Committee publications

Pay transparency in Italy: Legislative Decree No. 96/2026 – employer obligations, enforcement and strategic implications

Italy’s Legislative Decree No. 96/2026 entered into force on 7 June 2026, transposing Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency and the enforcement of equal pay. This article outlines the new employer obligations, the enforcement structure and the strategic challenges for Italian business, and identifies the points at which the national legislator has narrowed the Directive’s reach. The analysis also draws on early Italian commentary published in Norme & Tributi Plus Lavoro (Il Sole 24 Ore), June 2026.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Labour and employment trends and developments in Indonesia

Indonesia’s labour and employment regulations is entering a new phase of adjustment, marked by recent measures on online transport workers, outsourcing, domestic workers, and the preparation of a new employment law following Constitutional Court Decision No. 168/PUU-XXI/2023. For employers and cross-border businesses, these developments signal a more protection-oriented regulatory approach.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Rewriting compensation procedures: how India’s new Labour Codes are driving a compensation overhaul

India’s impending new employment laws are forcing companies to change how they manage their money and pay structures. It is forcing an urgent, boardroom-level rewriting of compensation procedures to navigate a reconstituted definition of ‘wages’, which triggers escalating statutory liabilities, compressed final settlement timelines, and democratised fixed-term employment benefits. This article analyses the legal framework and practical application of the new system, breaking down its regulatory mechanics and operational realities. It also evaluates the long-term legal and operational implications for employers.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Compensation and benefits in Turkey: recent trends and practical challenges for multinational employers

Inflation, workforce mobility, pay transparency expectations and growing employee expectations regarding wellbeing, flexibility and work-life balance are reshaping compensation and benefits strategies across jurisdictions. This article examines recent trends and practical challenges affecting multinational employers in Turkey, including pay compression, benefits design, expatriate compensation, executive remuneration and the localisation of global reward policies

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Voices in conflict: free speech, social media, and the workplace during national trauma

In times of national trauma, the boundaries of acceptable speech tend to diminish. Emotions run high, public discourse becomes polarised, and institutions, especially employers, sometimes feel pressure to ‘take a stand’. But what happens when that pressure collides with one of the most fundamental democratic rights: freedom of expression?

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Measuring what matters: compliance as a bridge between data and practice

This article examines how the gap between corporate diversity disclosures and actual workforce practices – a phenomenon known as ‘diversity washing’ – distorts ESG ratings, misallocates capital, and erodes stakeholder trust, and argues that effective compliance programmes, rather than performative policies, which are the necessary bridge between reported metrics and genuine organisational change

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Anti-DEI views: not protected as ‘political belief’ in Canada

At what point does an employer have a right to require employees to support diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives? In supporting diverse views, will there be instances where an employer can decide that a person’s lack of support for DEI is enough to refuse to hire them? A recent Canadian human rights decision explores this question, which involves the anti-DEI views of an applicant seeking to become a university professor.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Beyond office walls: the employer’s right to discipline employees for out-of-office speech and conduct

This article examines instances when out-of-office speech, social media activity, or off-duty conduct may become a legitimate workplace concern under Philippine law. It discusses the extent of an employer’s right to discipline employees for such conduct, while emphasising that any disciplinary action must be based on a valid cause, supported by due process, and proportionate to the offence. It also highlights that while employees do not lose their rights to expression and privacy outside of the workplace, those rights must be balanced against the employer’s legitimate business interests, workplace standards, and duty to protect its employees and reputation.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Pro bono in Turkey: a missing piece in access to justice

This article examines pro bono practice in Turkey, highlighting that while pro bono legal services are legally permissible under Turkey’s Attorneyship Law, the absence of institutional coordination and limited bar association engagement has prevented a sustainable pro bono culture from emerging. The principal barrier is not prohibition, but ambiguity. Minimum fee rules protect lawyers from unfair competition, but they also leave unpaid work in uncertain territory. It is argued that resolving this ambiguity, through regulatory reform and institutional leadership, could turn pro bono legal services into a meaningful complement to a legal aid system already under strain.

Released on Jul 20, 2026

Latin America’s growing footprint in space governance – from international commitments to the unfinished task of building domestic regulatory frameworks

Latin American countries have rapidly embraced international space commitments, in fact, eight South American nations have now signed the Artemis Accords, and several have recently acceded to key UN space treaties. However, the region still largely lacks the domestic legal frameworks needed to regulate commercial space activities, attract private investment and fulfil treaty obligations. This article surveys the current state of space law across the region, highlights key developments and gaps and argues that bridging this regulatory deficit is the most urgent task ahead.

