AM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for March 22, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Media Outreach

Anchored in a “Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified Channels” Strategy
Technology and Premium Sports Resources Drive Our Competitive Edge

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 19 March 2026 – Li Ning Company Limited (the “Company” or “Li Ning Company”; together with the subsidiaries, the “Group”; stock codes: 2331 (HKD counter) and 82331 (RMB counter)) today announced its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2025 (the “Year”).

Financial Results

In 2025, the Group continued to enhance the technological features of its products, optimising channel efficiency, and strengthening the brand’s professional positioning, delivering stable operating performance. During the year, the Group’s revenue amounted to RMB29,598 million, representing an increase of 3.2% compared with 2024 (2024: RMB28,676 million). Gross profit amounted to RMB14,489 million, up 2.4% from 2024 (2024: RMB14,156 million). The overall gross profit margin decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 49.0% (2024: 49.4%).

During the year, the net profit attributable to equity holders was RMB2,936 million (2024: RMB3,013 million). The margin of net profit attributable to equity holders was 9.9% (2024: 10.5%). Return on equity attributable to equity holders was 10.9% (2024: 11.9%). Basic earnings per share was RMB113.91 cents (2024: RMB116.98 cents). The Board has recommended the payment of a final dividend of RMB23.36 cents per ordinary share for the year ended 31 December 2025. Together with the interim dividend of RMB33.59 cents per ordinary share paid in September 2025, the total dividend for the year ended 31 December 2025 will amount to RMB56.95 cents per ordinary share or a total dividend payout ratio of 50% (2024: 50%).

In cash flow management, the Group’s net cash generated from operating activities during the year amounted to RMB4,852 million (2024: RMB5,268 million). As at 31 December 2025, cash and cash equivalents (including cash at banks and on hand, and fixed-term deposits with an original maturity of no more than three months) amounted to RMB16,717 million, an increase of RMB9,218 million compared with 31 December 2024. Adding back the amount recorded as fixed-term deposits held at banks, cash balance at 31 December 2025 amounted to RMB19,973 million, representing a net increase of RMB1,833 million compared with 31 December 2024. During the year, revenue increased year-on-year, while cash-based expenses including marketing costs and tax payments rose, coupled with the settlement time lag of e-commerce platforms, leading to a year-on-year decrease in net cash generated from operating activities. Meanwhile, the maturity and redemption of time deposits led to a significant increase in net cash generated from investing activities. The Group will continue to place extra emphasis on cash flow management to ensure the stable development of the Company in the long term.

Operational Summary

In 2025, the Group remained anchored in its “Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified Channels” strategy, advancing development through product upgrades, channel optimisation, and brand marketing.

The Group focused on six core categories—running, basketball, training, badminton, table tennis and sports casual—while actively pursuing opportunities in emerging fields and exploring new sports subcategories, such as outdoor, tennis and pickleball. During the year, the Group continued to upgrade its products through technological innovation and enhance the deployment of professional sports resources, guided by three key pillars: reinforcing a professional sports mindset, showcasing sports-fashion aesthetics, and honouring Chinese cultural heritage. In addition, it worked proactively to strengthen brand influence and increase brand recognition and visibility through diversified, and comprehensive marketing campaigns.

As the official partner of the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Group leveraged its deep expertise and strong professional sports credibility to blend sportsmanship with cutting-edge technology and Eastern aesthetics—all under the narrative theme “China’s Glory, Together with LI-NING.” During the year, it opened the world’s first LI-NING “Loong Store” and launched the “Glory Gold Label” product series, transforming exclusive, top-tier scarce sports resources into a driving force for brand reputation and market recognition, continuously strengthening consumers’ perception of LI-NING’s professional capabilities and product reliability.

