The top 3 stories from today's briefing, narrated as a short audio episode.
Sign up free to listen. The briefing notes below are free to read.
Briefing Notes
Regulation
FCA proposes conflict-of-interest rules for London investment trusts and sets out retail customer engagement expectations for stockbrokers and trading platforms
Two FCA publications in one day show the regulator is accelerating its Consumer Duty implementation across the investment chain.
International
A&O Shearman's global fund finance co-head joins Weil Gotshal as the firm records 17 partner departures so far in 2026
Seventeen partner exits from A&O Shearman in six months shows post-merger talent retention is the defining integration risk of 2026.
Capital Markets
Aircraft leasing investor Amedeo Air Four Plus delists from the London Stock Exchange after £190m Qatari takeover completes
Gulf capital taking London-listed aviation assets private shows cross-border M&A demand for hard-asset exposure remains strong.
Banking & Finance
Life insurers' dual exposure to private credit funds — as equity investors and debt holders simultaneously — creates underappreciated concentration risk, Clearwater Analytics warns
Insurers holding both LP equity and senior debt in the same private credit fund are effectively doubling their concentration bet.
Energy & Tech
EU member states scale back cross-border energy grid funding plans but agree centralised planning of power network expansion to absorb renewables and data centre demand
Centralised EU grid planning without a funding mechanism is a roadmap with no budget — project finance lawyers will feel that gap acutely.
AI & Law
AI is rewriting how legal departments protect trade secrets — but courts are expected to apply existing law rather than create novel AI-specific doctrine, senior IP lawyers warn
Courts won't invent new trade secret rules for AI — legal departments must make existing frameworks do the heavy lifting now.
Disputes
New York court dismisses as 'woebegone' a challenge to a $71m arbitration award in the Tupi dispute
Courts calling award challenges 'woebegone' signals that the pro-enforcement consensus is hardening across major arbitration seats.
M&A
Private equity is reshaping food and beverage through carve-outs and consolidation, but rising costs raise questions over how far the trend can go
PE carve-outs in consumer sectors keep M&A practices busy even when headline deal volumes are flat.