Tag: shares

  • Sundar Pichai wishes Happy Diwali, shares top ‘why’ questions on the tradition

    Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Sunday wished Happy Diwali to all who celebrate and shared top trending “why” questions about the Diwali traditions people searching globally.

    “Happy Diwali to all who celebrate! We’re seeing lots of interest about Diwali traditions on Search, here are a few of the top trending “why” questions worldwide,” Pichai posted on X.

    He shared a GIF in his post that shows a lamp with five numbers pointed around it that represents the top five questions people searching globally on the occasion of Diwali.

    On clicking the numbers, it displays the question people are looking for.

    Sundar Pichai

    Sundar PichaiIANS

    The top question people searched globally was “Why Indians celebrate Diwali”.

    The other questions were, “Why do we do rangoli on Diwali”, “Why do we light lamps on Diwali”, “Why is Lakshmi puja done on Diwali”, and “Why oil bath on Diwali”, respectively.

    Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with Pichai, where they discussed Google’s plan to participate in expanding the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India.

    Diwali

    DiwaliIANS

    Modi appreciated Google’s partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India. He acknowledged Google’s 100 languages initiative and encouraged efforts to make AI tools available in Indian languages.

    Modi also encouraged Google to work on AI tools for good governance.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • AirAsia CEO shares shirtless massage photo on LinkedIn; sparks controversy [details]

    Tony Fernandez, the CEO of Air Asia, has been criticised by scores of people for posting a shirtless photo while getting a massage on the business and employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn.

    “Was a stressful week and Veranita Yosephine suggested a massage. Got to love Indonesia and AirAsia culture, that I can have a massage and do a management meeting! We are making big progress and I have now finalised Capital A structure. Exciting days ahead. Proud of what we have built and never have lost sight of the finish,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn.

    The Malaysian entrepreneur’s LinkedIn post with a picture, shared on Monday, shows him receiving a desk-side massage during a virtual meeting.

    Air Asia CEO

    Air Asia CEOLinkedIn

    This post has garnered hundreds of reactions. Some individuals have alleged that the Malaysian millionaire deleted unfavourable comments on the post.

    “A grown man, who is the chief executive of a publicly listed company, conducts a management meeting with his shirt off as he gets a massage. Remove “who is the chief executive of a publicly listed company” and it is still inappropriate,” commented Nathalie D Ramirez.

    Air Asia CEO

    Air Asia CEOIANS

    “I see my comment got deleted, which must have been a mistake, so I’ll add it again. I don’t think the women in your company would feel comfortable or safe in this context, and given you’re the boss, they likely won’t challenge you or say anything. Please for their sake, listen to the comments you’ve deleted on this post. You are clearly a smart leader that cares about culture but this isn’t the way to create a supportive, safe one,” comments another LinkedIn user, Rebecca Nadilo.

    “Work at AirAsia, where meetings are as gross as our passenger experience. You have managed to capture everything from inappropriate entitlement to exemplary C Suite tone deafness in a single image. Bravo,” commented Anton Reyniers.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • Walmart paid $3.5 bn to buy Flipkart shares from Binny Bansal, Tiger Global & others

    Retail big Walmart has paid round $3.5 billion to purchase shares in e-commerce main Flipkart from non-controlling stakeholders, together with co-founder Binny Bansal and high funding companies Tiger Global and Accel, amongst others.

    In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitting within the US, the corporate stated that throughout the six months ended July 31, 2023, “the corporate paid $3.5 billion to purchase shares from sure Flipkart non-controlling curiosity holders and settle the legal responsibility to former non-controlling curiosity holders of PhonePe”.

    Additionally, throughout the six months ended July 31, the corporate obtained $0.7 billion associated to new rounds of fairness funding for the corporate’s majority-owned PhonePe subsidiary.

    Walmart Paid $3.5 Bn To Buy Flipkart Shares From Binny Bansal, Tiger Global & Others

    Walmart Paid $3.5 Bn To Buy Flipkart Shares From Binny Bansal, Tiger Global & OthersIANS

    Bansal reportedly obtained about $1-$1.5 billion from his shareholding in Flipkart.

