Burford Capital, a global finance and professional services firm focused on law, announced on Thursday its launch in Hong Kong and the formation of a new Burford Asia Advisory Board.
Burford’s launch in Hong Kong positions it to meet growing demand for litigation and arbitration financing in Asia. Initially, Burford will focus on financing litigation claims brought in connection with insolvency in Hong Kong, financing arbitration claims throughout the region, and providing asset tracing and judgment enforcement services.
Guiding Burford’s expansion into Asia is an advisory board that comprises leading figures in the legal community, including:
- Denis Brock, Chairman, is the Chair of O’Melveny & Myers’ International Disputes and Arbitration Practice and the Regional Head of Litigation for Asia
- William Stone, SBS, QC, was formerly head of the Hong Kong Commercial Court and is now working as an arbitrator in commercial disputes
- Charles Booth is a Professor of Law at the University of Hawai’i and previously the University of Hong Kong, best known for his work on Asian law and as an expert on comparative and cross-border insolvency and commercial law
- Rupert Purser, an experienced Asian insolvency expert with prior service with Hill International and PricewaterhouseCoopers, will manage Burford’s investments locally.
Burford’s CEO, Christopher Bogart, commented:
“The volume and size of complex litigation and arbitration in Asia have been growing rapidly—and with that growth has come an increasing demand for financial solutions. Burford has until now been meeting this demand from its offices in London and New York, but it is high time for Burford to be present in Hong Kong as well. Since its founding in 2009, Burford has earned a reputation as the world’s premier litigation and arbitration finance provider, and we look forward to serving the Asian market even more actively.”
The company notes that Asia has been slower to develop as a litigation finance market than much of the rest of the world, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, because of vestigial legal restrictions. However, the Hong Kong courts have upheld the legality of litigation finance for insolvency matters and arbitration cases, and Burford regularly receives inquiries seeking financing from the region.