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Belt and Road Forum centering on Digital Economy & Payment Settlement held in Hong Kong, exploring Hong Kong’s role in promoting digital silk road development

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HONG KONG, Dec. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Belt and Road Forum themed Digital Economy & Payment Settlement, co-organised by the Ng Teng Fong• Sino Group Belt and Road Research Institute of the Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Silk Road Economic Development Research Center and Maritime Silk Road Society was held on 5th December in Hong Kong. Mr Christopher Hui, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Zhou Qiang, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department and Head of the Commercial Office of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mrs Regina Ip, Convenor of Hong Kong Executive Council and Co-Chair of the Maritime Silk Road Society, Mr LAM Kwong Siu, Chairman of Board of Governors of Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Mr Joseph Chan, Chairman of Silk Road Economic Development Research Center, Mr Liu An Ning, Second Secretary of the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong Special Administrative, Mr Alexander Ng, Director of Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and General Manager of Sino Group, Mr Tan Yueheng, Member of Legislative Council and Chairman of the BOCOM International Holdings Company Limited, Ms Jane Zhang, Interim President of Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Professor Thomas Chan, Director of Ng Teng Fong • Sino Group Belt and Road Research Institute of Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Professor Shi Yong of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Counsellor of State Council of the People’s Republic of China and Director of CAS Research Center on Fictitious Economy & Data Science, along with near 300 distinguished guests, including prominent business leaders from Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas, Consul-Generals of Consulates-General in Hong Kong, government officials, entrepreneurs, and academics attended the Forum.

The Hon John KC LEE, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region delivered an opening address in video, in which he noted that in recent years, tokenisation technologies have revolutionised the global economy, creating new opportunities for the traditional financial market. The HKMA has launched a wholesale CBDC initiative called Project Ensemble this year, by leveraging advanced tokenisation technology. At present the Project has entered the Sandbox stage in August, with a focus on transactions involving tokenised assets. HKSAR Government will continue to capitalise on the growing influence of this key technology in the financial realm. He expressed his confidence that Hong Kong’s robust financial Infrastructure will support the financial services sectors to fully adapt to this new wave of digital economy, amidst the large array of opportunities offered by the digital “silk road”. In so doing, Hong Kong will consolidate its position as an international financial centre, and bring new development opportunities to other Belt and Road economies.

In his opening address Mr Christopher Hui noted that the Belt and Road initiative is more than just a platform for infrastructure and trade. It is a vision for global connectivity and shared prosperity. As we integrate digital innovation into this framework, the opportunities for economic transformation and cooperation are boundless. From providing world-class financial and professional services to advancing the adoption of cutting-edge technologies, Hong Kong stands ready to contribute to the continued success of the Belt and Road Initiative. He encourages all participants to seize these emerging opportunities, foster meaningful partnerships and work together to build a more interconnected, inclusive and prosperous future for all.

Mrs Regina Ip gave welcome remarks and highlighted the significant progress achieved in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the last ten years. Apart from the remarkable expansion of BRI membership, substantive achievements in infrastructural development and trade among BRI members also call for increased cross-border payment settlement under the digital economy. It is therefore timely to explore the prospects of digital economy and examine the challenges and opportunities in payment settlement facing us under the BRI. She acknowledged the strong support from venue sponsors, Sino Group and Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and all guests at the end of her remarks.

Professor Shi Yong delivered a keynote speech on the “Prospect of Digital Economy under the Belt & Road Initiative and Its Impact on Mainland China and Hong Kong“, in which he stressed the strategic importance of digital economy to the development of BRI and he added that over the past 10 years since the launch of BRI in 2023, with the support of the central government, Hong Kong has actively responded to the BRI, strived to serve the needs of the country with its own strengths and become an active participant and contributor and beneficiary in the construction of the Belt and Road. Hong Kong will further consolidate its own advantages and enhance its competitiveness in the process of fully promoting the “digital industrialization” and “industrial digitization” of BRI members.

