations to receive accreditation from DAkkS (Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle) for brake emissions testing.

As Euro 7 regulations introduce brake particle emissions limits for the first time, vehicle and brake manufacturers require specialized facilities, technical expertise, and accredited testing capabilities to achieve certification. Only a limited number of organizations worldwide possess the equipment, expertise, and recognized accreditations needed to support these programs.

The addition of witnessed type-approval testing capabilities positions LINK as a comprehensive partner for the global automotive and brake industries, offering customers an end-to-end solution from development testing through regulatory certification.

“Achieving VCA approval is a major milestone that underscores LINK’s leadership in brake emissions testing,” said Marco Zessinger, Managing Director, Link Engineering Company GmbH. “Manufacturers are facing new regulatory demands under Euro 7, and they need testing partners with both technical expertise and recognized accreditation. Our Limburg laboratory can now support witnessed type-approval testing, providing customers with a streamlined path to certification while further strengthening LINK’s position as a trusted industry partner.”

About LINK
Link Group, Inc. (LINK), parent to Link Engineering Company, Link Industries, and Tescor, consists of businesses that offer customized solutions, with a focus on delivering high value to each of their customers. Offerings consist of the design and manufacture of customized, high-precision test, research, simulation, quality control, and thermal solution equipment; comprehensive test services; and in the case of Link Industries, customized, high-precision cutting tools. LINK’s corporate headquarters are in Plymouth, Michigan (US), with manufacturing and design facilities, laboratory and vehicle test operations, and support teams around the world.

Established in 1935, LINK prides itself on being family-owned, currently led by the second and third generations of the Link family. As many of our team members have been with LINK for a generation or more, the LINK team is equipped with a wealth of knowledge, providing decades of hands-on experience, creativity, and care, supporting our global customer base with highly-technical solutions.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/link-engineering-company-link-receives-vca-authorization-for-euro-7-brake-emissions-type-approval-testing-302832635.html

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BrighterBalance Named a Gold Friend of CASE in Support of Special Education Leaders Nationwide

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July 22, 2026

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BrighterBalance, a real-time behavioral data documentation platform for K-12 special education and MTSS, has been named a Gold Friend of CASE, the Council of Administrators of Special Education. The designation for companies that support CASE’s work advancing leadership and professional development for special education administrators nationwide.

DULUTH, Ga., July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — BrighterBalance, a real-time behavioral data documentation platform built for K-12 special education and MTSS environments, today announced it has joined the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) as a Gold Friend of CASE. The designation recognizes companies that support CASE’s mission of advancing leadership, advocacy, and professional development for special education administrators nationwide.

“It was like having a second memory, and it made her feel less burned out and more confident in her work with students.” Tania Amerson, Bartow County Schools, Executive Director Special Education

BrighterBalance was built to address a gap that special education leaders know well: the 20 minutes before escalation, the behavior a teacher witnessed and tried to redirect, the patterns that live in notebooks and memory rather than in structured, defensible records. The platform enables educators to log behavioral data in under 10 seconds, captures real-time patterns across the school day, and generates progress monitoring reports ready for IEP and BIP review, without adding burden to already stretched teachers and support staff.

“We are pleased to welcome BrighterBalance as a Gold Friend of CASE. The documentation burden on special education teachers is real, and it is contributing to burnout at a time when we can least afford to lose them. Tools that make real-time behavior capture frictionless and that produce records teachers and administrators can rely on are exactly the kind of innovation our members need. We look forward to seeing BrighterBalance’s impact in CASE member districts.”

Brigid Bright, Associate Executive Director, CASE

Early results from districts reflect the impact at the classroom level. Tania Amerson, executive director of exceptional education, Bartow County Schools, shared what she heard after one semester: “What we heard using BrighterBalance surprised me. It wasn’t just about documentation. It was about feeling supported in the moment. One teacher told me it was like having a second memory, and that it made her feel less burned out and more confident in her work with students. That kind of impact on teacher wellbeing and retention is what we are always looking for.”

“Special education leaders are navigating increasing documentation requirements, growing legal pressure, and a student population with more complex needs than ever before,” said Melissa Cook, Co-Founder of BrighterBalance. “Being a Gold Friend of CASE means we are committed to building tools that serve their teachers and their students.”

The platform’s approach mirrors lessons from academic MTSS, where continuous real-time data has replaced periodic snapshots as the standard for intervention decision-making. BrighterBalance brings that same philosophy to behavioral documentation, giving teachers a mobile-first capture tool that works with the methods they already use and feeds directly into their district’s MTSS infrastructure.

BrighterBalance is currently available to individual teachers and school districts, with enterprise pricing designed to support district-wide adoption. The platform integrates with MTSS platforms including Panorama Education and Branching Minds, and exports structured data compatible with major student information systems.

