Global Scans · Legal · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Substantive regulatory change is likely to happen in the next decade as a result of the recent U.S. Presidential election, Brexit and efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change, increase trade and reduce bureaucracy while legislating for new forms of technological advancement such as robots, driverless cars and drones.

• [New] Any talks between the United States and China over AI regulations - designing some kind of arms control agreement governing the use of a technology that neither side fully understands or controls - will be fraught with suspicion, misunderstandings and risk. Los Angeles Times
• [New] Newly passed legislation in Utah (which goes into effect tomorrow) will extend enforcement of age restriction requirements on adult-focused websites to all individuals located within Utah, and aims to account for whether they use a VPN or proxy to mask their IP address. Yahoo News
• [New] Legal risks could force sites to either ban VPN IPs or mandate age verification for every visitor globally. Yahoo News
• [New] In 2026, shadow-tool risk includes unauthorized use of public AI interfaces for internal business material - restricted customer, financial, legal, and operational data may not be submitted to unapproved external AI tools or unmanaged productivity platforms. netguardia.com
• [New] In the US, all Federal agencies are subject to digital accessibility laws, and in less than a year, all State agencies will be as well. Forbes
• [New] Singapore has received a strong assessment from the Financial Action Task Force for its financial crime controls, even as the watchdog flagged areas to strengthen in foreign legal structures and some proliferation financing risks. Fintech Singapore
• [New] Singapore could further strengthen risk mitigation measures for foreign legal persons and foreign legal arrangements. Fintech Singapore
• [New] Mexico's media workers now face threats of legal action from politicians who are unhappy with their reporting as well as ongoing threats of physical violence when reporting on corruption or crime. Forbes
• [New] Regulatory Scrutiny, Reputational, and Legal Risks: Ubiquiti is exposed to increased regulatory scrutiny, particularly concerning data privacy. Trefis
• [New] Firms often hesitate to scale AI where errors carry legal, safety, or reputational risk; the OECD highlights that firms care about accountability and governance when deploying AI, and public authorities increasingly emphasize responsible procurement and risk frameworks. Brookings
• [New] 2026 will be a key year for the application of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation. Luther Lawfirm
• [New] The continued relevance of US antitrust law - and the possibility that EU authorities may allow themselves to be influenced by it in their enforcement of EU law in the digital economy - will remain of particular interest in 2026 and beyond. Luther Lawfirm
• [New] Abuse of dominance enforcement will remain a key enforcement tool of antitrust law in 2026, which will continue to have broad practical relevance alongside special regulations for the digital economy, such as the Digital Markets Act. Luther Lawfirm
• [New] In 2026, companies across all industries must be aware of the risk of reviews of their distribution systems by antitrust authorities; moreover, adjustments to the legal framework for the block exemption in the automotive sector are imminent. Luther Lawfirm
• [New] Financial regulators across the Middle East, such as the central banks of the UAE, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, and Bahrain, are each working on new operational resilience regulations - some expected by 2026. KPMG
• [New] Fraud has become the defining threat of the digital age, and the UK Government has rightly recognised that meaningful progress in the fight against fraud requires effective partnership between states, law enforcement, regulators and the private sector. Mishcon de Reya LLP
• [New] Millions of Australians are expected to benefit from payday super laws. SBS News
• [New] Increased legal frameworks such as the EU's MiCA, US digital asset laws, and the new sandbox models in Singapore and Hong Kong will lead to less legal uncertainty, and more cross border transactions, in turn increasing investor confidence. Codezeros
• [New] EU AI Act obligations phase in through 2027, and the US Take It Down Act and state-level deepfake laws create new compliance duties for platforms that handle user-generated video or audio. Stingrai
• [New] We need stronger powers to tackle the malign threat posed by states like Iran, because we know for a fact that they want to harm British Jews, which is why we will fast-track the necessary legislation. 115771908788438436647
• [New] Regulatory and policy flux adds another dimension of risk, as a patchwork of local, national, and sectoral laws, including the EU AI Act, Colorado AI Act, and Singapore's voluntary frameworks, complicate compliance and often require costly retrofitting of policies, documentation, and processes. FifthRow - Autonomous AI Apps for Research, Strategy, C
• [New] At least 26 discrete rulemakings to revise existing regulations - either as proposed rules for public comment or as direct final rules - are expected by mid-2026. JD Supra
• [New] Despite the delay until 2027, the EU Batteries Regulation still includes one of the first regulatory obligations to implement risk-based due diligence in line with OECD frameworks. Advanced Auto Bat

Last updated: 12 May 2026