The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a policy paper highlighting how divergent AI regulations across jurisdictions can lead to fragmented global markets, increased compliance burdens and barriers to cross-border innovation. The paper notes that these challenges are particularly acute for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often lack the resources to manage complex, jurisdiction-specific requirements. ICC calls for greater coordination on the development of international, market-driven AI standards to bridge legal differences, reduce regulatory duplication, improve market access and support innovation. It emphasises that such standards—consensus-based and technically grounded—can serve as a common language for AI governance across legal systems.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published its preliminary dispute resolution statistics for 2025, reporting 894 new cases and a record 1,869 pending cases at year-end. During the year, it received 30 emergency arbitrator applications and administered 169 new expedited cases. The ICC also published a report, toolkit and factsheet reviewing nearly 800 expedited proceedings. A total of 2,531 parties from 147 jurisdictions were involved in 2025 cases, and arbitrations were seated in 123 cities across 70 countries. The top ten seats were France, the UK, Switzerland, Singapore, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates and the US. The ICC states that the aggregate value of pending cases stood at US$299bn, with disputes ranging from just below US$2,500 to US$31bn. It also notes that 607 awards were approved during the year. The full 2025 ICC Dispute Resolution Statistics report will be published later in 2026.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released preliminary statistics for 2023 arbitration and ADR services, highlighting a significant rise in case filings compared to 2022 and offering insights into the evolving landscape of dispute resolution worldwide. In 2023, ICC registered a total of 890 arbitration cases, marking the third best year in its history. According to the ICC President, Claudia Salomon, this represents the continued trust that global parties place in ICC to resolve disputes. The full 2023 ICC Dispute Resolution Statistics report will be available to the public later this year.

The ICC has published a report examining the evolving arbitration landscape across Latin American and Iberian countries (Ibero-America), highlighting both progressive reforms and emerging regulatory challenges. As the region continues to navigate constitutional, legislative, and international pressures, the role of local arbitration communities becomes increasingly vital. Gustavo Moser and Jennifer Puntis from LexisNexis Arbitration UK have approached contributors to the ICC report, Dyalá Jiménez, arbitrator based in San José, Costa Rica, and Orlando F. Cabrera C. of Hogan Lovells Mexico City. They are called upon to highlight key trends and challenges impacting arbitration in Ibero-America, as well as to suggest strategies to enhance arbitration practices throughout the region.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Digital Standards Initiative has published a report which illustrates, through 22 case studies, how supply chain actors take advantage of digital tools and interoperable global standards in order to address supply chain challenges. The case studies focus on shipping and logistics, commercial documents and product-related information, cross-border regulatory compliance, and financial services and fraud prevention as critical areas of digitalisation. The report suggests that businesses can save costs, enhance competitiveness and achieve greater operational efficiency by adopting digitalisation in their trade processes. It also recommends that policymakers should prioritise the development of interoperable public infrastructures to enable secure data sharing between traders and financial institutions, thus improving access to working capital.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a new report examining how competition policy can impede climate action efforts. Building on the ICC’s 2023 analysis, the report calls for competition authorities to update their guidelines on sustainability agreements. It emphasises the importance of practical experience in shaping these guidelines, encouraging businesses to provide more real-world examples of projects they seek to undertake. Additionally, the ICC recommends that future guidelines should extend beyond climate change to address other critical sustainability issues, such as biodiversity loss. The report notes regional disparities in progress, with Europe leading in aligning competition policy with climate goals, while countries like Australia, Japan, and Singapore are making progress. However, the ICC identifies China and the US as priority areas needing further advancement to align competition policy with sustainability objectives.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has started publishing a six-part global research report, in collaboration with Jus Connect and McCann Truth Central, looking at the role of emotion, culture and behavioural tendencies, and their impact on business-to-business (B2B) relationships. This study was conducted through desk research, 1,701 new quantitative surveys with business leaders, and over 20 depth interviews with global experts in B2B relationships. The results provide valuable insight into the influence of cultural factors on the approach taken to forming and maintaining long-term, successful business relationships, and the differences at play when entering and attempting to resolve disputes. The ICC provides new principles for a new cross-cultural playbook and aims to re-map the world, not by geographic regions, but by business culture and practice.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has announced the formal ratification of the Principles for Social Trade Finance (PSoTF) and the Principles for Sustainability-Linked Supply Chain Finance (PSL-SCF) on 11 December 2025. These newly ratified standards complete the ICC Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance (PSTF), which constitutes the first fully standardised global framework for assessing sustainability in trade finance. The PSoTF provides Use of Proceeds criteria for identifying and safeguarding social impacts within trade finance, aligned with LMA Social Loan Principles and ICMA Social Bond Principles. The PSL-SCF offers governance standards for KPI selection, sustainability performance target calibration, verification and multi-bank coordination across sustainability-linked supply-chain finance programmes. Together with the existing Principles for Green Trade Finance, the framework was developed jointly by ICC and Boston Consulting Group through consultations with more than 100 banks, corporates, multilaterals, technology platforms and civil-society experts. The principles follow public endorsements of the green finance framework by eleven major banks including Standard Chartered, Santander, ING Bank and BNP Paribas.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has re-elected Claudia Solomon as President of the International Court of Arbitration in elections held by the ICC World Council in Paris on 11 June 2024. Solomon's second three-year term will commence on 1 July 2024. The ICC has also published details of the new ICC Court composition.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has reappointed the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to administer disputes relating to generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) registrations. The ICC International Centre for ADR will oversee proceedings under its Expert Rules and ICANN procedures, with the new gTLD application window opening in April 2026. The appointment covers both first instance and appeal proceedings, with the Centre currently updating its Expert Rules to include a new appendix on financial aspects of proceedings.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a policy paper recommending that customs administrations align rules of origin in free trade agreements with changes to the Harmonized System (HS), which classifies traded goods. The paper calls for tariff code references to be updated without changing negotiated origin requirements. It also recommends building dedicated capacity in cooperation with businesses, using existing tools and technology, improving transparency and including update mechanisms in future agreements. Misalignment between tariff codes and origin rules increases compliance costs and uncertainty, particularly for smaller businesses, and can prevent traders from accessing preferential tariffs. With HS 2028 due to enter into force on 1 January 2028, the ICC urges customs administrations to align the rules by the end of 2027 to preserve negotiated trade benefits.

Arbitration analysis: The 41st Annual Joint SIA-ICC Institute Symposium, held at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP in London, examined a deceptively simple question: what is the modern arbitral hearing for? Organised by Queen Mary University of London’s School of International Arbitration and the ICC, the symposium brought together arbitrators, counsel, institutional representatives and users to consider how hearings are changing in response to procedural reform, cost pressure, technology and shifting expectations of due process. Ayan Carra, international arbitration specialist para-legal in the LexisNexis Arbitration team provides insight from the Symposium.