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International Regulatory Update 10 – 14 August 2026

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 14:20:00 GMT

Clifford Chance's International Regulatory Update is a weekly digest of significant regulatory developments affecting banking and investment banking business, drawing on our daily content from our Alerter: Finance Industry service.

Roundtable on Agentic Payments and the Emerging Regulatory Landscape

Thu, 13 Aug 2026 15:45:00 GMT

These notes summarise the key themes and discussions from the roundtable on agentic payments co-hosted by the Fintech Foundation and Vanderbilt Law School and sponsored by Clifford Chance LLP held on 16 June 2026. They follow the structure of the agenda and draw out the principal points of discussion and the range of views expressed within each session.

International Regulatory Update 03 – 07 August 2026

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:33:03 GMT

EU ETS Phase V: The Commission's blueprint for carbon pricing beyond 2030

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 15:22:45 GMT

The European Commission has published a proposal to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the period 2031–2040 (Phase V), launching what is likely to become one of the most politically significant climate reforms of the current legislative cycle. The proposal, part of the broader package implementing the EU's recently adopted 2040 climate target of a 90% net greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels, reflects a notable shift in the Commission's approach: while preserving the EU ETS as the cornerstone of European climate policy, the proposal places substantially greater emphasis on industrial competitiveness, affordability and investment predictability than previous reforms.

The proposal, published on 17 July 2026, arrives against a backdrop of sustained concern from European industry regarding energy costs, the pace of decarbonisation obligations, increasing global competition (particularly from jurisdictions with less stringent carbon constraints) and the need to support innovative low-carbon technologies.

For businesses operating in EU ETS-covered sectors, the proposal is important not because it changes the direction of travel, but because it may significantly alter the pace, cost profile and financing environment of the transition during the 2030s.

Financing European defence: how can Europe address the fiscal and capital challenges?

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 13:28:00 GMT

Against a backdrop of geopolitical, strategic uncertainty, Europe is progressing plans to rearm and shoulder more responsibility within NATO. In June 2025, NATO allies made a clear commitment to invest 5% of GDP annually by 2035, including at least 3.5% on core defence spending. However, three concrete questions remain unresolved: (i) how this commitment can be delivered given national budgetary constraints, (ii) how to plug the funding gap for the defence supply chain composed of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), innovative tech companies and start-ups which do not have the same access to finance as the defence primes, and (iii) can new funding instruments, new institutions and a new approach close this gap, leverage public investment and create a virtuous circle which crowds in private capital to meet our needs?

This briefing highlights emerging financing options which may help address these challenges and which complement initiatives taken by the European Union, such as the SAFE programme. We describe:

new financial products which can help direct private capital to finance the defence and security sectors;
intergovernmental and multinational initiatives which can complement SAFE, create capacity to raise debt in the capital markets which is not consolidated into national debt figures but which, when combined with the palette of instruments used by development and promotional banks, create a multiplier or leveraged effect that crowds in private capital into funding the defence and security sectors;
recent market trends which demonstrate that defence, resilience and security could be the new "green" and can attract private capital in the form of both debt and equity.

International Regulatory Update 27 – 31 July 2026

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 08:22:01 GMT

Clifford Chance advising Emirates NBD on the proposed acquisition of the retail banking business of HSBC Bank Egypt S.A.E. (“HSBC Egypt”)

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 13:11:00 GMT

The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

As part of the transaction, Emirates NBD Egypt will acquire HSBC Egypt’s retail banking portfolio along with the associated branch and ATM network, customer base and relevant employee base. The transaction is expected to enhance Emirates NBD Egypt's market positioning as a leading retail and premium banking franchise in Egypt, while deepening the connectivity for the Group across the UAE-Egypt corridor.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Regional Managing Partner, Middle East and Türkiye, Mohammed Al-Shukairy.

Mohammed commented "We have a highly valued relationship with Emirates NBD and are delighted to continue to play a role in their exciting journey and impressive expansion. Emirates NBD continues to show leadership in financial services across the region and beyond."

He was supported by a team from across the Clifford Chance network, including: James Dadford (Senior Associate), Cari Sweeney (Senior Associate), Gareth Dray (Legal Director), Yara Hage (Associate), Jack Hardman (Partner), Karim Vellani (Associate), Paul Coates (Partner), Alistair Woodland (Partner), Clare Hoxey (Partner), Laura Conway (Senior Associate), Nuri Mirwani (Senior Associate), Kate Amelia Haywood (Senior Associate), Becky Moore (Senior Associate), Tom J. (Associate), Zayed Al Jamil (Partner), Jamie Andrew (Counsel), Mark Comber (Senior Associate), Sabrina Rodrigues (Associate), Violetta Kokolus (Partner), Hayley Kwan (Associate), Edward Page (Partner), Viktoria Parkhomenko (Senior Associate), Archie Zverev (Associate), Todd Lowther (Partner), and Kade Moural (Associate).

