Tesoro Enterprises, Inc. to Merge with HUMBL, LLC – A Global Payments and Financial Services Network

San Diego, CA, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tesoro Enterprises, Inc. (OTC Pink: TSNP) (“Tesoro”) announced today that it has entered into an agreement with HUMBL, LLC (“HUMBL”) to merge the two entities. In an all-stock transaction, the members of HUMBL will receive preferred shares of Tesoro in exchange for their HUMBL holdings.

Tesoro, the surviving entity, will be renamed “HUMBL, Inc.” and following an imminent redomiciling of the corporation to Delaware, an application will be filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) for a change of the issuer’s name and symbol. The company will almost immediately begin the process for becoming an SEC filer and provide audited annual financials beginning with yearend 2020.

Consummate with the transaction, HUMBL, Managing Member and Founder, Brian M. Foote has acquired the control block of voting shares and a significant number of common shares from outgoing Tesoro President, Henry Boucher.

The Board of Directors has installed Mr. Foote and HUMBL associate, Jeffrey Hinshaw, as directors of Tesoro and to the officer positions of President and Secretary, respectively. In addition, Adam Wolfe has been named Chief Technology Officer, Michele Rivera has been named Vice President, Global Partnerships, and a director and Karen Garcia will become Vice President, Major Accounts.

Mr. Boucher has resigned all officer and director positions with Tesoro and the company thanks him for his careful guidance. All liabilities of the company to date were settled by Mr. Boucher prior to his resignation.

HUMBL is comprised of team members from companies like Western Union, Moneygram, Visa, American Express, Epson, Microsoft, Facebook and Qualcomm and was recently named a Forbes “Rising Startups to Watch” in June 2020 for recognizing the “major gap between the US and emerging markets regarding mobile payments.”

HUMBL has designed a mobile wallet (HUMBL®) and merchant software (HUMBL Hubs), that help primarily cash economies migrate to digital money services across key vertical markets, such as: government, banking, wireless carriers and merchant services. HUMBL’s global money platform will deliver up to 50% estimated savings on transactions such as: sending, receiving, lending, borrowing, investing money and paying bills.

Brian Foote is the CEO, President and a founder of HUMBL and brings with him twenty years of consumer technology experience, having launched a number of top ranked global technology products at companies like Epson, where he was twice named to the Innovators Team Award for his work across merchant partners such as Amazon, Walmart, Costco, Target and Best Buy. Mr. Foote is a graduate of University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and is certified in blockchain, digital media and social media from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Jeff Hinshaw, MBA guides the daily financial and operational components of HUMBL, working with internal team members and external agencies on accounting, compliance, project management and financial accounting of the company. Jeff brings experience from roles in finance, operations and corporate strategy at Hewlett-Packard and Sempra Energy. He has served as a guest lecturer at San Diego State University (SDSU), where he was a member of the Aztec Equity Fund endowment steering committee and a mentor at the SDSU Lavin Entrepreneurship Center.

Adam Wolfe leads the technology deliverables of the company, bringing over a decade of experience in fintech, payments and blockchain engineering. Adam is a specialist in Cross-Platform Mobile Applications, Web Development, Java Script, Angular and Payment Cloud architectures that are required for HUMBL® and HUMBL Hubs product lineup. His technology background previously was in hybrid Information Technology and engineering roles at Qualcomm and PowerFleet.

Michele Rivera manages corporate sales for the Latin America region, as well as channel sales partners in government, banking, wireless and retail merchants in Africa, Caribbean and Asia Pacific. She brings with her national retail and sales training experience from The Walt Disney Company and Williams-Sonoma.

Karen Garcia manages major accounts in Latin America. She will also be working with major accounts in Africa, Caribbean and the Asia Pacific and is developing an extensive regional affiliate program in these markets. She received her corporate training at Nordstrom, Eddie Bauer and L Brands across functions such as vendor management, purchasing and key accounts.

The merger is being shepherded by well-known OTC Markets analyst, George Sharp, who brought the parties together and has provided valuable advice on strategies and compliance to complete the transaction.

An investor call, tentatively scheduled for December 9, 2020, will be held to introduce HUMBL to investors and shareholders and provide further insights for the public about HUMBL’s mission, positioning and corporate partnerships. The precise logistics of the investor call will be announced soon.

About HUMBL

The mission of HUMBL® and HUMBL Hubs is to deliver high quality, low cost digital payments and financial services. The HUMBL network was designed to disrupt entrenched regional banks, wire services and roadside finance providers in emerging markets such as Latin America, Caribbean, Asia and Africa to help reduce costs and improve settlement speeds for customers.

HUMBL maintains offices in San Diego (HUMBL – North America), Mexico (HUMBL – Latin America), Miami (HUMBL – Caribbean and Africa), and Singapore (HUMBL – Asia Pacific and Oceania Region) and has created a global network of regional affiliates, who stand ready to implement sales and marketing programs in these corridors.

