Burford Capital turning its back on London over government delays
London-listed legal financial firm Burford Capital is rolling back on using London’s dispute resolution due to “uncertainties” as a result of government delays.
CEO Chris Bogart has told City PM that the new government’s delay in fixing PACCAR has started to raise questions about the “suitability of London as a destination of choice for legal issues”.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in the so-called PACCAR case, the litigation backing this claim did not have the correct financial arrangements to support the court’s actions properly.
The case, known as PACCAR, one of the several European truck manufacturers defendants, sued over allegation they infringed competition law.
As a result, the multi-billion litigation funding industry was thrown into a state of uncertainty.
However, after much lobbying, the former Tory government had drafted up the Litigation Funding Bill, which effectively overturned the court’s ruling.
But before that Bill saw movement, the General Election was called, and it missed out on making it into the ‘wash-up’.
The Labour government has pushed the Bill back until a review is concluded, which could be at least Summer 2025.
Bogart stated that London enjoys a “very strong global reputation for legal services”, which is “something that really helps the UK economy” as the legal sector is a “significant contributor”.
However, he warned that the government delays have led to “uncertainty” and as a result, Burford “is less focused on using dispute resolution in London than we would have been a couple of years ago”.
“We have options, and those include New York, Paris and Singapore so right now we’re migrating some dispute resolution activity away from London and towards New York for example,” he added.
Bogart explained that Burford is a “very large business” doing more than $1bn a year of business, with a $7.5bn litigation portfolio. “I’m in the business of allocating capital to places that are reliable and deliver returns for shareholders.”
“I think it is perilous for the new government to take action or to exist in inaction that moves that capital away from London, as it’s simply a bad policy choice.” he warned.