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BNP Paribas’ Securities Services Business Adopts Broadridge’s Global Class Action Solution to Maximize its Clients’ Global Asset Recovery Opportunities

By Harry Moran |

BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business, a leading global custodian with USD 13.7 trillion under custody, has partnered with global Fintech leader, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) to expand its global custody services, appointing Broadridge as service provider for its global securities class action services.

“As the Securities Services business of BNP Paribas, we are committed to delivering innovative and differentiating products and services to our clients. Broadridge brings advanced technology, market-leading information security and deep industry expertise that align with our goals, enhancing our clients’ experience and supporting their business,” said Christian Houillon, Head of Custody Product for Securities Services at BNP Paribas. “We will be able to harness Broadridge’s proprietary technology to identify, file and recover investment losses, alongside their extensive industry expertise.”

Broadridge provides a comprehensive, proprietary technology solution for global class action services that will help clients identify and act on asset recovery opportunities. This includes a seamless process for identifying, filing, and recovering investment losses, backed by Broadridge's industry expertise.

“As the volume of securities class actions continues to rise, it’s crucial for the clients of BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business and other global financial institutions to leverage all available asset recovery opportunities,” said Steve Cirami, Vice President, Head of Corporate Actions & Class Actions at Broadridge. “Broadridge’s solutions will enable the clients of BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business to obtain all required information to support their decisions on claim recoveries, facilitate investor participation in settlements and support key business functions, delivering a seamless and impactful client experience.”

Investors have more recovery opportunities than ever before as the class action landscape continues to expand globally with more than 35 jurisdictions around the world adopting collective redress mechanisms for shareholders. In 2024 alone, there were more than 125 recovery opportunities and $5.2 billion in settlements. The ability to monitor all opportunities globally requires leading edge technology and expertise, particularly in jurisdictions where considerations of litigation can be complex to navigate.

Broadridge’s dedicated global class action services team comprises deeply knowledgeable and experienced securities litigators, claims administrators, claims auditors and data specialists, equipped to provide clients with unmatched end-to-end services, portfolio monitoring and claims filing and registering processes in global jurisdictions. Learn more about the team here.

About Securities Services at BNP Paribas (securities.cib.bnpparibas)

BNP Paribas’ Securities Services business is a leading global custodian providing multi-asset post-trade and asset servicing solutions to buy-side and sell-side market participants, corporates and issuers. With a global reach covering 90+ markets, its custody network is one of the most extensive in the industry, enabling clients to maximise their investment opportunities worldwide. As a pillar of BNP Paribas’ diversified banking model, Securities Services provides asset servicing solutions that are closely integrated with the first-class services of the Group’s other business lines, in particular those of Global Banking and Global Markets.

As of 31 December 2024, Securities Services had USD 13.7 trillion in assets under custody and USD 2.8 trillion in assets under administration.

About Broadridge

Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR) is a global technology leader with the trusted expertise and transformative technology to help clients and the financial services industry operate, innovate, and grow. We power investing, governance, and communications for our clients – driving operational resiliency, elevating business performance, and transforming investor experiences. 

Our technology and operations platforms process and generate over 7 billion communications per year and underpin the daily trading of more than $10 trillion of securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.

For more information about us, please visit www.broadridge.com.

Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Craig Geraghty, Legal Director, O’Connors Legal Services

By John Freund |

Craig is a highly experienced corporate lawyer and Head of Corporate at O'Connors. His expertise covers a broad range of high-value transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, private equity deals, business reorganisations and restructurings, joint ventures, corporate governance, and regulatory matters. He also has significant experience of advising law firms on litigation funding arrangements.

Craig joined O'Connors from global law firm Bedell Cristin where he handled significant offshore transactional work in their Jersey office. Craig’s offshore experience is a valuable asset, particularly for O'Connors investment fund and insurance practices, while his expertise in litigation funding is a key asset for the firm's legal sector clients.

Company Name and Description: O’Connors Legal Services Limited (which trades as O’Connors). O'Connors is a nationally recognised firm of business lawyers and advisers. Although business sector agnostic, the firm has particular expertise in supporting legal businesses, including law firms, barristers' chambers and claims management companies. Its unique blend of corporate, commercial, insurance, and regulatory legal expertise and unparalleled sector knowledge delivers strategic support and innovative solutions to help legal businesses navigate the legal landscape, manage risk and capitalise on market opportunities.

