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The current era of technology and reachable-everywhere-and-anytime lawyers imposed its rules. This wide adoption of instant messaging in some of the Middle East jurisdictions, including the UAE, has been encouraged and regularized by legislation and court decisions that afforded validity and evidentiary weight to instant messaging and electronic communications on equal footing with conventional means of communication and written documentation.
Apr 14, 2026
This paper assesses the evidentiary value of WhatsApp and SMS screenshots – and, by analogy, ordinary unsigned emails – in Italian civil litigation. Courts treat such communications as ‘mechanical reproductions’ under Article 2712 of the Italian Civil Code, giving them full probative effect unless their conformity is specifically disavowed. The paper summarises the impact of disavowal and the main routes to prove authenticity (verification proceedings, court-appointed forensic analysis, presumptions, and witness evidence), and briefly discusses their use to support applications for payment orders and, in stricter cases, provisionally enforceable injunctions.
COP28 capacity building: Africa in focus – facilitating the net transition
Jun 23, 2025
In May, the UK government published a white paper setting out its plans to redesign the UK’s immigration system to ‘significantly’ reduce net migration
This panel will address the complexities associated with incapacity for high net worth individuals in the cross-border context.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
May 24, 2023
This article considers the role of lawyers in assisting their clients in recognising the challenges and opportunities created by the transition to a net-zero, low-carbon economy. In particular, it focuses upon the impact of United Kingdom regulation and environmentally focused litigation on the private sector’s transition to net zero and the sustainability of business practices.
This article examines the Future Energy Scenarios set out in the National Grid ESO’s recent report, with a particular focus on the role of digitalisation and open data in achieving net zero in the UK by 2050.
The net zero challenge and road to COP28: Candid conversations with legal counsel
Sep 03, 2023
The past few decades have witnessed a widespread improvement in investor confidence and positive market sentiment, catapulting India’s image as a global investment hub. While the government’s policy initiatives, such as ‘Make in India’ liberalising Foreign Direct Investment in over 25 sectors, aim to catalyse ease of doing business, recent amendments to regulations, such as Indian Penal Code 1860, the Companies Act 2013, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 and the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, are enablers in preserving the economic reputation of the country by effectively tackling fraud, corruption, bribery and serious white-collar crimes.
Jan 03, 2024
Multiple factors compel high-net-worth individuals to consider relocation, such as entrepreneurial ventures, educational opportunities or tax considerations. The discussion by the panel delved into these complex migration considerations and their subsequent ramifications for affluent individuals.
Legal solutions for a net zero future: launching the International Bar Association's Climate Registry
In Telenor Hungary adopted on 15 September 2020, the European Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) has, for the first time, interpreted Regulation 2015/2120 on the ‘open internet’ (the Net Neutrality Regulation). Through this preliminary ruling, the Court gives some guidance on the validity and limits of so-called ‘zero-rating’ offers
The panel will discuss potential implications on EU existing regulation such as net neutrality and competition as well as in IP interconnection.
32nd Annual IBA Communications and Competition Law Conference
In this article, we focus on the group specifically formed by the US Internal Revenue Service to audit high net worth individuals and how global transparency has impacted its activities.
Following our session in Paris 2023, this session will consider the legal roadmap to net zero with a particular focus on issues related to the delivery of key infrastructure. As we move along the journey towards the delivery of net zero milestones, this session will review key themes encountered along the way: the role of legal frameworks, national and trans-national; the issue of environmental justice and achieving a just transition for emerging economies; friction in areas such as regulation, permitting and grid capacity; and the impact of conflicts and imposition of sanctions. This session will look forward and consider how to transform the delivery process, drawing on lessons learned to date and considering key milestones achieved, roadblocks encountered and how to create a clear path to achieve the net zero goals.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
In this article, the authors discuss the myriad of changes to Mexico‘s entity classification rules and controlled foreign corporate (CFC) regime. Such changes potentially affect Mexican resident individuals that have elected to use offshore limited partnerships to conduct their investments in ‘US situs assets’. Mexican resident individuals investing through these vehicles may face different income tax rates, different income characterisations and disclosure requirements.
Biennial Conference of the Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL): A transformative era of action for the law and lawyers - implementing the energy transition and global sustainability
Apr 16, 2026
This conference session addressed one of the most sensitive and increasingly common challenges facing legal, tax and advisory professionals: how to respond when an ageing client becomes vulnerable, less autonomous and their decision-making is questioned, all this in the context of one’s mental capacity and exposure to undue influence. As global populations age and wealth concentrations grow among older individuals, professionals are encountering more cases where diminished capacity, undue influence and unconventional personal decisions converge.