The HUMBL® Mobile App delivers borderless transactions, by integrating multiple currencies, payment methods, banks and financial services providers into one-click for the customer. HUMBL® provides greater access and portability than US only mobile wallet providers, such as Venmo® and Zelle®.

For those customers without a smartphone, HUMBL Hubs will allow participating merchants to deliver contactless payments, text ordering and money services across the full pyramid of end-users in these markets.

 “We didn’t build HUMBL for the 450 million digital customers using Apple Pay®, but for the 7 billion people for whom money has a totally different set of global pathways, access points and cost structures,” according to the CEO of HUMBL, Brian Foote.

The HUMBL corporate website features global brand videos, product tours, market research, white papers and network architecture at www.HUMBLpay.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the use of the words “may,” “will,” “should,” “plans,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “continue,” “estimates,” “projects,” “intends,” and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause results to differ materially from those projected or anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to successfully execute its expanded business strategy, including by entering into definitive agreements with suppliers, commercial partners and customers; general economic and business conditions, effects of continued geopolitical unrest and regional conflicts, competition, changes in technology and methods of marketing, delays in completing various engineering and manufacturing programs, changes in customer order patterns, changes in product mix, continued success in technical advances and delivering technological innovations, shortages in components, production delays due to performance quality issues with outsourced components, regulatory requirements and the ability to meet them, government agency rules and changes, and various other factors beyond the Company’s control.

CONTACT:

HUMBL, LLC
[email protected]

Transition to Decentralized Clinical Trials during the Coronavirus Pandemic Is far More Nuanced than Expected, According to Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development

Select virtual and remote approaches—including telemedicine and e-consent—have seen more rapid adoption, Tufts CSDD found

BOSTON, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The coronavirus pandemic has facilitated rapid adoption of decentralized clinical trial execution, with more than half of all global clinical trials now using remote and virtual support—a sharp contrast to the vast majority of clinical trials that historically relied on in-person patient visits at research facilities—a recently completed analysis by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development has found.

Noting that 55% of active ongoing clinical trials have transitioned to remote and virtual execution models since early spring, Ken Getz, professor and deputy director of Tufts CSDD, said the appeal of these decentralized approaches “is compelling.”

“Among other benefits, decentralized trials have provided increased convenience and minimized coronavirus transmission risk for study volunteers, while offering drug developers potentially lower costs and faster access to scientific and operating data,” he said.

Getz cautioned, however, that decentralized clinical trials introduce a number of challenges, including those associated with remote communication and remediation, and data coordination and integration.

The analysis, based on global surveys of investigative sites and interviews with representatives of the largest pharmaceutical companies, was summarized in the November/December Tufts CSDD Impact Report, released today.

Other key findings from the analysis include the following:

  • Telemedicine is the most frequently used approach to conducting decentralized clinical trials.
  • Investigative sites conducting remote trials rate patient safety as their greatest concern.
  • 60% of investigative sites report having had no prior experience with remote processes and solutions before the pandemic.
  • For many developers, particularly smaller companies, contract service organizations have been the primary provider of remote monitoring personnel and capabilities.

ABOUT THE TUFTS CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DRUG DEVELOPMENT

The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development (http://csdd.tufts.edu) at Tufts University provides strategic information to help drug developers, regulators, and policy makers improve the efficiency and productivity of pharmaceutical R&D. Tufts CSDD, based in Boston, conducts a wide range of in-depth analyses on pharmaceutical issues and hosts symposia, workshops, and public forums, and publishes Tufts CSDD Impact Reports, a bi-monthly newsletter providing analysis and insight into critical drug development issues.

Contacts: Tufts University
Luna Rodriguez – 617-636-2170
[email protected]
   
  Business Communication Strategies
Peter Lowy – 617-734-9980
[email protected]

Digerati Technologies Improves Balance Sheet and Reduces Potential Equity Dilution

Paid Off and Eliminated Two Convertible Notes with Variable-Priced Features

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) (“Digerati” or the “Company”), a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions for the small to medium-sized business (“SMB”) market, announced today that an existing institutional shareholder, which previously consolidated multiple notes with variable-priced conversion features (approximately 70% of the Company’s convertible notes at the time) has made an additional investment into the Company under a new note with fixed-price conversion, allowing Digerati to pay off two notes with variable-priced conversion in full.

The payment in full of the two notes with variable-priced conversion will eliminate the derivative accounting treatment and related P&L expense associated with the notes. The new note matures in October 2021 and further reduces potential equity dilution while providing the Company with additional working capital.

