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Business Leaders from Across Asia-Pacific Convene in Sri Lanka to Accelerate Sustainable and Inclusive Growth

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Forward Faster Now APAC 2026 brings together business, United Nations and sustainability leaders to advance responsible business and regional collaboration

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Aug. 12, 2026 /CNW/ — More than 200 business leaders, sustainability practitioners, policymakers and representatives from the United Nations gathered in Colombo on 11–12 August for Forward Faster Now APAC 2026: Driving Business Leadership for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth, the flagship regional event of the United Nations Global Compact in Asia-Pacific.

Hosted by Global Compact Network Sri Lanka and organized by the UN Global Compact APAC Hub in collaboration with 14 Global Compact Country Networks covering 16 countries across the region, the event convened business and sustainability leaders from across Asia-Pacific to exchange practical solutions, strengthen regional partnerships and accelerate private sector action on sustainable development.

As businesses navigate increasing climate risks, geopolitical uncertainty, technological disruption and shifting stakeholder expectations, the forum focused on how companies can build resilience, unlock long-term value and contribute to sustainable, inclusive economic growth through responsible business.

“Across Asia-Pacific, businesses are operating in an increasingly complex environment shaped by climate change, technological disruption, evolving stakeholder expectations and geopolitical uncertainty. Yet these challenges also present an opportunity for companies to lead,” said Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact. “Forward Faster Now demonstrates the power of bringing together business, the United Nations and partners to share practical solutions, strengthen collaboration and accelerate action where it matters most. By embedding sustainability into strategy and operations, companies can build more resilient businesses, unlock long-term value and help drive the inclusive and sustainable growth our world urgently needs.”

Across two days of high-level dialogues, interactive sessions and peer learning, participants explored practical approaches to advancing climate action, sustainable finance, water resilience, governance and accountability, gender equality, business and human rights, digital innovation, circular economy solutions and cross-sector partnerships.

A central theme throughout the event was the growing importance of collaboration in addressing complex sustainability challenges. Business leaders emphasized that stronger partnerships between companies, Governments, investors, civil society and the UN will be essential to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while strengthening business resilience and competitiveness across the region.

An in-person convening of the APAC Chief Sustainability Officers Peer Learning Group was also held on the sidelines of the event. The Group brings together 20 Chief Sustainability Officers from some of the region’s leading and most engaged companies to exchange insights and advance collective action on sustainability. The meeting focused on breaking silos between sustainability and other business functions, with the aim of embedding sustainability more deeply across core business operations. The Peer Learning Group will run for one year, with members continuing to convene throughout the year to explore key sustainability priorities and share practical solutions and experiences.

“We are proud to host Forward Faster Now APAC 2026 in Sri Lanka and welcome sustainability leaders from across the region,” said Rathika de Silva, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Sri Lanka. “Asia-Pacific is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and the decisions businesses make today will have a profound impact on the future of sustainable development. This gathering is about more than sharing ideas. It is about building partnerships, exchanging practical experience and equipping businesses with the tools and networks they need to translate ambition into measurable action.”

Throughout the event, participants shared practical examples of how companies are embedding sustainability into core business strategy, strengthening governance, building more resilient and responsible supply chains, scaling sustainable finance and harnessing innovation to create long-term value for both business and society.

“Business can no longer view sustainability as a separate agenda. It is fundamental to long-term competitiveness, resilience and growth,” said de Silva. “Events like Forward Faster Now create an invaluable opportunity to learn from peers, strengthen partnerships and identify practical approaches that help companies create value while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals. The challenges we face are shared, and so are the opportunities. By working together across sectors and borders, businesses can move further and faster than any organization could alone.”

Forward Faster Now APAC 2026 reinforced the commitment of the UN Global Compact to supporting businesses across Asia-Pacific with practical tools, peer learning and partnerships that help translate sustainability ambition into measurable action.