Hear about legal capacity building across nations; how lawyers, bars and law societies are facilitating the net zero transition; and the rise of climate competent lawyering and what this means in practice for lawyers when advising clients.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Feb 17, 2023
This article will outline the development of China’s restrictions on the cross-border transfer of personal information (PI export), detailing PI export mechanisms provided by the Personal Information Protection Law. It will also explain the practical implications of the restrictions.
In a context of increasing global mobility and tax competition, several jurisdictions have introduced preferential regimes to attract high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), digital nomads, and internationally mobile professionals. At the same time, the debate around a global minimum wealth tax, particularly targeting ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), has gained momentum in international fora.
Jan 09, 2024
This article reviews the recent European Union regulations, namely the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act which regulate digital platforms with operations in Europe, from different perspectives. Likewise, the article revises some regulatory projects in Brazil and the United States, before turning to Argentina, where the regulation of the intermediaries’ responsibility is an issue of current relevance. Due to the lack of an ex-ante regulation regarding these topics, this article goes over some of the cases treated with consumer protection regulations as well as with antitrust law and data privacy provisions.
While there has been dramatic growth in the number of voluntary corporate commitments and government targets under the Paris Agreement, the legal roadmap to net zero remains vastly underdeveloped. Developing a legal roadmap to net zero has the opportunity to create both carrots and sticks approaches to enable governments to accelerate net zero efforts, to foster environments where companies are incentivised to control and limit emissions, and where the public has opportunities to participate in advancing climate change policies and address adaptation. This panel will focus on how to create the first international law roadmap to net zero - a set of aspirational milestones for countries, companies and the public to achieve in order to facilitate success toward political and corporate net zero goals (including the building blocks of legal frameworks critical to these goals). The panel also will also focus on the role of lawyers in developing and implementing these milestones domestically to help ensure the law is in a position to achieve broader net zero goals.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
Sep 10, 2025
A new comprehensive report from the International Bar Association (IBA) Communications Law Committee examines the ongoing global debate over who should bear the cost of internet infrastructure, expansion and maintenance. It is a controversial issue revolving around whether…
Dec 21, 2023
India is increasingly becoming a key jurisdiction for foreign investment. To keep the momentum going, the Indian government has consistently attempted to keep the business environment friendly and less burdensome. This includes: a reduction in corporate tax rates; easing the liquidity problems of non-banking financial corporations and banks; foreign direct investment policy reforms; and easing compliance norms – all with the aim of promoting ‘ease of doing business in India’. After more than a decade, India’s competition law has recently been amended, bringing about key changes that will impact businesses. The 2023 Amendments to the Indian Competition Act 2002 (the Act) introduce changes that several antitrust jurisdictions are still considering. The 2023 Amendments are a mixed bag of changes: several are business friendly – such as commitments and settlements, expedited merger review timelines and introducing a leniency-plus regime – while others aim to achieve greater regulatory oversight and stricter enforcement, such as deal value thresholds, penalties on global turnover and increased liability for hubs in ‘hub-and-spoke’ cartels. The Competition Commission of India (CCI), the body entrusted with the responsibility to nurture and maintain well-functioning markets that facilitate the growth manifested by the Indian government, must adopt a balanced approach to ensure that competition enforcement does not get in the way of ‘economic growth’ as envisaged under the Preamble of the Act. This article examines the impact of the 2023 Amendments on the Indian market. In particular, the writers examine the CCI’s approach in adopting these tools and tailor it according to the requirements of the Indian economy.
The chaos caused by what police believe was a lone man’s killing of four people near Westminster in London has once again stirred the debate on the boundaries of the law and the remit of government bodies intended to prevent terror attacks.
At the centre of the debate is messenger service WhatsApp, which the attacker is thought to have used minutes before driving a car onto the busy pedestrian lane on Westminster Bridge.
Apr 14, 2026
A recent Southern District of New York receivership dispute illustrates how modern evidence—WhatsApp messages, email payment instructions, rent ledgers, and cross‑border property records—can be critical in post‑judgment enforcement. This article distills practical lessons on authentication, translation, chain of custody, and fairness when a non‑party’s property interests collide with receiver action across multiple jurisdictions.
How have law firms in Latin America evolved since 2000? What has changed in terms of structure, operations and client expectations?
Law Firm Management Committee Latin America Conference - Building the law firm of the future
Oct 14, 2022
A collection of developments, trends and news impacting the communications sector around the world.