Arthur L. Smith, CEO of Digerati, stated, “This additional investment at a fixed price demonstrates the commitment and enthusiasm of the existing institutional shareholder. It is yet another positive move towards our plan to up-list to the Nasdaq or NYSE American stock exchange as we approach the closing of our next series of acquisitions.”


About


Digerati Technologies


,


Inc


.

Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) is a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions for the business market.  Through its subsidiary T3 Communications (www.T3com.com), the Company is meeting the global needs of businesses seeking simple, flexible, reliable, and cost-effective communication and network solutions, including cloud PBX, cloud mobile, Internet broadband, SD-WAN, SIP trunking, and customized VoIP services, all delivered on its carrier-grade network and Only in the Cloud™. For more information about Digerati Technologies, please visit www.digerati-inc.com.


Forward-Looking Statements


The information in this news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon assumptions that in the future may prove not to have been accurate and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including statements related to the future financial performance of the Company. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations or any of its forward-looking statements will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause results to differ include, but are not limited to, successful execution of growth strategies, product development and acceptance, the impact of competitive services and pricing, general economic conditions, and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Investors:
[email protected]

Twitter: @DIGERATI_IR
LinkedIn: Digerati technologies, Inc.
Facebook: Digerati Technologies, Inc.

The Eversull Group
Jack Eversull
[email protected]
(972) 571-1624

Solo.io Unifies Product Vision and Delivers Next Stage of Innovative Service Connectivity

Modern API Infrastructure Leader Rebrands Product Suite, Announces Gloo Mesh Enterprise

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Solo.io, the modern service connectivity company delivering API infrastructure from the edge to service mesh, today announced that it has aligned its product suite under the “Gloo” brand name, along with launching the new Gloo Mesh Enterprise, an enterprise version of the previously named Service Mesh Hub for single and multi-cluster service mesh configuration and operation that includes Istio support.

Solo.io’s entire set of product offerings will now be organized under the Gloo API Infrastructure Platform. Gloo, a next generation API gateway and the name of the company’s first product, glues together heterogeneous applications through their APIs and presents them as a single application experience to the customer. The product portfolio continues to glue together different clusters, service meshes, and clouds for consistent configuration, unified management, and security. The rebranded Gloo API Infrastructure Platform suite includes tooling products for managing and securing application service connectivity:

  • Gloo Mesh (previously Service Mesh Hub), single and multi-cluster service mesh management plane along with production and long-term support (LTS) for Istio
  • Gloo Edge (previously Gloo), a next-generation API gateway and ingress controller built with Envoy Proxy
  • Gloo Portal (previously Developer Portal), a developer portal to catalog and consume running application APIs
  • Gloo Extensions, developer and operator tools to customize Envoy Proxy with WebAssembly modules

“We launched Solo.io three years ago with the goal to empower companies to modernize to microservices and made a strategic bet on service mesh as a critical part of that future,” said Idit Levine, founder and CEO, Solo.io. “As exciting as service mesh is, we knew it would take time to mature so we positioned our products separately. Now, with widespread adoption of Kubernetes and increased service mesh innovation and awareness, the market is ready for a holistic service connectivity solution. This is the ideal time for Solo.io to unify, simplify and center our product message around one Gloo API Infrastructure Platform.”

In addition to introducing the Gloo API Infrastructure Platform suite, Solo.io is announcing Gloo Mesh Enterprise. Since “open sourcing” Gloo Mesh, previously known as Service Mesh Hub, Solo.io has worked with customers to integrate enterprise-level security and management functionality into the offering. Historically, organizations have been required to custom build additional capabilities to secure and operate Istio and manage the open source software lifecycle themselves. Gloo Mesh Enterprise delivers these capabilities out of the box with validated and supported upstream Istio software, meaning organizations can instead focus on delivering optimal customer digital experiences.

Gloo Mesh Enterprise includes all the functionality of Gloo Mesh Open Source, the core multi-cluster and multi-mesh service mesh management plane, plus new capabilities for enterprise scale, security, and observability:

  • Role-Based API, delegated access and ownership to configure policies by persona for secure service mesh at scale
  • Production Istio Support, including software maintenance, patches, hotfixes, and long-term support for validated, upstream Istio software
  • Operational Observability, including a unified dashboard with multi-cluster service mesh visibility
  • Integrated WebAssembly, including developer tools and support for WebAssembly modules to customize service mesh behavior

Gloo Mesh Enterprise beta will be available by the end of the year:

https://lp.solo.io/gloo-mesh-enterprise-beta

Read the technical blog:

https://www.solo.io/blog/announcing-gloo-mesh-enterprise

Register for the upcoming webinar:

https://www.solo.io/events-webinars/

Learn more at KubeCon:

https://lp.solo.io/kubecon-na-2020-virtual

Resources

Solo.io Website
Solo.io on Twitter
Solo.io on LinkedIn

About Solo.io


Solo.io
, the modern service connectivity company, delivers API infrastructure from the edge to service mesh, helping enterprises adopt, secure, and operate innovative cloud native technologies. APIs drive microservices and cloud native technologies, forming the foundation for developers, partners and customers to interact with application services quickly, effectively, and securely. Solo.io brings developer and operations tooling to manage and federate security and traffic control and tie together the integration points to enable and observe the application network. Founded in 2017 in Cambridge, MA, Solo.io is backed by Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. For more information, visit https://www.solo.io/ or follow @soloio_inc.

