Apr 22, 2026 · A&O Shearman
Geopolitical fragmentation is rewriting the rules of international business. Sanctions and national-security review now sit at the centre of dealmaking.
The assumptions that underpinned three decades of globalisation are being renegotiated in real time. Sanctions regimes, export controls and foreign-investment screening have moved from the periphery of transactions to their core.
For dealmakers, this means diligence now extends well beyond the counterparty to the entire chain of ownership, financing and supply — and the analysis can change with a single geopolitical development.
Clients increasingly need advisers who combine transactional command with genuine fluency in the geopolitics shaping enforcement. The best outcomes come from teams that anticipate where the lines will move, not merely where they sit today.
Navigating this environment is fundamentally about disciplined information: knowing what is true, who verified it and when. That is the foundation on which confident cross-border decisions are made.
