All Insights

Horizon Scanning

Clear filters

  • Capital Flows
  • Article
Private equity – a more dynamic deal environment Private equity deal makers continued to face a challenging geopolitical and macroeconomic environment in 2025. The U.S. Liberation day tariff announcements, in particular, had a chilling effect on the industry, putting a significant number of deals on...
  • Crisis Management
  • Article
The activist agenda Shareholder activism remained firmly on the corporate agenda in 2025, with activists proving resilient despite market uncertainty. Reflecting wider market trends, it was a year of two halves as year-on-year activity levels were relatively subdued in the...
  • Crisis Management
  • Article
Cyber lessons to take into 2026 As we start 2026, the cyber threat landscape continues to evolve at pace. Organisations are grappling with increasingly challenging attacks, while legislators respond with new frameworks designed to strengthen resilience and accountability. 
  • Crisis Management
  • Article
An inflexion point for litigation funding? Litigation funding has an important but contentious role at the heart of the civil justice system. The law has tolerated its growth because it can open up access to justice for people who could not otherwise afford it. For international investors, though,...
  • Digital
  • Article
UK and EU Shifts in Consumer Protection Consumer protection in the UK and Europe is entering a new era. In the UK, the enhanced regime introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) is well underway, while in the EU the new Commission has released initial...
  • Governance & Sustainability
  • Article
Sustainability reporting in 2026 The UK is preparing to hardwire the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB) sustainability reporting standards into domestic regulation through the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS), joining over 30 other jurisdictions in...
  • Governance & Sustainability
  • Article
The New HQ The office sector is continuing to undergo a structural shift, generated by the changing ways offices are occupied in the post-pandemic and ESG-focused climate. 
  • Capital Flows
  • Article
Financing in 2026 Debt markets were resilient in 2025. Strong issuer fundamentals met with a more accommodating economic backdrop to drive higher volumes and tighter spreads across almost all areas of financing.
  • Energy Transition
  • Article
Geopolitics of the Energy Transition The global energy system is undergoing a reconstruction. For decades, an open, trade-friendly, market-based order underpinned integrated supply chains and converging energy prices. That order is now fragmenting into competing regional coalitions creating...
  • Energy Transition
  • Article
Harnessing headwinds As we head into 2026, there is continued demand for energy transition investments. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2025 reported that renewables met much of the 2% increase in total global energy demand in 2024, driven by rising...
  • Governance & Sustainability
  • Article
Trans-Atlantic Divergence in ESG agendas With 2026 now underway, we reflect on a year of significant global upheaval in the world of sustainability. After 2024’s plethora of elections, 2025 saw a raft of new legislatures and leaders pulling in very different directions, creating significant...
  • Capital Flows
  • Article
Bright Spots in Real Estate Markets Against a backdrop of elevated geopolitical risk and tougher financial conditions, investment in traditional property sectors has stalled in the past few years both in terms of deal values and volumes.
  • Energy Transition
  • Article
Nuclear energy: a new atomic age? Nuclear energy’s resurgence has continued at pace over the past year. Around the world, policymakers, developers and investors are showing renewed interest in conventional nuclear power, whilst the race to commercialise small modular reactors (“SMRs”) and...
  • Capital Flows
  • Article
The future of UK equity markets UK equity markets have entered a period of renewed optimism, bolstered by regulatory reforms, a rebound in IPO activity and a greater focus on increasing institutional and retail investment in UK equities.
  • Governance & Sustainability
  • Article
UK Corporate Governance reform – the latest instalment(s) As we move through 2026, the UK landscape for corporate governance continues to evolve. Companies are under sustained – and, in many areas, heightened - pressure to uphold robust governance standards.
  • Capital Flows
  • Article
M&A Outlook for 2026 2025 was a year of fluctuating momentum. Dampened confidence at the start of year gave way to cautious optimism and a willingness to press on with corporate deal activity despite market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.
  • Crisis Management
  • Article
Class actions in England and Wales 2026 Class actions continue to play a prominent role in the legal landscape of England and Wales. New trends are emerging across competition, securities and ESG litigation, reshaping both opportunities and challenges for stakeholders. This article explores the...
  • Digital
  • Article
Dealmaking in AI infrastructure Investment in digital infrastructure has grown year-on-year since the turn of the century, but the recent AI revolution has catalysed exponential growth, driving M&A activity to an all-time high. We examine whether this is a bubble or a sustained boom...
  • Capital Flows
  • Article
The future of merger control As geopolitical tensions, industrial policy, and competitive pressures reshape global markets, merger control is undergoing recalibration across the EU, UK and US. Although the foundational principles remain steady, enforcement is being reshaped by...
  • Digital
  • Article
AI update for 2026 As AI continues to transform the business landscape, staying ahead of legal developments in this space has never been more critical. Global regulation poses a particular challenge, with jurisdictions adopting divergent approaches amid fierce international...
  • Digital
  • Article
Digital regulation: Navigating diverging paths Recent years have seen a proliferation of digital regulation. The (often overlapping) regimes emerging across the globe are creating an increasingly fragmented picture internationally, with that outlook further compounded by the impact of geopolitical...
  • Digital
  • Article
Get smart: data portability is moving from concept to reality Data sharing is set to be turbocharged in the UK and EU through new schemes centred on customer-directed data portability. Ambition for these schemes is high, as drivers of competition, innovation and growth, including in the UK’s latest industrial...
  • Governance & Sustainability
  • Article
Implementing the Employment Rights Act 2025 The Employment Rights Act 2025 (the Act), described by Prime Minister Kier Starmer as “the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation”, was one of 2025’s most controversial pieces of UK legislation. It contains a sweeping set of reforms to...
  • Crisis Management
  • Article
Corporate criminal liability Since the Bribery Act in 2010, corporate criminal liability in the UK has continued to expand and that trend has accelerated in recent years. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) marked a major shift, introducing an expanded...