In terms of channel development, the Group continued to advance a multi-dimensional channel network layout to expand market coverage while enhancing operational efficiency. In high-end markets, the Group deepened synergistic collaborations with top-tier commercial complexes and leading outlet malls, jointly promoting the planning and implementation of innovative stores. During the year, the Group successfully launched an independent outdoor store “COUNTERFLOW”, marking an important milestone for the brand’s official entry into the outdoor segment. The Group actively carried out cross-industry collaborations, partnering with top IPs embodying Chinese cultural heritage such as the Palace Museum, and launched marketing campaigns by collaborating with channel partners through diverse initiatives, effectively improving brand reach and conversion. In terms of efficiency enhancement, the Group continued to optimize the channel structure and improved rental structures and cooperation models, enhancing overall channel health and operational sustainability through a series of strategic optimization measures. As of 31 December 2025, the LI-NING brand (including LI-NING Core Brand and LI-NING YOUNG) operated a total of 7,609 conventional stores, flagship stores, China LI-NING stores, factory outlets, and multi-brand stores, representing a net increase of 24 POS compared with 31 December 2024.

In terms of retail operations, the Group built a highly profitable, efficient, and replicable single-store operating model. In high-level markets, targeted brand strategies were implemented across key regions, strengthening brand image and improving product operation efficiency through optimised channel structure, store product mix, and shopping experience. The Group established a distribution management model to improve operational efficiency and sustainable development capabilities of the distribution system. In addition, the Group strengthened the efficient coordination between retail outlets and the logistics system. Through refined planning systems, flexible supply chain construction and digital support, channel inventory turnover and full lifecycle product management were realised, thereby comprehensively improving operational quality and efficiency.

In terms of e-commerce operations, the Group made precise deployments that effectively enhanced consumer awareness and market share during major e-commerce campaigns such as Tmall Celebration Day and Tmall Super Product Day. During the year, core IP products such as “Zhui Feng”, “DLO”, “ULTRALIGHT” and “LI REN” delivered outstanding performance, successfully penetrating multiple consumer segments including Gen Z, professional sports and trendy fashion, ranking highly in both sales and reputation across segmented markets. By leveraging top athletes, celebrities, trending events and channel resources, the Group not only enhanced product exposure and achieved traffic acquisition and promotional sales conversion, helping inventory optimisation, but also supported offline business and drove overall revenue growth.

In terms of supply chain, the Group continuously optimised the supplier matrix, aligning high-quality supplier resources for high-end sports, outdoor, premium and sponsored product lines. Meanwhile, the Group aligned with its major product plan by adopting segmented production planning and data-driven management to achieve high-level coordination among product planning, supply chain, logistics, and retail outlets. To improve operational efficiency, the Group adopted multiple measures such as integration of fabric resources, optimization of process structures, large-scale procurement of materials and staggered production scheduling, further improving the cost structure, while enhancing production efficiency. In addition, the Group continued to integrate sustainable development into supply chain management and promoted green products, with the proportion of eco-friendly products exceeding annual targets during the year.

In terms of logistics, the Group launched a channel logistics project to connect the order system with logistics operations, improving product circulation efficiency and fulfilment timeliness. On the digital front, the Group introduced a warehouse coordination system and adopted SKU-level refined management. In terms of automation, automated equipment was introduced into various warehouses, enabling multi-scenario coverage and data visualization management. In December 2025, the East China and North China warehouses took the lead in adopting RFID full-process warehouse management, achieving full-process traceability of logistics data, greatly strengthening inventory management precision, and deployment across all warehouses is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026 to continuously drive cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

In terms of its kidswear business, LI-NING YOUNG continued to focus on professional sports and children’s developmental needs, advancing product optimization and exclusive IP creation. In terms of channel strategy, the Group continued to strengthen outlet channel development, improve single-store efficiency and optimize overall channel structure while accelerating its e-commerce deployment. LI-NING YOUNG maintained a coordinated development of wholesale and direct retail. Through refined management and strategic layout, both scale and quality were improved. In terms of marketing, LI-NING YOUNG centred its efforts around three core pillars “Event Cooperation + User Stories + IP Collaboration” to build professional recognition and accumulate its user foundation, successfully expanding its influence among youth and family demographics. As at 31 December 2025, the total number of LI-NING YOUNG POS was 1,518, representing a net increase of 50 POS since 31 December 2024.

