Latest news with #ChrisHolland
Indianapolis Star
10-08-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'85 years of history': The Boston Crusaders win their first DCI World Championship
Lucas Oil Stadium echoed with applause on August 9 as announcers declared that the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps had been crowned the winners of the 2025 DCI World Championship — an achievement 85 years in the making. The Boston Crusaders, founded in 1940 and a founding member of Drum Corps International, have spent the 53 years since the competition began chasing the opportunity to be dubbed one of the best drum corps in the world. The closest the Boston Crusaders had ever come was in 2022 and 2024, coming in second behind the Blue Devils three years ago and the Bluecoats last year. 'Winning this World Championship is surreal,' said Boston Crusaders executive director Chris Holland in an interview with DCI. 'For the performers who made this happen, this is all about them. We're a proud organization with 85 years of history, but that 85 years is about creating an experience for them. What they did this summer, what they did in Indianapolis, is pretty incredible.' Many in the audience, on the field and in the announcer booth cheered loudly when the Crusaders were announced as this year' new champions. "I think that was the loudest crowd reaction to a show I've heard since Spartacus in 2008," said Dan Potter, one of the DCI announcers. Typically, the team that wins the General Effect and Visual award is dubbed the winner of the show, according to Steve Roinero, one of the announcers of this year's DCI World Championship. However, this year's General Effect and Visual award went to the Bluecoats from Canton, Ohio, who wound up losing the championship to the Boston Crusaders by 0.175 points. The Boston Crusaders also took home the awards for best color guard, best brass and best percussion. For the last two and a half decades, the Boston Crusaders had been within striking distance of earning a spot on the winners' podium, usually finishing somewhere in the top 12. But since 2022, the Boston Crusaders have shown why; they have the reputation of "the corps that would not die." "Part of our core song is 'We will never die,' and we try and portray that every single day," said Boston Crusaders drum major Wes Booker. "Every rehearsal, we push our best and every show we give everything we've got."
The Star
02-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Binance to keep remote workers in Singapore
Crypto crackdown: People crossing a street in Singapore's Chinatown district. The MAS imposed a hard deadline of June 30 for crypto firms incorporated in the city-state and offering services offshore to cease activities. — AFP Singapore: The world's largest digital assets exchange Binance plans to keep hundreds of remote workers in Singapore, despite a crackdown on unlicensed crypto outfits in the city-state. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced a hard deadline of June 30 for crypto firms incorporated in Singapore and offering services offshore to cease activities, prompting top-10 exchange operators Bitget and Bybit to weigh shifting employees overseas. The new rules are expected to have a negligible impact on Binance's operations in Singapore, according to sources. Hundreds of Singapore-based employees working remotely for the exchange will not need to relocate, the sources said. More than 400 Binance workers label themselves as based in Singapore on LinkedIn, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. Binance had no comment on its operations in the city-state, and did not specify whether it has an office in there when asked by Bloomberg. Crypto exchanges have long posed challenges for would-be regulators by leaving their base of operations ambiguous. Binance has never named a global headquarters. Its chief executive Richard Teng – a former director at MAS – said in 2024 that the company had held talks with a number of jurisdictions on the matter, but in January he described Binance employees as 'remote-first'. In a June 6 clarification to its initial announcement, MAS said digital asset firms offering services 'solely to customers outside of Singapore' will need to be licensed from June 30 or 'cease their regulated activities'. Binance is not licensed in Singapore and has been on an investor alert list there since 2021, meaning it cannot solicit customers from the city-state. Binance employees here are seen as shielded from the recent MAS notice, however, because they mainly focus on back-office activities including compliance, human resources, data analysis and technology, sources said. Working remotely, rather than in a permanent office, also helps to insulate them, the sources added. Individuals or partnerships that operate from a place of business in Singapore or incorporated in the city-state and offering digital token services outside the country will fall under the new rules, MAS said in its May 30 statement. But work done by an individual as part of their employment with a foreign-incorporated company that provides such services outside Singapore 'would not, in itself, attract a licensing requirement' under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FMSA) 2022, MAS said. 'Place of business is a grey area,' said Chris Holland, partner at Singapore consulting firm HM. 