Practical applications of AI in law firms – what’s hype and what’s real? Regulatory concerns and ethical implications.
Law Firm Management Committee Latin America Conference - Building the law firm of the future
Jul 01, 2021
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a monumental impact on the recruitment sector, affecting everything from shortlists for available roles to how interviews are conducted. Margaret Taylor explores what this has meant for in-house teams and what can be expected as recruitment picks up.
This session will explore the critical role that legal professionals play in fostering integrity, ethical conduct, and accountability within organisations and across broader business ecosystems. Panelists will discuss best practices for advising corporate clients on ethical decision‑making, managing conflicts of interest, and embedding integrity‑driven principles into governance structures and day‑to‑day operations. The conversation will also delve into common ethical dilemmas faced by in‑house and external counsel - such as navigating competing stakeholder expectations, balancing confidentiality with disclosure obligations, and addressing misconduct in complex or high‑pressure environments. Attendees will gain practical insights into how legal practitioners can serve as strategic partners in shaping responsible business practices, strengthening compliance culture, and promoting ethical resilience in rapidly evolving regulatory landscapes.
Compliance, governance and innovation: balancing risks and opportunities of doing business in Latin America
Jun 02, 2021
While the pandemic disruption has extended for far longer than initially expected, courts (after the first wave), arbitral institutions and stakeholders in commercial dispute resolution have largely continued operations, increasingly supported by innovative digital technology, flexible scheduling and flexible cost structures, among other tools.
Young lawyers and leadership
IBA Global Insight February/March 2018 - Basic practices and fundamental rights have long been taken for granted by internet users worldwide. However, the recent US decision to roll back key ‘net neutrality’ legislation puts them in danger – is it time for a digital constitution?
In many jurisdictions, lawyers sit on boards of directors as non-executive directors, independent directors or as representatives of one or more shareholders.
In this session, experienced lawyers and industry representatives will debate the roles and duties of a lawyer sitting in the boardroom, and will answer:
- Should they be an entrepreneur, a trusted advisor or a related party?
- What duty of care, diligence and specific competence is required of a lawyer in a boardroom?
- Does a dual set of (conflicting) obligations apply to a lawyer?
- What is the role of the lawyer in the ESG debate?
These and other challenging issues will be addressed in this interactive session, featuring different perspectives and experiences.
6th IBA Global Entrepreneurship Conference: The Netherlands – sailing the seas of global innovation
IBA Global Insight - February/March 2018
This panel will explore the prospects for an EU Capital Markets Union asking whether regulatory harmonisation failed and can succeed. The panellists will also focus on the legal and non-legal barriers (including regulatory, infrastructural, culture and mentality). In addition, it will be discussed whether the U.S. is rather a threat or an opportunity for the EU Capital Markets Union.
41st International Financial Law Conference
Like many countries around the world, Nigeria was forced to impose a lockdown in Lagos (Nigeria’s commercial hub) and Abuja (Nigeria’s capital city) to combat the spread of Covid-19. The government’s ban on public gatherings and interstate travel resulted in the judiciary’s suspension of court sittings from March to May 2020, except for hearings of cases that were considered urgent, essential or time-bound.
Have you ever wondered what factors judges consider when making suspension and debarment decisions? This interactive session brings the multilateral development bank sanctions process to life through an engaging moot court. Officers from the World Bank, IDB, EBRD, and AfDB will form the judicial panel, while IBA Anti-Corruption Committee members will advocate as the investigative office and respondent company representatives. The simulated case will tackle critical issues at the frontier of sanctions practice, including attribution of liability within complex corporate structures, balancing punitive measures with development imperatives, and evaluating the true effectiveness of corporate compliance programs. Audience members will have the opportunity to engage directly with the panel and provide their input into the decision-making process as they navigate the nuanced considerations that shape decisions that end in cross-debarment. This interactive approach provides international legal practitioners with insight into how sanctions systems operate in practice while illuminating the different approaches MDBs take when addressing prohibited practices in development finance.
21st Annual IBA Anti-Corruption Conference
Aug 06, 2024
Microsoft’s retention of the employees of Inflection AI has surfaced a debate on whether employee acquisitions represent an enforcement gap in European merger control laws. Leaving aside whether there exists robust data that could confirm the magnitude of any gap, do the jurisdictional rules of the EU Merger Regulation and the Enterprise Act permit the review of employee acquisitions (or ‘acquihires’)? This article shows that those laws could be invoked in exceptional situations, notably where the ‘acquihire’ has structural components and eliminates competition from the prior employer.