The transaction adds to Clifford Chance's extensive experience advising leading financial institutions on significant banking and financial services transactions across the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye.

Clifford Chance recently celebrated 50 years in the Middle East. Its regional M&A/ Private Equity practice is consistently top ranked by leading legal directories and is ranked first in the Middle East for M&A by deal value in Mergermarket's H1 2026 league tables.

Press Contact : Samantha White

Clifford Chance advises Arçelik on its acquisition of Whirlpool’s remaining 25% stake in Beko Europe

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:42:00 GMT

Following completion of the transaction, Arçelik has become the sole shareholder of Beko Europe, obtaining full ownership and control of the business. The transaction represents another significant milestone in Arçelik’s international growth strategy.

The Clifford Chance team advising Arçelik was led by partners Alex Cook, Itır Çiftçi and Jeroen Thijssen, with support from counsel Serkan Özel, senior associates Antonio Folgore, Deniz Yetkin and Sabrina Spoor, and associate Jasper Leistra.

Specialist intellectual property and antitrust advice was provided by a team including Don McCombie, Anastasios Tomtsis and Lauren Royers.

Press Contact: Itir Ciftci

International Regulatory Update 13 – 17 July 2026

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:06:14 GMT

International Regulatory Update 6 – 10 July 2026

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:41:34 GMT

The NATO Summit in Ankara - Strengthening NATO's Defence and Industrial Base

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 13:13:00 GMT

NATO leaders convened in Ankara on 7-8 July 2026 for a pivotal summit that reaffirmed the Alliance's "unity, solidarity and collective strength". In the Summit Declaration, Allies restated their commitment to NATO providing a "360-degree approach to deterrence and defence". European Allies and Canada, working with the United States, also committed to assuming greater responsibility for the Alliance's defence. Allies further pledged to build a more robust and flexible defence industry, accelerate joint procurement, boost production capacity, and enhance interoperability across Alliance members, with member states announcing more than US$50 billion in new procurements. The summit also reaffirmed NATO's support for Ukraine, pledging its "unwavering support for Ukraine in defending its freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Clifford Chance advises CVC Capital Partners on its agreement to sell D-Marin to InfraVia Capital Partners

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:31:00 GMT

The transaction will mark a successful milestone for CVC’s investment in D-Marin, during which the business has significantly expanded beyond its traditional markets in Turkey, Croatia, Greece and the UAE into Spain, Italy, France, Malta and Albania.

Clifford Chance previously advised CVC on its acquisition of D-Marin in 2020, which combined with this agreement with InfraVia, demonstrates the firm’s longstanding relationship with CVC and broader experience in supporting clients across the full investment lifecycle.

The Clifford Chance team was led by Private Equity Partner Mohammed Al-Shukairy and Private Equity Legal Director Gareth Dray and included:

a PE core team: Tom Lloyd (Counsel), Callum Gribbin (Senior Associate), Cari Sweeney (Senior Associate), Massimiliano Valli (Senior Associate) and Nabeela Afifi (Associate);
specialists from our team in Turkey: Itir Ciftci (Partner), Umut Ozdogan (Senior Associate) and Sena Cengiz (Associate);
finance specialists: Neil Cavanagh (Partner), Devesh Awmee (Senior Associate) and Kuan Yue Lim (Senior Associate); and
tax specialists: Edward Page (Partner) and Kirsten Hunt,

alongside colleagues from the firm’s offices in Italy, France, Spain and Luxembourg.

Press Contact : Mohammed Al-Shukairy

Commodities Innovation Forum Mining + Metals 2026: key insights

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:06:00 GMT

Clifford Chance hosted the 2026 New York Commodities Innovation Forum: Mining + Metals on June 17, 2026.

The global critical minerals sector is entering a new phase of strategic importance, driven by the intersection of energy transition, AI infrastructure, defence modernisation and geopolitical competition. The growing urgency of developing resilient US and allied supply chains for critical minerals is creating investment opportunities across the entire value chain. However, significant challenges remain, particularly in midstream processing, refining and other downstream capabilities, which continue to represent key bottlenecks to supply chain development.

A key theme emerging across the market is the increasingly active role of governments in shaping critical minerals supply chains. In the United States, public sector support now extends well beyond traditional regulation and incentives, with agencies acting as lenders, co-investors and strategic offtake counterparties across mining, processing and manufacturing operations. At the same time, China continues to dominate critical minerals supply chains, with long-term industrial policy, export controls and strategic investment continuing to reinforce its position and create competitive challenges for OECD producers.