'The definition of 'place of business' is broad under the FSMA. While the term will have a boundary, I would not encourage firms to engage people resident in Singapore and then rely exclusively on that definition to work remotely assuming that it's outside the remit of the new rules.' Singapore is one of Asia's foremost crypto hubs, with a licensing regime that global players such as Coinbase Global Inc and OKX have have used to set up regional bases. But the city-state suffered a string of bruising blow-ups during the last industry downturn in 2022. Among those was Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund that imploded after a series of bad bets. Singapore's status as a fulcrum for the industry is now being called into question, after the June 30 deadline sparked concerns of a crypto exodus. 'There's lots of uncertainty on Singapore's stance on crypto,' said Raagulan Pathy, co-founder of Kast, a stablecoin startup. Cayman Islands-based Kast has hired 100 people in the past 12 months and had planned to shift internal operations employees, trading teams and other executives to Singapore while hiring 30 to 50 people here. Pathy aimed to set up a global office in Dubai instead. He has no plans to move personally but has to 'make hard choices about where to locate offices for Kast'. — Bloomberg
Business Times
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Binance to keep hundreds of staff in Singapore despite crackdown
[SINGAPORE] The world's largest digital assets exchange Binance, plans to keep hundreds of remote workers in Singapore, despite a crackdown on unlicensed crypto outfits in the city-state. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced a hard deadline of Jun 30 for crypto firms incorporated in Singapore and offering services offshore to cease activities, prompting top-10 exchange operators Bitget and Bybit to weigh shifting staff overseas. The new rules are expected to have a negligible impact on Binance's operations in Singapore, according to sources familiar with the company's operations who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Hundreds of Singapore-based employees working remotely for the exchange will not need to relocate, the sources said. More than 400 Binance workers label themselves as based in Singapore on LinkedIn, based on a Bloomberg News analysis. Binance had no comment on its operations in Singapore and did not specify whether it has an office in the city-state when asked by Bloomberg. The MAS referred to its earlier statements on the new rules. Crypto exchanges have long posed challenges for would-be regulators by leaving their base of operations ambiguous. Binance has never named a global headquarters. Its chief executive officer Richard Teng – a former director at the MAS – said in 2024 that the company had held talks with a number of jurisdictions on the matter, but in January, he described Binance employees as 'remote-first'. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies. Sign Up Sign Up In a Jun 6 clarification to its initial announcement, the MAS said digital-asset firms offering services 'solely to customers outside of Singapore' will need to be licensed from Jun 30 or 'cease their regulated activities.' Binance is not licensed in Singapore and has been on an investor alert list there since 2021, meaning it cannot solicit customers from the city-state. Binance staff in Singapore are seen as shielded from the recent MAS notice, however, because they mainly focus on back-office activities including compliance, human resources, data analysis and technology, the sources familiar with the situation said. Working remotely, rather than in a permanent office, also helps to insulate them, the sources added. Individuals or partnerships that operate from a place of business in Singapore or incorporated in the city-state and offering digital token services outside the country will fall under the new rules, the MAS said in its May 30 statement. But work done by an individual as part of their employment with a foreign-incorporated company that provides such services outside Singapore 'would not, in itself, attract a licensing requirement' under the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2022, the MAS said. 'Place of business is a grey area,' said Chris Holland, partner at Singaporean consulting firm HM. 'The definition of 'place of business' is broad under the FSMA. While the term will have a boundary, I would not encourage firms to engage people resident in Singapore and then rely exclusively on that definition to work remotely, assuming that it's outside the remit of the new rules.' Crypto hub Singapore is one of Asia's foremost crypto hubs, with a licensing regime that global players such as Coinbase Global and OKX have used to set up regional bases. But the city-state suffered a string of bruising blow-ups during the last industry downturn in 2022. Among those was Three Arrows Capital, a crypto hedge fund that imploded after a series of bad bets. Singapore's status as a fulcrum for the industry is now being called into question, after the Jun 30 deadline sparked concerns of a crypto exodus. 'There's lot of uncertainty on Singapore's stance on crypto,' said Raagulan Pathy, co-founder of Kast, a stablecoin startup. Cayman Islands-based Kast has hired 100 people in the past 12 months and had planned to shift internal operations staff, trading teams and other executives to Singapore while hiring 30 to 50 people there. Now, Pathy plans to set up a global office in Dubai instead. 'Even though Singapore is merely plugging a regulatory loophole, the perception is it's clamping down on crypto and that could push capital and talent out.' Pathy is a 12-year resident of Singapore and has no plans to move personally, he added, but has to 'make hard choices about where to locate offices for Kast'. BLOOMBERG