Notes to Editors

About Forward Faster Now APAC 2026
Forward Faster Now APAC 2026: Driving Business Leadership for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth is the flagship regional event of the UN Global Compact in Asia-Pacific. Organized by the UN Global Compact APAC Hub in collaboration with Global Compact Country Networks and country offices across the region, the event brings together business leaders, sustainability practitioners, policymakers and partners to advance responsible business, regional collaboration and progress towards the SDGs.

About the United Nations Global Compact
As a special initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General, the UN Global Compact is a call to companies worldwide to align their operations and strategies with Ten Principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. Our vision is clear: to mobilize business to transform sustainability ambition into action at the scale the world demands. With more than 25,000 participants and a presence in over 100 countries through 5 Regional Hubs and more than 70 Country Networks and expansion territories, the UN Global Compact is the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our website at unglobalcompact.org

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SOURCE United Nations Global Compact

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Hall, Kistler & Company Celebrates 85 Years of Service, Community Impact, and Continued Growth

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Hall, Kistler & Company LLP, a Canton-based certified public accounting and advisory firm, is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2026, marking nearly a century of service to businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations throughout Stark County and beyond.

CANTON, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ — Hall, Kistler & Company LLP, a Canton-based certified public accounting and advisory firm, is celebrating its 85th anniversary in 2026, marking nearly a century of service to businesses, individuals, and nonprofit organizations throughout Stark County and beyond.

“For us, this milestone reflects the relationships we’ve built and the responsibility we feel to the community that has supported us.” — Keith Arner, CPA, CVA

Founded in 1941, Hall, Kistler provides tax, audit, accounting, valuation, and strategic advisory services. While 85 years in business is a meaningful milestone, firm leadership says the anniversary represents more than longevity.

“For us, this milestone reflects the relationships we’ve built and the responsibility we feel to the community that has supported us,” said Keith Arner, CPA, CVA. “We are grateful to the clients and team members, past and present, who have trusted us and helped shape our firm over the last 85 years.”

A Commitment Beyond the Numbers

From its earliest days, Hall, Kistler has maintained a strong commitment to strengthening the local community. The firm’s professionals serve in leadership roles, volunteer their time, and support initiatives that contribute to the region’s economic vitality and quality of life.

Through its work advising businesses, nonprofits, and families, HK has helped organizations grow responsibly, navigate change, and plan for the future. By supporting companies and individuals who invest in the community themselves, the firm’s impact extends well beyond the services it provides.

“We believe strong businesses build strong communities,” said Franklin Arner, CPA. “When our clients succeed, our community benefits. That belief continues to guide our work.”

Positioned for the Future

Throughout economic shifts, regulatory changes, and generational transitions, HK has remained a steady and trusted partner. The firm continues to invest in its people, technology, and service offerings to meet the evolving needs of clients.

With a multigenerational team and a long-term focus, Hall, Kistler is well-positioned to continue serving clients for years to come.

“As we reflect on the past, we are equally focused on the future,” said Seth Turner, CVA, CPA. “We are proud of our history and excited about the opportunities ahead as we work toward our 100th year and beyond.”

Expanding into Wealth Management

In keeping with its long-standing commitment to helping clients plan for the future, Hall, Kistler, is pleased to introduce HK Wealth Management LLC.

HK Wealth Management was created to help clients receive more coordinated guidance across taxes, investments, retirement planning, business transitions, estate planning, and long-term wealth management.

Through a strategic relationship with Pinnacle Advisors, HK Wealth Management combines the trusted tax and advisory relationship clients already have with Hall, Kistler and the wealth management platform, CFP® planning professionals, investment process, trust capabilities, technology, reporting, and operational support of Pinnacle.

HK will remain actively involved in the client relationship, helping ensure planning conversations stay coordinated and aligned with each client’s overall financial picture.

As Hall, Kistler celebrates 85 years, the firm extends sincere appreciation to the clients who have placed their trust in HK across generations and to the professionals whose dedication has built its reputation.

