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] California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed a sweeping new AI law that will force companies to report the safety protocols they are using in development, the greatest risks posed by their technologies, and more. JUST Capital
• [New] By 2026, 75% of enterprise-level AI solutions will include built-in transparency and trust features to mitigate legal and reputational risks. Oxean Cross
• [New] As global AI regulations multiply and diverge, compliance means navigating jurisdiction-specific, sector-specific, and risk-specific requirements: before deployment, during operation, and after incidents occur. Modulos
• [New] Treasury's response will shape whether DeFi-native stablecoins remain legal collateral on U.S. institutional rails or drift offshore to less compliant jurisdictions. FinanceFeeds
• [New] Businesses are choosing hybrid cloud in 2026 to break free from vendor lock-in, optimize the unpredictable costs of AI workloads, and adhere to strict data sovereignty laws. Next Olive Technologies
• [New] The ability to understand, martial and explain complexity in a world of ever more capable machines will be crucial to the survival of the legal community. Legal Futures
• [New] Liability already exists under common law and provides a powerful incentive for AI companies to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable risks from their AI systems. Wired
• [New] Once printer companies have the legal cover to build out anti-competitive and privacy-invasive tools, they will likely be rolled out globally. Electronic Frontier Foundation
• [New] Governance and Regulatory Discipline: Diverging global regulation is strengthening governance, with firms embedding risk, compliance, AI oversight, cyber resilience and sustainability earlier in product and tech development. GlobeNewswire
• [New] Future growth is expected to stem from global expansions in ESG regulations, an increasing embrace of AI-driven data validation, and a shift towards cloud-based ESG tools. Yahoo Finance UK
• [New] The greater risks to fiscal stability are political rather than arithmetic, including threats to Federal Reserve independence, the credibility of statistical agencies, and the rule of law. Thomson Reuters Tax & Accounting News
• [New] With the IRS now sharing data with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, some undocumented immigrants are scared that following the law to pay taxes will put a target on their backs. George W. Bush Presidential Center
• [New] A UK court ruling that live facial recognition use by police does not violate human rights could have major implications for biometrics in law enforcement and as an industry more generally. BiometricUpdate.com
• [New] Decisive legal steps are being taken against the UK's online safety regulator, Ofcom, which faces a threat of judicial review over its alleged systemic failure to intervene and protect against the proliferation of intimate image abuse on online 'image-sharing' forums. Mishcon de Reya LLP
• [New] Regulatory Uncertainty - Pending U.S. stablecoin-yield legislation could force Ethena to restructure its core yield model, impacting demand for USDe and ENA. CoinMarketCap
• [New] The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs warns that Turkey's EU accession process cannot move forward without democratic reforms, as shortcomings related to the rule of law and fundamental rights remain unaddressed. 2eu.brussels
• [New] Indiana's Medicaid enrolment is expected to decrease because of Garten's legislation. News-Medical

Last updated: 28 April 2026