    Binny, together with Sachin Bansal, exited Flipkart after promoting it to Walmart in 2018 for round $16 billion.

    Last 12 months, Binny Bansal bought his stake value $264 million (greater than Rs 2,000 crore) within the homegrown e-commerce platform to Chinese Internet big Tencent.

    In July, retail big Walmart paid $1.4 billion to purchase VC type Tiger Global’s remaining shares in Flipkart. According to a report in Wall Street Journal, Walmart paid the cash to increase Flipkart’s stake.

    Walmart bought Tiger Global’s remaining holding in Flipkart to additional cement its management of the Indian e-commerce big.

    Over-packaging by e-commerce giants no more; Flipkart shows the eco-friendly way

    Tiger Global made an general acquire of $3.5 billion on an funding of $1.2 billion.

    Flipkart was earlier valued at $37.6 billion in a 2021 funding spherical. Walmart had 72 per cent share in Flipkart as final reported.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • SoftBank likely sold 10 cr shares in Zomato for Rs 947 crore; stock up [details]

    Around 10 crore shares of on-line meals supply platform Zomato, amounting to an 1.17 per cent of the corporate’s fairness, modified palms on Wednesday at a complete deal worth of round Rs 947 crore.

    Japanese firm SoftBank’s SVF Growth Fund is the likely vendor in this mega transaction, in accordance with CNBC TV18.

    The report had earlier mentioned that SVF Growth Fund could promote 10 crore shares of the corporate or 1.17 per cent of the whole fairness through block offers at Rs 94 per share.

    SVF Growth (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. had 3.35 per cent stake in Zomato, totalling round 28 crore shares.

    SoftBank

    SoftBankIANS

    Zomato shares reached close to Rs 100 after the block deal, and had been hovering round Rs 98.45 in morning.

    The contemporary block sale got here after one other international institutional investor, Tiger Global Management, offloaded its complete shareholding of 1.44 per cent in Zomato on Monday.

    The deal earned Tiger Global a complete of Rs 1,123.85 crore.

    US-based funding main, through its VC fund Internet Fund III Pte Ltd, exited on-line meals supply platform Zomato.

    zomato

    Zomato advertIANS

    The VC agency sold round 12.34 crore shares or 1.44 per cent stake in Zomato at a median value of Rs 91.01 per share.

    Brokerage agency HSBC maintained its purchase ranking on Zomato and raised its value goal to Rs 120 from Rs 102 earlier.

    The be aware mentioned that hyperlocal can turn into a a lot larger enterprise for Zomato in the long-term. Zomato’s stock is likely to be risky in the close to time period on account of market hypothesis round attainable exits by some pre-IPO shareholders (VC/PE/Chinese buyers) of the corporate in addition to erstwhile shareholders of Blinkit who had obtained it underneath a share swap deal, JM Financial Institutional Securities had mentioned in its current report.

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • Data Protection Bill explained: Industry expert shares insights, implications, demand and more

    As the Monsoon Session is underway, Personal Data Protection Bill is among the key ordinances listed for the session. After being cleared within the latest cupboard assembly, the invoice is headed to the monsoon session of the Parliament. As per the provisions of the invoice, if one’s private information is misused, it is going to entail a tremendous of as much as Rs 500 crore, sources stated. The invoice may have jurisdiction over the processing of digital private information in India. This contains information collected on-line or offline and later digitised. The invoice will even apply to the processing of information outdoors of India if it entails providing items or companies or profiling people in India.

    In the midst of India’s technological panorama, the place information safety and privateness have turn into paramount considerations, Sunil Chandna, the founder and CEO of Stellar Data Recovery spoke to International Business Times in regards to the Data Protection Bill. As an expert within the discipline of information restoration and safety, Chandna sheds mild on the upcoming Data Protection Bill in India and its far-reaching influence on companies and people alike. With a give attention to empowering people and guaranteeing compliance, this invoice is about to redefine how firms deal with private information and foster a tradition of belief within the digital realm.

    Data protection

    Data safetyIANS

    In this interview, Chandna shares his views on the invoice’s implications, the necessity for stringent compliance, and the rising demand for information safety options in at this time’s evolving panorama. Stellar’s Bitraser and different merchandise are additionally utilized by RBI, WHO, Google and others, and it provides a stiff competitors to worldwide gamers by serving more than 3 million plus shoppers throughout 190 nations for the final 30 years. 