Financing and investment models are also evolving. As developers seek to overcome bankability challenges associated with commodity price volatility and limited reference pricing for certain minerals, new structures are emerging, including sovereign-backed offtake arrangements, price support mechanisms and long-term contracts with high-credit counterparties. Against this backdrop, international partnerships are becoming increasingly important, with growing collaboration between the US, Japan, Korea, Australia and other allied markets helping to accelerate investment, strengthen supply chains and unlock new opportunities across the critical minerals value chain.

In this briefing we highlight the key takeaways from the event.

International Regulatory Update 29 June – 3 July 2026

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 08:47:48 GMT

International Regulatory Update 22 – 26 June 2026

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 08:54:13 GMT

Workplace Investigations – Quarterly Review – Edition 6

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 09:18:00 GMT

In this Quarterly Review, we spotlight the global impact of AI on workplace investigations. We examine how AI is reshaping the fact-finding process and explore the opportunities and risks of AI-assisted investigations, including recent privilege decisions, the evidential significance of AI prompts in disciplinary proceedings and the growing challenge of AIgenerated evidence.

We also consider the implications for employers of AI-generated complaints and grievances and examine a recent Australian decision in which the Fair Work Commission held that an employee’s excessive use of AI to generate adversarial communications during an investigation made him “ungovernable” and justified dismissal.

Beyond AI, we consider several significant legislative and case law developments that could reshape the investigations landscape.

In the UK, from October 2026, the Employment Rights Act 2025 ("ERA") will impose an enhanced duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment and impose liability for third-party harassment (of any type) of employees at work. Employers will therefore need to plan how they investigate incidents involving third parties such as customers and suppliers. We also look ahead to the removal of the qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection and the statutory compensation cap from January 2027, which will significantly increase the stakes of dismissal decisions, particularly for senior and regulated employees.

We also consider the implications of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 in the UK, which from 29 June 2026 introduces a new statutory route to corporate criminal liability where a senior manager commits an offence within the scope of their authority – a compliance and governance development and one which may become the focus of future workplace investigations.

In France, recent case law provides further clarity over the scope of employers’ obligations to conduct internal investigations and the procedural rights of employees and we consider developments in Spain, where a new Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority ("AINPI") has been established to oversee internal reporting systems.

In a financial services sector focus this Quarter we consider the impact on workplace investigations of the first wave of changes implementing the streamlining of the Senior Managers Certification Regime ("SMCR") and in particular guidance on what can be said about unfinished workplace investigations within a regulatory reference, the interaction of privilege with disclosure duties, and individual senior management responsibilities.

Clifford Chance advises Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in securing one of the largest renewable energy project financings in Romania and the wider CEE region to date.

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 08:32:00 GMT

The consortium of local and international commercial banks included Erste Bank and Banca Comercială Română, Deutsche Bank, Société Générale and BRD, Eurobank, and Piraeus Bank. Equity is funded by the project owners: CIP’s Growth Markets Fund II (GMF II) and two co-investors - the European Investment Bank and a Danish pension fund.

The Peștera II onshore wind project is one of the largest wind energy initiatives in Romania, with a total capacity of 392 MW. The project qualified for the Contract for Difference (CfD) support mechanism in the first CfD auction held at the end of 2024, for an installed capacity of 245 MW (the largest wind project to qualify in the auction).

Press contact: Ana-Maria Gavrila

International Regulatory Update 15 – 19 June 2026

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:32:03 GMT

International Regulatory Update 08 – 12 June 2026

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:33:07 GMT

Mitigating risk in the energy transition

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:00:00 GMT

The global shift towards clean energy continues and investment is growing, although momentum varies across regions. In the US, policy uncertainty and market pressures are creating a more complex environment for infrastructure development. As governments, regulators and markets navigate the move towards cleaner energy sources, businesses are dealing with increased volatility and economic change, with implications for how risks are allocated. This transformation extends beyond the use of new technologies and raises complex questions around legacy assets, transition fuels, long‑term supply arrangements, financing models and the resilience of existing infrastructure.

Across Europe, diversification away from traditional gas supply has driven increased reliance on LNG, new terminal developments and long‑term offtake agreements, while creating challenges associated with under‑used or economically redundant legacy assets. In Asia-Pacific, offshore wind is expanding, but projects are facing political and economic pressure. Emerging markets in the Middle East are pursuing strategies focused on grid expansion, LNG exports, hydrogen, ammonia and critical minerals, highlighting the scale of capital deployment required and the importance of stable legal and regulatory frameworks.

Regulatory reform, ESG‑driven accountability and shifting policy priorities are directly influencing project bankability and investor protection. Informed legal analysis is critical to enabling capital to flow, managing risk and supporting the delivery of energy infrastructure at scale.

In this briefing, we discuss approaches to mitigating the inevitable risks which arise in the energy transition.