With nearly a century of history behind it and a clear vision ahead, Hall, Kistler remains committed to serving its clients and community for generations to come.

For more information, visit www.hallkistler.com.

Media Contact

Seth A. Turner, CPA, CVA, Hall, Kistler & Company, 1 330-453-7633, seth@hallkistler.com, www.hallkistler.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prweb.com/releases/hall-kistler–company-celebrates-85-years-of-service-community-impact-and-continued-growth-302849367.html

SOURCE Hall, Kistler & Company

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Equity Trust Launches Crypto IRA Lineup with Automated and Self-Trading Investing Options

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WESTLAKE, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Equity Trust Company, a leading financial services company with over 50 years of experience, today announced the expansion of its Crypto IRA offering, giving retirement investors more ways to hold digital assets within a tax-advantaged account. The expanded lineup gives investors two dedicated ways to invest in cryptocurrency through an IRA, with $0 fees to open either account.

The Automated Crypto IRA is an AI-driven, algorithmic solution powered by award-winning Animus Technologies that Equity Trust IRA customers can access with just a $25,000 minimum investment, a fraction of the $250,000 minimum required of after-tax and institutional investors. Animus uses proprietary algorithms to continuously evaluate market conditions and automatically recommend and execute Bitcoin and Ethereum trades using predefined, rules-based investment models. According to Animus CEO, Maximilian Pace, “Our relationship with Equity Trust provides IRA investors access to automated, institutional-grade technology to maintain a disciplined crypto strategy inside their tax-advantaged account.” 

The Equity Crypto IRA is a self-traded account that gives hands-on investors the flexibility to buy, sell, and hold a broad range of cryptocurrencies. Investors who choose the self-traded Equity Crypto IRA place their trades through Equity Trust’s proprietary Digital Trading Platform, an integrated experience within the myEQUITY online account management system that allows investors to buy, sell, and hold a broad range of cryptocurrencies within their IRA. Through the Digital Trading Platform, Equity Trust provides access to a range of eligible digital assets across multiple categories, including large-cap cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi), AI & blockchain infrastructure, payments & digital commerce, and blockchain innovation to meet the broad portfolio needs of crypto investors.

Security is foundational to Equity Trust. That’s why all digital assets are held using institutional-grade custody and cold wallet protection backed by specialty insurance coverage. This best-in-class approach delivers a secure, purpose-built solution that gives investors direct cryptocurrency ownership within a tax-advantaged IRA.

“As investors’ interest in digital assets continues to evolve, they’re looking for solutions that offer both innovation and confidence,” said George Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Equity Trust Company. “Our goal is to give retirement investors greater choice in how they invest. Whether they want a fully self-traded experience with our Equity Crypto IRA or a more automated approach with our Automated Crypto IRA, our expanded offering meets investors where they are, backed by the security and custody solutions they expect from Equity Trust.”

For decades, Equity Trust has helped retirement investors diversify beyond traditional stocks and bonds by providing access to a broad range of alternative investments. Today, that same philosophy extends further with an expanded and enhanced cryptocurrency experience, giving eligible investors direct ownership of digital assets within their IRA through the Equity Crypto IRA and the Automated Crypto IRA — both supported by institutional-grade security.

To learn more about Equity Trust’s Crypto IRA solutions, visit https://www.trustetc.com/crypto-ira/

About Equity Trust Company
With more than 50 years of experience, Equity Trust Company has helped retirement investors diversify beyond traditional investments through self-directed retirement accounts. Equity Trust provides custody and administration services for a broad range of alternative assets, including real estate, private equity, private lending, precious metals, digital assets, and more.

Equity Trust Company is a directed custodian and does not provide tax, legal or investment advice. Any information communicated by Equity Trust is for educational purposes only, and should not be construed as tax, legal or investment advice. Whenever making an investment decision, please consult with your tax attorney or financial professional.