    Below are the excerpts from interview with Sunil Chandna, Founder and CEO of Stellar Data Recovery, on the Data Protection Bill in India.

    IBT: The impending Data Protection Bill in India is predicted to carry important modifications. How will it influence firms, and what can Indians count on from the brand new invoice?

    Sunil Chandna: The Data Protection Bill goals to safeguard the privateness and private information of Indians, which is able to undoubtedly influence each companies and people. Companies might want to get hold of specific consent for information assortment, storage, and utilization, fostering transparency and accountability in dealing with delicate data. This shift will promote a tradition of belief between shoppers and companies.

    For people, the invoice empowers them with higher management over their private information, granting entry to, correction, and deletion choices. Indians can count on more transparency relating to how their information is used and shared, permitting them to train higher management over their on-line presence. This empowerment will carry forth a brand new period of digital rights and privateness consciousness.

    Q: The invoice introduces stricter compliance requirements. How will this variation information processing in India?

    Sunil: The invoice will introduce stringent compliance measures, making it crucial for firms to implement sturdy information safety protocols. Businesses should prioritize person information safety from the start, incorporating privateness issues into their product and service improvement lifecycles. This will end in more safe digital experiences and cut back information breaches. Companies might want to put money into information safety infrastructure, appoint information safety officers, and conduct common audits to make sure compliance.

    Q: What are the penalties for non-compliance with the Data Protection Bill?

    Sunil: The invoice introduces strict penalties for non-compliance. Non-compliant firms might face substantial fines, which could possibly be a set quantity or a proportion of their international turnover, estimated to be round 250 Crore. Fines might escalate based mostly on the severity and length of non-compliance. Additionally, affected people might obtain compensation in instances of information breaches or hurt on account of non-compliance. Authorities might also have the ability to droop or revoke licenses held by non-compliant entities.

    Q: There have been considerations in regards to the Right to Freedom and Right to Information Act within the draft invoice. How does the invoice tackle these considerations shared by main expertise firms like MAGMA?

    Sunil: The Data Protection Bill is more likely to strike a steadiness between defending people’ privateness and addressing the considerations of main expertise firms like MAGMA. It supplies clear tips and laws on information assortment, processing, and sharing, permitting firms to know their obligations and implement mandatory measures. The invoice can also be more likely to provide flexibility in implementing privateness measures based mostly on the dimensions and nature of organizations, avoiding undue burden on smaller companies whereas guaranteeing information safety. It emphasizes acquiring specific consent from people earlier than information assortment and strengthens person rights.

    Q: What are you witnessing when it comes to demand for information safety options, and have you ever acquired any noteworthy suggestions from shoppers?

    Sunil: We are witnessing heightened curiosity amongst Indian IT companies in getting ready for the upcoming privateness legislation. Many organizations lack a well-defined information disposal coverage and are weak to information breach dangers. Awareness about implementing safe machine disposal expertise can also be missing. Our product line, Bitraser, meets the present market demand and is utilized by Fortune 500 firms, authorities organizations, SMEs, and service suppliers worldwide. The latest information breach incidents, just like the one involving Morgan Stanley, have elevated consciousness, and organizations are wanting to implement media sanitization software program to make sure no residual information is left on gadgets that depart their custody.

    Sunil Chandana, Founder and CEO of Stellar Data Recovery.

    Sunil Chandna, Founder and CEO of Stellar Data Recovery.

  • How AI will transform education, Coursera founder shares insights at a Startup Conclave

    Bengaluru  12, July 2023: Jeff Maggioncalda, CEO of Coursera, a U.S.-based large open on-line course supplier, shared his views at the Moneycontrol Startup Conclave, on the subject of ‘Navigating edtech within the AI period.

    On being advised by his engineers, “Hey Jeff, these items is getting fairly highly effective”, Jeff mentioned how he then needed to get his palms onto ChatGPT by early December of 2022. Since then, Coursera has moved fairly aggressively to combine a ChatGPT implementation of a personalised studying assistant referred to as Coursera Coach. It works on 5000 programs.

