The IBA Global Insight August/September 2026 issue highlights a structural tension: the Iran War has directly tested the coherence of the Russia sanctions regime. The UK Parliament Research Library briefing updated on 4 August records 3,450 designations under the UK Russia regime as of 24 July 2026, including 620 shadow-fleet vessels — the largest category of designation. New UK measures include t
Mondaq's analysis (July 29) provides the most useful structural map of where US tariffs now stand. The current architecture has three layers: Section 301 forced-labor duties (10–12.5%, effective July 24, covering 60 economies); Section 232 national security duties on steel, aluminum, autos, and semiconductors (sector-specific, pre-existing); and active Section 301 investigations into EU digital se
The World AI Cooperation Organization (WAICO), launched at a Shanghai summit on July 16 with 29 nations (no EU members), formalized a third incompatible AI governance architecture alongside the EU AI Act and US industry self-regulation. EU AI Act Article 50 transparency obligations apply from August 2, 2026. The tripartite governance split — EU (mandatory, risk-based, Article 50 August 2), US (ind
FATF's July 16 update found 83% of surveyed jurisdictions have now passed Travel Rule legislation for crypto asset transfers, up from 73% a year earlier. Stablecoin activity is emerging as the next enforcement focus. DPRK and Iran countermeasures are maintained; Myanmar requires enhanced due diligence. The Travel Rule's near-global adoption marks the maturation of crypto AML compliance as a standa
The European Commission on July 8, 2026 referred Ireland, Spain, France, and the Netherlands to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to notify the Commission of full NIS2 Directive transposition into national law. The referral is a CJEU Article 258 infringement proceeding — available remedies include financial penalties against member states and a binding order to complete transp
The European Commission presented an Action Plan on Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence on July 7, 2026, aimed at supporting safe and responsible AI use while strengthening cyber resilience across the EU. The following day, July 8, it also presented the proposed Cloud and AI Development Act as part of the AI Continent Action Plan — a framework intended to address cloud concentration risk, pr
Following months of delay, the European Commission finalized membership of the AI Act's Advisory Forum (172 members) and Scientific Panel (60 independent experts) this month and published the final Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content, with OpenAI the first major provider to commit to signing it; in parallel, the Commission's Tech Sovereignty Package — including the Cloud
Clyde & Co's June 25 global risk research finds that 86% of business leaders now rate technological risk as high impact (up from 46% last year); 72% say geopolitical risk is having direct commercial impact (up from 49%); and 85% cite regulatory/compliance burden as high impact (up from 54%). Four in five organizations say geopolitical shifts are influencing where and how they operate globally. The
The Association of Corporate Counsel released a June 25 flash poll of 168 GCs and deputy GCs finding that 41% of manufacturing in-house counsel face geopolitical crisis-driven legal pivots at least weekly — nearly three times the overall rate. Key structural findings: over half of organizations rely on informal or ad hoc approaches to geopolitical risk governance; 52% have not revised standard con