About BrighterBalance

BrighterBalance is a K-12 behavioral data documentation platform purpose-built for special education and MTSS contexts. Faster than paper and smarter than memory, BrighterBalance gives educators a real-time capture layer that produces defensible, structured records at the classroom level before behavior escalates to the office. BrighterBalance is available at brighterbalance.app.

About CASE

The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) is an international nonprofit professional organization providing leadership, advocacy, and professional development to more than 6,200 administrators responsible for the implementation of IDEA and Section 504. CASE is a division of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).

Media Contact

Melissa Cook, BrighterBalance, 1 6784479600, melissa.cook@brighterbalance.app, https://brighterbalance.app/

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/brighterbalance-named-a-gold-friend-of-case-in-support-of-special-education-leaders-nationwide-302831692.html

SOURCE BrighterBalance

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K-Bro Announces Release Date, Conference Call and Webcast for Q2 2026 Financial Results

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July 22, 2026

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(TSX: KBL)

EDMONTON, AB, July 22, 2026 /CNW/ — K-Bro Linen Inc. (the “Corporation”) will release its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2026 on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 after market close. The Corporation will hold a conference call and webcast to discuss the results on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time (7:00 a.m. Mountain Time).

The conference call will include prepared remarks from Linda McCurdy, President and CEO, and Kristie Plaquin, Chief Financial Officer.  After the prepared remarks, the Corporation will accept questions from analysts and institutional investors.

Date:  Wednesday, August 5, 2026
Time:  9:00 a.m. ET (7:00 a.m. MT)
Call:    1-888-510-2154 (Canada and USA)
            437-900-0527 (International)

To join the conference call without operator assistance, you may register and enter your phone number at  https://emportal.ink/4wAkiCY to receive an instant automated call back. 

Participants are asked to call at least 10 minutes prior to the start of the call.  For those unable to participate on the live call, a replay will be made available until August 12, 2026 by dialing 1.888.660.6345 (Canada and USA), passcode 36338.  The public is invited to listen to the live conference call or the replay.

This conference call will be webcast live over the internet and can be accessed by all interested parties at the following https://app.webinar.net/WpVkGB4wN7E 

To listen to the live webcast, visit the Corporation’s website at least 10 minutes early to register, download and install any necessary audio software. For those unable to listen during the live webcast, an audio replay will be available shortly after the conclusion of the conference call for a period of 90 days.

CORPORATE PROFILE

K-Bro is the largest owner and operator of laundry and linen processing facilities in Canada. K-Bro provides a comprehensive range of general linen and operating room linen processing, management and distribution services to healthcare institutions, hotels and other commercial accounts.  K-Bro currently operates eleven processing facilities in eight Canadian cities: Québec City, Montréal, Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria.

Fishers was established in 1900 and is an operator of laundry and linen processing facilities in Scotland, providing linen rental, workwear hire and cleanroom garment services to the hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors. Fishers’ client base includes major hotel chains and prestigious venues across Scotland and the North East of England. The company operates five sites in Scotland and the North East of England with facilities in Cupar, Perth, Newcastle, Livingston and Coatbridge.

Shortridge has operated as a family run business since the 1990s and is based in Cumbria, with plants in Lillyhall, Dumfries and a distribution depot in Darlington. It specializes in providing high quality laundry services to local independent hospitality businesses, including hotels, B&Bs, self-catering units and restaurants.

Stellar Mayan (previously known as Star Mayan) is a holding company that owns 100% interests in three operating businesses: Synergy, Grosvenor Contracts and AeroServe. Stellar Mayan is a leading commercial laundry business in England, serving the healthcare and hospitality markets. Typical services offered include processing, management and distribution of healthcare and hospitality linens, including sheets, blankets, towels, surgical gowns and other linen. Star Mayan has seven operating facilities strategically located across England: Bermondsey, Derby, Dunstable, Sheffield, Slough (2), and St. Helens, in addition to a distribution depot in Manchester.

Additional information regarding the Corporation including required securities filings are available on our website at www.k-brolinen.com and on the Canadian Securities Administrators’ website at www.sedar.com; the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”).

K‑Bro est le plus important propriétaire et exploitant de buanderies au Canada. K‑Bro fournit une gamme étendue de services de buanderie aux établissements de soins de santé, hôtels et autres clients commerciaux. K‑Bro exploite actuellement dix usines dans huit villes canadiennes: Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Regina, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver et Victoria.

Vous pouvez obtenir des renseignements supplémentaires sur la Société, y compris les documents déposés auprès des autorités de réglementation, sur notre site Web, au www.k-brolinen.com et sur le site Web des autorités canadiennes en valeurs mobilières au www.sedar.com, le site Web du Système électronique de données, d’analyse et de recherche (« SEDAR »).

SOURCE K-Bro Linen Inc.

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