Website: https://www.oconnors.law

Founded: 2003

Headquarters: Liverpool - additional office in London

Area of Focus: Corporate, Commercial, Commercial Insurance, Litigation Funding, Financial Services and Legal Services Regulation

Member Quote: “We are known as the law firm for law firms and our deep understanding of the legal regulatory landscape means we are perfectly placed to assist law firms in accessing the resources they need to pursue justice through litigation funding.”

How WFH Communication is Impacting Law Firms and Legal Funders

By Kris Altiere |

The following article was contributed by Kris Altiere, US Head of Marketing for Moneypenny.

The boundaries between professional and personal life have blurred, largely due to technology and the pandemic, which forced firms to be available 24/7. Since COVID, the number of clients and prospects engaging with businesses at all hours has surged, driven by the adoption of tools like live chat—which, at one point, accounted for 37% of interactions outside traditional 9-to-5 hours. In fact, a Moneypenny study conducted with Censuswide, surveying over 2,000 U.S. consumers, found that 58% of respondents now accept work-related communications outside regular hours. But is this shift a good thing?

Law firms should consider the communication training they give across all situations – how many work calls have been taken in the car, texts responded to at a soccer practice, or emails replied to quickly while at the doctor? Adjusting a firm’s contact channels should include recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of communication, and thinking about what’s best for clients and the team.

For firms, the “always on” employee presents some potential challenges, starting with the impact on the mental health of someone pressured to forever be on alert for a client or new business. It also can present vulnerabilities – Moneypenny’s research revealed 59% of respondents admitted to commonly sending texts and emails to the wrong person. Or, there is the liability of a stretched team responding to a client with a typo or incorrect information, feeling pressured to get right back and not taken time for a measured response. Along with an increased margin of error, digital communication can lack the emotion of a conversation, or may not appeal as a form of connection from a generational perspective.

Moneypenny looked into the popularity of different forms of work communications. Emails were number one at 49%, followed by the phone at 39%, text messaging at 35%, instant messaging such as Teams or Slack at 19%, and video conferencing like Zoom at 18%. Choices were particular to generations – emailing is the preferred choice for 56% of Baby Boomers and 54% of Gen X, while only 28% of Gen Z prefer it. Instant messaging was a more popular form of work communication for Gen Z (25%), but was chosen by only 16% of Gen X and 13% of Baby Boomers.

Moneypenny encourages firms of all sizes to establish clear communication guidelines that best serve all of their constituents – their teams, their prospects, and their clients. After four years of being on call around the clock, teams are tired. If a firm can have the burden of the 2 a.m. call or chat placed in the hands of a capable and trained legal receptionist like Moneypenny’s, they can ensure it’s not just fielded, but fielded well, and their team undisturbed.

Setting healthy business-life boundaries is a lofty goal that firms should consider setting this year – making themselves a little more unavailable to make themself more available. Fielding a call late at night or during a mad rush does a disservice by potentially inhibiting work flow, mental health, quality and integrity of the work. In what seems like an increasingly scattered world, reclaiming focus by letting someone else “get the phone” could just be revolutionary.

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Kris Altiere is US Head of Marketing at MoneypennyMoneypenny’s unique blend of brilliant people and AI technology integrate seamlessly to deliver customer conversations that unlock valuable opportunities for law firms, 24/7.

Kris is passionate about combining creativity and data-driven approaches to deliver impactful campaigns. A natural leader and mentor, she thrives on empowering teams, fostering collaboration, and ensuring Moneypenny’s solutions help firms stay ahead in an ever-evolving market.

Bench Walk Advisors Named Litigation Funder of the Year at Chambers UK Awards

By Harry Moran |

As LFJ covered last month, the new year is not only a time for firms to look ahead to their plans for next 12 months, it is also a time where the work and achievements of industry leaders from the previous year is celebrated.

Last week, the inaugural Chambers UK Awards were held in London with an opportunity to recognise the country’s top legal professionals, with awards handed out across a wide array of categories. When it came to legal funding, Chambers assembled a shortlist of five funders which was whittled down to just one, with Bench Walk Advisors named as Litigation Funder of the Year.

Chambers provided the following explanation for selecting Bench Walk as the winner in this category: “Bench Walk has consistently ranked as a top litigation funder in the UK. It wins praise for its boutique, director-led approach and for its ability to fund complex cases with a high degree of responsiveness and transparency. This year, the team has continued to work on a diverse portfolio of group actions, including Professor Carolyn Roberts’ opt-out CAT claim against water utility companies and an action against Google relating to the Google Play Store, as well as portfolio funding deals and law firm financing.”

