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Moody’s Elevates Bank of Cyprus to A3 Rating: A Testament to Financial Fortitude

by News Editor
In a significant financial milestone, Moody’s has elevated the long-term deposit ratings for the Bank of Cyprus from Baa1 to A3. This achievement underscores the bank’s ongoing enhancement of its financial health.

The outlook remains stable, reinforcing the bank’s position as a beacon of stability in Greece and Cyprus, a testament highlighted amidst challenges. Moody’s attributes this upgrade to the continuous improvement in the bank’s asset quality and risk management.

Breaking new ground, the Bank of Cyprus is now the highest-rated establishment among its regional peers, a clear message of reliability and financial robustness.

Crucial contributors to this new rating include an increase in the tangible common equity (TCE) ratio to 17.1% by the end of 2023, and a decrease in non-performing exposures (NPE) to 3.6% from 6.5% in 2021.

Moody’s also notes the bank’s strong profitability, marked by a 21.3% return on tangible equity in 2023, and a cost-to-income ratio that fell to 35%. This financial agility is expected to persist through 2025, even with possible interest rate reductions influencing net interest income.

The report also lauds the bank’s liquidity and robust deposit base, describing its funding as primarily backed by low-cost retail deposits, comprising 88% of total funding. With a liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) at an impressive 341%, the bank’s solid stance is further solidified.

Furthermore, the bank’s counterparty risk ratings have seen a boost, reflecting confidence in its future potential. While the bank’s subordinated debt rating remains unchanged at Ba2, the stable outlook signifies a predicted continuation of solid solvency and profitability over the next 18 months.

If the Bank of Cyprus sustains high profitability combined with low asset risk, it stands on the brink of further upgrades.

Mirendil Signs $100 Million Google Cloud Deal To Advance Self-Improving AI

by News Editor

AI startup Mirendil has signed a multi-year agreement worth more than $100 million with Google Cloud to secure computing infrastructure for its self-improving AI research.

The partnership reflects growing competition among AI companies to lock in access to high-performance computing, while cloud providers race to attract promising startups developing next-generation AI models.

Backing The Next Stage Of AI Research

Mirendil plans to use Google’s Tensor Processing Units (TPUs), Nvidia GPUs and managed training infrastructure to develop AI systems capable of improving their own performance over time.

Known as recursive self-improvement, the concept focuses on building AI that can refine its knowledge and capabilities with minimal human intervention. The technology is attracting growing interest across the industry, with several startups and leading AI labs exploring similar approaches.

According to co-founder and Chief Executive Behnam Neyshabur, the long-term goal is to develop AI that can automate scientific research and accelerate discoveries in fields such as medicine, biology and materials science.

Compute Capacity Becomes A Strategic Asset

Training increasingly advanced AI models requires enormous computing resources, making long-term infrastructure agreements a critical competitive advantage.

Mirendil said Google’s combination of TPUs and GPUs allows workloads to be matched with the most suitable hardware, improving efficiency while reducing costs for customers.

For Google Cloud, the agreement strengthens its position in the race to provide infrastructure for frontier AI developers, while giving the company exposure to one of the industry’s emerging approaches to next-generation artificial intelligence.

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