Media contact:

Danielle Salvato-Earl
Offleash PR for Solo.io
[email protected]

MediXall Group Announces Key Employee Promotions of Fabiola Arrivillaga and Carin Talero with the Upcoming Launch of Health Karma

Fort Lauderdale, FL, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via NewMediaWire — MediXall Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MDXL), a technology and innovation-driven organization focused on reducing healthcare costs and transforming the patient-provider experience through the launch of its Health Karma™ platform, is pleased to announce the internal promotion of both Fabiola Arrivillaga and Carin Talero in preparation for the upcoming public launch of Health Karma on November 16th. Fabiola Arrivillaga has been promoted to VP of User Experience and Carin Talero has been promoted to VP of Product Management. In these new roles, Fabiola will continue to develop Health Karma’s entire user experience and grow the UX team while Carin will project plan, monitor and report progress of time, resources, quality, and cost through key performance metrics definition and effective use of various tools and platforms.

Since joining the MediXall team in March 2020, Fabiola has been integral in developing and implementing a companywide user experience (UX) strategy to ensure high quality UX experiences at Health Karma. As VP of User Experience, she has built the foundation of the Company’s UX department, growing the team from 1 to 5 members in 6 months. 

In addition to leading the UX team, she built Health Karma’s Design System from scratch containing all the components, layouts and templates, aligning branding and guidelines to be used by all engineering teams, contributing to efficiently avoid rework and reduce development time while creating a cohesive and consistent experience across all products of the company.

As a Certified User Experience Designer and Product Manager, Fabiola brings over 20 years of experience in product management, project management and user experience management. Previously, Fabiola served as UX manager at Smartmatic, the world leader in electronic voting, where she managed the design of the company’s 3 most critical solutions: Election Management System, Voter Management System (registration and authentication) and Results Publishing, used by more than 10 national governments worldwide. Prior to that, she held the position of Solutions Manager for the Company, where she led project teams of 25 (compliance, QA, engineering) in developing custom technology solutions upon contract close. Concurrently, she managed up to 3 projects at a time in an Agile/Scrum environment, ensuring on-target completion of all deliverables on integrated software and hardware solution development with schedules of up to 12 months.

Carin Talero joined MediXall in the second quarter of 2020 as a Product Manager for Health Karma. As the VP of Product Management, Carin is accountable for the definition of the scope, work and product release plans, resource allocation, timelines, progress metrics and acceptance criteria for each milestone and overseeing the development of Health Karma following corporate standards and policies, PMI project management methodology and agile product development methodology SCRUM. As an experienced PMP Project Manager, SCPO Product Owner and Business Developer with more than 14 years of experience ensuring the successful delivery of large-scale mission critical technology projects around the world for the public sector, Carin is an expert in creating value adding solutions for customers, effectively communicating with all project stakeholders, and in managing extremely tight schedules and budgets in challenging environments.

Prior to joining Health Karma, Carin served as Technical Business Developer & Project Manager at Smartmatic where she led and managed the delivery of nationwide turn-key e-Voting and Biometric enrollment projects in Chile (Latin America), Curacao (Caribbean Islands) and Zambia (Africa). During this time, Carin was able to meet all project benchmarks through introduction of enhanced implementation and cost savings strategies and upselling, increasing the planned contribution margin by over 10%, while surpassing the main goal of increasing the election turnout by over 20% and achieving customer satisfaction rating of over 4.5/5 consistently in all projects managed.

Carin also led the efforts of developing new business in the Americas region, where she was responsible for performing business cases analysis, gathering requirements, defining technical features creating technical proposals and presentations, managing the product backlog for successful prototypes demonstrations that led to the contract award, and quoting the HW/SW for each new initiative. In this role, Carin achieved the award of 7 projects in South America and US during this period, generating revenue of more than 200 million, which includes the most recent elections in Los Angeles, among others.

“We have built an A+ team that’s changed substantially over the course of the past two years, and our growth is a reflection of that,” said Eddie Solar, VP of Software Development. “With the addition of Fabiola and Carin, the team has developed a level of critical product design and development that has exceeded our expectations. The continued hard work, willingness to help and drive by all team members is extremely impressive and unparalleled to any team I have ever been on. I truly believe our team’s work ethic paired with their passion to create a better healthcare experience is Health Karma’s secret sauce.”

