On August 13, 2026, the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy issued a report indicating the administration’s efforts for increased customs enforcement and changes to rules concerning country of origin as a way to stop allegedly illegal transshipment of goods, especially coming from China.  The 24-page report is entitled The Great Transshipment Scam: Rise, Scope and Costs.

               On August 12, 2026, President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum establishing a federal program under which vetted United States companies may conduct Cyber Surveillance Operations and Cyber Effects Operations against foreign Cyber-Enabled Transnational Criminal Organizations (CE-TCOs).  The first are covert intrusions to collect intelligence; the second are operations that disrupt, degrade, or destroy a target’s systems.

               On June 23, 2026, the United Nations (U.N.) Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report documenting the “brutality and magnitude” of conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak of hostilities in April 2023 through mid-April 2026.  The conflict has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than 11 million people displaced from their homes and 28 million facing acute hunger.  The U.N. report verified 546 incidents of sexual violence, affecting at least 838 victims: 539 women, 284 girls, eight men, and seven boys) in 16 of Sudan’s 18 states.

               As internal borders within the European Union (EU) have become less significant for legitimate movement, criminal networks are also able to exploit cross-border mobility.  Consequently, effective enforcement increasingly necessitates cooperation that transcends national boundaries.  A recent operation related to migrant smuggling demonstrated one way in which this can work effectively.

                 On August 18, 2026, the Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed a superseding indictment against 17 members of the Mabna Institute, an Iran-based company that has allegedly coordinated a series of cyberattacks since 2013.  Their targets have included 144 U.S. based universities, 178 foreign universities, at least 42 U.S.-based private sector companies, at least 11 foreign private sector companies, at least five U.S. federal and state government agencies, and at least two non-governmental organizations.

              On August 18, 2026, in a press statement, the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States again escalated its repressive sanctions campaign against the Criminal Court (ICC), targeting those it deems to have assisted the Court and its organs the in proceedings related to the US or its allies, including Israel, by sanctioning two additional personnel at the Court.[2].  This time, the US has targeted Judge Tomoko Akane, President of the ICC’s Appeals Division, and Abdoulaye Seye, a senior lawyer with the Office of the Prosecutor, who has acted on the team which sought arrest warrants in the Situation in the State of Palestine, and who has been nominated for election as an ICC judge.

              This book (the fight against corruption: comparative challenges and perspectives among Switzerland, the UK, France and the U.S.), written in French, is a comparative study of the current mechanisms and developments in fighting transnational corruption, through Switzerland, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States. This book also offers alternative dispute resolutions and delves into the importance of compensating victims and involving lawyers into the detection of corruption.

               On August 10, 2026, Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York (EDNY) granted in part a motion by the Department of Justice (DoJ) under F. R. Crim. P. 48(a) to dismiss an indictment charging Gautam Adani and others with massive corruption, fraud, and obstruction of justice.  Judge Garaufis’ 47-page opinion provides a stunning insight into the current administration’s handling of cases under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA); his obvious disdain for, and lack of trust in, the DoJ impelled him to reframe Rule 48(a) dismissals to ensure a vigorous judicial oversight of the DoJ, and essentially gives little or no presumption of regularity to its acts.

               The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that Trade Fraud Task Force (TFTF), assembled in August 2025, surpassed $1 billion in recoveries and charged losses since its inception.  The TFTF was launched as a joint venture between the DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prosecute those who defraud the government through U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), including mislabeling, transshipment and false declaration. On July 14, the DOJ and DHS also released “A Resource Guide to Trade Fraud Enforcement”, or “The Guide”, which functions as a one-stop-shop resource for businesses, individuals and the public to inform them about the new strategy the government is pursuing to stop trade fraud, and to provide information on how trade fraud happens.

              In response to Russia’s’ invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) has progressively expanded its range of sanctions.  While they first primarily targeted politically exposed individuals, state-owned enterprises, and key sectors of the Russian economy, more recent packages have increasingly focused on preventing sanctions circumvention through intermediaries, financial facilitators, and complex corporate structures.  On July 15, 2026, the General Courts delivered a judgment in Beloglazov v Council, which is among the first to examine the legality of this evolving approach.  It provides important guidance on the interpretation of the listing criterion concerning the facilitation of sanctions circumvention and is therefore likely to become a leading authority for future challenges to anti-circumvention listings.