Mr LAM Kwong Siu on behalf of the main organisers expressed his gratitude to all participants of the forum. He said the BRI is entering its next golden decade and Hong Kong is facing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a crucial role in promoting Belt and Road and Digital Silk Road. We believe as we accelerate the development of the Digital Silk Road and the Silk Road of Innovation, more opportunities for cooperation will be created.

The panel discussion was divided into two sessions, respectively “Cross-Border Payments Fuelling the Accelerated Growth of Global E-Commerce” and “the Development and Implementation of Web 3.0 in Hong Kong“. The first session was moderated by Ms Julia Charlton, Managing Partner of Charltons, panelists included Dr Shen Jianguang, Vice President and Chief Economist of JD.com, Mr Ronan Zhong, Vice President of LianLian Global, Mr Esmond Lee, Deputy Branch Manager of Euroclear Bank Hong Kong Branch and Mr Herbert Siu, CFO of Payment Cards Group Limited together explored the critical role that cross-border payments play in driving the global e-commerce. In the second session moderated by Mr Joseph Chan, the Chairman of Silk Road Economic Development Research Center, Mr Ivan Chan, Co-Founder & COO of Web3.0 Technology Limited, Mr Furuzonfar Zehni, Partner and Portfolio Manager of Fresco Capital, Mr Marco Lim, Web3 Partner of Solowin Holdings and Professor James Lei, Secretary General of the Institute of Web3.0 Hong Kong joined the session and delved into the development and implementation of Web 3.0 in Hong Kong, the challenges facing, and the strategies employed to navigate through them.

The organizers have been consistently holding BRI forums on specialized topics related to global BRI development trends since 2017, as one of the leading pioneers in promoting BRI and Hong Kong’s commitment in integrating into the overall development of mainland China.

 

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SOURCE Silk Road Economic Development Research Center

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Cboe Global Markets Announces Increase in Share Repurchase Authorization; Declares Fourth-Quarter 2026 Dividend

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Increases share repurchase authorization by $550 millionQuarterly cash dividend of $0.86 per share

CHICAGO, Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading global markets operator and pioneer in equity and index derivatives, today announced its Board of Directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to an additional $550 million of its outstanding common stock and declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.86 per share of common stock for the fourth quarter of 2026.

The fourth-quarter 2026 dividend is payable on December 15, 2026, to stockholders of record as of November 30, 2026. 

As of June 30, 2026, the Company had $536.8 million of availability remaining under its existing share repurchase authorizations.

“Cboe’s strong cash flow and robust balance sheet give us the flexibility to continue investing in our growth priorities while returning capital to shareholders,” said Craig Donohue, Chief Executive Officer of Cboe Global Markets. “Today’s increase to our share repurchase authorization, together with our dividend announcement, reflect the Board’s confidence in our business and our commitment to delivering long-term value.”

The share repurchase program has no expiration date. The repurchase program permits the company to purchase shares through a variety of methods, including in the open market, through established trading plans, or through privately negotiated transactions, in accordance with applicable securities laws. It does not obligate the company to make any repurchases at any specific time or situation. The timing and extent to which the company repurchases its shares will depend upon, among other things, market conditions, share price, liquidity targets, regulatory requirements and other factors. Share repurchases may be commenced or suspended at any time or from time to time without prior notice.

About Cboe Global Markets
Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE) is a leading global markets operator with a long history of innovation in equity and index derivatives. Since launching the world’s first listed options exchange in 1973, Cboe has pioneered landmark products, including the introduction of S&P 500® index options and the creation of the VIX® Index, the world’s leading gauge of market volatility, reshaping how investors manage risk and access opportunity. Today, Cboe operates derivatives, equities, and FX markets, providing trading, clearing, and investment solutions for customers worldwide. To learn more, visit www.cboe.com.

