INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION 1/3LY
IN CONVERSATION WITH RUTH STACKPOOL-MOORE 13
IN CONVERSATION WITH RUTH STACKPOOL-MOORE DIRECTOR OF LITIGATION FUNDING / HEAD OF HARBOUR HONG KONG Simon McConnell, Partner and Sapna Jhangiani, Legal Director at Clyde & Co in conversation with Ruth Stackpool-Moore, Director of Litigation Funding / Head of Harbour Hong Kong.
SAPNA Speaking of Hong Kong and Singapore, what is the future of third-party funding in both jurisdictions? In Hong Kong there has been a consultation paper of the “ Third-Party Funding for Arbitration Sub-Committee of the Law Reform Commission” report which Simon and I and many other arbitration practitioners in Asia are familiar with. But in Singapore the Ministry of Law hasn’t been issuing reports to update us on what’s going on. I think we all believe that there are things happening behind the scenes and I don’t think anyone disputes that it is something they are looking at very closely, but I am hoping you might have a better idea as to where the future is going in Singapore. RUTH Unfortunately, I’m unlikely to have any more specific Information than you do. The Ministry of Law did do a consultation back in 2014, but it wasn’t the sort of a public consultation that Hong Kong is currently going through. Selected individuals were asked to provide views and Harbour had the opportunity to respond. As I understand it, I don’t think we have had any formal feedback or indication of what can be expected as a result of that process, other than publically available information. My own personal view is that third-party funding will probably be allowed in arbitration in Singapore eventually. I’m not sure of the timing, it may be that developments in Hong Kong will stir action in Singapore, which might push to get there first, or it may prefer to take a ‘wait and see’ approach. SAPNA I guess they are quite cautious. Champerty is still a concept which there is a lot of resistance to in Singapore. Simon, do you have any thoughts on the Singapore vs Hong Kong debate surrounding when will third-party funding come in?
THIRD-PARTY FUNDING IN HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE
SAPNA How did you develop an interest in third-party funding and become involved in the industry? RUTH My interest in third-party funding grew while I was working in London, although I never had the opportunity to work on a funded case while I was there. When I arrived in Hong Kong to join the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) in early 2013, one of the first things I was asked to do was to put together a briefing note on the advantages and disadvantages of funding from an arbitration perspective. This was some time ago, shortly before the Law Reform Commission working group was set up to look at funding in arbitration in Hong Kong. Through that process I learnt a lot and gained a more in depth understanding of what funding was, and realised that it was something on the radar for Hong Kong. In terms of actually moving into the field, I had known Susan Dunn, one of the earliest developers of third-party funding and Head of the investment team at Harbour, for several years. Harbour had funded a number of cases in the Asia Pacific region, despite not having a presence here, so it made strategic sense to open an office in the region. When Susan asked if I would be interested in opening that office and being Harbour’s representative for Asia Pacific, it seemed like a unique and exciting opportunity so I said yes. Developments surrounding third-party funding in the region are so interesting at the moment, in Hong Kong and Singapore in particular, it’s a fantastic field to be working in.
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