The proposals aim to improve transparency and strengthen the enforcement of anti-money laundering laws, the two regulators said in a joint-statement on their websites.The regulators will seek feedback on the draft rules from the public before they take effect from March 1, with a grace period for businesses to comply. More
NEW YORK (Reuters) – In a more typical time, burnout is an exception. In the era of COVID, it almost feels like the norm.According to Jennifer Moss, organizations should take a hard look in the mirror for fostering cultures of overwork that make things worse. The author, speaker and workplace wellness expert has penned “The Burnout Epidemic: The Rise of Chronic Stress and How We Can Fix It” to help slam the brakes on this crisis before we all hit the wall.Moss spoke with Reuters about making it through the pandemic in one piece. Edited excerpts are below.Q: You did some research about how people feel now. What did you find?A: During COVID’S second wave, we found that only 2% of people rated their well-being as excellent, and 89% said their work life was getting worse. We expected that people would be exhausted, working more hours in the day and losing efficacy.But we also found that cynicism was really high: People are starting to feel like they don’t have any control over outcomes. That’s really dangerous.Q: How do you define burnout specifically?A: It’s chronic workplace stress left unmanaged. There are six root causes: An unsustainable workload, perceived lack of control, insufficient rewards for effort, a lack of a supportive community, a lack of fairness and mismatched values and skills.Q: Companies know something serious is going on, so are they doing enough?A: Leaders are worried about people leaving, so they have been adding some well-being strategies to their portfolio. This has put employees more in the driver’s seat; for instance, we have been seeing many companies delaying a return to the workplace. Self-care strategies can be a good thing, but sometimes they are a Band-Aid solution to a much bigger problem that needs to be managed upstream.Q: What should companies be doing to prevent burnout?A: They need to be looking at the root causes of workload. Giving people a day off is okay, but you also need to reduce your expectations of productivity. If you have a culture of overwork, that is not making people more effective – it’s making them sick. Companies need to give people more agency about how and when they come back to work, pay people what they’re worth, compensate them if they’re working extra hours, and make sure they’re promoting people for the right reasons. A lack of fairness is a big issue here, because young people feel like there is no path for them.Q: What can individuals do to make sure they’re not running on empty?A: Organizations need to have a huge amount of accountability for burnout, but employees can be part of the solution, too. We can do a lot of work to identify whether we’re burning out, like how often we feel exhausted and disengaged and cynical. Then we need to start to think about pulling back, like taking breaks every couple of hours, digitally detoxing, going outside, putting on music. Set boundaries about answering e-mails and manage your clients’ expectations, so everything doesn’t always seem so urgent.Q: Leaders get burned out too. How can they manage those feelings?A: We have never had a collective trauma like this where every single person is going through it. We are all feeling fear and social anxiety, and the same is true for leaders.Have some self-compassion, show transparency with your team and don’t worry about appearing vulnerable. You’ve got things going on too, and employees can’t be what they can’t see, so model the behavior. If you’re not taking care of yourself, you can’t help the team.Q: Have you dealt with burnout personally?A: It’s been really hard. We have to give ourselves the space to not be as effective as we used to be. We’re tired, and nothing about this is normal. I really did try to follow my own rules and take moments for myself – sitting outside, reading some fiction, walking my dog in nature. I knew the only way I was going to get through this in a healthy way for my kids, was to do this work. And it helped.Every day, every single one of us should look back at the past year and pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘I made it.’ More