Cboe Media Contacts

Cboe Analyst Contact

Angela Tu

Tim Cave

Kenneth Hill, CFA

+1-646-856-8734

+44 (0) 7593-506-719

+1-312-786-7559

atu@cboe.com 

tcave@cboe.com

khill@cboe.com 

CBOE-C
CBOE-OE

Cboe®, Cboe Global Markets®, and VIX ® are registered trademarks or service marks of Cboe Exchange, Inc and S&P 500® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. 

Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue,” and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. All statements that reflect our expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the loss of our right to exclusively list and trade certain index options and futures products; economic, political and market conditions; compliance with legal and regulatory obligations; price and new products and services competition and consolidation in our industry; decreases in trading or clearing volumes, market data fees or a shift in the mix of products traded on our exchanges; legislative or regulatory changes or changes in tax regimes; our ability to protect our systems and communication networks from security vulnerabilities and breaches; our ability to attract and retain skilled management and other personnel; increasing competition by foreign and domestic entities; our business and operational dependence on and exposure to risk from third parties; factors that impact the quality and integrity of our and other applicable indices; our ability to manage our global operations, growth, and strategic acquisitions, wind downs, divestitures, or alliances effectively; increases in the cost of the products and services we use; our ability to operate our business without violating the intellectual property rights of others and the costs associated with protecting our intellectual property rights; our ability to minimize the risks, including our credit, liquidity, market, investment, counterparty, and default risks, associated with operating our clearinghouses; our ability to accommodate trading and clearing volume and transaction traffic, including significant increases, without failure or degradation of performance of our systems; misconduct by those who use our markets or our products or for whom we clear transactions; challenges to our use of open source software code; our ability to meet our compliance obligations, including managing our business interests and our regulatory responsibilities; the loss of key customers or a significant reduction in trading or clearing volumes by key customers; damage to our reputation; the ability of our compliance and risk management methods to effectively monitor and manage our risks; restrictions imposed by our debt obligations and our ability to make payments on or refinance our debt obligations; our ability to maintain an investment grade credit rating; impairment of our goodwill, long-lived assets, investments or intangible assets; the accuracy of our estimates and expectations; and litigation risks and other liabilities. More detailed information about factors that may affect our actual results to differ may be found in our filings with the SEC, including in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025 and other filings made from time to time with the SEC.

We do not undertake, and we expressly disclaim, any duty to update any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof.

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SOURCE Cboe Global Markets, Inc.

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Community Heritage Financial, Inc. Announces Adoption of Stock Repurchase Program

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MIDDLETOWN, Md., Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Community Heritage Financial, Inc. (the “Company”) (OTCID: CMHF), the parent company of Middletown Valley Bank, today announced that its Board of Directors has adopted a stock repurchase program. Under the repurchase program, the Company may repurchase up to 147 thousand shares of its common stock. This amount represents approximately 5.0% of the Company’s 2.95 million shares of common stock outstanding.

The repurchase program permits shares to be repurchased from time to time on the open market, in private-negotiated transactions or otherwise. Repurchases will be made at management’s discretion at prices management considers to be attractive and in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders, subject to general market conditions, the trading price of the Company’s common stock, regulatory requirements and limitations, alternative uses for capital, the Company’s financial performance, and other factors deemed appropriate.

The repurchase program expires August 21, 2027.  The repurchase program may be suspended, terminated or modified at any time for any reason and does not obligate the Company to purchase any particular number of shares.

About Community Heritage Financial, Inc.