“Speed to market is a critical factor in success. With our team growing to 14 over the past two years, Eddie and I believe that we have expedited a high-quality internal development and user experience team,” said Michael Swartz, President of Health Karma. “These leadership promotions reflect Health Karma’s ability to build a versatile leadership team capable of successfully propelling our company forward in an ever-changing industry. During their time with Health Karma, Fabiola & Carin’s contributions have been invaluable to not only driving the growth of the business, but also creating a great company culture throughout the organization. Their expertise, insight and energy have had a profound and positive effect on the company and I look forward to the ongoing impact they will make as we launch Health Karma and further develop the product.”

About MediXall Group, Inc.

MediXall Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MDXL) is a technology and innovation-driven organization purposefully designed and structured around delivering products and services to make it easier for consumers to learn, decide and pay for healthcare, without intruding on the important relationship with trusted doctors. The mission of the MediXall Group is to revolutionize the medical industry by improving communication; providing better technology and support services; and enabling more efficient, cost-effective healthcare for the consumer. By approaching the healthcare ecosystem as a whole, MediXall creates, invests and incubates companies that embody its mission statement. For more information, please visit www.medixallgroup.com or call 954-908-3481. 

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company’s current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. Specifically, the company’s ability to raise additional capital, execute its business plan and strategy, sustain or increase gross margins, achieve profitability and build shareholder value are forward-looking statements. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company’s business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Rebecca Larger
786-886-4681
[email protected]

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. Announces Clean Sweep in 2021 Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team Leisure Sector Rankings

Ranked #1 Overall Best CEO, CFO and IRO for Second Consecutive Year

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Recognized as Top Leisure Company in
Crisis Management
Amid COVID-19 Global Pandemic

MIAMI, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (Norwegian) (NYSE: NCLH), a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands, today announces its clean sweep of first place overall rankings in the Leisure sector in the 2021 Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team annual survey. The Company ranked #1 overall across all eight categories including a new category, Crisis Management Amid COVID-19, which ranked the effectiveness for communication of a company’s strategy and risk management during the global pandemic.

The All-America Executive Team survey took place amid the COVID-19 global pandemic, capturing critical feedback of corporate performance during exceptional socioeconomic and market stress. The result was one of the survey’s most significant voter turnouts, with over 3,000 money managers and buy-side analysts, and almost 500 sell-side researchers providing their candid feedback. Voters chose their favorite CEOs, CFOs, Investor Relations professionals, and Investor Relations programs among 1,521 nominated companies across 44 business sectors in the United States.   Voters were also asked to identify excellence in several core criteria including Financial Disclosure, Services & Communication, Crisis Management amid COVID-19, Financially Material ESG Disclosures and Best Analyst Day.

“Our clean sweep of first place overall Leisure sector rankings in the prestigious Institutional Investor All-America Executive Team survey is a tremendous accomplishment, especially against the backdrop of the unprecedented challenges caused by the global pandemic,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. “Our company is operating in one of the hardest hit industries by COVID-19, so this honor speaks volumes to our best-in-class Investor Relations program and our ability to adapt and effectively communicate and respond to the demands of multiple stakeholders. We are committed to providing as much transparency as possible to help our stakeholders navigate this ever-evolving, fluid environment and we greatly appreciate their significant support and valuable feedback during this challenging time.”

“Institutional Investor is thrilled to congratulate Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, one of the recognized Movers and Shakers this year, on ranking at the very top of the 2021 All-America Executive Team rankings with its clean sweep in the Leisure sector based on the latest feedback from the investment community,” said Ursula Kizy, Director of Investor Relations Americas at Institutional Investor. “This year’s All-America Executive Team results present market sentiment from a most unique time in the corporate world. Companies must mitigate the multiple and hard-hitting impacts of the pandemic to their business while being mindful of the necessity for minute-by-minute financial and strategic transparency to their shareholders. Adding to the list of challenges is that corporates must allay anxiety and build investor confidence in a completely virtual environment. Executives and IROs certainly have their work cut out for them this year, and Institutional Investor is particularly proud of the accomplishments of the 2021 All-America Executive Team winners.”

Norwegian’s executive leadership and Investor Relations program were ranked as follows in the Leisure sector:

  • #1 Overall Best CEO, Frank Del Rio
  • #1 Overall Best CFO, Mark Kempa
  • #1 Overall Best Investor Relations Officer, Andrea DeMarco
  • #1 Overall Best Investor Relations Team
  • #1 Overall Best Investor Relations Program
  • #1 Overall Best Investor Day
  • #1 Overall Best Financially Material ESG Disclosures
  • #1 Overall Best Communication of Strategy and Risk Management Amid COVID-19


About Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH) is a leading global cruise company which operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. With a combined fleet of 28 ships with approximately 59,150 berths, these brands offer itineraries to more than 490 destinations worldwide. The Company has nine additional ships scheduled for delivery through 2027.