The government will launch another round of tax and fee cuts to support businesses and help them make infrastructure investments “appropriately” ahead of time, according to a readout from an internal meeting by the finance ministry on fiscal policy for 2022. China has issued 1.46 trillion yuan ($229 billion) in the 2022 advance quota for local government special bonds to help spur investment and support the economy.The world’s second-largest economy, which has lost steam after a solid recovery from the pandemic last year, faces multiple challenges as a property downturn deepens, supply bottlenecks persist and strict COVID-19 curbs hit consumer spending.Fiscal expenditures will be kept up to bolster growth and the central government will step up transfers to local governments to support necessary spending, the finance ministry said. China will also take steps to curb increases in local government hidden debt in 2022, according to the meeting readout, as well as to maintain “overall social stability” ahead of the 20th congress of the ruling Communist Party next year. More
LONDON/TORONTO (Reuters) -Toronto-Dominion Bank is leading the charge of cash-rich Canadian banks seeking to make a foray in the United States and find growth away from their home turf where the Big Six banks already control nearly 90% of the market.Billions of dollars of excess cash amassed during a nearly two-year moratorium on capital redistributions that was only lifted last month, and share prices close to record highs have given Canadian banks an acquisition currency to bet on the exit and downsizings of several European and international banks.The sale of BNP Paribas (OTC:BNPQY)’ U.S. unit, Bank of the West (BancWest), is the latest example of pent-up demand, with Toronto-Dominion Bank battling it out with rival Canadian lender Bank of Montreal, two sources familiar with the matter said.Bank of Montreal said on Monday it will buy BNP Paribas’ unit, Bank of the West, for $16.3 billion in its biggest deal ever.TD, Canada’s second-largest bank by market value, had looked at every major asset portfolio that came up for sale, including the U.S. businesses sold by Mitsubishi UFJ (NYSE:MUFG) in September and BBVA (MC:BBVA) in November 2020, the sources said.It remains on the hunt for acquisitions in the United States after its narrow loss to BMO.TD and BMO spokespersons did not comment on the bidding process or future growth plans in the United States. MUFG declined comment on the Canadian banks’ interest in their assets and BBVA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Banking is a scale, technology and sophistication game,” said Brian Madden, portfolio manager at Goodreid Investment Counsel.He added that Canadian banks already in the United States are well placed to scale up their U.S. operations since they “happen to be directly adjacent to the largest banking market on the planet.”TD executives said earlier this year that the bank “will not be shy” to do a bank deal in the U.S. Southeast or in any area where it currently has operations, primarily on the East Coast.Having missed out on some big acquisitions, TD is now likely to turn its attention to smaller banks, one of the sources said.Along with TD and BMO, Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Bank of Nova Scotia and National Bank of Canada (OTC:NTIOF) round out Canada’s Big Six banks.TD is one of the top 10 banks in the United States, and Royal Bank owns City National, the ninth-largest bank in California by deposits.Royal Bank has also been undergoing U.S. expansion, although Canada’s biggest lender is more focused on its wealth management https://www.reuters.com/article/us-rbc-wealth-idUSKBN25U1I6 business in the United States. And CIBC, which entered the United States in 2017 with its acquisition of PrivateBancorp, has said it is aiming for increased earnings from the country in the coming years. Royal Bank did not respond to a request for comment. CIBC declined to comment.BMO’S CHASEBMO had pursued BancWest after losing out on the U.S. retail business of MUFG, Japan’s biggest lender, one of the sources said. MUFG ended up selling its U.S. retail business to U.S. Bancorp for $8 billion. BMO made a competitive bid for MUFG’s assets, and its disappointment at losing out propelled Canada’s fourth-largest bank to move fast on the BancWest sale, the source said.BNP Paribas, advised by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) and JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM), entered parallel discussions with both TD and BMO, raising pressure on both bidders to finalise their offers as it fretted that regulatory headwinds could hamper the sale, the sources said.BNP Paribas did not respond to a request for comment.While TD initially made a low bid and subsequently raised it, BMO was more aggressive with its first proposal and was quick at declaring its offer “best and final” in December after offering a final sweetener, one of the sources said.The deal will make BMO the 16th biggest bank by assets in the United States, up from 19th now, and lifts its assets to nearly $300 billion.By merging with U.S. rivals, Canadian banks with an existing U.S. presence are expected to extract better returns from these businesses than smaller players, even when they appear to pay a premium as BMO did for BancWest, said Anthony Visano, portfolio manager at Kingwest & Co.”Sometimes the strategic value trumps the financial consideration,” Goodreid Investment’s Madden said. More