In the first part of the workshop, delegates will work in roundtable groups to discuss financing topics including:
1. What are the key options to finance growth in the current market?
2. What are the alternatives to “traditional” EBITDA financings?
3. How can non-bank lenders, such as direct lenders and venture debt or credit funds, support closely held companies?
4. Experiences with non-bank lenders in the recent financial downturn?
5. Convergences in debt and equity financing
6. Pros and cons of margin loans (secured by shares in the closely held company)
7. Differences in financing of early stages vs more mature stages
8. Trends in debt and equity terms during and following COVID-19
9. Change of control clauses in enforcement scenario
10. Trends on opinions and counsel reports
11. How can corporate lawyers add value when a company pursues an alternative to new financing, such as a reduction in force?
12. Is the importance and role of due diligence changing?
13.What are new financing areas of focus for closely held companies following recent bank failures and instability?
Delegates will discuss a first topic of their choice in a roundtable group, and after 30 minutes move to a second table of their choice.
7th Global Entrepreneurship Conference
The landscape for potential human rights abuses by digital surveillance is changing as the methods used grow ever more powerful. Global Insight considers this evolution and the need for regulatory frameworks to adapt.
A series of roundtable discussions will look at recent developments in the following areas:
Topic one: International tax risks and insurance solutions: strategies for mitigating global fiscal challenges
Topic two: Artificial intelligence: challenges and opportunities in the age of automation
Topic three: Exchange of information - joint tax audits
Topic four: PE and global mobility - tax certainty
Topic five: Beneficial ownership and treaty eligibility
Aug 20, 2024
With regulators around the world stepping up their focus on off-channel communications, all businesses must ensure they’ve appropriate policies and procedures in place, as In-House Perspective reports.
Recent actions, including the European Commission notifying Meta of possible interim measures being used to address the exclusion of third-party AI assistants from WhatsApp, signal a willingness to intervene early to prevent irreparable competitive harm.
30th Annual Competition Conference
Jan 23, 2023
Last autumn, US antitrust agencies blocked a proposed deal between two major book publishers. Global Insight examines the case in the context of the activist approach being taken by regulators, especially towards Big Tech.
Tour details
• Date: 5 June 2026
• Pick-up time and location:1630 (near Lisbon historic city centre)
• Duration: Approximately 2 hours
• Price: €35 per person (VAT included)
• Booking deadline: 26 May 2026
How to book
Please contact Tuk Guide Portugal directly:
• Email: reservas@tukguideportugal.pt
• WhatsApp: +351 919 920 000
When booking, please quote the following booking reference and also provide the details below:
• Booking reference: IBA05062026
• Full name
• Contact phone number
• Address and preferred pick-up location
The tour company will then send payment instructions directly to you.
12th Annual IBA World Life Sciences Conference
The approach currently adopted by competition authorities around the world against so-called big tech hides two main risks, namely the delay in respect of innovation processes that may cause the actions undertaken turn out to be vain and the antitrust over-enforcement. This second feature, particularly, is strictly related to the position that enforcers are prone to adopt on competition law goals, which debate has massively re-emerged in the present context
In this workshop, we will discuss trends and highlight practical issues and considerations in the area of fund finance, including subscription based, net asset value (NAV) facilities and other forms of leverage.
23rd Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds
The continued proliferation of disinformation online – often referred to as ‘fake news’ – has this summer led to increased scrutiny and action from governments.
How has Government created a destination that is attractive to investors, entrepreneurs,professionals, ultra-high net worth individuals and others?
IBA Middle East Conference: Law firms and in-house legal departments working together
May 04, 2026
Recent Italian case law decisions spanned from considering the impact of increasingly digital workplaces on trade union rights to re-examining traditional union representation and recognition principles. In two 2026 decisions the Court of Cassation clarified that digital consultation methods may satisfy statutory obligations, provided that substantive participation is preserved. Together, these rulings reflect a consistent judicial approach: procedural forms may evolve, but the core functions of representation and collective negotiation must remain intact. Running in parallel, the Constitutional Court’s October 2025 ruling on Article 19 of the Workers’ Statute reshaped the criteria for workplace union recognition by rejecting exclusive dependence on company‑level bargaining participation as the sole gateway to RSA status and grounding representation rights in objective measures of union national representativeness.
The panelists will discuss key developments in retail offerings with a focus on the interplay between high net worth and institutional products.
Topics to Include:
• Continued regulatory reforms in key fund jurisdictions to complement the continued retailisation in terms of fund products and distribution channels
• Placement of alternative investment products in key retail jurisdictions
24th Annual International Conference on Private Investment Funds
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