A


bout


Institutional Investor

For 52 years Institutional Investor has consistently distinguished itself among the world’s foremost media companies with ground-breaking journalism and incisive writing that provides essential intelligence for a global audience. In addition, Institutional Investor offers highly-respected proprietary benchmark research and rankings; Institutional Investor Research provides independent sell-side and corporate performance research and rankings and aims to be the first-choice and independent validation source of qualitative market intelligence for all three sides of the investment community. Institutional Investor Research has a global presence, spanning Europe, All-Asia, the US and Latin America.

Investor Relations & Media Contact

Andrea DeMarco
(305) 468-2339
[email protected]

Jessica John
(786) 913-2902


Institutional Investor Contact


Ursula Kizy
(212) 224-3124
[email protected] 

New Mexico State University is First in Sodexo’s University Portfolio to Achieve Rise Safe Certification

Gaithersburg, MD, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sodexo announced today that New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces is the first in its university portfolio to achieve the Rise Safe certification after passing a 37-point safety and sanitation audit and an independent verification of compliance by Bureau Veritas.

“Our teams have worked tirelessly to implement additional practices and protocols throughout the NMSU community since the start of the pandemic,” said Dwayne Wisniewski, general manager for Sodexo dining at NMSU. “We want to reassure students, faculty and the greater Las Cruces community of our continued commitment to their health, safety and wellbeing.”

Launched earlier this year, the Rise Safe labeling program was introduced as part of Sodexo’s return to work initiative. It was created to standardize processes and procedures for education, training, safety, sanitation and communications in response to the pandemic and in adherence with CDC guidelines. It can be easily adapted to align with additional rules set for by state and local health officials.

“Sodexo has been a great partner to the NMSU community,” said D’Anne Stuart, associate vice president for administration and finance, NMSU. “The team’s attention to detail has been recognized by our students, faculty and guests and we appreciate all of their efforts.”

Sodexo has partnered with New Mexico State University for the past decade providing food, catering, concierge and resident dining services and recently extended their partnership through a 30-year master collaboration agreement integrating all campus integrated facilities management service lines, including maintenance, energy, construction, events and concerts. The Rise Safe label will be prominently displayed in all restaurants across campus.

For more information about Rise by Sodexo or the Rise Safe program, visit our website.

About Sodexo North America

Sodexo North America is part of a global, Fortune 500 company with a presence in 67 countries. Sodexo is a leading provider of integrated food, facilities management and other services that enhance organizational performance, contribute to local communities and improve quality of life for millions of customers in corporate, education, healthcare, senior living, sports and leisure, government and other environments daily. The company employs 160,000 people at 13,500 sites in all 50 U.S. states and Canada, and indirectly supports tens of thousands of additional jobs through its annual purchases of $17B in goods and services from small to large businesses. Sodexo is committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and safety, while upholding the highest standards of corporate responsibility and ethical business conduct. In support of local communities across the U.S., in 2019, the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation mobilized 37,000 Sodexo volunteers to distribute 3.2 million meals to help 2.3 million children and adults meet their immediate food needs.  Since 1996, the Stop Hunger Foundation has contributed nearly $34.5 million to help feed children in America impacted by hunger. To learn more about Sodexo, visit US.Sodexo.com. Connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

Attachment

Dasha Ross-Smith
Sodexo
[email protected]

H&R Block to Host Virtual Investor Day and Report Fiscal 2021 Second Quarter Results on December 8

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) announced today that the company will host a virtual Investor Day event on Tuesday, December 8, 2020. The meeting will be streamed live via the company’s events page on its investor relations website, located at https://investors.hrblock.com/financial-information/events-calendar, beginning at 10:00 a.m. EST.

During the event, Jeff Jones, H&R Block’s president and chief executive officer; Tony Bowen, chief financial officer; and additional members of the senior leadership team will discuss the next phase of the company’s strategic transformation as the company continues to innovate to better serve customers in the core areas of consumer tax, small business and financial products. The company will also provide its outlook and a general business update for fiscal year 2021 during the event.

The company will release second-quarter fiscal 2021 results on December 8, before the market open.

Investor day and earnings materials will be posted on the company’s investor relations website at https://investors.hrblock.com/, with a webcast replay available at the same location.

About H&R Block

H&R Block, Inc. (NYSE: HRB) provides help and inspires confidence in its clients and communities everywhere through global tax preparation, financial services and small business solutions. The company is disrupting the tax industry by providing consumers price transparency and with digital platforms such as Tax Pro GoSM. H&R Block believes the best solutions blend digital capabilities with human expertise and care. For more information visit the H&R Block Newsroom and follow @HRBlockNews.