Outlook

Entering 2026, the Group will seize the development opportunities arising from the continuous release of domestic demand potential. The Group will remain committed to its core value of “serving the public with sportsmanship,” meticulously refine its “LI-NING’s experience value,” and strive to become the preferred professional sports brand.

1. Technology-driven product upgrades: The Group will firmly implement the development strategy of “Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified Channels”, empowering product iterative upgrades with technology to build core competitiveness and market differentiation barriers. Relying on the technical accumulation and R&D of the LI-NING technology innovation platform, the Group will focus on deep cultivation of core categories and actively expand into emerging segments such as outdoor sports. The Group aims to respond to increasingly diversified and personalised consumer demands, achieving full-scenario coverage from professional competitive sports to daily wear. By promoting the ingenious integration of cutting-edge technology and fashion design, the Group will create a product system that combines excellent functionality, technological texture, and aesthetic value. Furthermore, the Group will continuously strengthen the efficiency of transforming scientific and technological achievements, promoting the rapid realization of frontier technologies into product competitiveness.

2. Olympic marketing empowering the brand: The Group will drive value creation through sports marketing, establish emotional connections with consumers, and facilitate the steady enhancement of brand value. By continuously deepening the cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Group will seize the development window of the Olympic cycle and promote the brand to achieve a leap from resource cooperation to value co-creation. LI-NING will fully explore the diversified value of the cooperation with the Chinese Olympic Committee. Through systematic marketing layout and technological equipment support, it will convey the story of the mutual growth of LI-NING and Chinese sports, highlighting the technological strength and cultural confidence of the national brand.

3. Dual improvement in quality and efficiency of business operations: The Group will continue to focus on improving quality and efficiency across all aspects of its business. By deepening channel layout, strengthening product operations, and optimising supply chain management, the Group aims to build an efficient operational system, achieve simultaneous improvements in operational quality and efficiency, and lay a solid foundation for the high-quality growth of the enterprise. Offline channels will focus on improving efficiency in high-tier markets and penetrating emerging markets, while exploring new business models. Online channels will strengthen domain synergy and resource integration, promoting complementarity between online and offline channels. In terms of product operations, the Group will optimize the precision of full-chain planning and flexible supply capabilities, and accelerate inventory turnover. The supply chain will achieve coordinated optimization of cost, quality, and delivery time across the entire chain, thereby enhancing overall operational efficiency.

4. Consolidating the foundation to safeguard development: The Group will continuously strengthen three core support capabilities: talent, finance, and digital intelligence, to lay a solid bedrock for high-quality development. In terms of talent strategy, talent development will focus on selection, incentives, and efficiency. In terms of financial management, emphasis will be placed on precise resource allocation and risk control. In terms of digitalization, the Group will promote the deep integration of AI and big data with business operations, enhance operational efficiency and the scientific nature of decision-making, and provide systematic safeguards for the long-term development of the Group.

Mr. Li Ning, Executive Chairman and Joint CEO of the Group, concluded: “2026 marks the first year of the 15^th Five-Year Plan. With the strategic goal of accelerating the development of a sports powerhouse, the nation will further unlock sports consumption potential while driving the transformation and upgrading of the sporting goods manufacturing industry. We expect this to release domestic demand potential and create both strong support and a vast stage for the sports industry to thrive.”

“We will remain rooted in the local market while looking ahead, seizing opportunities of the era with greater foresight and more efficient execution. We will continue to deepen the Group’s ‘Single Brand, Multi-categories, Diversified Channels’ strategy, optimising and upgrading our core category matrix while exploring emerging segments. Most importantly, we will keep strengthening the core advantages of our products—professional performance, technological capability, and sports experience—by empowering them with innovative technology and design aesthetics to reward consumer trust.”

Hashtag: #LiNing

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Media Outreach

Cushman & Wakefield Interpretation Report Highlights Eight Impact Areas for Real Estate Market

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Radio New Zealand

In the early afternoon of 19 March, 2025, a small group of the country’s most powerful ministers joined an online meeting to discuss the future of 180,000 New Zealand workers.

