The world’s largest legal-finance player is breathing a sigh of relief after the Senate parliamentarian has ruled that a proposed 31.8% tax on litigation funding profits must be removed from the Republican tax bill.

PR Newswire carries Burford Capital’s 1 July update confirming that the US Senate stripped a 40.8 percent excise tax on litigation-finance gains from its budget reconciliation bill after the Parliamentarian ruled the provision out of order. While the ruling blocks the tax under current reconciliation rules, lawmakers could still revise and reintroduce it. The reprieve removes a looming earnings drag that had spooked investors across the sector and buys funders time to lobby against similar proposals circulating in the House.

Burford used the same release to trumpet a separate courtroom victory: a New York federal judge ordered Argentina to transfer its 51 percent stake in YPF to court-appointed custodians within 14 days, advancing enforcement of the record-setting $16.1 billion Petersen/Eton Park judgment that Burford bankrolls. Management cautions that appeals will follow but called the turnover order “a positive milestone” in the multi-year campaign to monetize the award.

The dual developments highlight how legislative risk and sovereign-collection risk can swing a funder’s valuation overnight. With the tax threat shelved for now, attention will pivot to whether Argentina complies—and how quickly Burford can convert paper judgment into cash. Expect renewed debates on pricing sovereign-enforcement risk and on whether larger funds with cross-border expertise enjoy an unassailable moat in this niche of the asset class.

Even as a U.S. court ordered the hand-over of YPF shares, Argentina raced to London’s High Court to stall UK recognition of the same multi-billion award.

An article in Reuters recounts how government counsel told the court that enforcing the U.S. judgment before appellate review would cause no prejudice because “there are no assets here” to seize. The Burford-funded plaintiffs countered that Argentina’s bid is a delay tactic and asked for a £2.0 billion security if any pause is granted, noting interest is compounding at US $2.5 million per day.

The duelling venues highlight Burford’s trans-Atlantic enforcement campaign and the growing strategic sophistication of funders in sovereign disputes. London has become the favoured battleground for enforcing U.S. commercial awards against states, thanks to Section 101 of the 2006 Arbitration Act and the city’s deep asset pool.

For funders, the hearing underscores the need to pursue parallel forums to pressure recalcitrant states—especially when holdings (like YPF shares) sit outside the U.S. A reserved security order could significantly raise Argentina’s cost of delay and signal to other sovereign debtors that London courts will not rubber-stamp tactical pauses. The outcome will be closely watched by hedge funds and litigation financiers eyeing distressed-sovereign opportunities.

A federal magistrate in Chicago has handed Burford Capital a fresh victory in its effort to monetise Sysco-assigned antitrust claims against the U.S. turkey industry.

An article in Reuters reports that Judge Sunil Harjani rejected arguments from Tyson Foods, Perdue, Hormel and Butterball that Burford’s affiliate, Carina Ventures, lacked standing or offended public policy by pursuing the case despite never purchasing a single drumstick. Harjani’s opinion emphasised that Congress—not the courts—must decide whether third-party funding is permissible and found no evidence Carina or Burford had distorted the litigation. He also brushed aside a Sysco-centric fairness attack, noting that sophisticated businesses are free to structure their claims as they see fit.

The order is the latest twist in Burford’s multiyear protein-price saga. After investing US $140 million to bankroll Sysco’s chicken, pork and turkey cartel suits, the funder clashed with its client over settlement strategy, ultimately receiving the claims by assignment. With chicken and pork fights largely resolved, the turkey docket is now a bell-wether for whether funders can step directly into plaintiffs’ shoes when contracts allow.

For litigation financiers, Harjani’s ruling reinforces that properly drafted assignments can survive policy challenges, even in food-price cases that attract political scrutiny. The decision also undercuts insurer-driven narratives that funding itself inflates “social inflation.”

Minority YPF shareholders Petersen Energia and Eton Park, bankrolled by Burford Capital, are chasing a U.S. $17 billion New York judgment against Argentina into the High Court of England and Wales. Buenos Aires has asked the court to halt enforcement while it appeals in the United States, arguing it holds no attachable UK assets and that creditors will suffer no prejudice.

Reuters details the claimants’ response: if a pause is granted, Argentina should post £2 billion security, roughly 10 percent of the outstanding award, to blunt daily interest accrual of about U.S. $2.5 million. The article underscores funders’ growing role in cross-border sovereign enforcement; Burford’s capital has already fueled a decade-long campaign spanning New York, Madrid and now London.

A London-court showdown would illustrate how litigation finance converts paper victories into real money, even against resistant sovereigns. A security order could tighten Argentina’s negotiating window and validate funders’ appetite for high-duration, multinational enforcement plays. Conversely, a lengthy stay with no bond would spotlight the risk that political defendants can still out-wait private capital—raising questions about how funders price sovereign risk going forward.

The January wildfires that tore through greater Los Angeles have created a litigation wave—and a financing arms race. Plaintiffs’ firms face eight-figure discovery and expert-witness tabs while waiting years for contingency fees, so investment banks are stepping in. Jefferies and Oppenheimer are marketing credit lines and fee-purchase deals that could supply tens of millions of dollars up-front, collateralised by eventual recoveries against Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power.

