Category: 3. Business

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – 09 December 2025 – H.E. Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, participated in the high-level panel “Building Sustainable Futures on a Global Scale” during the MOMENTUM Development Finance Conference organized by the National Development Fund (NDF) in Riyadh.

At the outset, Dr. Al Jasser expressed his profound gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and to HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for their unwavering support to the Islamic Development Bank and for the Kingdom’s leadership in strengthening global development cooperation.

During his remarks, Dr. Al Jasser underscored how IsDB’s presence in Saudi Arabia amplifies its global impact, stating: “Our presence in the Kingdom is a strategic advantage that strengthens our ability to deliver sustainable and inclusive development globally.” He highlighted that hosting IsDB’s headquarters in Saudi Arabia combined with the Kingdom’s vision, support, and leadership in development finance has enabled the Bank to maintain its prestigious AAA credit rating, expand its financing capacity, and deepen strategic partnerships across the Global South.

“It is also essential to recognize the foundation upon which we are building. While our paid-up capital is around US$10 billion as of 2025, we have provided over US$200 billion in development financing, demonstrating the Bank’s ability to deliver strong development impact under a robust Global South development model,” Dr. Al Jasser added. The Kingdom’s leadership has fostered an enabling ecosystem for innovation, humanitarian action, and knowledge exchange, allowing IsDB to play a pivotal role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Dr. Al Jasser emphasized that the Islamic Development Bank is a founding member of the Arab Coordination Group (ACG), a coalition that has delivered major development interventions across the globe. These initiatives have empowered communities through transformative investments in agriculture, infrastructure, education, health, energy, and broader social development.

The IsDB Chairman also highlighted the Bank’s strategic partnership with the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), which has resulted in joint investments supporting projects across key development sectors, including agriculture, transport, water, power, and other critical infrastructure. He further noted the Bank’s impactful humanitarian partnerships with King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre  (KSRelief,and  the Global Muslim Philanthropy Fund for Children (GMPFC), alongside IsDB’s leadership in advancing innovative Islamic financing.

Dr. Al Jasser further highlighted strong multilateral cooperation with the World Bank, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the French Development Agency, all contributing to critical areas such as agriculture, infrastructure, food security, health systems, energy access, and climate resilience.

 

• The Basel Committee has published principles for the sound management of third-party risk in the banking sector.
• The principles establish a common baseline for banks and supervisors for the sound management of third-party risk.
• The Committee will continue to monitor developments related to the digitalisation of finance and financial technology from a prudential perspective.

The ongoing digitalisation of finance has led to a rapid adoption of innovative approaches, which has increased banks’ dependency on third-party service providers for services that banks had previously not undertaken. In response, the Basel Committee has developed a new set of principles to reflect a larger and more diverse third-party service provider environment in the banking sector.

Building on the outcome of the previous consultation process, the principles establish a common baseline for banks and supervisors for the risk management of third-party service provider arrangements. At the same time, the principles maintain sufficient flexibility to accommodate evolving practices and regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions. The principles supersede those in the 2005 Joint Forum paper Outsourcing in financial services specifically for the banking sector.

The Committee will continue to monitor developments related to the digitalisation of finance and financial technology from a prudential perspective.

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Note to editors:

The Basel Committee is the primary global standard setter for the prudential regulation of banks and provides a forum for cooperation on banking supervisory matters. Its mandate is to strengthen the regulation, supervision and practices of banks worldwide with the purpose of enhancing financial stability. The Committee reports to the Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision and seeks its endorsement for major decisions. The Committee has no formal supranational authority, and its decisions have no legal force. Rather, the Committee relies on its members’ commitments to achieve its mandate. The Group of Central Bank Governors and Heads of Supervision is chaired by Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada. The Basel Committee is chaired by Erik Thedéen, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank.

More information about the Basel Committee is available here.

The new T-Roc achieved high scores in tests conducted by the renowned European consumer protection institute. These included protection of adult occupants, protection of children and protection of vulnerable road users as well as pedestrian protection. In addition, the Euro NCAP test team places great emphasis on accident prevention. In this area, too, the compact SUV – which is equipped with numerous standard driver assistance and emergency braking systems even in the basic version – earned good marks from the test commission.

Back in May, the Volkswagen Tayron had already received the coveted five-star rating. Furthermore, the 2025 Euro NCAP re-assessments of Golf, ID.3 and ID.4 confirm that these Volkswagen models also continue to achieve five-star levels thanks to ongoing improvements. All awards once again demonstrate that Volkswagen lives up to its “safety4all” claim: the company deploys high-tech assistance systems not only in premium models but especially in its high-volume models, thereby further enhancing the comfort and safety of individual mobility.

(Bloomberg) — Stocks are marking a second straight day of restrained moves as traders await the Fed’s outlook for interest rates in 2026 after an expected cut at Wednesday’s policy announcement.

S&P 500 futures were little changed. A rally in US stocks has stalled this week after traders pulled big bets off the table, with mixed economic signals and divisions among Fed policymakers clouding the path for rates. Europe’s Stoxx 600 ticked lower while markets in Asia were mixed.

Treasury yields extended their advance. The 10-year rate rose two basis points to 4.20%, the highest since the first week of September. Globally, the view that rate-cutting cycles are nearing their end has driven yields on a Bloomberg gauge of long-dated government debt to a 16-year high.

