|
|
Mar 11, 2022
A report on a session at the 11th Annual IBA Finance & Capital Markets Tax Virtual Conference. The panel sought to address and provide insight on the following topics: the status of the digital service tax across different jurisdictions; the current attitudes of the tax authorities with digital businesses, particularly in relation to enforcement; and other developments including the Directive on Administrative Cooperation 7.
Panellists will discuss how to enforce without political intervention and the role of public interest considerations including whether the antitrust agencies should and can be relevant to pressing priorities such as tackling climate change, developing the digital agenda and dealing with de-globalisation and cost of living/labour market issues.
17th Annual IBA Competition Mid-Year Conference
The Pro Bono Committee promotes pro bono legal services globally, through the IBA Pro Bono Declaration, the exchange of information and initiatives, and by promoting best practices.
Pro bono work supports access to justice where this right is not fully supported by legal aid. The Committee provides resources, including digital content and articles highlighting pro bono efforts by legal professionals, which can be found below.
The Committee is committed to advancing pro bono work across the profession and welcomes new members passionate about contributing to this mission.
Apr 21, 2026
The article examines how Singapore’s employment law framework has evolved in response to the trend of digital transformation. It highlights key legal considerations relating to hybrid work models, cross-border employment, digital monitoring, and the ethical use of AI in HR decision-making, emphasising the need to balance innovation with regulatory compliance and fairness.
Digital market regulations in Europe − particularly the Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act − are designed to limit the dominance of major gatekeepers, strengthen competition and enhance user protection. However, their implementation continues to face notable challenges. Meanwhile, digital market regulation in the US is currently characterised by a shift away from comprehensive, proactive legislation (like the EU's Digital Markets Act) toward a reliance on traditional, ex-post antitrust enforcement often influenced by political, economic and trade-related debates. Whereas in Africa, the COMESA Competition and Consumer Commission adopted new digital markets regulations in December 2025 aimed at overseeing gatekeepers operating within the COMESA region.
20th Annual IBA Competition Mid-Year Conference
The topics and problems covered by the Product Law and Advertising Committee are regularly part of and interlinked with bigger issues related to the international trade of goods and services in a globalised economy.
The Committee therefore deals with the legal aspects surrounding the use and safety of products, their presentation as well as advertising.
The main areas of interest are product liability, unfair competition, relevant trade regulation, product safety regulations, consumer law and advertising law. Special areas of interest include online advertising and advertising issues related to the latest technological developments.
Nov 24, 2025
This panel at the 16th IBA/ABA US and Latin America Tax Practice Trends Conference in Miami, in June 2024, analysed how different countries implement new tax regimes in the digital economy era, particularly by addressing the current legislative landscape and the challenges experienced and efforts made by each jurisdiction.
This session will analyse the growth, innovation and regulation in the region’s most dynamic industries.
Mergers and acquisitions in Latin America — building bridges through business: rethinking M&A in the Americas
The Communications Law Committee is a leading global forum for legal practitioners with specialist expertise or interest in the communications sector. The Committee offers members access to a worldwide network of leading practitioners, in-house counsel and regulators active in digital, communications and media markets. We encourage the sharing of sectoral expertise through regular publication of articles, periodic issues of our technical journal, the annual committee conference hosted jointly with IBA Antitrust Section, and specialised sessions at the IBA Annual Conference.
The scope of the Committee’s work covers network, service and content-related developments across all delivery platforms. This provides members with access to practical global perspectives on the array of technological, commercial and policy issues which confront communications lawyers, their companies and clients.
Jul 26, 2023
A 2022 amendment made minor modifications to China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML), responding in part to challenges triggered by the digital economy. The amendment directly prohibits undertakings from using data, algorithms, technologies, advantage in capital and rules to engage in anti-competitive conduct. Indirectly, the amendment introduces a new legislative purpose (‘encouragement of innovation’), a classification and grade mechanism to merger control, an explicit provision against hub-and-spoke agreements, and requires notification of problematic mergers below the notification thresholds. The Chinese competition authorities should revise their supporting rules, not overlook the positive roles played by capital, think twice before investigating exploitative abuses of dominance, and better coordinate with other administrative authorities.