NEW YORK (Reuters) – If there is a singular skill that got us through the last couple of years in one piece, it is creativity.One organization far ahead of the curve on creative thinking is The LEGO Group. Its chief product and marketing officer, Julia Goldin, spoke with Reuters about unlocking and developing this critical skill – not just at the C-Suite, but across entire organizations.Q: Why is creativity important to an organization?A: Usually people think about creativity in terms of art or theater or performance. We know from the work we have done, that creativity is a much bigger set of skills with much broader applications.It’s essential and becoming more essential than ever before. In the workforce, creativity can apply to problem-solving, resilience, coming up with ideas, evolving those ideas and finding solutions. Q: What is the best way to encourage creativity?A: We use LEGO bricks not just in our training sessions, but even in our daily work. They provide an opportunity for teams to come together. For example, once a year we have a global ‘Play Day’ where we bring all employees into environments where they can play and learn and build connections.Q: Can you give an example?A: One of the things we did during COVID was to use the bricks we had at home, to build a model of what our experience and state of mind was like. When you make something like that, it pushes you to think of what you want to communicate, and how to make it tangible.Some people’s models showed how torn they were between working and taking care of children; or what was giving them pleasure, like gardening or making dinner. The bricks gave everyone the opportunity to be open about what they were going through, to create stronger emotional connections and bonding.Q: During COVID-19 especially, how has it been important for companies to think in out-of-the-box ways?A: Most companies the last couple of years have encountered issues and challenges that never could have been predicted. So creative problem-solving and flexibility have become extremely important. Many changes needed to take place, and rapidly.Whether the issue was your influence on the environment, or supply chain shortages, or more pronounced social issues, or even taking care of your own workforce, all these things have required companies to be much more creative.Q: Adults tend to be fixed in our thinking. How do you take inspiration from kids?A: We always talk about children being our role models. They have huge imaginations and a lot of flexibility. When they build with LEGO bricks, they can foresee a huge number of different outcomes, and are constantly exploring, and are comfortable with things not working at first.The way to learn how to walk is by falling down, and children are not afraid to make mistakes. We can all learn a lot from children and apply that to how we work ourselves.Q: As a leader, how do you communicate those values of creativity to a large organization?A: By being very simple and ensuring everyone, including leadership, understands the message. For example, when we do things at the company, we all do them. If we have all been given a ‘play box’ of bricks, executive leadership teams will sit down and do exactly the same thing.That way when new people come into the organization, they understand where we’re coming from. It comes down to clear communication, and consistent, frequent, hands-on learning.Q: Since you work in product development as well, do you have a favorite product?A: That’s like asking me about my favorite child. I couldn’t pick one, but right now I am building the Barcelona soccer stadium with my two sons. They are both big fans. Also I worked recently on a grand piano; I’m a pianist myself, so that was very special. I have quite a few other big boxes waiting for me, but I’m waiting until I have more time.Q: What advice do you have for other companies about fostering creativity?A: Creativity needs to be seen in a broader sense – not just artistic ideas, but something that is important for everybody. We can all be creative in solving problems. Secondly, you have to create the right environment of trust and psychological safety. Then people are not afraid to make mistakes. When people know they will be heard, that facilitates creativity, no matter where they sit in the organization. More