Newsroom

Sharae Richmond
Manager, Content Strategy
s.richmond@trustetc.com

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SOURCE Equity Trust Company

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fal Launches fal Agent, a Creative Partner for Frontier Generative Media

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fal’s new creative AI agent helps creatives and developers bring ideas to life across the world’s leading image, video, and 3D models while maintaining context and consistency from concept to final delivery.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — fal today announced fal Agent, a creative partner that works across every top generative media models to orchestrate production-ready creative workflows.

The launch comes amid one of the fastest periods of innovation in generative media, following the release of frontier models such as MiniMax H3, FLUX.3, and Seedance 2.5. As model capabilities continue to improve, the challenge has shifted from accessing great models to knowing which ones to use, how to combine them, and how to maintain creative consistency across an entire production.

fal Agent is built to solve that challenge.

Rather than acting as another standalone model, fal Agent serves as a creative partner that orchestrates the best models for each task, carries context across generations, and preserves characters, assets, references, and creative intent throughout an entire workflow.

“We’ve been building fal Agent meticulously for this moment,” said Gorkem Yurtseven, CTO and Co-founder of fal. “Creatives should spend less time orchestrating models and more time focusing on the story they’re trying to tell. As this next generation of image and video models arrives, I believe we’re getting very close to seeing the first timeless works of generative media.”

A unified creative process

fal Agent enables creatives to move naturally between image, video, and 3D generation without rebuilding prompts, recreating references, or starting over each time they switch models.

Instead of treating every generation as an isolated request, fal Agent maintains project memory throughout the creative process, making it possible to iterate over days or weeks while keeping creative decisions, references, and visual consistency intact.

“The ecosystem has exploded with incredible image, video, and 3D models, but using them together still feels fragmented,” said Apek Panigrahi, Product Engineer at fal. “We built fal Agent to give creatives a single interface where they can have a conversation, move naturally between models, keep iterating, and maintain context and consistency from start to finish.”

Key capabilities include:

Automatically selecting the best model for each creative taskMaintaining consistent characters, objects, references, and visual styles across generationsPreserving project memory so creative work can resume with full contextSeamlessly switching between image, video, and 3D workflowsSupporting collaborative creative projects with shared workspaces and reusable creative skills

Projects retain their own memory, references, and creative history, allowing teams to pick work back up weeks later without losing momentum. References remain attached to the project instead of individual prompts, making creative iteration significantly more natural.

Built for developers

Like every product on fal, fal Agent is designed to integrate directly into production workflows.

In addition to its conversational interface, fal Agent can be integrated into applications programmatically through its API and is designed to work alongside fal’s CLI and MCP server, making it a building block for developers creating the next generation of AI-powered creative tools.

Whether used by an individual creative or embedded into a larger production pipeline, fal Agent provides a consistent interface for orchestrating workflows across the rapidly expanding generative media ecosystem.

Infrastructure for generative media

fal Agent is built on fal’s production-ready generative media platform, giving users access to the world’s leading image, video, audio, and 3D models through a unified experience powered by fal’s inference infrastructure.

Every workflow runs on the same platform trusted by millions of developers, with fast inference, built-in concurrency, scalable infrastructure, and enterprise-ready reliability. Creatives get the simplicity of a creative partner, while developers retain the performance and control of the underlying platform.

As new frontier models become available, they are integrated directly into fal Agent, allowing creatives to immediately experiment with the latest capabilities without changing tools or rebuilding workflows.

Availability

fal Agent is available today in early access.

Customers can access fal Agent by purchasing add-on credits, which can be used across the entire fal platform.

Learn more at fal.ai/agent.

About fal

fal is a generative media platform that provides developers with access to the world’s best generative image, video, and audio models through a unified API. Trusted by over 2.5 million developers and leading companies, fal offers the fastest inference engine for diffusion models, on-demand serverless GPUs, and dedicated compute clusters for frontier research. Learn more at fal.ai.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fal-launches-fal-agent-a-creative-partner-for-frontier-generative-media-302850038.html

SOURCE fal

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