Latest insights

US midterms 2026: impact on international business

The Democrats’ victory in the US midterm elections has shifted the balance of political power in Washington giving Congress greater influence over legislation and oversight without immediately changing existing economic policy. As businesses prepare for what’s next in 2027, the implications could extend well beyond US borders, influencing international trade, investment and regulatory priorities

Machine identities threaten cyber security

In the digital business world, the number of machine identities in many organisations is growing significantly faster than the number of virtual identities for employees. In addition to user accounts, an increasing number of applications, service accounts and automated processes now access systems and data. This creates numerous new vulnerabilities for cyber attacks. Identity security is therefore...

Beyond Tax: Q4 2026

AI is reshaping the tax function, geopolitical uncertainty is complicating international growth and changing regulations are putting greater pressure on businesses to anticipate risk. For tax and finance leaders, the consequences of these developments extend well beyond compliance.

Tax governance in commercial decision-making

The tax function is shifting from locating the lowest corporate income tax rate to a value-added role that supports operational value creation, growth and cash-flow preservation. To navigate this change, the tax function must become a strategic business partner by combining technical knowledge with broader business understanding.

International tax planning starts before expansion

International expansion offers major advantages for organisations seeking untapped overseas demand and revenue diversification. Yet while access to new markets opens up opportunities, mounting regulatory and geopolitical pressures require a more hands-on approach from heads of tax. Earlier involvement in expansion planning, greater agility in responding to change and improved control over data transparency...

AI strategy for lasting tax transformation

Artificial intelligence (AI) and new digital tools are helping organisations understand how technology can make parts of the tax function more productive. But lasting transformation requires integrating technology that is connected, reliable and adds value across the business. It requires CFOs and heads of tax to rethink operating models, treat data as a strategic asset, focus on change management,...

Asset management: fusing strategies for growth

With data integrity and cybersecurity vital to retaining client trust, how are asset managers responsibly and safely integrating an ever-growing suite of emerging technologies? Equally, what opportunities are there to harness growth when economic and political uncertainty continue to dominate the landscape?

Reflections from EUROFI 2026 in Dublin

Dera McLoughlin, Partner and Head of Consulting at Forvis Mazars in Ireland, joined a panel discussion at the 2026 EUROFI Financial Forum in Dublin to explore how Europe can scale AI adoption across the financial sector. This article dives deeper into her reflections and provides some further insights on the opportunities and challenges facing Europe’s AI ecosystem. This article also builds on her...

Financial services tax digest - September 2026

Debt markets are reacting to economic risks

Approaching the final quarter of the year, the global economy is facing increasing geoeconomic headwinds, as the Middle East energy crisis and America’s trade wars pose challenges to growth and inflation increases stress in the debt market. While the US economy, mostly propelled by tech-related spending, continues to outperform most other developed markets, the overall picture is an increasingly divergent...

ECB’s geopolitical stress test results

The ECB’s 2026 geopolitical reverse stress test found that banks can generally identify scenarios capable of affecting their capital. Yet, this does not mean that they can anticipate the next geopolitical crisis or respond effectively when it occurs. Beyond solvency, and beyond geopolitical risk alone, can banks maintain their critical activities and execute credible recovery actions when a significant...

Operational resilience: UK and EU

Operational resilience is entering a more demanding phase. With the initial implementation of DORA largely complete and the UK having finalised new operational incident and third-party reporting requirements, attention is shifting from the design of firms’ frameworks to how well they work in practice. For cross-border banks, this means demonstrating recovery capability while managing shared dependencies...

The EU simplification agenda

Current regulatory and supervisory inefficiencies in the EU can constrain competitiveness and ultimately create risks for its banking sector. The success of the forthcoming EU banking competitiveness package will depend not only on what is simplified, but on whether the reforms materially improve EU banks’ abilities to deploy capital, take measured risks and finance Europe’s strategic priorities....

TMT unscripted: podcast

Welcome to TMT unscripted, where you’ll hear real conversations with the founders, CEOs and industry leaders shaping the future of tech, media and telecommunications.

