The top 3 stories from today's briefing, narrated as a short audio episode.
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Briefing Notes
Capital Markets
SpaceX's $25bn bond sale pushes US share and debt issuance to record levels at mid-year 2026
AI capex (capital expenditure) is now large enough to move global bond markets — hyperscalers are the new sovereign issuers.
Regulation
FCA publishes final crypto rulebook with diluted stablecoin capital requirements after industry pushback, and separately proposes removing non-UK business from Consumer Duty scope
The FCA's first full crypto rulebook creates a compliance cliff edge — authorised firms gain legitimacy, unauthorised ones face enforcement.
M&A
Ashurst and Perkins Coie merger goes live, creating a 950-partner transatlantic firm with ~$2.8bn revenue
Transatlantic scale is now table stakes — the Ashurst-Perkins Coie combination forces rivals to respond on cross-border mandates.
Disputes
US Supreme Court rules president can freely fire independent agency board members, raising new questions for the NLRB
Presidential removal power over independent agencies reprices regulatory risk for every US-regulated client — compliance strategies built on agency independence need revisiting.
AI & Law
Legal AI governance gap widens as firms deploy tools without audit trails, approval records, or defensible oversight structures
AI without governance is a liability, not an efficiency — the firms that document their AI decisions now will avoid the enforcement wave later.
Banking & Finance
AI Debt Boom Pushes Investment-Grade Issuance Toward Record $2 Trillion as Hyperscalers Diversify into Multi-Currency Bonds
AI debt volumes are forcing banks and lawyers to operate across six currencies simultaneously.
Energy & Tech
UK trade body BEAMA warns that weakening the ZEV Mandate could cost the UK at least £2.9bn in lost VAT revenue through 2034
Mandate dilution isn't just a policy question — it reprices EV investment cases and disrupts supply chain contract assumptions.
International
White & Case hires former Kirkland duo from Broadfield to rebuild Hong Kong disputes capability after recent team loss
Private capital disputes are reshaping the Hong Kong legal market — disputes teams without PE fluency are losing ground.