Latvia’s Ministry of Finance clarified that municipal infrastructure projects should be assessed for state aid at the owner or developer, operator and final-user levels. Each project requires an individual assessment, and the relevant state aid framework applies where support for economic activity meets all state aid criteria.

The United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative reviewed seven years of the Principles for Responsible Banking, whose 350-plus signatories represent approximately USD 99 trillion in banking assets. Cited MSCI research indicates that signatories outperform non-signatories on sustainability leadership, related financial products and environmental credit risk policies.

The UK Financial Conduct Authority has warned that consumers are being pressured or misled into fee charging debt solutions that may be unsuitable. Consumers should seek free advice, verify firms through the FCA Firm Checker and treat pressure tactics, coached answers, undisclosed free alternatives and unclear identities as red flags.

The European Banking Federation supports harmonized EU suspicious activity reporting but says AMLA’s proposed data set is disproportionate and may exceed information that obliged entities can collect. It calls for narrower risk based requirements, groupwide reporting options and an implementation framework that avoids duplicate or dual reporting.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development finds that development banks and development finance institutions mobilise more than 90% of private finance through development finance, but mobilisation remains peripheral and below investment needs. It calls for clearer mandates and targets, wider use of risk-sharing and asset-distribution models, and staff incentives and capabilities aligned with mobilisation.

The Seychelles Financial Services Authority rejected Bitfinity Ltd.’s virtual asset service provider licence application because it was incomplete and the application fee was unpaid. Bitfinity, trading as BitexBit, remains unauthorized, and the authority is pursuing enforcement over its continued illegal operations.

The European Central Bank finds that strong earnings expectations and compressed risk premia have supported US equities and limited their sensitivity to adverse shocks during the AI boom. Widening risk differentiation among technology companies and historically high market concentration increase the risk that weakness in a few large AI related stocks could trigger broader declines.

The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan plans to establish a center for insurance training, examinations, certification and research under the Insurance Payments Guarantee Fund. It would set national competency requirements for key professional roles, with certification initially voluntary but potentially becoming mandatory for certain activities.

Bank of Korea analysis finds that connector countries such as Vietnam are preserving global trade links by bridging U.S. markets and China centered production networks. ASEAN routes now carry a larger share of Korean value added to U.S. demand, while Korea’s links to Chinese demand remain substantial. The note calls for supply chain diversification to manage exposure to U.S. trade measures and disruptions in third countries.

The Central Bank of Oman has launched a National FinTech Strategy and the Oman FinTech Gate with the Financial Services Authority and the Ministry of Finance’s Estidama program. The strategy establishes a coordinated roadmap for regulation, investment and ecosystem development, while the Gate gives FinTech firms and entrepreneurs a central pathway into the Omani market. Regulatory decisions remain with the relevant independent authorities.