Forty-five minutes later, they logged off having made decisions that would impact women’s earnings for years to come.

Those choices formed the backbone of the government’s overhaul of the once “world-leading” Equal Pay Act – retrospectively stripping nurses, teachers, carers and other female-dominated workforces of the right to pursue pay equity claims under the existing law.

Within five weeks of that meeting, Parliament had passed the Equal Pay Amendment Act under urgency – a move the people’s select committee last month described as “a flagrant and significant abuse of power”.

The legislation was announced then passed all stages of Parliament within three days in May, meaning the public had no opportunity to make submissions through the usual select committee process.

Dozens of in-train claims were stopped. The rules governing future claims were significantly tightened. And $12.8 billion originally earmarked to fix decades of systemic gender discrimination was instead returned to the Crown’s Budget allowances.

The changes severely curtailed the ability of workers in predominantly female industries to prove their work had been historically undervalued. In some sectors, unions said the new law may make future claims almost impossible.

NZEI Te Riu Roa, which had spent four years working on a pay equity claim covering tens of thousands of education workers, warned the new framework effectively shut down any pathway for many education roles to ever achieve pay equity.

“For teacher aides, winning our claim was huge. Women were giving up second jobs and getting to spend time with their families – that was the most amazing thing,” said teacher aide and NZEI negotiator Ally Kingi.

“But the new law cuts out every single person who is a teacher in the country from making the same claim. Primary, secondary, early childhood, te kura, principals, everyone. And teacher aides – whose pay has already slipped backwards – won’t get a review.”

Documents obtained under the Official Information Act show that the most consequential decisions in the Equal Pay Act overhaul were made during that 45-minute March meeting. In several cases, ministers chose to implement harder thresholds than officials had proposed, tightening the law even further.

The government said the changes were necessary to ensure the pay equity system focused on genuine cases of sex-based discrimination and remained sustainable for taxpayers.

But the detail of how ministers reached their decisions – what evidence they relied on, what modelling informed the most restrictive changes, or why the final law was made harsher than officials recommended – remains hidden.

Despite repeated Official Information Act requests, the 19 March meeting remains, in large part, a black box.

How pay equity became law

To understand the impact of that March meeting, it helps to step back.

The Equal Pay Act was originally passed in 1972 and intended to eliminate gender-based wage discrimination – ensuring women were paid the same as men for doing the same job.

Over time, the issue shifted. The problem was no longer only women being paid less than men in identical roles. It was that work historically performed by women – caring, teaching, cleaning, administration – had been systematically undervalued compared to male-dominated occupations requiring comparable skill, effort and responsibility.

That broader concept is known as pay equity.

In 2014, the courts confirmed in the landmark TerraNova case that the Equal Pay Act allowed workers to argue their jobs had been historically undervalued because they were mainly performed by women, including by comparing their roles to those beyond the immediate workplace.

In response, a Joint Working Group – convened under a National government and including unions, business and officials – spent two years designing a process for assessing pay equity claims. Their recommendations formed the basis of the 2020 amendments to the Act.

The 2020 model created a structured process where a claim could proceed if it was “arguable” that the work in question was predominantly performed by women and may have been historically undervalued.

Once a claim passed that threshold, the parties would identify “comparators” – male-dominated occupations requiring similar levels of skill, responsibility and working conditions.

Comparators could be drawn from outside the employer or even the sector if necessary.

The low threshold was meant to allow claims to be investigated rather than filtered out early.

Cross-sector comparators were permitted because, in many female-dominated industries such as aged care, administration or early childhood education, there are simply no male-dominated roles within the same workplace to compare against.

If undervaluation was established, employers were required to negotiate pay adjustments.

By 2023, settlements had been reached for nurses, midwives, care and support workers and others. For many, the pay increases were life-changing.

“We had women who could finally afford to have their grandchildren for the holidays because they could buy food for them, women who could at last buy a lawnmower, or book a flight,” NZEI’s Kingi said. “All these women were able to live their lives, to relax. And that’s what is right and just.”