For Further Information
Investor Relations:  Colby Brown, (816) 854-4559, [email protected]   
Media Relations: Angela Davied, (816) 854-5798, [email protected]   

Surge in Credential Stuffing Attacks and Europe as a Fraud Epicenter, Reveals New Data from Arkose Labs

1.3 Billion Attacks Were Detected in Q3 of 2020, with 770 Million Representing Credential Stuffing and 49% Originating from Europe

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Arkose Labs, provider of online fraud and abuse prevention technology, today released new data-driven analysis of 2020 fraud trends that shows a rise in consumer digital traffic has corresponded with a rise in fraud attacks. As the year progresses and more people than ever are online, historically ‘normal’ online behavioral patterns are no longer applicable and holiday levels of digital traffic continue to occur on a near daily basis. Fraudsters are exploiting old fraud modeling frameworks that fail to take today’s realities into account, attempting to blend in with trusted traffic and carry out attacks undetected.

“As the world becomes increasingly digital as a result of COVID-19, fraudsters are deploying an alarming volume of attacks, and continually devising new and more sophisticated ways of carrying out their attacks,” said Vanita Pandey, VP of Marketing and Strategy at Arkose Labs. “The high fraud levels that accompany high traffic volumes are likely here to stay, even after the pandemic ends. It’s crucial that businesses are aware of the top attack trends so that they can be more vigilant than ever to successfully identify and stop fraud over the long-term.”

Bot Attacks and Credential Stuffing Skyrocket

In Q3 of 2020, the Arkose Labs network saw its highest ever levels of bot attacks. 1.3 billion attacks were detected in total, with 64% occurring on logins and 85% emanating from desktop computers. Due to the widespread availability of usernames, email addresses and passwords from years of data breaches, as well as easy access to automated tools to carry out attacks at scale, credential stuffing emerged as a main driver of attack traffic. 770 million automated credential stuffing attacks were detected and stopped by Arkose Labs in Q3.

For Ecommerce, Every Day is Black Friday

The rise in digital traffic for most of 2020 means businesses have been dealing with holiday season levels of traffic since March. With every day now resembling Black Friday, some retailers are better equipped to handle the onslaught of holiday season traffic and fraud. However, it remains to be seen if a holiday sales bump will occur this year, given already record high traffic levels for many ecommerce businesses.

While much of 2019 saw a marked shift from automated attacks to human sweatshop-driven attacks, automated attacks dominated much of 2020, with Q3 seeing a particularly high spike. This trend is likely to revert back to more targeted attacks in Q4, as during the holiday shopping season fraudsters typically employ low-cost attackers to commit attacks that require human nuance and intelligence.

Europe Emerges as the Top Attacking Region

Nearly half of all attacks in Q3 of 2020 originated from Europe, with over 10 million sweatshop attacks coming from Russia and 7 million coming from the United Kingdom. Many European countries, such as the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Germany, are among those whose GDP shrunk the most since the global pandemic began. A surge in attacks from nations suffering the biggest dips in economic output highlights the economic drivers that spur fraud.

Pandey said, “COVID-19 has sent the world into turmoil, upending digital traffic patterns and introducing long-lasting consequences. Habits formed during 2020 — namely conducting commerce, school, work and even socializing entirely online — will be difficult to let go of, so fraud teams must be capable of quickly cutting through digital traffic noise and spotting even the most subtle signs of attacks. In particular, using targeted friction to deter malicious activity will be key in the months and years ahead.”

The Q4 Arkose Labs Fraud and Abuse Report is based on actual user sessions and attack patterns that were analyzed by the Arkose Labs Fraud and Abuse Prevention Platform from July to September 2020. These sessions, spanning account registrations, logins and payments from financial services, ecommerce, travel, social media, gaming and entertainment were analyzed in real-time to provide insights into the evolving fraud and risk landscape. Unsophisticated bot attacks don’t result in a user session and thus have not been included in this report. The report focuses on attacks from fraud outlets that combine state-of-the-art technology with stolen identity credentials and human efforts.

To access the full Q4 2020 Fraud and Abuse Report, please click here.

To learn more about Arkose Labs and its Fraud and Abuse Defense Platform, visit www.arkoselabs.com.

About Arkose Labs:

Arkose Labs bankrupts the business model of fraud. Recognized by Gartner as a 2020 Cool Vendor, its innovative approach determines true user intent and remediates attacks in real time. Risk assessments combined with interactive authentication challenges undermine the ROI behind attacks, providing long-term protection while improving good customer throughput. Arkose Labs is based in San Francisco, Calif., with offices in Brisbane, Australia. For more information, visit www.arkoselabs.com or on Twitter @ArkoseLabs.

