Sanctions, tariffs, economic crime, big tech, data privacy, and environmental laws are transforming the list of extra-territorial rules affecting businesses in every sector. Their penalties are becoming more stringent and their impact is traveling far down the supply chain, so even small suppliers may now be liable – either to account for their own practices to their customers or to report directly to national regulators.

Ruth Prickett graduated from Cambridge University with a BA hons in History and has specialized in business and finance journalism for the past 20 years. She was editor of Financial Management, the magazine...