Community Heritage Financial, Inc. is the parent company of Middletown Valley Bank (the “Bank” or “MVB”). Middletown Valley Bank offers a full suite of personal and business banking solutions, along with residential mortgage lending through its MVB Home Loans division. At the heart of the MVB brand is a commitment to delivering Absolutely Exceptional Experiences – one customer, one community, one experience at a time. Founded in 1908 in Middletown, Maryland, MVB has grown to serve customers across Frederick, Washington, and Garrett counties in Maryland, as well as Franklin County, Pennsylvania. For more information, visit www.communityheritageinc.com or www.mvbbank.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws.  Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward- looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “anticipates” or similar terminology.  Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.  Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in interest rates, stock market liquidity, deposit flows, loan demand and real estate values, as well as changes in economic, competitive, governmental, regulatory, technological and other factors which may affect the Company specifically, its existing and target market areas or the banking industry in general.  The realization or occurrence of these risks or uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from those addressed in the forward-looking statements.  The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release.  The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by law.

Community Heritage Financial, Inc. 

Robert E. Goetz, Jr. (“BJ”)
President & Chief Executive Officer
301-371-3055

John A. Scaldara, Jr.
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
301-371-3070

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SOURCE Community Heritage Financial, Inc.

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Insurance Professional Paula Miller Shares Questions to Ask Before Choosing Life Insurance in HelloNation

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The article explains how coverage needs, policy terms, premiums, exclusions, and beneficiaries can help families compare their options.

SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — What questions should you ask before choosing life insurance?

HelloNation has published an article featuring insights from Insurance Professional Paula Miller of Simi Valley, CA. The article explains how asking about coverage, costs, policy terms, and family needs can help households make informed comparisons before selecting a policy.

The HelloNation article explains that choosing life insurance begins with determining which type of policy fits a household’s goals. Term life insurance generally provides protection for a set period, while permanent policies may provide longer coverage when policy requirements are met. Understanding these differences can help narrow the available choices.

The amount of life insurance coverage is another important consideration. Income, debts, housing expenses, education plans, and dependent needs may all influence how much protection a household requires. The article notes that life insurance coverage should reflect what the policy would need to provide if the insured person died.

Coverage length should also match the household’s expected financial timeline. Term life insurance may be appropriate when protection is needed while children remain dependent, a mortgage is being paid, or retirement savings are still growing. Buyers should understand what happens when the initial term ends before selecting a policy.

The article also recommends examining life insurance premiums carefully. Age, health, coverage amount, policy type, and underwriting factors can influence cost. An insurance agent should be able to explain how these factors affect pricing and whether life insurance premiums remain level or may change over time.

Price alone, however, does not provide a complete basis for comparison. The article explains that policy exclusions, benefit terms, and coverage duration can affect the protection a policy provides. Reviewing policy exclusions before purchasing can help households understand circumstances that may limit coverage.

Beneficiaries are another important part of policy planning. Policyholders should understand how beneficiaries are named and how those selections can be changed. Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, and other significant life events may create reasons to review those decisions.

Optional policy features also deserve careful attention. Some policies include riders or other provisions designed for specific circumstances. The article recommends asking what each feature provides, what it costs, and whether it addresses a financial need relevant to the household.

The application process can affect both eligibility and final pricing. Depending on the policy, an insurer may review health information and other underwriting factors before making a final offer. An insurance agent can explain unfamiliar provisions and help applicants understand why an initial estimate may differ from final policy terms.

The article emphasizes that several factors should be evaluated together when comparing policies. Coverage amount, duration, benefits, costs, and contract terms can all affect the protection provided. Understanding these details can help families evaluate policies based on their financial responsibilities rather than monthly price alone.

Insurance needs can also change over time. Buying a home, growing a family, changing careers, or reducing debt may affect the amount or duration of protection needed. Periodically reviewing life insurance can help determine whether existing protection still reflects a household’s circumstances.

What Questions Should You Ask Before Choosing Life Insurance? features insights from Paula Miller, Insurance Professional of Simi Valley, CA, in HelloNation.

About HelloNation
HelloNation is America’s Good News Network, a premier media platform built on the idea that good news travels faster when real people tell real stories. Through its community-focused publications and innovative “edvertising” approach, HelloNation delivers content that informs, inspires, and spotlights the leaders making a meaningful impact in their communities.

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SOURCE HelloNation

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