Representatives from key antitrust agencies and communications regulators from around the world will discuss their visions and insights for the future of regulation in a digital economy, including the recently adopted Digital Markets Act in the EU and equivalent rules in Member States, the UK’s Digital Markets Unit and various legislative initiatives worldwide.
32nd Annual IBA Communications and Competition Law Conference
The Leisure Industries Section is a specialist, international community of lawyers and legal professionals serving the world's leisure economy across three core areas – leisure, hospitality and tourism; sports law; and gaming and gambling. The Section offers its members access to specialist practitioners, international conferences, thought leadership and active subcommittees tracking the most critical legal updates.
Bringing together experts across the full spectrum of legal disciplines including aviation, finance, M&A, intellectual property, employment, insurance and litigation, it provides a focused and collegial forum addressing the legal issues that arise from the globalisation of leisure. Whether you are an established practitioner or a lawyer looking to develop expertise, the Section provides the professional platform and international reach to help you thrive.
Dec 01, 2021
The digital transformation of the world economy over the past few years has benefited a wide variety of sectors. However, it has also significantly changed the way companies do business, introducing new and more complex business models. This article explores efforts to tax the digital economy and the implications of these for sub-Saharan Africa.
Database infrastructure and data‑centre‑driven cloud services have become the backbone of the global economy, underpinning competitiveness in finance, AI, logistics, healthcare, and media. Digitalization and AI hyperscaling are driving steep increases in electricity demand and reshaping grid load profiles, accelerating long‑term power‑purchase agreements and capital flows into renewables and storage.
Policymakers and regulators are scrambling to catch up with this tectonic shift, confronting the climate, water, land‑use, labour, and digital‑rights implications of hyperscale build‑out and AI‑driven demand.
ESG in Evolution: the legal imperatives of tomorrow
Dec 20, 2023
The rise of digital technologies, notably e-commerce and algorithms, has brought increased attention to competitive challenges. Consequently, competition authorities across different jurisdictions have embarked on the task of developing policies to address these potential competition issues. In line with this collective effort to establish a regulatory framework, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) released the White Paper on Competition Policy in the Digital Economy on 20 December 2022 (‘the White Paper’). The White Paper starts with the TFTC’s observation of the development and characteristics of the digital economy. It goes on to outline the TFTC’s observations, considerations and concerns regarding competition with the digital economy. It suggests possible approaches to address these emerging competition issues, shedding light on the TFTC’s enforcement position based on how it views the market reality in the digital economy. This article aims to summarise the key competition issues highlighted in the White Paper, focusing on three major aspects – abuse of a dominant position, merger and concerted action – and offers insights on the TFTC’s recent practices concerning the digital economy.
In such times when, digital was trending as a prefix - such as digital economy or digital transformation - boards across the globe embraced digitalization as the new normal. The panel will discuss emerging trends in corporate governance in the digital world, digital literacy and penetration at the board level, how boards contribute to digital transformation, and Corporate Governance 2.0 in this context. The panel will also consider how a digital-literate board and good governance practices can prepare a company to survive the seemingly omnipresent cybersecurity threats that accompany the digital revolution.
8th Annual Corporate Governance Conference
Jan 21, 2022
Since the People’s Republic of China’s adoption of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) in 2007, and its coming into effect in 2008, scant enforcement attention has been directed at abuse of dominance in the digital economy. While there have been some – mostly unsuccessful – abuse of dominance cases brought by private plaintiffs, the enforcement authorities, previously the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and, currently, the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) and their provincial and local counterparts, have put relatively less emphasis on abuse of dominance cases.