‘Significant concerns’ about cost

While the settlements were widely celebrated by workers, officials inside government were increasingly focused on their cost.

As early as November 2023, the Equal Pay Act, once described internationally as ‘world-leading’, was being framed internally not as a human rights mechanism correcting structural discrimination, but as a fiscal exposure problem.

Treasury and Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) briefings warned about the cost and structure of pay equity claims, including the idea the regime was “too permissive”.

In its first briefing to the incoming minister, MBIE said questions had been raised about processes for decision-making and the fiscal consequences of pay equity settlements.

Officials later argued the system provided little incentive to “negotiate hard”, pushing costs higher.

Treasury warned that pay equity costs were being treated differently from other wage pressures because of their size and uncertainty, directly affecting the Crown’s operating balance.

It expressed “significant concerns” about the comparators used in the care and support workers’ claim, suggesting they may have produced significantly higher cost outcomes.

Officials described New Zealand as “unusual” in allowing comparators from outside the workplace or sector, and questioned whether the threshold for claims was too low.

MBIE suggested other ministers may wish to discuss options to change current processes, and said it could provide further advice if required.

Pay equity specialist Amy Ross, the former head of the pay equity taskforce, said those briefings exposed what she said was a longheld, ideological view among the agencies: that pay equity was nothing but a risk to the government.

“They never thought about it for what it really was – an evidence-based market correction that had massive downstream benefits for communities – money flowing into households, services improving and the country retaining workers,” Ross said. “They only ever talked about the ‘cost’ of pay equity. But the ‘cost’ is women subsidising labour. It’s actually a cost to women.”

Enter Brooke van Velden

The agencies’ briefings clearly resonated with the new minister for workplace relations. In the first week of December 2023, Brooke van Velden, an ACT MP, sought a briefing on what she called “pay parity”.

Officials responded with a screenshot from MBIE’s website explaining that pay parity and pay equity were two different things, and both were legislated requirements in the Equal Pay Act.

Van Velden’s advisory followed up with questions wanting to know the broader “consequences” of the interaction between pay parity and pay equity.

On 29 January, 2024 van Velden wrote to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon questioning the pay equity framework and signalling her interest in reform.

At that point she was yet to have a full briefing on pay equity.

The letter was not released under OIA, but van Velden said she had written that she was concerned about the “robustness and reliability” of comparing remuneration between different professions in a bargaining framework, and that the pay equity bargaining system had resulted in “significant labour market distortions and high costs to the Crown”.

Critics noted the letter’s framing – painting comparators as distortive, bargaining as unreliable – echoed longstanding BusinessNZ concerns and earlier National Party proposals from 2017, which had included a tighter hierarchy of comparators and a higher threshold for claims.

In March, van Velden received her first full briefing on the issue – a MBIE PowerPoint presentation titled “Pay equity: a short history”.

This briefing was highly critical of the system, pointing to the 2020 amendments by the previous government as the problem. It also framed New Zealand as an international “outlier” for allowing cross-sector comparators; and casted doubt on the validity of current claims, particularly the low threshold for entry to the system; and the way comparators were chosen.

In response to follow-up questions about the comparators from van Velden’s advisor, officials noted anecdotal examples of fisheries officers, corrections officers and customs officers being used repeatedly as benchmarks.

These anecdotes that would later become central National and Act Party talking points after the pay equity reform was announced, were held up as an example of a “wasteful” system that had gone too far.

Fuel on the fire

If ideology lit the fire for reform, the fiscal implications provided the fuel.

Soon after the 2023 election, Finance Minister Nicola Willis also began receiving detailed briefings from Treasury, focused on the scale of potential pay equity liabilities.

The largest claims, particularly teachers and care and support workers, were expected to cost the government – as employer – billions of dollars, Treasury said.

Officials assumed pay increases of roughly 20 percent based on earlier settlements.

Throughout 2024, Willis sought increasingly detailed information about the potential fiscal exposure: how much funding had been set aside, how claims might evolve and how New Zealand’s system compared internationally.