Chambers have many more awards evenings planned in the coming months, with the Europe Awards scheduled to be held on May 29 in Madrid.

Bertrand Beauchesne Appointed Group Finance Director at Deminor

By Harry Moran |

Deminor announced that Bertrand Beauchesne has been appointed as Group Finance Director, bringing over 20 years of experience in financial management and strategic planning across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. 

Prior to joining Deminor, Beauchesne spent over eight years at Dorier Group in Singapore, having served as the company’s Group Finance Director and Board Director, co-ordinating and supporting all operations in South East Asia and Japan. His impressive career also includes six years at MCI Group overseeing strategy and regional coordination for APAC, 16 months at The Stakeholder Company as Finance Director, and over four years as Finance Director for the Remote Site Division at ADEN Group

Beauchesne expressed his enthusiasm at taking on the new role at Deminor, saying: “I am excited to join Deminor and look forward to contributing to the company's continued success by leveraging my experience in financial management and strategic planning. Deminor’s dedication to excellence and innovation aligns with my professional philosophy, and I look forward to driving our financial and strategic goals.”

Deminor’s CEO, Erik Bomans also provided the following comment on Beauchesne’s appointment: "We are delighted to welcome Bertrand Beauchesne as our new Group Finance Director. Bertrand's appointment reflects our commitment to further strengthen Deminor's financial governance and operational capabilities. His proven track record in financial leadership and strategic planning makes him an excellent addition to our team as we continue to expand our global presence."

Litigation Lending Appoints Leo Argy and Maximilian Heffernan as Investment Managers

By Harry Moran |

In a series of posts, Litigation Lending announced the new appointments of Leo Argy and Maximilian Heffernan, who are both joining the funder as Investment Managers.

Argy brings over 25 years’ experience in the legal sector to his new role at Litigation Lending, having begun his career as a solicitor in 1997, going on to become the Managing Solicitor-Director at Argy & Associates Lawyers between 2001 and 2021. Argy joins Litigation Lending having most recently served as Manager of Litigation and Recoveries at Hollard Insurance Australia for the past three years. 

Heffernan also boasts an impressive career in the legal sector, both in the public and private sector, having started as a paralegal at Clayton Utz before serving as an Associate at the Federal Court of Australia. Since then, Heffernan has worked as a solicitor at Hicksons Lawyers, and most recently spent nearly six years as a Senior Lawyer at Australian Government Solicitor in the Civil Claims team.

An LFJ Conversation with Ondrej Tylecek, Partner and Head of Investments, LitFin

By John Freund |

Ondrej is Partner and Head of Investments at LitFin, which he joined shortly after its foundation. He is particularly responsible for the legal agenda, investments, and business relations. Prior to LitFin, he gained professional experience as a lawyer focusing on transactions and corporate law and as an investor in the private sector. Ondrej graduated in law from Masaryk University (Czech Republic) and Brussels School of Competition (Belgium).

Below is our LFJ Conversation with Ondrej Tylecek: 

LitFin has become one of the most prominent litigation funders in the continental EU for follow-on group litigations. Can you take us through the company's growth process - how were you able to effectively scale your business?

I think the key to our success is that, unlike other funders, LitFin is a vertically integrated structure. With that being said, we’re not just deploying the capital into cases brought to us on a silver plate, but we’re actively building the cases from the bottom, going the extra mile, which other players on the market typically don’t. For example, we’re creating personalized onboarding strategies and trying to keep an individual client approach at all times, not relying on third parties doing the work for us, because we want to be sure that the best quality is secured at all times. Also, unlike other litigation funders, we’re not paid managers who take a management fee every year, but we have the ‘funders mentality’ because together with our investors, LitFin’s partners have their own money at stake. That’s what sets us apart, and that’s why we have extra motivation to succeed on the market.

How challenging was it to educate the continental EU market on litigation funding? And what have you noticed in regard to the market's understanding and acceptance of litigation funding as the sector has evolved?

At first it was challenging indeed, because lots of clients could not imagine that such a great service with which we approached them could even exist. Not spending a cent on a court proceeding and only share when the case was successful? That must be a scam then! Nevertheless, I think that we went quite far from there, and nowadays prospective clients typically are aware of the industry and the benefits it brings to them. As litigation funding in Europe matures, besides pricing, the clients typically look into the funder’s track record, legal representation, and overall trustworthiness.

