INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION 1/3LY
CURRENT TRENDS ACROSS THE GLOBE
BEN That is an interesting point. Looking at current news, we saw that you have struck up an eight figure deal with a major FTSE 100 company to fund their litigation. Is that something that we are going to see more of? NICK Well, the slight issue I have with that is we are not allowed to talk about who we did that deal with. It would be lovely to be able to explain what that particular deal was because what’s in the press bears no resemblance to the reality and it’s a much more sophisticated product than it appears. I can say that we were approached directly. There are lawyers involved because they need to make sure everything is being done as would be expected, but yes, it’s a decision by a major corporate to say “I don’t want to keep paying this and would like someone else to pay it.” We do lots of those sorts of deals. The one we released was the biggest one that we’ve done recently and it took a lot of hard work. Those sorts of deals are more prevalent than people would suggest. Not necessarily with big FTSE companies, but those sorts of deals are happening all the time, and I think they’ll continue, as that’s where we do most of our work.
BEN Let’s discuss international arbitration specifically. Are there any key trends which you are noticing? Hot regions perhaps? Or industries? NICK Generally it’s busy! The Middle East remains busy while Asia is growing in its interest, and there is a lot of talk around funding despite being slightly restricted by regulation. There’s a lot of construction work coming out of Eastern Europe too. We are even starting to see governments and large corporates looking at options around funding portfolios because of the high value nature of some of the claims. That’s not common place, but it’s happening. BEN Are you seeing a rise in the number of Energy Charter Treaty and investment treaty cases? NICK Yes – there is a lot of that. Some funders really like the investment treaty disputes as they are very expensive and the returns are big. The downside is that they take a long time and I don’t think it suits everyone, depending on your structure as a funder. For example, if you’re a five year closed-end fund and you pick up a big claim half way through, will you be able to fund it all the way until the end?
THE MIDDLE EAST REMAINS BUSY WHILE ASIA IS GROWING IN ITS INTEREST AND THERE IS A LOT OF TALK AROUND FUNDING DESPITE BEING SLIGHTLY RESTRICTED BY REGULATION.
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