Like a good murder novel, the demise of ABLV Bank of Latvia has left us with a chalk silhouette on the sidewalk, but with little clarity about who committed the crime. Now, the demise of the bank in the wake of a money-laundering scandal has left out-of-pocket investors determined to crack open the European Union’s byzantine financial-services oversight mechanism. Also on the podcast: the European Union’s new discretionary powers to fight foreign subsidies. There’s no name checking of China in the official documents, but the bloc’s efforts appear squarely targeted in managing the behaviors of Beijing-backed enterprises.

The acquittal of two Serco executives who had been facing fraud charges in the UK amounts to a serious blow for the Serious Fraud Office. The enforcer has been struggling to secure the conviction of individuals, even when it has succeeded in demanding fines and admissions of guilt from the companies that employ those charged. Meanwhile, anyone accepting a bribe on the idyllic island of Barbados could soon be facing the long arm of US law, with a court sentencing a former minister of the Caribbean country to two years’ jail over money-laundering charges. The case of Donville Inniss has highlighted how US money-laundering laws can be used as a backdoor avenue for prosecutors to target foreign officials.

China has demonstrated to some of the country’s largest technology players that antitrust oversight isn’t limited to the State Administration for Market Regulation — the top competition enforcer. Recent events in the country show that, when needed, all regulatory agencies are prepared to pitch in. Also on today’s podcast: the Petroecuador bribery saga. The company wanted to recover money from a bribe payer; but a US judge baulked at granting the troubled Latin American oil company its restitution claim.

The joint statement by the antitrust regulators of Australia, Germany and the UK this week was a chance for antitrust officials to call for sharper tools to manage mergers and acquisitions — with particular regard to fast-moving digital markets. The regulators also warned that behavioral remedies of the type put forward by Google to get its acquisition of smartwatch maker Fitbit past regulators in the European Union may be unenforceable. Also on the podcast: What the super-implosion of soccer’s Super League tells us about European antitrust.

On March 30, the US Federal Trade Commission challenged Illumina’s proposed acquisition of cancer diagnostic startup Grail, arguing that Illumina would have both the incentive and the ability to disadvantage Grail’s competitors by denying them access to its essential, next-generation sequencing technology. The deal has tapped into global regulatory concerns over vertical acquisitions, pharmaceutical deals and so-called killer acquisitions.

Google’s United States Supreme Court copyright win against Oracle over the development of the Android operating system was a huge development, with the case spending the past 10 years bouncing around courts in the US. The ruling is significant because it may shed some light on how tech developers can add value to existing coding. Also on the podcast this week: How China’s electronic media is playing a role in increasing the public’s understanding of privacy.

Australia’s world-first antitrust review of Facebook and Google’s business models has spawned a new generation of regulation and enforcement, with the country’s competition watchdog using consumer lawsuits, market inquiries and merger reviews to create one of the western world’s most assertive regulatory regimes. But as a recent MLex Special Report argues, there are signs that the legacy of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s 18-month Digital Platforms Inquiry, which wound up in 2019, could yet be tarnished by the reluctance of Australia’s courts to embrace significant parts of the regulator’s agenda.

Expert witnesses that struggle to converse in a way that is accessible to both judges and juries and who can’t write a report that doesn’t run into thousands of pages may be doing more harm than good to the antitrust case they are supporting. According to a judge who spoke at a recent American Bar Association antitrust conference, the quality of an expert witness can make or break a competition lawsuit. Also on today’s podcast, the case for Southeast Asian countries to work together in regulating both international and home-grown digital companies.

It has happened: The California Privacy Protection Agency has become the first standalone privacy enforcer to be established in the United States. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s appointment of five people to the board of the new agency has focused public attention on the CPPA’s role; it has also raised the prospect of other states following California’s lead and establishing their own privacy frameworks.

Although Democrats now have a majority in both houses of the US Congress, the Biden administration may still struggle to have its ambitious plans for an antitrust revamp adopted. Meanwhile, the EU is preparing a legal battle with the UK over one of the most controversial aspects of Brexit: the trade status of Northern Ireland.