SME Financing & Growth: Malaysia’s KUSKOP says it has spent nearly RM3B (2023-2025) to empower Bumiputera entrepreneurs, tracking results like 20% sales growth and business expansion, while also approving RM5B financing for about 180,000 entrepreneurs in the first five months of this year. Rates Relief for Small Firms: Northern Ireland finance proposals would create a “Business Growth Accelerator” to defer non-domestic rate uplifts for premises improvements, plus consult on higher vacant-property charges to push empty sites back into use. MSME Cash-Flow Fix: India’s TReDS is highlighted as a working model for invoice discounting, with transactions and invoice value rising sharply as delayed payments squeeze liquidity. Local Business Costs Watch: Chicago’s lead-pipe replacement bill is framed as wildly higher than other cities, underscoring how big public mandates can hit small operators through supply-chain and service costs. SMB Tech for Admin Relief: Finom launches “Finom AI” inside its SME business account to answer finance questions using the user’s own data, aiming to cut paperwork and speed decisions. Payments Risk: Chargebacks911 reports friendly fraud is rising for most enterprise merchants, pushing merchants to rethink pricing and customer policies.