Insights

There have been no shortage of concerns levelled against autonomous vehicles. Public perception is an important one, which is inextricably linked with fears about safety. Uber’s fatal self-driving crash in 2018 is now an obligatory reference point in any discussion about autonomous vehicles, and public scepticism persists even in spite of claims that the technology…

Was Portugal’s push for a social recovery a success?

Indonesia’s two most valuable homegrown tech companies announced on May 17th that they are merging, marking an important turning point in the growth of Southeast Asia’s digital economy. Ride-hailing decacorn Gojek and e-commerce leader Tokopedia will be combining their businesses into a new entity called GoTo. At an expected valuation of at least $18 bn, GoTo will be the…

Following a post-NATO dinner between the premiers of Australia and the UK, it was announced that a free trade agreement between the two countries had been agreed in ‘broad terms’. Further details are expected to be fleshed out soon, but it is not yet clear when the full text of the agreement will be finalised from a technical perspective and published.

On June 14th, the EU digital covid certificate was signed into law. The regulation will apply for 12 months as of July 1st. This was an unusually rapid agreement by Brussels’ standards, reflecting the crucial importance of allowing tourism to restart safely for those member states that depend on it.  

Summits are high-stakes affairs, particularly for their hosts. The format of relatively free and unsupported interaction between leaders leaves more to chance than the final, carefully drafted communiques suggest. The strength or weakness of relationships comes to the fore. The ability of the chair to forge a path through the competing egos and interests matters. 

Jon Garvie, Practice lead for Policy; Denzil Davidson, Adviser; and Charley Roberts, Associate, Climate and Sustainability unpack the G7 leader’s summit, which will take place from Friday to Sunday in Carbis Bay, Cornwall.

When former Trade Secretary Liam Fox announced his full-throated support for a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) a few weeks ago, it was in many ways surprising that it had taken so long for a senior UK political figure to intervene in a debate that has been live in the EU for years.  

Megan Stagman, Associate in the technology, media and telecoms practice and Alexander van der Wusten, Associate in the Russia, CEE and Eurasia practice discuss the emerging tech sector in Eastern Europe.

The forthcoming health data strategy will be the framework with which the UK will either maximise or fail to maximise the value from its health data assets. This value will be measured in improved patient outcomes, better operational performance of the NHS, personalised healthcare, pharmaceutical innovation, a thriving life sciences industry, and lastly, financial returns…

The ongoing restructuring of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), one of Singapore’s two legacy media organisations and the sole publisher of English, Malay, Tamil and Chinese language newspapers in the country, has revived questions about the merits of state support for local news production and the price that should be paid for it. Newsrooms across the world have been in…

Singapore’s standing as a global financial hub got a boost over the last year as more foreign capital flowed into the country, even as the pandemic and political turmoil diminished investors’ confidence in other regional economies. While investors have come to trust the Singapore model for the robustness of its legal frameworks, recent news that homegrown unicorn Grab is…

Elly Darkin, Associate in the Trade & Manufacturing Practice, and Isabelle Trick, Senior Associate in the Global Macro Practice, discuss vaccine rollout in Africa and whether a temporary intellectual property waiver for vaccines will help or hinder efforts to vaccinate Africa and the wider developing world.

How different will the world look after covid? Are we heading back to business as usual, or are we looking forward to more bumps in the road?

On a recent event for the Global Counsel network, Daniel Capparelli, Practice Lead, Trade; Tom Smith, Practice Lead, Health and Elly Darkin, Associate, discussed key challenges facing the life sciences supply chain, and how resilient has it proven so far.

Tom White, Director in GC's office in Brussels, is joined by Maarten Lemstra, Research Analyst at Global Counsel and Sophia Russack, Researcher in the Institutions unit at CEPS.

Rishi Patel, Policy Communications Practice Lead; Alex Dawson, UK Politics and Policy Practice Lead; and Matt Bevington, Senior Associate unpack what you need to know about the impact of the 'super Thursday' elections on UK politics.

Global Counsel convened a webinar, bringing together senior investment professionals across three continents to reflect on the critical issues shaping investment post-covid. The session was chaired by Ying Staton, GC’s advisor in Singapore and our previous Head of Asia, and featured: