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What did your transformation actually return?

Organisations invest heavily in transformation, but often struggle to show what that investment actually returned. This article explores the gap between transformation activity and measurable value – and what leaders can do to close it. Estimated reading time: 4 minutes While the cost of transformation is always visible, the value can be much harder to find. Programme costs, consultants, technology, change teams… run-rate can quietly build for two or three…

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Cal. Appellate Court Rejects Implied Cap on ‘Usual’ Emotional Damages

Quick Hits A California appellate court reinstated a $13.1 million jury verdict in a gender discrimination case, rejecting trial court limits on noneconomic damages. The court found the trial court had erroneously found a cap on damages for noneconomic damages, even when limiting claims to “usual” distress. The court further held that witnesses are competent to testify to their own retirement plans to support future economic damages. In Glick v.…

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What does your strategy say you’ll do less of?

Strategy is about making choices, but those choices only become meaningful when they change how an organisation invests, resources and prioritises. This article explores how organisational performance can help leaders decide what to back, what to change and, crucially, what to do less of. Estimated reading time: 4 minutes Most strategies are much clearer about what an organisation wants to do more of than what it is prepared to do…

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The Meccan Alliance as a Response to Strategic Challenges and Threats

As the post-1991 US security architecture in the Middle East undergoes political transformation in the wake of region-wide hostilities with Iran, regional states are coming forward with security initiatives of their own. The brand-new Meccan Alliance and its implications are explored by Kamran Gasanov, Senior Lecturer at RUDN University. The Meccan Alliance: Building a Security Architecture Atop Ruins of Old Order While the major players are locked in their own…

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No More Six-Month Baby Steps: San Francisco Cuts PPLO Eligibility Period in Half

By: Mecole Tate and Chelsea Hoffman Seyfarth Synopsis: San Francisco just delivered a bundle of joy for new parents. The city reduced the employment tenure requirement under its Paid Parental Leave Ordinance from 180 days to 90 days, meaning eligible employees can start accessing employer-paid supplemental compensation benefits faster. Covered employers may want to start baby-proofing their policies now, ahead of phased-in compliance beginning January 1, 2027. New parents in…

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Congrats to New Parents: San Francisco Reduces PPLO Eligibility Period

Seyfarth Synopsis: San Francisco just delivered a bundle of joy for new parents. The city reduced the employment tenure requirement under its Paid Parental Leave Ordinance from 180 days to 90 days, meaning eligible employees can start accessing employer-paid supplemental compensation benefits faster. Covered employers may want to start baby-proofing their policies now, ahead of phased-in compliance beginning January 1, 2027. New parents in San Francisco have a reason to…

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Canadian Securities Administrators propose new amendments to the listed issuer financing exemption (LIFE)

The CSA have published for comment certain proposed amendments (the Proposed Amendments) to National Instrument 45-106 Prospectus Exemptions (NI 45-106) that would, among other things, codify increased financing limits, revise the dilution calculations, expand issuer eligibility and streamline certain conditions and disclosure requirements under the listed issuer financing exemption in Part 5A of NI 45-106 (the LIFE Exemption). Many of the Proposed Amendments, including the increased financing limits and revised…

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DOL Rescinds Section 503 Disability Utilization Goal and Data Collection Requirements

Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule substantially revising the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act. Most notably, the rule rescinds the longstanding 7% disability utilization goal under 41 C.F.R. § 60-741.45 and the disability-related data collection requirements under 41 C.F.R. § 60-741.44(k). The rule reflects the DOL's opinion that the prior framework created tension with the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”),…

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Canada’s foreign influence registry is now in effect: Here’s what you need to know

On Aug. 4, 2026, the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, S.C. 2024, c. 16, s. 113 (FITAA), and Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Regulations, SOR/2026-152, came into force. What you need to know: FITAA establishes a registration regime intended to increase transparency concerning foreign interference and influence in Canada. Individuals and organizations must register certain arrangements with foreign principals involving activities intended to influence political or governmental processes in…

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Legal Update: Colorado Releases Proposed Rules for Its AI and Chatbot Safety Laws: These Create More Operational Work than the Statutes Suggest

