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The Dutch parliament's upper house has adopted an amendment that narrows the applicability of the bonus cap at financial institutions in the Netherlands to "identified staff". The amendment forms part of a broader bill amending the Financial Supervision Act (FSA) and related legislation. The bill is expected to enter into force on 1 January 2027.

The European Commission has published its new and highly anticipated Draft Merger Guidelines, the first comprehensive restatement of EU merger assessment in almost two decades. The draft consolidates two previously separate instruments into a single analytical framework organised by competitive effect rather than merger type. Its most consequential change is the formal introduction of a theory of benefit as a central analytical concept, sitting alongside the established theory of harm from the outset of any transaction review. The Commission has also significantly broadened the analysis, with an expanded list of harms and benefits that can play a role in the overall assessment. Although the Commission is not exactly ''relaxing'' the rules to create "European champions", it is certainly widening their application and recalibrating its approach to deal reviews by offering much more room for broader policy considerations.

De Brauw has been named Law Firm of the Year – Netherlands at the Chambers Europe Awards 2026 in Madrid.