    On being requested whether or not he thinks AI will save or destroy training, he mentioned, “I believe training has to adapt. Every time the world is altering, all the pieces has to adapt. Relationships, establishments, all the pieces. We’re all going to have to alter the best way we use instruments and even the best way we use know-how as a thought accomplice.”

    “We’re utilizing a giant language mannequin, we’re not truly doing a lot of fine-tuning proper now, and we’re developing prompts which have the type of context that a tutor would wish to present you personalised prompts. So, it permits the language fashions to be actually good at language, however the area experience comes from the college and the professor. We are rolling it out and, a little over 25% of our learners have entry to Coursera Coach.”

    On the impression of generative AI on youngsters’ studying talents, Maggioncalda mentioned, “The functionality of this know-how is sort of exceptional, and I used to be apprehensive that it was giving me too good of a solution. So, we’re all determining how one can assist a learner with out letting them cheat. Cheating is a very massive risk to the best way folks study. So, we need to lend help, not give them the entire reply. The pupil nonetheless has to do all of the work.”

    “The pandemic was a main accelerator within the adoption of know-how for educating and studying. But even now as folks return to highschool, we’re seeing actually robust adoption of on-line studying in bodily school rooms. I believe we will by no means return to a world of printed textbooks, with each pupil and each instructor in the identical class. So, I believe it’s going to be a hybrid world. Even college students on campus are taking programs on Coursera, and our programs turning into a a part of the curriculum. So, it’s a hybrid world, and all of us should be fairly agile, as a result of the world is altering fairly shortly,” he added.

  • Dividend-paying stocks, bonus shares, and buyback of shares

    Taxability and tax benefits with insurance policies

    by Amit Gupta, MD, SAG Infotech

    To reward their long-term traders, a number of companies have lately introduced inventory dividends, share buybacks, and the problem of bonus shares. However one ought to be conscious that as a result of these advantages are seen as revenue by the shareholders, they’re topic to revenue tax. Let’s look at the taxation of dividend-paying shares, share buybacks, and bonus shares.

    Tax on equities that produce dividends or interim dividends

    According to tax and monetary consultants, an intermediate or remaining dividend is an additional revenue earned by a inventory market investor that doesn’t want the sale of portfolio shares. As a consequence, it’s seen as additional revenue by the traders, and on the time of submitting an revenue tax return (ITR), it’s added to 1’s yearly revenue. Income tax is then assessed relying on the taxpayer’s tax bracket after this addition.

    Bonus share tax

    Bonus shares don’t have any tax repercussions for shareholders, Yet, the bonus ratio impacts how a lot the market value per share modifications.

    Tax on Share Buybacks

    Every home agency that buys again its personal shares is topic to tax at a fee of 20% plus a surcharge of 12% plus any related cess, in accordance with Section 115QA of the IT Act.

    Buyback is topic to a 20% company tax on the distinction between the share’s problem value and the repurchase value. It is a dispensation within the shareholder’s favour.

    How are taxes utilized to equities that pay dividends, bonus shares, and share buybacks calculated?

    In the case of dividend-paying equities, traders should pay taxes primarily based on their revenue tax bracket.

    As beforehand famous, the business-level revenue tax fee of 20% plus cess is used within the occasion of share buybacks. Moreover, bonus shares don’t have any tax penalties.

    How do I submit taxes for equities that pay dividends, bonus shares, and share buybacks?

    Dividend shares have to be reported on the ITR as Income from Other Sources.

    How are bonus shares taxed? Compute your revenue tax

    Bonus shares shouldn’t be included in ITR filings, and with regards to share buybacks, ITR filings ought to consist of this data as Exempt Income.

    Income tax rules apply to bonus share gross sales. The company awards present shareholders bonus shares in proportion to their present shares. The distribution of bonus shares has no tax repercussions. strams and the wrmpleling toral of il il il. For bonus shares, the holding time period is calculated from the date of allotment till the date of sale. When bonus shares are bought, tax is charged on the identical fee as it’s on common shares.

    Tax is computed when bonus shares are bought. The price of the bonus share can be the inventory’s closing value on January 31, 2018, if the bonus shares got earlier than that date. The value of the bonus shares can be zero in the event that they have been issued after January 31, 2018.

