Personal Information Protection Commission Releases Guidelines Regarding Financial Sector

Japan has enacted sweeping amendments to its Act on the Protection of Personal Information, introducing an administrative surcharge regime with monetary penalties for data protection violations, new protections for children under 16 and biometric data, and expanded exceptions for data utilization in statistical analysis and AI development. The reforms, which take effect in stages through 2028, fundamentally reshape Japan's privacy enforcement landscape by granting the Personal Information Protection Commiss

Although domestic enforcement volumes in Japan remain modest in some areas compared with overseas authorities, actions by foreign regulators against Japanese companies...

Japan and the European Union recently announced an agreement to recognize each other's data protection regimes as adequate.

Data Privacy Comparative Guide for the jurisdiction of Japan, check out our comparative guides section to compare across multiple countries

In an effort to increase artificial intelligence ("AI") and Metaverse business in Japan, the government has enacted new legislation and established various supporting guidelines in recent years.

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information ("APPI"), which was enacted in 2003, took full effect in April 2005.

The rise of social media combined with expanded opportunities for flexible work present new challenges for Japanese employers.

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court's decision to dismiss the individual's claim because the facts were related to public interest and because the search results were not widely disseminated.

To any good lawyer, the answer is ‘both' are important.

Japanese Government Issues Cybersecurity Guidelines

The Code is voluntary, but it will likely become an important reference point for demonstrating compliance with Article 50 of the AI Act.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a preliminary injunction against Perplexity AI, determining that when an AI agent acts at a user's direction, it is the user—not the AI company—who "accesses" computer systems under federal and California computer fraud statutes. This landmark appellate decision addresses how existing computer-access laws apply to agentic artificial intelligence and has significant implications...

The European Commission has initiated infringement procedures against 20 EU Member States for failing to transpose the EmpCo Directive by the March 27, 2026 deadline. This directive aims to combat greenwashing by requiring substantiation of environmental claims and third-party certification for sustainability labels, with full implementation expected by September 27, 2026.

The European Commission has proposed replacing the EU's three core procurement directives with a single, directly applicable Regulation that would fundamentally reshape how companies compete for public contracts across Member States. The reform introduces mandatory quality criteria thresholds, embeds ESG considerations as evaluation factors, and establishes new security and European-preference provisions that could restrict participation based on ownership, supply chain exposure, and strategic dependencies.

A federal court has struck down New York's Climate Change Superfund Act, which sought to recover $75 billion from fossil fuel companies based on historical emissions. The ruling found the Act preempted by the Clean Air Act, marking the first judicial decision on state climate superfund legislation and establishing that EPA's rescission of the endangerment finding does not alter preemption analysis.

Mexico's comprehensive anti-money laundering framework has undergone a sweeping transformation through Acuerdo 115/2026, introducing mandatory risk-based methodologies, enhanced client due diligence protocols, and automated monitoring requirements. With implementation deadlines beginning March 1, 2027, obligated parties conducting vulnerable activities face compressed timelines to overhaul their compliance infrastructure while navigating heightened enforcement risks and stricter beneficial ownership thresho

France's Anti-Corruption Agency has imposed its first-ever monetary sanctions under the Sapin II Act, penalizing a company €350,000 and its president €60,000 for widespread compliance failures. The landmark decision establishes critical precedents for enforcement strategy, breach assessment timing, and personal executive liability in anti-corruption matters.

The European Commission has adopted final Guidelines on exclusionary abuses of dominance under Article 102 TFEU, introducing a "workable effects approach" that narrows presumptions while expanding guidance on objective justifications and recognizing sustainability benefits as valid efficiencies for the first time. These Guidelines replace the 2008 Enforcement Priorities Guidance and are expected to significantly impact enforcement practices across EU Member States and beyond, particularly for digital market

The user of defective goods benefi ts from several causes of action against the vendor or manufacturer.

On December 3, a federal court in the Central District of California granted plaintiffs' request for preliminary approval of a proposed $22 million settlement ...