As a key technology to be deployed in order to reach zero carbon emission goals, the question now is how to advance green hydrogen economies. Challenges include large scale hydrogen production cost, infrastructure investments, bulk storage, transport & distribution, safety considerations, and matching supply-demand uncertainties. This session will discuss legal aspects relevant to these emerging economies such as: (a) Policy-making and regulation; (b) Government funding / aids to help offset the initial high costs; (c) Project’s bankability; (d) Contracts for the implementation of hydrogen production or storage projects (e.g. power-to-gas plants) or infrastructure projects (e.g. the development of a hydrogen infrastructure); and (e) Using green hydrogen as battery, to increase capacity factors on renewable energy and address intermittency.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
Aug 02, 2021
The ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution’, as coined by Klaus Schwab, creates new governance challenges. We are immersed in a digital transformation triggered by the exponential effect of emerging technologies that are changing the world: changing the way we communicate, socialise, entertain, work, produce, and provide services. Among the exponential technologies, AI (which can be defined as a collection of technologies that combines data, algorithms, and computing power) is one of the most important applications of the data economy.
Is there a need to review traditional thresholds on dominance in the digital economy? Will big tech ever be able enter into another acquisition?
17th Annual IBA Competition Mid-Year Conference
The competition law agenda for digital markets in developing countries should be threefold. First, in response to the threat of globally dominant firms, greater international cooperation and coordination is required to address these threats in smaller countries given the more limited importance of their markets, the more limited enforcement resources and jurisdictional reach. Second, the disruptive force of digital markets should be harnessed to address existing high levels of market concentration
In October 2022 the European Union published two pieces of legislations for regulating content and fairness and contestability in digital services. Accordingly, online intermediary services, and in particular online platforms, are subject to stringent regulations, which may impact how they conduct their business and develop new services.
IBA Annual Conference Paris 2023
Change is coming to the antitrust world. Faced with the rapid evolution of the digital economy, many antitrust authorities are exploring the scope and role of competition law enforcement in digital markets. Key challenges include the enforcement approach to Big Data, big analytics, the platform economy and increased concentration. Faced with these challenges, antitrust authorities could step up antitrust enforcement using existing tools and theories of harm
The future of the contingent workforce is shaped by various factors, including evolving labour market dynamics, technological advancements, changing worker preferences and organisational needs for flexibility and cost-efficiency. As the contingent workforce continues to grow and play a significant role in many industries, it is increasingly important for employment lawyers to understand and navigate the legal implications associated with this evolving employment landscape.
Annual IBA Employment and Diversity Law Conference 2024
Mar 10, 2026
The digitalisation of the economy has reshaped market structures and revealed significant regulatory gaps in Mexico related to digital platforms, data protection, artificial intelligence and competition. This paper explores these challenges through the lens of consumer protection and competition law, adopting a comparative perspective on the frameworks adopted in the European Union, the United States and Latin America.
This panel will explore how AI and digital assets are reshaping the global tax landscape.
15th Annual London Finance and Capital Markets Tax Conference
Mar 03, 2020
The Gambling Commission – which regulates gambling in Great Britain – announced in January that gambling businesses will be banned from allowing British consumers to gamble using credit cards from mid-April. The move follows a public consultation and is representative of the increasingly hostile environment for gambling companies in the UK.
With increasing dependence on digital infrastructure comes a heightened focus on security and sovereignty in the digital realm. This session will delve into the intersection of competition law and national security concerns, addressing the implications of data localisation requirements, cybersecurity, and digital sovereignty policies. Experts will discuss how competition law and regulation can play a role in promoting secure and resilient digital markets while balancing national security interests and cross-border data flows.
34th Annual IBA Communications and Competition Law Conference
Jan 19, 2022
New antitrust compliance issues in the digital economy have emerged in the past few years, and competition enforcement authorities have adopted different measures to respond in different jurisdictions. This webinar mainly discussed the current status quo, new updates, abuse of dominance in the digital economy and killer acquisitions from different jurisdictions.