On August 11, 2026, the Colorado Department of Law released a single set of proposed rules  substantially building out two 2026 statutes: the Automated Decision-Making Technology Act (“ADMT Act”) and the Conversational Artificial Intelligence Service Operator Requirements (the “Chatbot Safety Act”). Both laws take effect January 1, 2027, and the proposed rules would become effective the same day. The Rules are not yet final – for covered organizations and interested parties the weeks until September…

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How the Right Business Model Can Fuel Creativity

Would you each introduce your company and your role?Snow Rui: I’m president, CFO, and general counsel of Hooded Horse, a video game publisher that I co-founded in 2019 with my husband, Tim Bender, who is CEO. Our first release was in 2022. Today, we have about 40 people distributed globally. We’ve released 30 games with several of them selling over a million copies. I wear a lot of hats because…

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OFCCP Issues Final Rules Upending Federal Contractors’ Affirmative Action Obligations

Quick Hits OFCCP finalized three rules rescinding and revising federal contractors’ and subcontractors’ affirmative action obligations following the 2025 revocation of EO 11246. The final rules significantly modify obligations under Section 503 by rescinding disability self-identification invitations and the 7 percent utilization goal, rescinding OFCCP’s race- and sex-based regulations, and making technical amendments to the VEVRAA regulations. The rules have varying effective dates, which means that contractors will need to…

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The Makkah Agreement: A New Experiment in Regional Strategic Autonomy

The Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, signed on August 7, 2026 by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, should not be viewed merely as another military arrangement in an already fragmented Middle Eastern security environment. Its significance lies less in the immediate military capabilities of the three signatories than in the model of regional security that it potentially represents. The agreement may mark a transition from reliance on individual external security providers…

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San Francisco Further Limits Background Checks by Employers

Quick Hits San Francisco recently amended its Fair Chance Ordinance to prohibit employers from making adverse employment decisions based on out-of-state criminal convictions or arrests for abortion, miscarriage, gender-affirming care, and drag performances. If an employer sends notice to a candidate or employee regarding an intent to take adverse action based upon a criminal history and the candidate or employee timely responds, the employer must send a reply within fourteen…

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Fibrinogen discovery reshapes our understanding of how wounds heal

Scientists have redefined how the key blood‑clotting protein fibrinogen behaves when it contacts air, overturning two decades of scientific consensus on wound healing.It is the culmination of over a decade of international collaboration by Dr Richard Campbell of The University of Manchester, Professor Juan Ruso of the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Dr Natalia Hassan of the Metropolitan Technological University in Chile.The discovery could have far reaching…

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Central Asia and the New Logic of Regional Agency

As intense great power rivalry sweeps the international system, middle powers increasingly tend to find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Ulugbek Khasanov explores how Uzbekistan maintains equilibrium in its foreign policy and strikes a balance between external powers seeking influence in Central Asia. In the fifth book of his History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides describes the negotiations between Athenian envoys and the inhabitants of the island…

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New Maryland DOL Resources Help Employers Prepare for FAMLI

Quick Hits Maryland’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance will soon take effect, with contributions commencing on January 1, 2027, and benefits starting no later than January 3, 2028. The MDOL’s FAMLI Division has released new guidance documents covering employer registration, equivalent private insurance plan (EPIP) options, and quarterly wage and hour reporting to help businesses prepare. Employers considering an EPIP must file a declaration of intent (DOI) between September 1…

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An Employer’s Guide to Filing a Declaration of Intent for a Maryland FAMLI Private Plan

Quick Hits Employers that wish to pursue an EPIP rather than participate in the FAMLI state plan must file a DOI between September 1 and November 15, 2026, in order to be exempt from making contributions to the state plan during the 2027 calendar year seeding period. The DOI process requires employer registration through the FAMLI Portal, a consultation with and attestation from a licensed insurance agent, and completion of…

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‘Say It Right’: Toponymical Prescriptivism and Identity Assertion

The existence of different names for the same geographical features across languages and cultures is a natural phenomenon, shaped by historical, social, and linguistic factors. Yet under certain circumstances, toponymical issues transcend linguistics, becoming a potent—and often explosive—element of domestic and foreign policy. We have previously addressed the “name correction” that Donald Trump initiated shortly after his return to the White House, exemplifying one of the two main scenarios for…

