Citigold Private Clients will gain access to alternative asset classes including private equity and private infrastructure

SINGAPORE and HONG KONG, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Citi Singapore and Citi Hong Kong have announced strategic partnerships with leading global private market firms Blackstone, Blue Owl and KKR, to launch evergreen funds for high net-worth clients who are seeking enhanced wealth solutions and greater portfolio diversification.

Through the partnerships, Citigold Private Clients in Asia and the Middle East will gain access to private markets, including equity, credit, infrastructure, and real estate. These alternative asset classes have traditionally been reserved for institutional investors.

The funds will be structured in an evergreen format, offering simplified access to private markets with more flexible subscription and liquidity terms than traditional closed-ended private markets solutions, subject to a minimum initial holding period.

The launch of the funds has started and the funds will continue to be rolled out in the next few months.

Citigold Private Clients will be able to diversify their portfolios, capture opportunities for uncorrelated returns and long-term growth, as well as participate directly in the value creation inherent in private markets assets.

Ms Yeo Wenxian, Head of Wealth for Asia South, Citi, said: “We are excited to work with Blackstone, Blue Owl and KKR to leverage their industry leadership, investment expertise and robust deal-sourcing capabilities. These investment vehicles will deepen and broaden Citi’s comprehensive wealth management offerings, further cementing our role as a trusted partner to our clients in their wealth journeys.”

Ms Vicky Kong, Head of Wealth, Asia North and Australia, Citi, said: “In today’s complex and volatile market, our clients are rightly seeking resilient, diversified sources of returns beyond traditional public markets. This collaboration with Blackstone, Blue Owl and KKR directly addresses that demand, providing sophisticated access to private markets that were once the exclusive domain of institutional and private bank investors. This is more than a product expansion, it’s a significant step in our commitment to delivering comprehensive wealth management solutions to our affluent clients, and empowering our clients to build long-term portfolios fit for the future.”

Mr Ed Huang, Head of Asia Pacific for Blackstone Private Wealth, said: “We are delighted to build on our longstanding relationship with Citi, combining its robust network and Blackstone’s position as the world’s largest alternatives manager, with proven performance in scaled offerings and a 23-year track record serving individual investors. We remain committed to expanding access to institutional-quality private market opportunities for Citi’s high-net-worth clients, helping them diversify their portfolios. Education is the cornerstone of our platform, and we look forward to deepening our partnership by providing enhanced resources and insights into private markets.”

Mr Sean Connor, CEO and Global Head of Private Wealth at Blue Owl Capital, said: “Our global partnership with Citi for their platform expansion in Asia is a critical milestone in our collective effort to provide best-in-class access to the private markets for investors. We are pleased to bring Blue Owl’s differentiated investment capabilities, all-weather solutions, along with dedicated service and support for Citi financial advisors and their clients. Our priority is to continue to provide differentiated access to institutional-grade solutions that empower investors to unlock the full potential of the private markets in their portfolios with leading global partners like Citi.”

Ms Jacqueline Zhuang, Managing Director and Head of Global Wealth Solutions Asia Pacific ex-Japan at KKR, said: “This strategic partnership with Citi provides their advisors and clients across Asia and the Middle East with differentiated access to KKR’s suite of evergreen private equity, infrastructure and private credit strategies. Individual wealth investors expect access to the same private markets investment opportunities as institutions. Together with Citi, we are focused on delivering a comprehensive solution that combines investor service, education, and access to KKR’s differentiated investment capabilities.” 

About Citi
Citi is a preeminent banking partner for institutions with cross-border needs, a global leader in wealth management and a valued personal bank in its home market of the United States. Citi does business in more than 180 countries and jurisdictions, providing corporations, governments, investors, institutions and individuals with a broad range of financial products and services.

Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com | X: @Citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi 

DUBAI, UAE, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Bybit, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, announced that it has become the No.1 centralized exchange for spot trading of Tether Gold (XAUT), commanding approximately 15.75% of total XAUT trading volume among centralized venues, according to CoinGecko data.

The surge in XAUT activity coincides with the token hitting new all-time highs around $5,500, closely tracking spot gold’s breakout above $5,000. Gold prices have climbed on rising macroeconomic uncertainty, persistent inflation risks, geopolitical tensions, and continued central bank accumulation of gold — factors that have reinforced gold’s role as a global hedge and store of value.

“Spot gold rose over 64% in 2025 — its biggest annual gain since 1979,”  said Han Tan, Chief Market Analyst at Bybit Learn. “As long as the macro backdrop remains conducive, and central banks and ETF investors sustain their purchases, gold should have little trouble posting fresh all-time highs in 2026.”

