Member News, News

Arendt | EU Commission Launches Public Consultation on Revised ESRS and Voluntary Sustainability Reporting Standards

The EU Commission has launched a public consultation on draft revised European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and voluntary sustainability reporting standards for undertakings with up to 1,000 employees. The revised ESRS aim to significantly reduce reporting burdens while preserving decision-useful information, while the voluntary standards introduce a “value chain cap” to limit information requests addressed to smaller undertakings within value chains. Context On 6 May 2026, the EU Commission announced a call for feedback on its draft Delegated Acts covering (i)...

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Chapter News, News

IMF | Financial Stability Risks Mount as Artificial Intelligence Fuels Cyberattacks

Resilience, supervision, and international coordination are essential to safeguarding global financial markets as new AI tools enable attackers. Artificial intelligence is transforming how the financial system copes with vulnerabilities and reacts to incidents. Yet it is also amplifying cyber threats that can undermine financial stability when the offensive capabilities of intruders outpace defenses. IMF analysis suggests that extreme cyber‑incident losses could trigger funding strains, raise solvency concerns, and disrupt broader markets. The financial system relies on shared digital infrastructure that’s highly interconnected, including...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & Tariffs

European Commission | EU and US Launch Strategic Partnership on Critical Minerals

Today, the EU and US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on a strategic partnership on critical minerals and agreed an EU-US Critical Minerals Action Plan. These initiatives reflect the EU's commitment to deepen cooperation on critical raw materials. This is a key step in enhancing resilience and diversification of supply chains, amid shared geopolitical and economic challenges. Signed today by Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Šefčovič and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington DC, the MoU...

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Member News, News

Fox Rothschild | The GAO Report on the CFPB Reorganization: What Banks and Financial Services Providers Should Know

Key Points The GAO's report on the CFPB reorganization confirms that mass workforce reductions, dismissed enforcement actions and a congressionally slashed budget cap have fundamentally reshaped federal consumer finance supervision. The pending en banc D.C. Circuit decision in National Treasury Employees Union v. Vought will likely determine whether the CFPB's proposed 88% reduction in force proceeds. Financial services providers should prepare for fewer federal CFPB enforcement actions offset by aggressive multistate regulatory oversight and a rise in private consumer finance litigation invoking CFPB-developed legal theories. The Government Accountability...

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Member News, News

Ogletree Deakins | Navigating the EU Pay Transparency Directive: The Latest Developments

As the transposition deadline of 7 June 2026 looms closer, EU member states remain at vastly different stages of implementing the EU Pay Transparency Directive. Quick Hits EU member states Estonia, Malta, Lithuania, and Slovakia have released recent updates on their respective implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive. Delays are now expected for Estonia; meanwhile, Malta, Slovakia, and Lithuania are still on track to meet the 7 June 2026 deadline. The European Commission has previously stated that the date for implementation remains...

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Member News, News

Troutman Pepper Locke | GENIUS Act AML and Sanctions Rules for Stablecoin Issuers: A Few Surprises but Broadly as Expected

On April 10, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) jointly issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) setting out their view of how sanctions, anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance requirements should apply to permitted payment stablecoin issuers (PPSIs) under the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act. The agencies also issued an accompanying fact sheet. This NPRM follows Treasury’s earlier proposal on principles for acceptable state stablecoin regulatory...

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Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

European Council | VAT Fraud: Council Agrees to Strengthen Cooperation with EU Investigative Bodies

The Council today provisionally agreed new rules to strengthen the fight against value added tax (VAT) fraud in the EU by ramping up cooperation between member states, the European public prosecutor’s office (EPPO) and the European anti-fraud office (OLAF). The new framework will give EPPO and OLAF more direct access to key VAT data on cross-border business transactions in the EU, including information held by Eurofisc - the EU’s anti-VAT fraud network. " We have taken massive strides in tackling VAT fraud over recent years....

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Chapter News, News

World Bank | Commodity Prices Rose in April—Pink Sheet

The energy price index rose 12.1% in April, driven largely by crude oil (+8.7%). The non-energy price index increased 3.2%. Agricultural prices gained 1.5% in April, led by food prices (+1.5%); raw materials rose 2.5%, while beverage prices edged up 0.4%. Fertilizer prices surged 14% Metals edged up 1.4% in April, led by aluminum (+6.7%), zinc (+5.7%), and nickel (+5.2%). Precious metals fell 2.7%, weighed down by a decline in gold (-2.8%). The Pink Sheet is the World Bank’s monthly report on commodity...

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Member News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

GDLSK | Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP Adds Senior Customs and Border Protection Attorney Valerie Sorensen-Clark as Partner

Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt LLP, a premier customs and international trade law firm, announced today that Valerie Sorensen-Clark has joined the firm as a partner in New York. Sorensen-Clark comes to GDLSK from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, where she held senior roles for nearly a decade and acted as one of the agency’s primary advocates in some of the most consequential tariff disputes in recent years. Sorensen-Clark most recently served in CBP’s Office of Chief Counsel, International Trade Litigation,...

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Member News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

Stradley Ronon | U.S. Criminal Tariff Prosecutions in 2026: What International Businesses and Domestic Importers Need to Know

Key Takeaways Tariff evasion is now treated as a criminal offense in the United States rather than a compliance issue. Enforcement is expanding through coordinated investigations targeting practices such as transshipment and misreporting. Both U.S. and non-U.S. businesses must strengthen customs compliance and oversight to avoid significant legal and financial risks. U.S. President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs in the global trade arena has helped push trade fraud to the top of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)’s enforcement agenda....

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