    A flat 15% revenue tax can be utilized if bonus shares are bought inside a 12 months of issuance since revenue tax on bonus share transactions is calculated on a FIFO (First In First Out) foundation. The bonus share beneficiary is required to pay a ten% tax on any revenue exceeding Rs 1 lakh derived from the issuance of bonus shares if the bonus shares are bought after being held for greater than a 12 months.


    Rekha Nair

  • SVB Collapse: Germany halts operations, US bank shares collapse

    The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) has ordered the US-based Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) to halt the operations of its Germany department.

    SVB, beforehand the sixteenth largest bank within the US that had been operational for 40 years, collapsed final week.

    The BaFin “has issued a ban right now for Silicon Valley Bank Germany Branch on disposals and funds, because the establishment is susceptible to being unable to fulfill its obligations in the direction of its collectors,” it stated in a press release on Monday.

    SVB

    This photograph taken March 11, 2023, exhibits the emblem of Silicon Valley Bank at its headquarters in California. (Yonhap/IANS)IANS

    The watchdog additionally ordered the bank to be closed for enterprise with prospects, Xinhua information company reported.

    Unlike its mother or father firm based mostly in California within the US, the Germany department has been operational since May 2018 and it doesn’t conduct deposit enterprise in Germany.

    “Silicon Valley Bank Germany Branch will not be systemically essential,” the BaFin assertion stated.

    Citing the end-2022 monetary statements of Silicon Valley Bank Germany Branch, BaFin stated that its complete belongings amounted to 789.2 million euros ($844 million).

    Biden reassures US banks

    US President Joe Biden’s phrases of reassurance on Monday have finished little to calm markets as “worries raced round that different smaller US banks might turn into the most recent dominos to fall”, as per an professional, media studies stated.

    Susannah Streeter, head of cash and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, stated her admission that recent laws could also be wanted to cease additional failures exposes weaknesses within the present system and now lawmakers shall be requested to toughen the principles, The Guardian reported.

    So, despite the fact that the collapse has centred on a small tech-focused nook of the monetary system, the fall-out dangers spreading. The period of low cost cash has hurtled to an finish and buyers are waking as much as some dramatic extremely unintended penalties, she added.

    US Bank shares tumble

    Streeter stated the realisation that regulatory motion is not stopping the rot has led to sharp falls in a few of Wall Street’s greatest banking names in early commerce equivalent to Wells Fargo down 7.5 per cent, Citigroup down 6 per cent, and Bank of America down 7 per cent. Despite the beautiful daring regulatory motion, buyers have nonetheless been shaken by the occasions of the previous few days and are extremely nervous about spilling over and creating swimming pools of recent issues.

    US bank

    US BankIANS

    The freefall of shares in a raft of smaller lenders together with First Republic Bank, Western Alliance Bancorp, and PacWest Bancorp exhibits the extent of the contagion issues with shareholder confidence evaporating, Streeter stated, The Guardian reported.

    Investor have dumped bank shares around the globe. In London, Standard Chartered is down 6 per cent with Barclays shedding 5 per cent. The market is sending a constant message right now: it fears {that a} US recession is about to start out, The Guardian reported.

    George Saravelos, a strategist at Deutsche Bank, stated: “We are actually pricing in Fed cuts somewhat than hikes, the yield curve is bull steepening sharply, commodities and equities are down with cyclicals under-performing. This is all according to an imminent US recession.”

    (With inputs from IANS)

  • Announcements on loan repayments work, Adani shares recover, group clears margin-linked share-backed loans of $2.15 billion

    The first course of motion for Adani Group now lies in elevating credibility, and assembly debt obligations. Ever for the reason that Hindenburg Report, the group has been additionally centered on chopping its debt with the intention to assuage investor issues.

    Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani

    Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani addresses in the course of the Bengal Global Business Summit 2022 in Kolkata on April 20, 2022IANS

    Shares of 5 Adani firms specifically Adani Enterprises Ltd, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas had been on focus after the group introduced that it had accomplished all the prepayment of margin-linked share-backed financing forward of the committee deadline of March 31, 2023. The quantity equalling $2.15 billion is one of the slew of initiatives taken by the group as half of debt discount methods to revive investor confidence.