The Bank of Mexico’s outgoing governor has spoken out about the importance of protecting the bank’s constitutional mandate as the institution faces mounting political pressure from President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and his party.The bank’s autonomy was recently called into question when López Obrador withdrew his nominee to be the next governor and replaced him with a little-known public sector economist.Outgoing governor Alejandro Díaz de León said he was confident the bank would continue to fulfil its mandates so long as its legal framework stayed intact.“The key thing is to conserve the constitutional mandate and the law that the bank has today,” Díaz de León told the Financial Times in an interview. “I think those are the best guarantee that an environment of stability and low inflation can be maintained.”Victoria Rodríguez Ceja will take over from January 1 as the first female governor of the bank, leading a majority-female board.Tensions between the central bank and politicians began to mount last year when a bill proposed by lawmakers from the ruling Morena party sought to force it to buy excess dollars. The proposal would have undermined the bank’s autonomy, critics said. It was eventually shelved after strong opposition.The central bank’s board also ran into political controversy this year when it pushed back against López Obrador’s attempt to use Mexico’s share of a global liquidity injection from the IMF to pay off public debt. The back and forth with the president and his party was part of the normal functioning of democracy, Díaz de León said.Central banks are at the forefront of a global push to try to slow rising inflation, and last week many of them tightened policy more aggressively. Policymakers face “a critical situation for the handling of monetary policy”, Díaz de León said. “It’s very clear that central banks can do their jobs better in an autonomous framework and it’s really important to preserve that.”The Bank of Mexico has faced a delicate balance in steering the country’s fragile emergence from the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. A sudden output contraction in the third quarter of this year put pressure on its five-member board not to choke off the recovery by raising rates too fast. Yet Mexico faces spiralling inflation, leaving them with a dilemma. The pace of price growth has hit its highest in 20 years, pushing the bank to surprise markets by raising rates sharply at its meeting earlier this month.Despite this, Díaz de León cautioned that Mexico was not necessarily targeting substantial future rate rises.“Sometimes it looks like there are two tracks, the track of 25 [percentage point rate rises] and the track of 50 . . . The truth is in the bank we don’t see it that way,” he said. “Going forward all the options are available and none are predefined.”Mexico has experienced outflows of foreign funds in equities and government securities since the beginning of the pandemic, another factor that could put pressure on the bank to raise rates in a bid to attract foreign capital. However, Díaz de León played down the economic impact. “The adjustment has been ordered and gradual,” he said. “We hope that as the risk settles even more, the appetite for instruments in local currency may also reappear.”After taking power in December 2018, López Obrador implemented a sweeping austerity drive that he held firm on during the pandemic. The IMF, which has in the past advocated for tight spending rules, urged the government to raise its spending to tackle the economic impact of Covid.The Bank of Mexico lost staff in the early months of López Obrador’s administration, particularly after a law was passed limiting public sector salaries. The rotation in headcount had stabilised since then, Díaz de León said. More
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s retail sales rose faster than expected in November, thanks to decreasing COVID-19 cases, which have encouraged shoppers to ramp up spending on goods and services.To boost support the economy, the government on Friday approved a record $940 billion budget for fiscal 2022, a week after the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep the ultra-loose monetary policy.Retail sales gained 1.9% in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Monday, versus economists’ median forecast for a 1.7% gain.It followed a 0.9% advance in October, which had marked the first rise in three months.Compared with the previous month, retail sales increased 1.2% in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a downwardly revised 1.0% rise in October.Nationwide daily COVID-19 cases in Japan continued falling through November to fewer than one per million people earlier this month.The government lifted curbs in September and has not reinstated them, except for strict border controls to stop the spread of the new Omicron variant.The world’s third-largest economy is set to rebound by an annualised 6.1% in the current quarter from a 3.6% slump in July-September, according to the latest Reuters poll of economists. More
Robert Bell was the sales executive and owner of Bell Medical Solutions, generating high volumes of revenue managing multi-million-dollar accounts.”I got involved with crypto shortly after the market crashed,”
Bell explained.”As an early investor in NFTs, I realized the potential, but there was also no easy way to show off these digital works of art. I knew there was a better way.”