Treasury estimated that $3.193 billion from the public-sector pay equity contingency alone could be returned to Budget allowances if the system was changed.

Across the public and funded sectors combined, as much as $12.8 billion could be freed up, significantly boosting the government’s books.

By the end of 2024, Willis had made the case to Cabinet that changes were needed. Cabinet’s Strategy Committee then directed officials from MBIE, Treasury, the Public Service Commission and Crown Law to develop options.

In late February 2025, ministers were presented with several approaches – ranging from pausing the system to redesigning it entirely.

But a full redesign was expected to take more than a year. Instead, ministers chose speed.

By 4 March, officials had been directed to prepare amendments for Cabinet approval by the end of the month, just in time for Budget 2025.

A draft Cabinet paper was circulated on 14 March. Five days later, ministers met to finalise the policy settings.

19 March

Attendance records show six ministers and a group of senior officials joined the 2pm online meeting on 19 March.

Those invited included Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Public Service Minister Judith Collins, Health Minister Simeon Brown and Women’s Minister Nicola Grigg. Education Minister Erica Stanford was overseas but sent a staff member.

Officials attending included MBIE chief executive Carolyn Tremain and deputy secretary Nic Blakeley, Treasury Secretary Iain Rennie and official Struan Little, Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche, associate commissioner Arati Waldgrave and Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) chief executive Ben King.

Together they reviewed the policy options outlined in the draft Cabinet paper.

That draft already proposed significantly tightening the pay equity regime – including raising the threshold for work to qualify as “predominantly female” from 60 percent to 66 percent, introducing a stricter hierarchy of comparators, and limiting the re-raising of claims.

But during the meeting ministers chose to go further.

They lifted the threshold to 70 percent. They also initially discussed a 20-year ban on workers re-raising settled claims, a figure eventually changed to 10 years in the final Bill. And they removed the final tier of cross-sector comparators entirely – meaning workers must now find comparisons within their own sector.

Officials noted the risk that some workforces might not be able to identify an appropriate comparator at all. The change was left anyway.

At the same time, ministers killed all 33 existing claims mid-process, some of which had been in progress for years. Those claims collectively covered around 180,000 workers across sectors including education, health, social services and the public sector.

Pay equity specialist Amy Ross said the changes went further than any framework previously proposed.

“If you cut off cross-sector comparators, you’re effectively comparing historically underpaid work with other historically underpaid work,” she said. “You embed undervaluation.”

By raising the threshold of “predominantly female” from 66 to 70 percent, the government effectively legislated several professions out of contention including librarians, probation officers and – the largest group – teachers, which have a 68 percent female workforce.

NZEI believes that was deliberate. “Why else would you pick that number? I can’t see any other reason for that shifting and they can’t provide any other reason as to why it’s 70 percent,” said Kingi.

Marilyn Waring, the chair of the People’s Select Committee which investigated the change, agreed.

“They would have known the exact percentage at which they lost another claimant group,” Waring said. “I think they were greedy. Those ministers just had dollar signs in their eyes.”

Taken together, the changes fundamentally reshaped how pay equity claims could be brought in New Zealand.

A black box

Documents show what happened immediately after the meeting. Within hours, officials were rewriting the Cabinet paper to “better reflect the Minister’s feedback overnight” and scrambling to gather examples to support the changes.

Emails marked “SENSITIVE” show agencies being asked urgently to confirm that they were comfortable with claims that comparators such as fisheries or corrections officers had been used inappropriately, and to provide examples of “broadly scoped claims” and review clauses that went beyond sex-based undervaluation.

The DPMC’s Policy Advisory Group was heavily involved in the process, and the Prime Minister was briefed repeatedly on progress.

A DPMC official who attended the meeting wrote to MBIE afterwards saying ministers had been “universally impressed” with the “clear answers and direction” provided by officials.

Yet, when RNZ filed Official Information Act requests for the records of the discussion, the paper trail was limited.

Treasury, the Public Service Commission, and the offices of Willis, Brown, and Grigg all claimed they had no contemporaneous minutes, records or notes. Collins and Stanford’s offices refused to release their records. MBIE confirmed an official took handwritten notes but also refused to release them under the Official Information Act’s “free and frank” provision.

Requests for modelling underpinning key decisions – including raising the threshold to 70 percent – produced nothing. RNZ has been unable to confirm if this information exists and is being withheld, or if no such modelling of the far-reaching, late change was considered by ministers before making their decision.

Officials have already acknowledged no Regulatory Impact Statement was prepared for the reforms. The policy was developed within a “severely compressed timeframe”, with limited opportunity to assess evidence or test assumptions, MBIE said.

A spokesman for Willis said the absence of detailed minutes from the meeting was “not unusual for meetings where decisions are recorded via papers”. The papers prepared for the meeting and capturing the decisions taken at it were released and are publicly available online.

In its report released this month, the People’s Select Committee was scathing of the policy development process. As part of its investigation it examined what little material was made public, and found it severely lacking. “No minister was ever fully briefed on the measure’s human rights consequences,” the report said.

“Every piece of information is bite-sized, simplistic and undeveloped – a slide show. No one is ever required to read anything meaningful or comprehensive.”

The committee said the process left serious questions about how ministers were able to assess the impact of the reforms before the law was passed.

“My belief is they don’t want the information to be public because they know they don’t have a leg to stand on because their analysis was so poor,” Waring told RNZ this week. “But of course we should be able to see the evidence.”

A group of unions is taking a High Court case to argue the law change breached the Bill of Rights Act, which Waring believed would flush out further information on the process.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

Source: Radio New Zealand

One of Corrections’ most senior staff is under investigation over allegations of bullying.

RNZ can reveal that Corrections commissioner of custodial services Leigh Marsh is facing an employment investigation.

In response to questions about the inquiry into Marsh, Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot told RNZ he expected “high standards of all our staff and take any allegations raised about their conduct extremely seriously”.

“Corrections can confirm that concerns have been raised about one senior leader that will be investigated by an external independent investigator.

“The concerns raised relate to alleged conduct around management processes and bullying within the employment relationship.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The staff member who raised the concerns with Lightfoot was “being supported while this employment matter is ongoing”.

“As an employer, Corrections must ensure any employment investigation follows the requirements of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and that it upholds procedural integrity. We do not want to compromise this process in any way.

“It is also important our staff feel confident raising any concerns, and as an employer I have a duty of care to ensure the ongoing privacy and wellbeing of those involved.”

Lightfoot said it would not be appropriate for Corrections to provide further details about the employment matter at this time.

“I acknowledge the public interest in the conduct of our senior leaders and Corrections is committed to being transparent about the findings of this investigation at the appropriate time and in line with our obligations under the Official Information Act and Privacy Act.”

He also confirmed three operational deputy chief executives would be undertaking six-month secondments into different DCE roles within Corrections.

“I had already been considering moving the operational DCEs into each other’s areas later this year. This is because I believe these secondments will allow each operational DCE to deepen their understanding of each other’s respective areas so we can continue building a coherent, cohesive organisation. Their employment agreements were developed to allow such secondments to take place.

“The decision to do this now was brought forward to ensure that a thorough and fair employment process for both parties in relation to the above complaint can be carried out.”

He said Corrections had worked hard to “create a culture where people feel comfortable to speak up”.

“Anyone with concerns is encouraged to raise them with me, our Integrity team, or another staff member they trust so we can ensure that appropriate action is taken.”

The secondment sees Marsh move to DCE of Pae Ora.

Shortly before the statement was released to RNZ, Lightfoot sent an email to staff about the secondments and telling them he had been considering the changes for some time.

“However, the decision to do this now has been brought forward following concerns raised with me about one of our senior leaders. I expect high standards of all our staff and take any concerns seriously.”

He said staff would likely see reporting of this in the media.

Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ any allegations of this nature were an employment matter for Corrections.

“I have confidence that they will manage them in an appropriate way.”

According to the Department of Corrections website, Marsh became Acting National Commissioner in late 2022 and in 2024 was appointed as Commissioner Custodial Services.

