Shortseller Gotham City piles pressure on under-fire Burford Capital with further criticism August 11, 2019 Shortseller Gotham City Research has added to the pressure on litigation funder Burford Capital which it described today as “inappropriately financed”. Burford’s market value fell by nearly half last week before regaining some of those losses after it was savaged in a report by hedge fund Muddy Waters which has taken a short position in [...]
Window slams shut on litigation funder floats after Burford Capital’s terrible week August 11, 2019 The attack by shortseller Muddy Waters on Burford Capital last week has slammed shut the window on other litigation funders looking to go public. Muddy Waters criticised Burford’s use of fair value accounting – the inclusion of unrealised gains – and accused the funder of “aggressively marking” the value of the cases on its books, something Burford denied. The Aim darling-turned-lame-duck lost [...]
Listed litigation funders scramble to avoid Burford contagion August 8, 2019 Listed litigation funders have distanced themselves from Burford Capital today, after a short seller attack yesterday sent Burford’s shares on a rollercoaster ride. Manolete Partners and Litigation Capital Management (LCM) today pointed out how their models differ to Burford’s after their shares fell steeply yesterday in reaction to the short-seller attack on Burford. Activist Muddy [...]
Watchdog tells firms to go ‘above and beyond’ law to co-operate in investigations August 6, 2019 The fraud watchdog has told firms they will need to go “above and beyond what the law requires” if they want to co-operate with its investigations. Guidance of corporate co-operation released by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) states that firms need to be willing to identify any individuals suspected of wrongdoing “regardless of their seniority [...]
Disgraced former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya struck off as a solicitor August 6, 2019 Disgraced former Labour MP Fiona Onasanya was struck off as a solicitor today after a hearing in London. Read more: Former Labour whip found guilty of perverting the course of justice The ex-Labour whip was found guilty of perverting the course of justice in December after lying to police to avoid a speeding fine. The [...]
Legal giant Gordon Dadds to rebrand as The Ince Group August 6, 2019 Listed law firm Gordon Dadds is rebranding as The Ince Group, following its recent acquisition of shipping law firm Ince & Co. The firm announced the change in a statement this morning, saying the new name “will better reflect the main trading name of the group’s commercial and disputes practice in London together with the [...]
Debate: Are professional traders becoming obsolete? August 6, 2019 Debate: Are professional traders becoming obsolete? Yes – Mike Read is chief executive and co-founder of Pelican Trading. Trading as we know it is certainly becoming obsolete. Financial instruments will always be traded, but the traditional isolated trading model we know today will soon be consigned to the past. Platforms that connect individuals wanting to [...]
Lawyer who played key role in Brexit case set for disciplinary tribunal over dishonesty claims August 5, 2019 The vice-president of the Law Society is set to face a disciplinary tribunal later this month over claims of dishonesty. David Greene, who acted for a claimant on the Article 50 litigation in 2016, is set to appear before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) on 13 August. The claim centres around £7,000 in unpaid fees [...]
Serious Fraud Office prosecutes just four money laundering cases since 2014 August 1, 2019 The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has received 153 reports concerning an allegation of money laundering since 2014, but prosecuted just four cases. The SFO figures, which were a response to a freedom of information request by law firm Greenberg Traurig, show the SFO received 41 reports containing money laundering allegations in 2018 but did not [...]
KPMG fined £3.5m for BNY Mellon report misconduct August 1, 2019 Big Four firm KPMG has been fined £3.5m and one of its directors £52,000 for misconduct related to a client asset report for Bank of New York Mellon in 2011. Watchdog the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) levied a fine of £5m against KPMG which was discounted by 30 per cent for admissions of misconduct. It [...]