As interest in gold-backed tokens accelerates, Bybit has become the primary liquidity and price discovery venue for XAUT, with trading activity remaining strong across weekends and periods when traditional commodities markets are closed. The exchange’s liquidity depth has made it a central hub for traders seeking to gain or adjust gold exposure in real time, regardless of traditional market hours.

The concentration of XAUT trading on Bybit reflects a broader shift in how market participants are approaching the current bull cycle. More traders are turning to tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) such as gold-backed tokens to balance volatility in digital asset portfolios, while retaining the speed, accessibility, and global reach of crypto markets.

“Gold’s resurgence is being mirrored on-chain through XAUT, and traders are choosing Bybit as their primary venue to trade,” said Emily Bao, Head of Spot at Bybit. “Our focus has been on building the deepest liquidity and most reliable market access, enabling efficient execution as tokenized gold becomes a core macro asset in crypto markets.”

Bybit’s comprehensive product suite enables traders to capitalize on XAUT’s momentum through multiple strategies. The platform offers spot trading, margin trading with up to 10x leverage, and derivatives trading with up to 50x leverage. Traders can deposit XAUT across multiple blockchains including Solana, Ethereum, Mantle, Monad, and TON. The exchange also supports automated strategies such as DCA/recurring buys and Grid Bot, alongside onchain tools for alpha trading and yield farming, giving users flexible options to participate in the gold rally.

As the tokenized gold market continues to expand, Bybit remains committed to delivering strong liquidity, 24/7 trading access, and institutional-grade market infrastructure, reinforcing its position as the leading centralized exchange for XAUT trading during the current gold-driven bull run.

#Bybit / #CryptoArk / #IMakeIt 

About Bybit

Bybit is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, serving a global community of over 80 million users. Founded in 2018, Bybit is redefining openness in the decentralized world by creating a simpler, open and equal ecosystem for everyone. With a strong focus on Web3, Bybit partners strategically with leading blockchain protocols to provide robust infrastructure and drive on-chain innovation. Renowned for its secure custody, diverse marketplaces, intuitive user experience, and advanced blockchain tools, Bybit bridges the gap between TradFi and DeFi, empowering builders, creators, and enthusiasts to unlock the full potential of Web3. Discover the future of decentralized finance at Bybit.com.

For more details about Bybit, please visit Bybit Press

For media inquiries, please contact: media@bybit.com

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HONG KONG, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Taboola, a global leader in delivering performance at scale for advertisers, today announced the findings of a major field study conducted in collaboration with researchers at Columbia University, Harvard University,Technical University of Munich, and Carnegie Mellon University. The research provides the first-ever look at how generative AI (GenAI) compares to human creativity in driving consumer action by analyzing large-scale real-world ad performance.

While GenAI has revolutionized production speed and cost, its impact on actual performance has remained a subject of intense debate. The new study, titled, “AI Ads That Work: How AI Creative Stacks Up Against Humans,” analyzed hundreds of thousands of live ads running on Realize, Taboola’s performance advertising platform, totaling more than 500 million impressions and 3 million clicks.

Key insights from the academic research include:

• GenAI ads perform just as well as human-made ads: AI-generated ads performed just as well as human-made ads. In raw data, AI ads saw a slightly higher average click-through-rate (CTR) (0.76%) compared to human ads (0.65%), though they performed comparably when researchers applied the tightest statistical controls.
• AI ads win the most when they don’t “look” like AI: AI-generated ads that did not “look like AI” achieved the highest engagement of all groups, significantly outperforming both human-made ads and AI ads that were perceived as artificial.
• Human faces are the “secret ingredient” for trust: The study found that one of the most important factors in making an ad feel “human” and trustworthy was the presence of a large, clear human face. Interestingly, based on Taboola’s best practices and policy restrictions, AI-generated ads were more likely to include these trust cues than their human-made counterparts.
• Brands no longer have to choose between speed and quality: AI-generated visuals increased or maintained click-through rates without reducing downstream conversion performance, proving that advertisers do not have to trade quality or conversions for production scale.
• Food, drink, and finance brands were among the first to adopt AI ads: Specific sectors; most notably, the “food and drink” and “personal finance” industries were early to adopt AI ads.

“Taboola’s platform provided us with a literal gold mine of real-world data that is simply unavailable in a lab setting. By analyzing over 500 million impressions, we were able to move past the hype of GenAI and uncover its real impact in large scale settings,” said Oded Netzer, Vice Dean for Research, Columbia Business School. “Our findings prove that when AI is used to enhance human cues—like the trust found in a human face—it doesn’t just match human performance; it often sets a new ceiling for engagement.”

Methodology

The study utilized a quasi-experimental “sibling ads” approach, comparing matched pairs of AI-generated and human-made ads created by the same advertiser for the same campaign on the same day. This methodology allowed researchers to isolate the impact of the GenAI creative while controlling for external variables like the identity of the advertiser, timing, audience targeting, and landing pages.