“Custodial Services focuses on the safe, fair, and humane management of those in prison. As Commissioner Custodial Services, Leigh is responsible for ensuring the effective oversight and operational delivery of the Custodial Services national network.”

Marsh became a Corrections officer at Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison in 2005.

“During his time in the custodial environment, he has held management positions and oversaw the delivery of rehabilitation programmes across multiple prison sites.

“Since then, Leigh has held roles advising on prison practice, risk management, prison safety and criminal justice system innovation. He has also held responsibility for operational teams delivering electronic monitoring, community and custodial frontline services, and incident management.”

Corrections said Marsh was “passionate about delivering a safe and effective prison system and equitable access to justice for all New Zealanders”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 20 March 2026 – CREGIS, a leading Hong Kong-based digital asset infrastructure provider, recently announced that its privatized deployment solution, CREGIS Nexus, has officially been honored with the “Excellent Brand of Enterprise Digital Asset Infrastructure” award. The award was presented by Mr. Joseph Chan Ho-lim, Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury of the Government of Hong Kong, to CREGIS Founder and CEO, Shawn Yan. This distinction not only recognizes CREGIS’s technical prowess but also marks its standing alongside industry leaders such as HSBC, AXA Hong Kong, ICBC (Asia), Bank of China(Hong Kong), and CITIC Bank (International) in driving innovation within Hong Kong’s financial ecosystem.

In the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets, fiduciaries—represented by custodian banks and trust companies—have long faced challenges regarding security, compliance, and high technical barriers. Relying solely on third-party services often means forfeiting critical control, while building internal systems entails prohibitive costs and risks. The CREGIS Nexus solution provides global licensed custodians, trust companies, and professional trustees with institutional-grade infrastructure that aligns with existing compliance and risk control frameworks, ensuring they maintain absolute “Asset Control.”

“We are standing at a turning point in the evolution of financial infrastructure,” said Shawn Yan, Founder and CEO of CREGIS. “For institutions bearing fiduciary responsibilities, asset security and compliant governance are paramount. Privatized deployment offers the highest level of autonomy, transparency, and business resilience.”

CREGIS serves over 3,500 corporate clients and manages over $300 billion in transaction assets. The company has maintained a record of zero incidents over the years, with its business among financial institution clients growing at an annual rate of over 50%. This is because “Security Autonomy” and “Compliance Controllability” are at the core of CREGIS’s mission.

The core advantage of the CREGIS Nexus solution lies in its reshaping of the underlying trust model. It deeply integrates TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) technology and seamlessly incorporates bank-grade Hardware Security Modules (HSM) compliant with FIPS 140-2/3 standards. This ensures that private keys are never exposed throughout their lifecycle, and all critical computations are completed within a client-controlled physical environment or a hardware-protected TEE secure zone, eliminating single points of failure and external interference.

CREGIS also addresses the complexities of operational and governance compliance. Its unique Declarative Intent Gateway (DIG) technology allows institutions to transform internal risk policies, compliance mandates, and trust agreement terms into programmable, immutable business logic. This ensures that every asset operation is not only cryptographically secure but also automatically executed at the business intent and compliance levels, with full auditability. This “Rules-as-Code” capability aligns perfectly with Hong Kong’s maturing digital asset regulatory regime.

As a company with its global strategic headquarters in Hong Kong, CREGIS has introduced a “Tripartite Oversight” logical architecture for licensed institutions. This framework technically separates asset operational rights, ownership, and audit supervision rights, providing custodians and trustees with a ready-to-use digital upgrade solution that meets licensing requirements.

“CREGIS is closely monitoring the legislative progress of the licensing regime for digital asset custody service providers by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau(FSTB) and the Securities and Futures Commission(SFC),” Yan added. “Once the relevant regulatory framework is formally implemented, we plan to officially submit our application for a Hong Kong digital asset custody service license, leveraging the institutional-grade security and compliance capabilities built upon the CREGIS Nexus solution.”

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Source: Media Outreach

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