Insurance Journal reports that the two banks are circulating pitch decks boasting wildfire-finance experience from the 2019 PG&E saga and promising annualised returns north of 20 percent. The publication notes that some of the 50-plus steering-committee firms have rebuffed outside cash, wary of settlement pressure, but many acknowledge that high-volume tort work is impossible without external capital. Funders, meanwhile, recognise a rare chance to buy into potentially multibillion-dollar fee streams—even if competition is already pushing pricing below the multiples seen in the PG&E deals.

Whether the influx of Wall Street money boosts access to justice or merely fattens lender margins will shape regulatory debates now brewing in Sacramento and Washington. California ethics rules mandate client disclosure, and a proposed federal excise tax threatens to raise funders’ cost of capital. The Los Angeles fire docket therefore doubles as a stress test: can mass-tort finance thrive under closer scrutiny and thinner spreads, or will rising compliance costs cool what has become one of litigation finance’s hottest niches?

Bitfinex Securities is turning to the blockchain to bankroll one of Britain’s next big consumer litigation waves. The exchange’s capital-markets arm has unveiled TITAN2, a £100 million direct listing of tokenised equity that will finance legal actions alleging mis-sold commissions in UK motor-finance deals. Investors who buy the three-year tokens will receive a pro-rata slice of any recoveries secured by the claimant group, giving them both exposure to digital assets and to potentially high-yield litigation proceeds.

An article in City A.M. notes that TITAN2 sits inside a Luxembourg SPV and will fund a UK law firm pursuing claims against merchant bank Close Brothers and South Africa’s Firstrand Bank. The Supreme Court is expected to rule next month on whether brokers could accept hidden commissions—an appeal of last October’s Court of Appeal decision siding with consumers. Within six weeks of that judgment the Financial Conduct Authority must decide if a formal redress scheme is warranted, putting potential damages into the billions and raising the stakes for funders.

Bitfinex is working with specialist infrastructure provider Ctrl Alt. Because payouts hinge on successful recoveries, the tokens resemble traditional litigation-finance equity rather than fixed-income notes, but with the added liquidity (and volatility) of crypto trading venues.

Tokenisation could lower the cost of capital and widen the investor pool for UK consumer-claim portfolios. Yet volatility, regulatory patchwork and questions around enforceability of on-chain securities could temper enthusiasm. Expect rival funders to watch TITAN2’s uptake closely as they weigh whether crypto rails offer a competitive edge or merely fresh compliance headaches.

Senate Republicans have softened—but not scrapped—their bid to impose a hefty new levy on litigation funders. The latest draft of Sen. Thom Tillis’s tax-reconciliation package cuts the proposed tax on litigation-finance proceeds to the still onerous 31.8%, down from an eye-watering 40.8% floated earlier this month. Yet other, more punitive features remain, including a bar on offsetting gains with losses and the removal of protections for tax-exempt backers, leaving funders warning that the measure still threatens to “wipe out” a $16 billion industry.

An article in Bloomberg Law notes that the rate tweak is part of a frantic bid by GOP leaders to meet President Trump’s July 4 deadline for passage of the broader budget package.

Industry pushback has been fierce. Paul Kong, executive director of the International Legal Finance Association, said the revision “doesn’t change” the bill’s apparent aim of shuttering third-party funding and “shutting down corporate accountability.” The association, along with major funders and their law-firm partners, has ramped up lobbying in recent weeks, courting swing-state senators and warning that the proposal would chill access-to-justice initiatives by making case financing uneconomical. The provision first surfaced in a standalone Tillis bill in May, pitched as a transparency measure, before being folded into the fast-moving reconciliation vehicle unveiled on June 4

Even at a reduced 31.8%, the tax could erode margins on diversified litigation portfolios, particularly if Congress refuses loss offsets. If the clause survives the July 4 vote, expect funders to accelerate efforts to domicile investments offshore, securitize portfolios to spread risk, or pursue lower-profile growth markets overseas.

Global funder Omni Bridgeway has notched the highest number of Band 1 recognitions worldwide in Chambers and Partners’ freshly released 2025 Litigation Support Guide.

A Mondaq press release details how the Sydney-listed financier swept the board across North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia, Canada and Latin America, while also taking top global slots for international arbitration, asset tracing, and recovery. The guide also singled out a dozen Omni executives—among them Canada’s PJ Bouchard and IP specialist Sarah Tsou—for individual accolades, reinforcing the depth of the firm’s bench.

Chambers’ research hinges on extensive client and peer interviews, making repeat Band 1 status a rigorous endorsement of Omni’s investment track record and client service. The firm’s geographic breadth—24 offices on five continents—has been a differentiator, enabling cross-border portfolio solutions that smaller rivals struggle to match. CEO Andrew Saker credited the “skills-plus-capital model” and doubled-down on Omni’s pledge to stay a 20 % co-investor in its core funds, keeping skin in the game alongside LPs.

Another global funder, Deminor, was awarded a Band 1 rating in Europe, whilst also notching a fresh Band 2 placement for Southeast Asia and Band 4 debut in the UK, alongside a Band 2 nod for international arbitration—a strategic triad that mirrors the firm’s recent office launches in Hong Kong, London and Stockholm. CEO Erik Bomans called the multi-jurisdictional sweep a “defining moment,” highlighting Deminor’s 77.8 % recovery rate across 23 jurisdictions.

The full Chambers and Partners ratings can be found here.