About Taboola 

Taboola empowers businesses to grow through performance advertising technology that goes beyond search and social and delivers measurable outcomes at scale.

Taboola works with thousands of businesses who advertise directly on Realize, Taboola’s powerful ad platform, reaching approximately 600M daily active users across some of the best publishers in the world. Publishers like NBC News, Yahoo, and OEMs such as Samsung, Xiaomi and others use Taboola’s technology to grow audience and revenue, enabling Realize to offer unique data, specialized algorithms, and unmatched scale.

SHANGHAI, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — WuXi Biologics (2269.HK), a leading global Contract Research, Development, and Manufacturing Organization (CRDMO), and Sinorda Biomedicine today jointly announced a strategic collaboration for the development and manufacturing of SND006, a novel bispecific antibody, for the potential treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other autoimmune diseases.

Under the agreement, Sinorda Biomedicine will leverage WuXi Biologics’ extensive experience and manufacturing capabilities in biologics development and manufacturing to advance SND006’s preclinical pharmacology studies and clinical supply, accelerating the Investigational New Drug (IND) application process. SND006 is an innovative bispecific antibody independently developed by Sinorda Biomedicine, for which the company holds worldwide rights. Sinorda Biomedicine has completed in vitro functional validation studies of SND006 and plans to submit IND applications to both the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in China and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2026. In the future, the two companies will further expand their collaboration around Sinorda Biomedicine’s potential pipeline, including multiple integrated projects spanning from molecule discovery to clinical manufacturing.

Dr. Chris Chen, CEO of WuXi Biologics, commented, “Over the past decade, we have accumulated experience across hundreds of projects in bispecific and multispecific antibodies, which have become one of our fastest‑growing areas. We are pleased to accelerate the development and manufacturing of Sinorda Biomedicine’s innovative bispecific antibody SND006 through our integrated technology platforms and comprehensive capabilities. Looking ahead, we will continue accelerating and transforming biologics discovery, development and manufacturing to empower global partners and make innovative biologics more accessible and affordable for patients worldwide.”

Dr. Pingsheng Hu, Chairman and General Manager of Sinorda Biomedicine, commented, “SND006 is a potentially best-in-class innovative bispecific antibody discovered and developed by Sinorda Biomedicine, with the potential to deliver breakthroughs in the treatment of gastrointestinal and multiple autoimmune diseases. WuXi Biologics is a global leader in CRDMO services, offering truly end‑to‑end solutions underpinned by accumulated know-how, comprehensive technology platforms, and a strong track record—particularly in the development and manufacturing of bispecific antibodies. We believe this collaboration will accelerate the IND filings of our innovative biologics in China and worldwide, address unmet medical needs in autoimmune diseases, and ultimately bring safe and effective therapies to patients.”

About WuXi Biologics

WuXi Biologics (stock code: 2269.HK) is a leading global Contract Research, Development and Manufacturing Organization (CRDMO) offering end-to-end solutions that enable partners to discover, develop and manufacture biologics – from concept to commercialization – for the benefit of patients worldwide.

With over 12,000 skilled employees in China, the United States, Ireland, Germany and Singapore, WuXi Biologics leverages its technologies and expertise to provide customers with efficient and cost-effective biologics discovery, development and manufacturing solutions. As of December 31, 2025, WuXi Biologics is supporting 945 integrated client projects, including 74 in Phase III and 25 in commercial manufacturing.

WuXi Biologics regards sustainability as the cornerstone of long-term business growth. The company continuously drives green technology innovations to offer advanced end-to-end Green CRDMO solutions for its global partners while consistently achieving excellence in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG). Committed to creating shared value, it collaborates with all stakeholders to foster positive social and environmental impacts and promote responsible practices that empower the entire value chain.

For more information about WuXi Biologics, please visit: www.wuxibiologics.com. 

About Sinorda Biomedicine

Sinorda Biomedicine was established in 2010 and is a biomedical innovation company in the commercialization stage. The company focuses on the research and development and industrialization of innovative drugs for digestive tract diseases, tumor immunity and autoimmune diseases. It has a bioinnovative drug technology platform, a clinical medical R&D platform and an experienced international R&D team, with successful experience in innovative drug applications in China, Europe, America and other countries.

Linaprazan glureta (X842), the company’s self-developed class 1.1 new drug for treatment of gastric acid-related diseases, has been successfully approved for commercialization and industrialization. The sentinel lymph node T cell project for solid tumor treatment has clinical IIT research results for various tumors. In addition, the company has a number of early-stage product pipelines, including bispecific antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune disease IBD.

The company has developed rapidly through extensive cooperation with domestic and foreign pharmaceutical companies and R&D institutions, and is committed to becoming the most valuable innovative pharmaceutical enterprise in China.