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California’s Updated AB 2321 Awaits Vote in State Senate

The bill was introduced in February 2026 by Assembly Member Liz Ortega (D–District 20), chair of the California State Assembly’s Committee on Labor and Employment, with Assembly Members Ash Kalra (D–District 25) and Alex Lee (D–District 24) signing on as coauthors. As introduced, the bill would have applied statewide, expanding the role of local district attorneys in investigating serious workplace injuries and fatalities across California. Since then, the bill has…

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Putting a Price on Climate Risk

Your recent work has focused on unpriced risk. Would you explain what that is?It’s a risk that’s apparent—it’s not hidden or unrealistic, it doesn’t require a black-swan event to be relevant—but for some reason, there’s a lag in pricing it. Maybe the data needed to price it is difficult. There might be significant cost to quantifying the risk. Or the complexity of the issue might be daunting.There is often unpriced…

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Stability and Security Threats in the South Caucasus: A View from Pakistan

The South Caucasus has entered a phase of de facto peace, but not yet one of settled security. The Armenia-Azerbaijan breakthrough and new connectivity plans offer a historic opportunity, while incomplete legal normalisation, unresolved border and humanitarian questions, corridor rivalries, Georgia's enduring conflicts, and spillover from surrounding wars keep the regional order fragile. Pakistan’s strategic partnership with Azerbaijan, newly established relations with Armenia, and growing engagement with the Eurasian Economic…

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Cal/OSHA Updates Draft Heat Illness Regulations to Align Indoor and Outdoor Rules

Quick Hits On August 14, 2026, Cal/OSHA released an updated draft of its heat illness regulations that aligns both the indoor and outdoor regulations to be more consistent in language and terminology. The draft outdoor regulation removes the exception which allowed industries other than agriculture, construction, landscaping, oil and gas extraction, and some transportation companies to be exempt from the high-heat procedures. The deadline for submitting comments is September 21,…

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‘No difference’ may be wrong conclusion, scientists warn

Researchers from the Universities of Manchester, Oxford and Arkansas are urging scientists to stop treating “non-significant” results as proof that nothing happened.The common statistical mistake, they warn in a new paper in PNAS on 10 08 26 – one of the world’s leading scientific journals - could be leading researchers to draw the wrong conclusions from their data.A p-value, which measures how surprising the observed data would be if there…

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The AI boom: rational enthusiasm or the next dot-com bubble?

17 August 2026By Malin Andersson, Johannes Breckenfelder, Stefano Corradin, Kalin Nikolov and Maria Antonietta Viola The rise of AI has driven a blistering rally in the tech sector, bringing stock market valuations to levels last seen during the dot-com bubble. Although AI is reshaping the economy, do today’s high valuations bear the risk of an abrupt and painful setback in the euro area? Valuations on the US stock market, as…

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Saving the Yen, or the Dollar?

This last possibility became real with the recent weakness of the yen, prompted by many factors including rises in US interest rates in the wake of the post-pandemic inflationary tide, the requirements of the carry trade – borrowing cheaply in yen to engage in leveraged speculation on US markets, which requires yen to remain cheap even after Japan transitioned to positive interest rates – and by rising inflation making critical…

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Updating membership criteria? What Ontario not-for-profits should know

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s decision in Barrie & District Association of Realtors v Information Technology Systems Ontario, 2025 ONSC 3388, confirms that Ontario not-for-profit corporations may update their membership criteria, even where the changes could affect an existing member’s ability to remain a member. The decision is useful for boards because it explains when courts will defer to internal governance decisions under the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010…

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Federal Financial Institutions Legislative and Regulatory Reporter – May 2026

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. May 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) May 21, 2026 Draft…

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Federal Financial Institutions Legislative and Regulatory Reporter – June 2026

The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. June 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) June 25, 2026 Streamlined…

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EEOC Hearing on EEO-1 Rescission: Most Speakers Urge Retention or Reform

Quick Hits The EEOC held a hearing that drew testimony from a broad range of stakeholders on the Commission’s proposal to rescind the EEO-1 through EEO-6 information collections and related recordkeeping and record preservation requirements. Both employer-side and employee-side speakers warned that eliminating standardized reporting may not reduce employers’ overall data obligations; the same information may still be sought through investigations, subpoenas, and litigation. Employer groups underscored that the proposal…