Released on Jul 17, 2026

Game-changing deals: the purchase and sale of sports franchises

Sports franchise investment has entered a new era. Valuations that would have seemed extraordinary a decade ago are now commonplace, and transaction activity shows no sign of slowing. This conference panel brought together practitioners from across the Atlantic to examine what is driving this phenomenon, how cross-border acquisitions are structured from a tax perspective and what unique compliance challenges arise when major sporting events land on US soil.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Global tax disputes: evolving legal standards and strategic litigation trends

This conference panel examined the evolving landscape of tax disputes. The session explored developments in regard to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s mutual agreement procedure and arbitration mechanisms, particularly the impact of the EU’s Directive (EU) 2017/1852 on the resolution of tax disputes. The discussion brought together diverse perspectives from the judiciary and private and corporate practice, providing insights into how tax disputes are resolved in different jurisdictions.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Insurance in tax-critical transactions

Tax liability insurance has moved firmly into the mainstream of transactional and advisory practice. Over time it has become a recognised instrument of strategic risk management, deployed across restructurings, capital planning exercises, operational tax positions and even disputes already under active audit. This conference panel brought together practitioners from Europe and the US to examine how the market has developed, how policies are structured and negotiated, as well as what happens when things go wrong.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

M&A part two: tax risk and compliance

This conference panel discussed certain M&A considerations, whereby the panellists touched on the considerations for indirect share transfers and certain anti-abuse provisions, such as the limitation on benefits and principal purpose test. They also specifically discussed the new developments under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Pillar Two framework and the side-by-side agreement.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Global distressed debt restructurings

In this conference panel, the discussion examined the tax consequences of a cross-border corporate restructuring involving a distressed European portfolio company held by a private equity fund. The panellists – practitioners specialising in US, UK, German and Dutch law – walked through a detailed hypothetical scenario and analysed the issues that arise for lenders, borrowers and the private equity sponsor at each stage of the workout.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Navigating real estate around the world

This panel discussion was held as part of the IBA’s 15th Annual London Finance and Capital Markets Tax Conference. The session brought together real estate tax experts from Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK and the US to examine recent developments in international real estate taxation. The panellists examined current trends and challenges in regard to real estate taxation, focusing on transfer taxes, anti-avoidance measures, transparency frameworks and hybrid real estate structures.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Securitisation transactions: what’s next after receivables, and do taxes play a role?

This conference panel discussion brought together experts from multiple jurisdictions to examine the tax considerations shaping securitisation across Italy, the US, Spain, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and the UK. The conversation covered the types of vehicles used, the tax treatment, the advantages and limitations applicable to each jurisdiction and the emerging challenges posed by the European Union’s Anti-Tax Avoidance Directives.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Global financing under pressure: tax risks, fund structuring and regulatory hurdles?

This conference panel discussed various tax aspects of financial transactions by chronologically assessing the various steps of a financing transaction. The panel went on to discuss various fund structures, beneficial ownership, withholding taxes and interest deductibility.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Taxes after the 2024 storm: is there a way back? The global impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

This roundtable discussion was held as part of the IBA’s 15th Annual London Finance and Capital Markets Tax Conference. The panel brought together tax experts from the US, the UK and various EU Member States to examine recent developments in international tax policy, addressing the future of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Pillar Two framework and the G7 side-by-side system, the future of Pillar One and digital services taxes, retaliatory taxation dynamics under Sections 891, 896 and 899, potential EU responses through state aid rules, the EU Anit-Tax Avoidance Directive, transfer pricing, joint tax audits, perspectives on taxing US multinationals and the re-emergence of tax competition across jurisdictions.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

From courts to consequences: the key tax rulings driving international policy

This conference session brought together leading tax litigators and academics from multiple jurisdictions to examine recent landmark decisions shaping contemporary tax policy. The session evaluated seminal rulings cutting across themes including taxpayer rights, anti‑abuse doctrines, treaty interpretation, international administrative cooperation and the interaction between domestic appeals and mutual agreement procedure/BEPS Multilateral Instrument frameworks.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Taxing the invisible: IP, intangibles and the future of global planning