Recent economic data have shown that the US economy is cooling in a manner consistent with what the Fed wants, but not weak enough to accelerate rate cuts, wrote Linh Tran, market analyst at XS.com. Inflation is easing but still above target, while the labor market continues to show some resilience.

“This combination provides little incentive for investors to continue buying at elevated valuations, yet does not offer sufficient reason for them to sell aggressively,” Tran said. “What the market needs at this moment is a clearer policy signal from the Fed.”

Markets are anticipating a third straight rate cut at Wednesday’s Fed meeting, with attention centered on the latest dot plot, economic projections and comments from Chair Jerome Powell. Investors will also be watching Oracle Corp.’s post-market results as questions mount over technology valuations and whether heavy investment in artificial intelligence will ultimately pay off.

In Asia, Chinese property stocks surged on expectations for policy stimulus from Beijing and hopes of progress in China Vanke Co.’s debt talks.

A Bloomberg Intelligence gauge of Chinese developer shares jumped 3%. Shares of Vanke, which is at the center of investor scrutiny following bond payment delays, jumped as much as 19% in Hong Kong.

Silver extended its rally after breaking above $60 an ounce for the first time on Tuesday, with momentum coming from supply tightness and bets on further monetary easing by the Fed. The white metal rose as much as 1.6% to a record $61.6145 an ounce.

Corporate News:

China Vanke Co. rallied in the equity and credit markets Wednesday after a bondholder meeting included discussion of sweetened terms among plans for a closely watched effort by the distressed builder to delay a note payment. HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery said not enough executives were fully accountable for the performance of their businesses before he began his radical restructuring of the bank 15 months ago. SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for an initial public offering that would seek to raise significantly more than $30 billion, people familiar with the matter said, in a transaction that would make it the biggest listing of all time. Amazon.com Inc. pledged to invest $35 billion in India over the next five years, boosting its spending in the key growth market to expand in businesses from quick commerce to cloud computing. Coupang Chief Executive Officer Park Dae-jun resigned over his failure to prevent South Korea’s largest-ever data breach, Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2% as of 9:30 a.m. London time S&P 500 futures were little changed Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were little changed The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% The MSCI Emerging Markets Index rose 0.3% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index was little changed The euro rose 0.1% to $1.1642 The Japanese yen was little changed at 156.80 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.0616 per dollar The British pound rose 0.1% to $1.3315 Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin fell 0.2% to $92,524.1 Ether rose 0.5% to $3,319.01 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced two basis points to 4.20% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 2.89% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced five basis points to 4.55% Commodities

Brent crude rose 0.2% to $62.04 a barrel Spot gold fell 0.2% to $4,198.18 an ounce This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

–With assistance from Neil Campling and James Hirai.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

Paris, France, 10 December 2025 – The French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA) has awarded Airbus Defence and Space a framework contract worth up to €50 million for the integration of artificial intelligence components into the weapons, information, communication and cybersecurity systems used by the French armed forces.

The contract covers information systems delivered by Airbus Defence and Space and Airbus Helicopters. Within this framework, Airbus and the DGA are working in collaboration with the Ministerial Agency for Defence AI (AMIAD), created in May 2024 to enable France to master these technologies and avoid dependence on other nations. It is part of the ministerial strategy on artificial intelligence for defence, which aims to address the challenge of sovereignty in this field and develop the use of AI for military operations.

The first stage of this contract will consist of increasing the capabilities of Spationav, the French maritime surveillance system with AI elements that will enable the automated merging of surveillance data from satellite systems and Spationav.

Many other potential uses are being or will be explored, particularly in the fields of intelligence, cybersecurity and connectivity, such as real-time assistance in the management and optimisation of military telecommunications networks.

With the proliferation of sensors (satellites, radars, drones, smartphones, social networks) generating massive amounts of data, only AI can process it efficiently and quickly. The aim is to save humans time in activities they already carry out, as well as to perform tasks that are impossible for humans to complete, given the urgency of the situation or the excessive volume of data to be processed. The other major challenge associated with AI is the ability to store, archive and structure all the data that feeds it using appropriate infrastructure.

@AirbusDefence 

Air China, as China’s sole national flag carrier, is a long-term strategic customer for Rolls-Royce. By establishing BAESL jointly, the two companies have deepened their cooperation. In the meantime, it further enhances Air China’s strategic layout in the aircraft maintenance industry chain, improving its overall fleet operational support capabilities.

As one of four authorised joint-venture overhaul facilities within the Rolls-Royce global services network, BAESL will be an integral part of its worldwide Trent MRO ecosystem, which also consists of two Rolls-Royce maintenance facilities, seven joint-venture or independent Authorised Maintenance Centres, and customer-owned shops.

Starting from 2026, BAESL will begin introducing overhaul capability for Trent 700, Trent XWB-84 and Trent 1000 engines, with capacity expected to ramp up to 250 overhauls per year by 2034.

Rialto focused on low-value transactions such as remittances and other person-to-person payments executed via the traditional banking channel. Despite past efforts to reduce the inefficiencies associated with such payments, FX and settlement remain key frictions.

In the search for more efficient options, there has been an increasing focus on instant payment-versus-payment (PvP) solutions that allow for fast and reliable access to liquidity in foreign currency.

Rialto’s technical experiment combined PvP and automated FX with tokenised central bank money settlement in a simulated cross-border payment infrastructure by building on previous work by the BIS Innovation Hub such as Project Mariana and Project Nexus.

The technical report describes the Project Rialto proof of concept, its architecture and design as well as the economic considerations regarding the viability of the Rialto technical approach.