Bell launched his own NFT marketplace in 2021, intending to create virtual spaces where NFTs could be genuinely appreciated. He reached out to a childhood friend, Andrew Bjarnsen, to help develop NFT galleries.Bjarnsen graduated from Laguna College of Art and Design with a master’s in fine arts in Art of Game Design. His University of Southern California team had developed an “electrifying VR rhythm game” called Super Nova, which was selected as a finalist for the 2018 IEEE GameSIG Showcase in 2018, according to LCAD. This game laid the groundwork for Bjarnsen’s gaming studio.”We started talking about his video game projects and my NFT marketplace, and we decided to combine the two,”
Bell said.Bell and Bjarnsen founded 2B3D Inc. to develop a VR metaverse filled with NFTs using their combined marketing, cryptocurrency, and game design expertise. But why stop there? They also wanted to make a difference in the real world, and for good reason.Bjarnsen had recently returned from a U.S. Army deployment in Afghanistan, serving as a combat medic.”I quickly recognized that something had changed in my friend,”
Bell said.Like many veterans returning from Afghanistan at the time, Bjarnsen had difficulty recovering after experiencing a traumatic event. The condition, known as post-traumatic stress disorder, could last months or years, with triggers that bring back memories of the trauma accompanied by intense emotional and physical reactions. Other symptoms include nightmares, unwanted memories of the trauma, avoidance of situations that bring back memories, heightened reactions, anxiety, or depression.Veterans who have seen combat or feel isolated are the most vulnerable to thoughts of suicide. Twenty to 30 percent of veterans who commit suicide also screened positive for PTSD. Many more go undiagnosed.Bell immediately thought of his friend.”Honestly, my ‘aha’ moment was when I looked at the 580 veteran suicides last year,”
Bell said.”When I wrote that number down and really did that math, that’s when something changed in me. I no longer wanted to make something that was just fun or cool, but something that could help heal and save lives. I knew it needed to be done as fast as possible.”
2B3D’s flagship project is a gamified VR mental health solution called VRx, for veterans who have PTSD.VR therapy, or the use of VR technology for psychological or therapeutic rehabilitation, is backed by more than 25 Years of scientific research. The Office of Naval Research believes VR therapy, with its game-like qualities, could resonate with the current generation of warfighters. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, video games can help veterans recover from post-traumatic stress.In an open clinical trial of VR therapy by the Office of Naval Research, veterans with PTSD experienced a 56 to 90 percent drop in stress response measurements. Another 46 percent of veterans no longer screened positive for PTSD after receiving treatment in VR.”I get phone calls from strangers who are desperate for this solution,”
Bell explained.”Once I realized that every day closer to our goal has the potential to save hundreds of lives, I stopped sleeping as much. I knew we had to get this done.”
With VRx preloaded on VR headsets, veterans with PTSD could step into soothing virtual environments integrated with neurocognitive mini-games designed with data points using research-backed by neuroscientists and neuropsychologists.Additionally, 2B3D has partnered with the veteran-owned and operated nonprofit Forge Forward Project to conduct a peer-reviewed study of VRx using the most advanced imaging and testing protocols in the world. With six different cognitive tests performed inside MRI machines, neuroscientists can measure the effects that their VR games have on neurovascular coupling, which is the connection between neurons and blood flow in the brain. By processing more than 7000 near real-time images of the brain and comparing them to a healthy control database, Forge Forward Project aims to show how, exactly, VRx’s neurocognitive mini-games jumpstart the healing process in the brain.Veterans will also be able to use VRx for socialization, community building, and connecting with crisis response managers or mental health therapists in a safe virtual space from anywhere in the world.2B3D is the first tech company of its kind to use virtual reality technology to provide peace and healing to veterans for free. VRx is currently under development, with alpha tests starting early 2022. They are currently seeking investors and major partners in this effort.”I know we can do more,”
Bell said.”We now have the research and expertise to make a real difference. It’s time to end veteran suicide. Because we should.”EMAIL NEWSLETTERJoin to get the flipside of cryptoUpgrade your inbox and get our DailyCoin editors’ picks 1x a week delivered straight to your inbox.[contact-form-7]
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