    Share costs rise 

    Stock Market

    Stock MarketIANS

    On Thursday, March 13 the shares of Adani Power opened at 211. 70 from the Friday’s shut of 204.90. The inventory worth of flagship Adani Enterprises additionally picked up and opened at 1902 from Friday’s shut of 1896.45. The scrip of Adani Green touched a excessive of 716.80 from March 10 closing worth of 682.70. Keeping with the rising development, inventory costs of Adani Transmission additionally rose and opened at 949.65 from March 10 closing worth of 904.45. Adani Total Gas additionally grew to become a significant gainer by buying and selling at 997.05 by midday on Monday from the earlier shut of 949.60.

    Cruel ironies of time

    It’s the identical group that was not way back outlined by two key phrases; acquisition and enlargement. Last 12 months, in a single of the headline-grabbing $10.5 billion deal, Adani group picked up Holcim Group’s total stake in two Indian corporations—Ambuja Cements and ACC. Holcim offered its 63.19 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements Ltd and 54.53 per cent in ACC to Adani Group. By buying the 2 main Indian cement gamers, the group grew to become the second largest cement participant within the nation.
    Lately, there have been media stories of the group considering promoting 4-5 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements to boost funds. A Financial Times report stated that on Thursday Adani made a proper request to worldwide lenders to promote 4-5 per cent stake in Ambuja Cements for about $450 million.

    Meanwhile, with the intention to improve fairness contribution, the group has additionally pay as you go the $500 million facility availed off for financing the Ambuja acquisition. The promoters, accordingly, have infused $2.6 billion out of the whole acquisition worth of $6.6 billion for Ambuja Cements and ACC.
    The group is more likely to make an announcement on the identical, anytime this week, with GQG Partners being one of probably the most possible patrons, reported Businessline quoting sources inside to the matter. Notably, GQG was additionally the primary main investor in Adani Group after Hindenburg’s explosive report got here out. It bought shares in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and Adani Transmission and Adani Green Energy.

    Announcements on loan repayments work

    News stories of the group having the ability to slowly meet its debt obligations and bulletins on loan repayments, the shares of the Adani Group recovered marginally. As a consequence, the wealth of Gautam Adani upped to $56.17 billion, from hitting the low of $37.7 billion on February 27. Gautam Adani at the moment ranks at 21 on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index after falling to thirtieth spot earlier.
    Meanwhile, the investigation, ordered by the Supreme Court of India to market regulator SEBI to look into accounting frauds and inventory manipulation, continues to be underway.

  • Sensex, Nifty open high, Adani Ent shares surge 8%

    Indian home fairness indice Sensex opened excessive on Monday at 450 factors and is hovering round 500 factors at 60,400 factors whereas Nifty opened above 17,680 factors and is about 200 factors above with Adani Enterprises gaining a steep 8 per cent rise.

    Indian shares logged weekly positive aspects on Friday after U.S. boutique funding agency GQG Partners’ $1.87 billion investments in Adani group shares spurred a broad-based rally and improved threat sentiment. Both Nifty 50 and Sensex posted their greatest day in practically 4 months.

    FII ended up as internet consumers final week because of an influx of a whopping ₹12,770.81 crore which is almost definitely as a result of mega-buying from international traders in 4 of Adani firms. US-based GQG Partners bought fairness shares value an enormous ₹15,446 crore in a sequence of secondary block offers in Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports, and Adani Transmission.

    Sensex

    IANS

    Indian shares logged weekly positive aspects on Friday after US-based funding agency GQG Partners’ picked $1.87 billion stake in Adani shares that spurred a broad rally throughout the market.

    The stake buy by the Australia-listed funding agency marked the primary main funding in billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate since a short-seller’s essential report resulted in seven of the Indian group’s listed companies dropping about $130 billion in market worth in a month.

    Adani Group

    Adani GroupIANS

    Adani shares surged on Friday easing considerations in regards to the group’s means to draw funding, whereas the conglomerate lined up extra highway exhibits to shore up investor confidence.