IIF Annual Meeting 2026

Technology, regulatory change and geopolitical fragmentation are reshaping the decisions facing financial institutions. Discussions at the 2026 IIF Annual Membership Meeting in Thailand highlighted important choices around AI, digital assets, capital reform, private credit and Asia’s expanding influence on global finance.

Cyber security in 2027: report

Cyber security faces a convergence of rapidly shifting technologies, evolving regulations and advanced threats. To prepare for what’s next, organisations will need to embrace strategic governance and intentional innovation.

After the first filing: where Pillar 2 goes next

With the first GloBE Information Returns filed, multinational groups have cleared a hurdle that once looked forbidding.

Navigating the Voluntary Standard

The adoption of the sustainability reporting standard for voluntary use (Voluntary Standard or VS) by the European Commission marks a new chapter in the EU sustainability reporting landscape. Developed from the former EFRAG VSME standard, the VS provides a simplified and proportionate reporting framework for companies that fall below the thresholds of the revised CSRD but wish to communicate sustainability...

Public sector's real AI adoption is underway

For several years, the public sector's relationship with AI has been a cautious one – pilots, proofs of concept and plenty of watching and waiting. But that tentative phase has passed. Experimentation and vague ambition is hardening into genuine, organisation-wide AI adoption, and the question has shifted from whether to use AI to how far and how fast to take it. Use of AI in the public sector is...

From forestation to tokenisation

In the nascent era of corporate climate action, carbon mitigation was more tangible and distinctly analogue, as businesses aiming to neutralise emissions would fund projects that planted trees. However, as intensifying global climate pressures demand greater corporate accountability, this traditional forestation model is no longer enough. Forestation projects take decades to mature, are difficult...

Navigating the revised ESRS

Deep dive into the European Commission’s delegated regulation following Omnibus I

Turning AI investment into TMT value

If any sector should be generating real value from AI, it is technology, media and telecommunications (TMT). TMT organisations build the models, run the networks and create the content that AI now touches at every level.

How banks can factor in the consequences of change

Digital transformation continues to be a priority for banking executives, as highlighted by the latest Forvis Mazars C-suite barometer. With emerging technology influencing every aspect of a bank’s operations, how can executives ensure digital transformation programmes are fully aligned with strategic objectives?

Scaling AI in banking

Artificial intelligence (AI) is already an integrated part of banking. The key question, however, is whether banks and regulators can maintain oversight as AI models become more complex, externalised and embedded in core processes. A comparative analysis of US and European markets indicates that scaling AI will increasingly depend on the ability to control, test and supervise it effectively.

Quarterly economics update for FS: Q3 2026

The third quarter of 2026 opens with the two exogenous shocks that defined the first half – a trade war and an energy war. Together they drove US headline inflation to 4.2% in May, its highest reading since April 2023 and a third consecutive monthly acceleration. The defining feature of the outlook is that both shocks are now winding down simultaneously. Plus, since uncertainty itself has been the...

Financial services tax digest - July 2026

AI in the EU financial sector

To harness the potential benefits of AI safely, financial institutions must ensure that they have appropriate guardrails in place to allow safe innovation. The EU’s AI Act will help shape how institutions govern artificial Intelligence across functions. Boards must focus on ensuring that AI risks are identified and addressed across the development, procurement and use of the technology. They must...

Stablecoins: macroeconomic & monetary implications

Digital assets are no longer a speculative frontier but are entering mainstream finance and, just like previous breakthroughs, they may well define capital markets’ infrastructure in the years to come. As institutional capital is increasingly shifting towards stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets, the macroeconomic implications of this shift are becoming clearer. Today, stablecoins account for...

Practical steps for AI adoption

VAT and transfer pricing for multinational groups

Recent case law from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) provides further guidance on the interaction between VAT and transfer pricing (TP). Although the two systems operate on fundamentally different principles - corporate tax focuses on profit allocation, while VAT focuses on individual transactions and the consideration received -the ECJ confirms that TP outcomes may, in certain circumstances,...