WuXi Biologics Contacts

Business
info@wuxibiologics.com

Media
PR@wuxibiologics.com

HANOI, Vietnam, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — FPT Corporation officially announced the establishment of the FPT Advanced Semiconductor Testing & Packaging Plant.

The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology, together with leaders of FPT Corporation, Viettel Group and its domestic and international partners.

The establishment of the FPT Advanced Semiconductor Testing and Packaging Plant underscores FPT’s commitment to implementing Vietnam’s national technology strategies, including Resolution No. 57-NQ/TW and Decisions No. 1131/QĐ-TTg and 1018/QĐ-TTg, which set the target for Vietnam to have 10 advanced semiconductor testing and packaging facilities by 2030.

The project strengthens the national semiconductor alliance, advances mastery of core technologies, completes an end-to-end semiconductor ecosystem, and supports the goal of 50,000 semiconductor professionals by 2030.

According to Mr. Truong Gia Binh, Chairman of FPT Corporation shared: “With today’s milestone, we take another step toward completing Vietnam’s semiconductor ecosystem. We will work closely with domestic and international partners to rapidly bring Make in Vietnam chips into real-world applications”.

In Phase 1 (2026–2027), the plant covers 1,600 square meters with six functional testing lines (ATE testers and handlers) and a dedicated reliability and durability testing area (Burn-in, Reliability Test, Failure Analysis). All systems comply with semiconductor global standards, ensuring quality and reliability throughout the product lifecycle.

In Phase 2 (2028–2030), FPT will expand the facility to 6,000 square meters, with 18 newly installed functional testing lines, 3 reliability and endurance testing zones, expanded both conventional packaging lines (QFN, QFP, DFN, etc.), additional CSP (Chip Scale Package), WLP (Wafer Level Package) lines, along with advanced IC packaging lines, collectively ramping the plant’s total output to billions of units per year. The plant will also enhance testing for IoT, automotive, and AI-on-the-edge SoC chips, further completing the semiconductor value chain.

FPT signed strategic cooperation agreements with leading domestic and international partners to integrate the semiconductor value chain from training to commercialization, including Viettel Group (Vietnam), VSAP Lab (Vietnam), Restar (Japan), Winpac (Korea).

FPT also announced plans to research and develop AI-on-the-edge System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions, aiming to fully master the smart device ecosystem encompassing cameras, drones, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

With over a decade in semiconductors, FPT pioneers “Make in Vietnam” chips, invests in R&D, develops high-quality talent, positioning Vietnam as a key semiconductor hub.

• Chairman Chung Kisun attends high-level roundtable at Prime Minister Modi’s invitation
• Cooperation spans commercial and naval shipbuilding and port crane projects; joint shipyard development to be pursued
• “India is a key pillar of our overseas production diversification strategy, poised to become HD Hyundai’s new growth engine”

SEOUL, South Korea, Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — HD Hyundai Chairman Chung Kisun met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss expanding bilateral cooperation in shipbuilding.

HD Hyundai said Chairman Chung Kisun and HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering CEO Kim Hyungkwan attended the high-level roundtable on Wednesday, January 28, hosted by Prime Minister Modi at the Prime Minister’s official residence in New Delhi.

The high-level roundtable was held as part of India Energy Week 2026, bringing together about 30 participants, including Prime Minister Modi, ministers from relevant Indian government bodies, heads of state-owned enterprises, and chief executives of global companies, to discuss avenues for cooperation.

During the meeting, Chairman Chung expressed appreciation for the Prime Minister’s strong commitment to fostering the shipbuilding industry and asked for continued interest and support for HD Hyundai’s ongoing collaborative initiatives with India.

“HD Hyundai continues to maintain close collaborative relationships with India across a wide range of areas,” Chairman Chung said. “India is a key pillar of our strategy to diversify overseas production bases, and I am confident it will serve as a new engine of growth for HD Hyundai.”

To take part in the Indian government’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 initiative, HD Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding in July last year with Cochin Shipyard, India’s largest state-owned shipbuilder, agreeing to cooperate across multiple areas, including design and procurement support, productivity improvements, and workforce capability development.

More recently, HD Hyundai expanded its collaboration with Cochin Shipyard to include naval vessels. It has also accelerated its entry into the Indian market by signing an exclusive MOU with the government of Tamil Nadu to jointly build a shipyard and advance crane business cooperation with state-owned BEML.

India has also shown strong interest in strengthening cooperation with HD Hyundai. In November last year and again in January this year, Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, and T. R. B. Rajaa, Tamil Nadu’s Minister for Industries, respectively, visited South Korea to tour HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Center and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ Ulsan shipyard and discuss ways to deepen cooperation with the group.