This session will describe which are the main current threats to biodiversity and the connection between the need to stop it and the development of new products and services to consumers, analysing the shifting of paradigms on economy, with an overview of the key proposals of circular economy, blue economy and collaborative economies.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
There is no doubt that the digital economy – also known as the new economy, the web economy, or the internet economy – is now part of our concrete reality and has become essential to the global economy. Its exponential growth over the past few months has been greatly boosted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has compelled people to depend more than ever on electronic communications. This boost has however, required tenacious efforts from public and private entities to eliminate and/or reduce barriers posed b
Access to data has become a central legal and economic challenge in the data-driven economy. One year after the EU Data Act entered into force, the promise of greater data availability and fair access is being put to the test.
IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
Jul 17, 2025
AI-powered smart homes leverage IoT to promote sustainable living by optimising energy, security, and comfort. These systems manage resources, adapt to changing conditions, and anticipate future demands, decreasing waste and costs while supporting sustainable energy goals. Ghana's 2024 Digital Economy Policy incorporates ethical AI, data privacy, and cybersecurity, allowing authorities to defend rights and foster confidence.
Oct 14, 2015
Jim O’Neill, Chris Saul and James Palmer explore China’s economic slowdown and the possibility of social reform.
Digging the gold: exploring franchising opportunities in key emerging economies
IBA Global Insight Aug/Sept 2018. Commercial mining of the ocean floor is taking off at scale. Global Insight explores the legal and environmental issues of a new industry that could transform developing nations.
7th Global Entrepreneurship Conference
Nov 28, 2025
Legislators in jurisdictions such as the EU are putting greater emphasis on transitioning to a ‘circular economy,’ as part of broader efforts to make business and economies more sustainable. In-House Perspective looks at what’s driving this legislative focus and what in-house counsel need to know.
As we navigate an era of unprecedented digital transformation, understanding the tax dynamics associated with it becomes crucial. Our panel will take a deep dive into the taxation challenges and complexities associated with transactions within cryptocurrencies, digital platforms, and the emerging metaverse. This exploration underscores the need for comprehensive, equitable tax laws that keep pace with rapid technological advancements. Our panel of experts will offer insights into existing tax legislation, highlight potential gaps, discuss the need for consistency across jurisdictions, and explore the economic implications of these digital phenomena, all while providing strategies to navigate the contemporary tax landscape.
Annual IBA The New Era of Taxation Conference
Oct 07, 2022
As the gig economy booms, challenges regarding the status of gig workers emerge. In India, law makers recently proposed an employment law framework, the Social Security Code, 2020, which recognises ‘gig workers’ and ‘platform workers’ for the extension of social security benefits. This article discusses the emergence of the gig economy in India, the opportunities and problems encountered by its workers, the proposed regulatory framework and the authors’ thoughts in the context of India’s gig economy landscape.
Several important regulations will change the level playing field as the Data Act, the Data Governance Act, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Similarly, the US agencies, the AAA and other agencies around the world are paving the way to regulating the digital economy. In parallel, antitrust and competition law are still very much relevant and topical.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
A webinar presented by the IBA Taxes Committee, 24 September 2020, 1500 – 1615 BST
HumanRightsIn December 2020, the United Nations' Human Rights Office and the University of California, Berkeley's Human Rights Center published an advance version of the Berkeley protocol on digital open source investigations. Created through a collaborative
international process, the protocol was designed to set professional standards and guidelines for the identification, collection, preservation, verification and analysis of digital open source Information.
IBA Annual Conference Miami 2022
IBA Global Insight April/May 2018 - Disruptive innovators are rejecting traditional working practices in favour of more casual arrangements, meaning definitions of ‘employees’, ‘workers’ and ‘contractors’ are becoming blurred. Resolving this uncertainty is the new battleground of global employment law.
Are regulations and policies playing catch-up, stifling innovation or enabling growth in the new space economy? How is the influence of space developing ESG on Earth and ESG itself in space?
IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
In order to combat Covid-19, governments around the world have shut down national economies, in some cases almost entirely. Economic life in many jurisdictions has abruptly come to a standstill and international trade has been disrupted.
The exponential growth of the digital economy is powered by data centres, which have an immense and often overlooked thirst for two critical resources: energy and water.
IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
A webinar presented by the IBA Closely Held and Growing Business Enterprises Committee, supported by the IBA Corporate and M&A Committee, IBA European Regional Forum, IBA Latin American Regional Forum, IBA Law Firm Management Committee and IBA Young Lawyers Committee.
Digital assets and the future of financial services
The rise of the digital economy in the second decade of the 21st century is significantly transforming the global financial markets.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
At the end of 2016, President of Venezuela Nicolás Maduro announced the withdrawal from circulation of the 100-bolívar note – Venezuela’s highest form of currency, which has accounted for as much as 48 per cent of all paper money in the country. The decision has pushed the country further into a humanitarian disaster.
7th Global Entrepreneurship Conference
Oct 08, 2025
Cross-border venture capital transactions have their own dynamics, particularly when they involve emerging economies. This article analyses some of the distinctive features of these deals. First, it examines the challenges that arise when dealing with developing countries, particularly in areas such as legal documentation, cooperation between law firms and the contextual factors each party considers before closing a deal. Second, it highlights dynamics that are more commonly present in venture capital transactions than in private equity or M&A deals involving these jurisdictions. These include the internationalisation of startups by setting up foreign holding entities for them, references to industry-specific benchmarks, involvement of governmental entities, and idiosyncratic and cultural differences between the parties involved in each transaction. Finally, it concludes with a reflection on additional aspects that could be explored in future discussions on this subject.
Online digital marketplaces are rapidly evolving with the development of new technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) systems, creating global opportunities but also challenges. This session will look at the current and emerging issues in digital marketplaces in Europe, the UK, the US and other jurisdictions from a consumer, business and platform perspective, including: the unfair trade practices; anti-competitive conduct; online safety: protection of intellectual property: transparency: access to data: privacy protection: advertising and marketing; and environmental sustainability.
This session will also examine current and emerging issues from the operation of EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, which commenced in May 2023.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Nov 18, 2021
As courts across Europe continue to grapple with employee classification rights in the gig economy, some jurisdictions are legislating in a bid to resolve this contentious issue in the food delivery sector.
Regulators are racing to rein in the power of large digital platforms so that fast-evolving markets remain open and contestable. Global digital markets will increasingly be the subject of national and regional regulation.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Jun 08, 2021
Renewable energy plays an important role in expanding the Ghanaian economy while at the same time, protecting its environment.
This session will consider competition policy in digital markets.
Competition Law in Africa Conference: regulatory developments and enforcement trends across the continent
In September, Gavin Newsom, California’s Governor, signed into law Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5), which will reclassify two million contractors as ‘employees’ under state labour laws. California’s move has been viewed as disrupting the rise of the gig economy and other US states are likely to follow suit, as governments endeavor to implement laws to offer workers greater legal protection.
How does artificial intelligence (AI) impact on tax practice. Join the IBA Taxes Committee for an in-depth discussion on all things tax and AI.
IBA Annual Conference Mexico City 2024
Oct 21, 2022
In the new “data driven” economy there will be an increase in disputes related to personal or non-personal data. This paper examines why arbitration may be considered as a suitable dispute resolution mechanism in such area and how the “arbitration community” shall get ready for this new challenge.
In a world of deepfakes, augmented reality, algorithm-controlled content moderation and decaying public trust (and interest) in digital imagery, how do we know what – and who – to believe? As the digital arena is flooded with data, how do we distinguish fact from fiction?
IBA War Crimes Committee Conference 2025: Law on the frontlines
One of the many lessons of 2020 will be that a sustainable and inclusive economy – that promotes positive, long-term economic, environmental and social outcomes – requires cooperation, engagement and innovation from all stakeholders. Legal advisers have an important role to play in this economic transition by supporting business decision making to consider longer-term time horizons and the spectrum of environment, social and governance (ESG) issues holistically.
Recent geopolitical developments have highlighted significant risks associated with dependence on the ‘Big 3' US hyperscale cloud providers. ‘Digital sovereignty’ is now the mantra, but is it feasible to build national or regional clouds that are secure from foreign government interference, while delivering an appropriate level of functionality and resilience?
IBA Annual Conference Copenhagen 2026
|