Technology transformation for manufacturing

The latest Forvis Mazars C-suite barometer reveals that AI, data security and operational agility will have the greatest impacts on the success of technology transformation in the manufacturing sector. To meet such challenges, taking a tailored approach to change is now a top strategic priority for C-suite leaders.

Managing cyber threats in the automotive sector

The automotive industry has long been synonymous with precision engineering and just-in-time production. But, as vehicles become increasingly connected and supply chains grow more complex, cyber security has emerged as one of the sector's most pressing challenges and recent high-profile incidents have made it impossible to ignore.

The AI-driven transformation of manufacturing

Manufacturers understand the potential of AI but need to do more to prepare their organisations for transformation. Technology upgrades, expert advice and a rigorous approach to use-case selection will ultimately deliver real-world results.

AI transformation in life sciences

AI-driven transformation has the potential to address multiple challenges in life sciences. Yet regulatory guidance lags behind innovation and the industry’s complexity complicates deployment. As industry leaders wait for a clearer mandate, the case for preparing the foundations for AI is becoming increasingly urgent.

Energy: geopolitics and economic security

The global energy landscape is entering a period of sustained uncertainty. Geopolitical tensions, macroeconomic imbalances and accelerating technological shifts are reshaping markets at a pace and scale not seen in decades. Supply chains are being tested, regulatory frameworks are diverging, and energy is increasingly used as both a strategic asset and a source of vulnerability. For large international...

Risk-based value protection in PE firms

As private equity firms navigate increasingly complex digital landscapes, cyber security due diligence (DD) has evolved from an optional consideration to a critical component of deal evaluation. Neglecting it introduces substantial risk that could impact both immediate investment requirements and long-term returns and the most forward-thinking firms are building it into their standard processes and...

AI and the human factor in TMT

Technology, media and telecommunications companies are prepared for change and committed to artificial intelligence (AI) investment. They are also among the first to confront the strategic question of how to strike the right balance between humans and AI in the workplace.

Laying the right foundations for AI transformation

AI increasingly occupies a central role in digital transformation initiatives. For many companies, however, large-scale deployments are not yet a reality. Some are preparing to launch AI transformation projects. Others are adjusting their approach after initial experiments generated mixed results. How should organisations approach the opportunities created by a transformative technology?

Quarterly economic update for the FS

The second quarter of 2026 begins amid elevated geopolitical and economic uncertainty. The conflict in Iran, higher energy prices, evolving U.S. trade policy and emerging stresses in private credit markets are reshaping inflation expectations and growth prospects. Against this backdrop, the U.S. shows relative resilience, while Europe faces a more exposed and challenging outlook.

AMLA: a unified, data-driven AML/CFT framework

The Authority for Anti-Money Laundering (AMLA) has released its 2026-2028 work programme, marking the operational launch of Europe’s AML/CFT framework into a unified, data‑driven supervisory architecture. The programme strengthens systemic supervision, ensuring consistent risk assessment and supervision across the Union and in doing so, redefines supervisory expectations for European financial institutions.

PE investment in TMT

Balancing AI and cyber security in banking

Few sectors take cyber security as seriously as banking does. Financial institutions sit at the intersection of highly sensitive customer data, increasingly sophisticated attackers, legacy infrastructure and some of the most demanding regulatory environments globally. The result is a sector that has, by necessity, developed a mature, confident and structured approach to cyber risk.

Financial services tax digest : Q2 2026

Complying with the NIS2 directive

Alongside GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the ongoing adoption of the NIS2 (Network and Information Security) Directive into the national legislation of the various Member States requires affected operators to consider the organisational changes it entails. For companies to respond effectively, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Data Protection Officers (DPOs) must pool their...

FS: a rise of digital assets

Digital assets are going mainstream. Faster, cheaper cross-border payments are on the horizon. Beyond this initial breakthrough, the potential exists for widespread transformation of financial services.