By Jerry Maglunog “The world is coming to Asia.” These were the words of London City lord mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow when he visited the Philippines in February this year.

The International Trademark Association and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) during the 2015 INTA Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.

By Riza Lozada The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had started full implementation of its “Online Registration, Appointment and E-payment System” that significantly reduced the processing time of securing official documents, mainly NBI clearance.

By the end of next year, the local stock market will have one trading floor as it moves its headquarters from Makati City to Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, after bourse operator, Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. (PSE) signed a deal with Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. for the PSE headquarters and its unified trading floor worth P805.37 million.

Listed mass-housing developer 8990 Holdings Inc. is set to launch nine projects mostly in the Visayas and Mindanao to beef up its inventory of housing units. In addition to the new projects, the 10 ongoing projects will provide a total of 19 projects equivalent to 11,083 housing units for a total gross value of P10 billion this year.

By Riza Lozada All banknotes issued in 1985 or earlier ceases to become a legal tender starting 2017, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said last week as it launched an information campaign on the demonetization.

Yangon, Myanmar—UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday urged Southeast Asian nations to deal with the causes behind a growing humanitarian crisis that has forced thousands of Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants to flee by sea, leaving many still stranded in boats.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia—A suicide bomber unleashed a blast in a Shiite mosque in eastern Saudi Arabia as worshippers commemorated the birth of a revered saint, killing at least 21 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest attack seen in the kingdom in more than a decade. Loyalists of the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing.

By Riza Lozada Pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) continues to be hounded by problems in selling its GSIS Family Bank (GFB) unit, as bidders wanted an assurance that the 20 branches of the bank would retain its privilege of being exempt from paying licensing fees.

By Riza Lozada The Philippine Postal Corp. (Philpost) is under criticism for featuring twice a living person—Manny Pacquiao—on its special stamp.