Media Contacts:

Paul Wilke
[email protected]
+1-415-881-7995

Amazon Files Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters Using Social Media to Promote Sales

Amazon Files Lawsuit Against Counterfeiters Using Social Media to Promote Sales

Bad Actors Attempted to Bypass Amazon’s Protections by Listing Generic Products while Purposefully Promoting Counterfeits to their Social Media Followers

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), today announced a lawsuit against 13 individuals and businesses (collectively, the “defendants”) for advertising, promoting, and facilitating the sale of counterfeit luxury goods in Amazon’s store, in violation of Amazon’s policies and the law.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington and alleges the defendants operated in concert with each other to sell counterfeit products and engage in false advertising.

Among the 13 defendants, the lawsuit alleges that Kelly Fitzpatrick and Sabrina Kelly-Krejci conspired with sellers to evade Amazon’s anti-counterfeiting protections by promoting counterfeit products on Instagram and TikTok as well as their own websites. Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci posted side-by-side photos of a generic, non-branded product and a luxury counterfeit product with the text, “Order this/Get this.” “Order this” referred to the generic product falsely advertised on Amazon, and “Get this” referred to the counterfeit luxury product. By posting only generic products on Amazon, Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci – and the sellers they coordinated with – attempted to evade our anti-counterfeit protections while using social media to promote the true nature of these counterfeit products. Fitzpatrick and Kelly-Krejci also posted numerous videos describing the alleged high quality of the counterfeits they promoted.

”These defendants were brazen about promoting counterfeits on social media and undermined the work of legitimate influencers,” said Cristina Posa, Associate General Counsel and Director, Amazon Counterfeit Crimes Unit. “This case demonstrates the need for cross-industry collaboration in order to drive counterfeiters out of business. Amazon continues to invest tremendous resources to stop bad actors before they enter our store and social media sites must similarly vet, monitor, and take action on bad actors that are using their services to facilitate illegal behavior.”

Fitzpatrick was previously a member of the Amazon Influencer Program, but after Amazon detected her counterfeiting activities, she was removed from the program. She continued to advertise counterfeits using social media sites and directed followers to her own website. Amazon also detected and blocked Kelly-Krejci’s scheme and she similarly began to direct her followers to purchase counterfeits on her own website. The defendants also began directing their followers to other e-commerce websites:

“[N]ow as most of you know amazon [sic] has really cracked down on dupes … now they’re [sic] are barely any [dupes on Amazon],” said Fitzpatrick. “Our very trusted seller of the last year has moved to DH Gate … I know it’s a big change to switch from Amazon to DH Gate but this guarantees that the links do not get reported and shut down sometimes cancelling our orders.”

Amazon strictly prohibits counterfeit products in its stores, and in 2019 alone, invested more than $500 million to protect customers and brands from fraud, abuse, and counterfeit. Amazon’s proactive investments in preventing counterfeit include robust seller vetting, advanced machine-learning based technologies, and industry-leading brand protection tools like Project Zero, Brand Registry, and Transparency. As a result of Amazon’s efforts, 99.9% of all products viewed by customers on Amazon have not received a valid counterfeit complaint. In June 2020, Amazon launched its Counterfeit Crimes Unit, a global team with specialized experience in investigating and bringing legal action against bad actors.

Amazon has filed a series of lawsuits against counterfeiters, including a joint lawsuit with Italian luxury fashion house Valentino, cosmetics retailer KF Beauty, and seller of travel products for parents JL Childress.

You can see the court filing here:

  • Case: 2:20-cv-01662, United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

Amazon has a number of tools to ensure customers receive authentic products and to protect brands’ intellectual property.

  • Amazon Brand Registry, a free service that gives brand owners access to a powerful set of tools that help them deliver an accurate and trusted customer experience on Amazon while protecting a brand’s IP. More than 350,000 brands are enrolled. To enroll and learn more: https://brandservices.amazon.com/
  • Transparency, a product serialization service that allows brands to uniquely identify each unit they produce through the application of unique codes on the product or its packaging. These codes allow Amazon to inspect and authenticate every unit enrolled in Transparency proactively, detecting and stopping counterfeits before they reach customers.
  • Amazon’s Project Zero, which empowers brands to drive counterfeits to zero. Project Zero uses automated protections to proactively and continuously scan more than 5 billion attempted product listing updates daily to look for suspicious listings, provides a self-service tool for brands with an unprecedented ability to directly remove listings from Amazon’s stores, and leverages product serialization as an optional service. To join the more than 10,000 enrolled brands, learn more at: http://www.projectzero.com.
  • Amazon’s Counterfeit Crime Unit (CCU), a global team that investigates and brings legal action against bad actors, protecting customers, brands, and Amazon’s selling partners. To learn more: https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-establishes-counterfeit-crimes-unit-bring-counterfeiters

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Amazon.com, Inc.

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