Telegraph
03-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Worcester Warriors revived as part of expanded Championship
Worcester Warriors will return as a club as part of an expanded Championship of 14 teams with a raft of names already having received conditional offers to play for the regenerated side for next season. At a press conference at Sixways Stadium – Worcester's base during their time in the Gallagher Premiership and their future Championship home, too – the Rugby Football Union's tier two board, alongside Warriors owner Chris Holland, green-lit the return of a club which went to the wall in October 2022. Worcester will form part of a revamped Championship next season, but the two other 'phoenix clubs', Wasps and London Irish, will not be joining them. The league will comprise the current 12 Championship clubs alongside the one promoted club from National League One as well as the Warriors. It is understood that Wasps, which is also owned by Holland, and the Exiles are still some way off fully fledged returns. Other National League One sides such as Birmingham Moseley, Plymouth Albion, Rams and Richmond have already been assessed against the league's minimum requirements and have expressed an interest in joining the league in the future. In order to have their request to join next season's Championship accepted, Worcester had to go through what Holland described as 'a very detailed and challenging process; three months of going to the dentist, effectively' to prove that the club had met the minimum operating standards and growth requirements to parachute into the second tier of English rugby. Worcester have committed to paying off the financial debts to rugby creditors left by the previous owners as well as the DCMS's Covid recovery loan. Had they not agreed to reimburse the rugby creditors, the Warriors would have to have started from the bottom of the English rugby pyramid just as London Welsh and Richmond did when they fell into administration in the 1990s and 2010s. 'What we demanded of Worcester was more than any other club which is currently in tier two,' said Simon Gillham, chair of the tier two board. 'We demanded conditions and did not allow them any wriggle room. As a result of that, they have provided us with a substantial financial guarantee, which is currently in an RFU special account – I think that is a first in English rugby, in terms of financial discipline and assurance. 'The second, very important point, is that Worcester Warriors have committed to paying off financial debts left by the previous owners to rugby creditors; that is an extremely important point. They have also made substantial payments to the administrators and entered into an agreement with relevant parties which will result in the money owed to DCMS and HMRC all being paid back. 'The long discussions were intense and lively in the tier two board and we have discussed every pro and every con in detail. There have been some difficult conversations with unsuccessful clubs but I'd like to say how much they've taken place in the spirit of rigour and mutual respect, which bodes well for the future.' Telegraph Sport understands that Matt Kvesic, the former England flanker, is set to return to the club for a third spell. Kvesic, 32, began his professional career with Worcester before returning for two seasons in 2020 until the club went into administration. He has since played for Zebre and Coventry. Josh Bassett, the Leicester wing formerly of Wasps, is also understood to be in negotiations with the Warriors for next season. Kyle Hatherell, another former Worcester back-row now at the Tigers, has also been linked with a return to Sixways although Telegraph Sport understands that move is unlikely to happen. Other names mentioned include former Worcester prop Nick Schonert, recently released by Sale Sharks, along with Leicester back-row Matt Rogerson. Regarding recruitment – with former Leicester defence guru Matt Everard taking up the role of head coach – Holland said: 'You will understand that we were unable to make any formal contracts. We have been busy since Christmas, we have a kit sponsor, we have got a large selection of names and a large selection of conditional offers out there, so we will not have a problem with putting out a quality team.' Holland added that the money for the Worcester reboot comes from the use of the artificial pitch at Sixways as a multi-sport facility, as well as continuing its conference usage. Holland has invested his own cash with the rest coming from sponsorship, ticketing and other commercial interests. The owner of Worcester and Wasps would not be drawn on a figure for the reboot, settling on 'a lot'. Holland can remain as the dual owner of both Worcester and Wasps until the latter re-enters the English rugby pyramid – and, indeed, if they do. At that moment, RFU regulations dictate that if one person owns 100 per cent of one club, they can only own a maximum of 25 per cent of another. In terms of the revamped Championship, Gillham, who has spent over 20 years in professional rugby on the board at French club Brive, would not rule out a name change for next season and reiterated the belief that promotion and relegation is a vital element in English rugby. Gillham also reiterated his hope that a joint television deal between the Premiership and the Championship – like the Top 14 and ProD2 in France - was achievable 'in the medium term'.