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How Cooling the Planet with Geoengineering Would Upend Climate Economics

Climate scientists and policymakers have long warned of a dangerous threshold: If global temperatures rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial averages, we risk devastating consequences, including severe flooding, heat waves, and drought. Yet surpassing that grim marker now seems almost inevitable.One potential way to keep the harms of climate change at bay is geoengineering—deliberate intervention in the Earth’s climate system. The most widely studied form of geoengineering, called…

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Do government subsidies drive global imbalances?

14 August 2026By Maria Grazia Attinasi, Lukas Boeckelmann, Isabella Moder, Til Pommer and Tajda SpitalWidening global imbalances draw attention to policies shaping international trade. Using firm-level data, the ECB blog compares government support in China, the United States and the euro area. We find that subsidies drive Chinese exports in strategically important sectors.Concerns about imbalances in the flow of goods and money have recently resurfaced.[1] The main cause of global…

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What Cyprus Leadership Teams Should Demand from Marketing Measurement in 2026

A practical framework for turning marketing reports into better commercial decisions By Themis Christou | Co-Founder, Uveler Marketing Marketing measurement should help a leadership team decide what to fund, what to fix and what to stop. Too often, it does none of those things. Executives receive dashboards filled with impressions, clicks, engagement rates and channel summaries, yet still cannot answer a basic commercial question: is marketing creating profitable demand? This…

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Syrian Debt: How the Bank of Russia Won a War No One Noticed

On August 9, 2026, Syria and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding which resolved the fate of Russian military bases in Khmeimim and Tartus. The bases will be converted into joint training centres, and control of the civilian infrastructure will be transferred to Damascus. News reports have heralded a “compromise” and a “new chapter”. This is all true, but it’s not the whole truth, as, in our view, the truth…

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The future DNA of work: building the conditions for organisational performance

Why high-performing organisations will be built by design, not by chance. The future of work isn’t being shaped by technology alone. As AI, demographic change and evolving workforce expectations transform organisations, leaders must rethink operating models, culture, leadership and capability together.  Download the full insights below to explore how organisations can create the conditions for sustainable organisational performance in an increasingly complex and fast-changing world. Reading time: 6 minutes  Every organisation is asking the same questions.…

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CTA Endgame: FinCEN Final Rule Closes the BOI Chapter for Most US Companies

After years of rulemakings, filing deadlines, court challenges, injunctions, extensions, and client alerts, the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) appears to have reached its conclusion for most US businesses. On August 11, 2026, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) released a final rule adopting, with limited changes, the March 2025 interim final rule narrowing the CTA’s BOI reporting requirements. Most importantly, the final rule permanently removes BOI reporting requirements for US…

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Hurricane Season 2026: Key Considerations for Employers

Quick Hits The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts below-normal hurricane activity for 2026 but emphasizes that employers should prepare before storms threaten. Federal wage and hour rules are not suspended during natural disasters. Airport closures, flight cancellations, and ground stops can strand traveling employees and trigger unexpected wage obligations. Although NOAA forecasts a below-normal hurricane season—with a 55 percent chance of below-normal activity and only a 10 percent…

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Trump Administration Issues Executive Orders on Birthright Citizenship and Birth Tourism

Quick Hits On August 6, 2026, President Trump issued two executive orders aimed at limiting birthright citizenship under certain circumstances and ending “birth tourism.” The first executive order expands the recognized exceptions to birthright citizenship, narrowing who qualifies for U.S. citizenship at birth. The second executive order directs the State Department and DHS to deny or revoke nonimmigrant visas when there is reason to believe the purpose of travel is…

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America in the Hormuz Trap

The military strategy of the US administration has reached an impasse. The chaotic alternation of military strikes and ceasefires has had no effect whatsoever on Iran’s firmly stated determination to pursue its objectives. The Hormuz trap, at least for the time being, provides the necessary conditions for it to do so, writes Alexander Maryasov. The escalation of US armed aggression against Iran, accompanied by the serious weakening of regional pro-Iranian…

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