This conference session examined the evolving global landscape for taxation of different types of intellectual property (IP), a subject that continues to sit at the centre of international tax policy and corporate structuring. The discussion brought together experts to examine how IP is characterised for tax purposes, the source and allocation rules that govern income from intangibles and the continuing impact of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Base Erosion and Profit Shifting measures, specifically the Pillar Two framework, on cross border IP arrangements.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Capital in motion: funds, private equity and tax efficiency

This report summarises a panel discussion on current issues in private equity investment structuring. The panel was divided into two parts. The first part addressed entity classification and cross-border mismatches. The second part focused on operational and structural challenges, including carried interest, substance and new fund structures.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Key points investors should know about foreign investment protection in the space sector

Foreign direct investment in the space sector is increasing but is exposed to growing political risk. Consequently, foreign investors in the space sector should be aware of the protection international investment agreements can offer, how to structure their investments to ensure they are covered by the protection that these treaties can provide and how investment contracts can provide alternative or supplementary protection.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

A new phase in Japanese space law and emerging technology regulation: the soft law approach in domestic regulation

This article examines Japan’s evolving regulation of emerging technologies through the recent amendment process of the Space Activities Act. While broader hard-law reform was initially envisioned, Japan finally chose a more pragmatic soft-law approach in the 2026 amendment, reserving legislation for immediately necessary issues such as permission requirements for rocket launches with dummy payloads, while addressing other matters through guidelines and manuals. Comparing this development with Japan’s AI regulatory framework, such trend suggests that the soft-law approach offers a flexible and realistic model for governing technologies whose future development is difficult to foresee.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

EU Space Act: council negotiations highlight growing de-bate on the scope of harmonisation

As negotiations on the proposed European Union Space Act continue, the debate within the Council has increasingly shifted from the technical design of individual obligations to a broader question: how far should European harmonisation in space regulation extend? Examining the compromise texts issued by the Danish and Cy-prus Presidencies, this article highlights the key developments in the legislative pro-cess and explores how Member States are seeking to balance the objectives of a common European framework with the preservation of national regulatory autono-my.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Overview of the proposed amendments to Japan’s Space Activities Act and beyond

Japan has enacted a major overhaul of its Space Activities Act to accommodate the rapid diversification of space activities driven by private-sector innovation. This article examines the key amendments, including the expansion of the licensing regime from satellite launches to all space rocket launches, the introduction of a pre-loading conformity certification system and the extension of the third-party damage compensation framework, and considers the implications for international space industry participants.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Amendments to Japan’s Space Activities Act and consideration concerning the license system for spaceports

As of May 2026, draft amendments to Japan’s Space Activities Act and related laws (the ‘Amendment Bill’) are under consideration in the National Diet of Japan. This article provides an overview of the Amendment Bill and introduces discussions concerning the licence system applicable to spaceports that took place in the course of this amendment process.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Positioning Switzerland as a space law hub: Switzerland's draft Space Act in the orbit of the draft EU Space Act

This article examines Switzerland’s Draft Federal Space Operations Act, which establishes the country’s first national legal framework for space operations – covering licensing, supervision, liability, registration and conflict of laws – and assesses its key provisions in a comparative perspective with the proposed EU Space Act, highlighting Switzerland’s strategy to position itself as a competitive hub for space activities.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

In orbit: the legal implications of data centres in space

This article highlights challenges for advisers as in-orbit data centres move data processing from terrestrial facilities to satellites, exposing gaps in space, data, cybersecurity and liability rules.

Released on Jul 15, 2026

Pharmacy in space: mapping the EU legal landscape

As pharmaceutical research and manufacturing increasingly move into low Earth orbit (LEO), existing legal frameworks—designed for terrestrial, inspectable activities—face unprecedented challenges. This article maps the applicable law in low earth orbit, examines how EU regulations on clinical trials, GMPs, GCPs, pharmacovigilance, product liability, intellectual property and AI governance interact with international space law. It also assesses emerging responses including the UK’s 2026 space regulatory roadmap and the proposed European Union Space Act, concluding that targeted functional adaptations, rather than autonomous space health law, would offer the most pragmatic path forward to support health and space stakeholders’ research, development & innovation and help the market grow for a better prevention and treatment of diseases.

Released on Jul 15, 2026