What are LitFin's plans for growth - both regionally / jurisdictionally, and also in terms of product offerings?

Most importantly, due to our rapid growth, LitFin is actively seeking an additional strategic partner to solidify its position as a leading EU litigation funder specializing in follow-on group litigations arising from competition law infringements. With that regard, we are already in discussions with several top-tier potential new business partners in the USA and locally. Our conservative target is to raise EUR 100 million within the next six to nine months to allow us to seize even more opportunities in the litigation finance space and expand our current portfolio, which already exceeds EUR 4 billion in claim value funded with a success rate over 90%.

From a regional perspective, 2024 was a breakthrough year for us in France and the Benelux region, where we successfully funded cases and strengthened our local presence. Our expansion in these markets has been driven by new colleagues from France, led by Juraj Siska, who joined us from the European Commission and who now serves at LitFin as the Director for France & Benelux. Building on this momentum, our focus for this year is on Spain and Italy, where we are already active and see strong potential for further growth.

Regarding product offerings, we remain committed to our core activities in the distressed sector in Central Europe. Beyond that, we have some exciting new products in development, which we prefer to not disclose at this stage. However, regardless of expansion plans, our top priority remains delivering bespoke, high-quality litigation funding solutions tailored to our clients’ needs.

What are LitFin's plans for growth - both regionally / jurisdictionally, and also in terms of product offerings? Last year you have established the first regulated fund (SICAV) in CEE (and one of the first in continental Europe) focused purely on the litigation funding industry. How have investors responded to the fund's launch, and do you foresee additional fund launches in the future?

The investors responded very well, even though we focused on the Czech and Slovak region only and the fundraising period was short. Primarily, we were able to successfully test an interest in this new, uncorrelated asset class and are happy that investors, both institutions and individuals, perceive litigation funding as an interesting and valued addition to their investment portfolios. Regarding the SICAV fund, we’ll be launching a new evergreen sub-fund called ‘Credit’ with a target return of 13% p.a., which will allow qualified investors to be part of our success story without time limitations on the entry.

How are the recent regulatory frameworks such as the Voss Report impacting the funding industry? Do you see industry regulation as a risk for litigation funders going forward?

As one of Europe’s leading litigation funders, LitFin obviously closely monitors regulatory developments like the Voss Report. While it has raised concerns about potential industry regulation, we believe much of the criticism within the report misrepresents the realities of litigation finance. The report suggests excessive funder control over cases and a lack of transparency, but in practice, funders do not dictate legal strategy—claimants and their legal teams remain in charge. Moreover, existing contractual safeguards and ethical obligations already ensure accountability and fairness.

From my perspective, the biggest issue with the Voss Report is that it overlooks the essential role litigation funding plays in access to justice. Many businesses and consumers would be unable to challenge well-resourced defendants without financial backing. As Omni Bridgeway’s Wieger Wielinga rightly pointed out in a recent LFJ interview, ensuring a level playing field in litigation requires financial equality between counterparties, making litigation funding essential. Creating an artificial barrier would ultimately benefit large corporations at the expense of fairness.

We do not see regulation as an existential threat to the industry. If regulation is introduced, we expect it to focus on transparency rather than prohibition, ensuring credibility while allowing the market to function effectively. Markets like the UK and Australia have thriving litigation funding sectors under clear regulatory frameworks, and we expect Europe to follow a similar path. For reputable funders like LitFin, well-structured regulation could actually be beneficial, reinforcing trust in the industry and attracting institutional investors.

Community Spotlights

Community Spotlight: Dane Lund, Managing Director, Juris Capital

By John Freund |

Dane Lund has built a career at the intersection of law and finance, bringing a distinctive blend of legal acumen and financial expertise to the evolving world of litigation funding. He began his professional journey after graduating from Harvard Law School as a litigation associate at Willkie Farr & Gallagher in 2012, where he gained firsthand experience navigating complex commercial disputes and understanding the strategic nuances that drive legal outcomes.

Eager to broaden his perspective, Dane transitioned into investment banking, joining the Financial Sponsors Group at Barclays. There, he developed a rigorous foundation in evaluating risk, structuring deals, and analyzing the dynamics of capital markets—skills that would later prove invaluable in the realm of legal finance.

Following his time at Barclays, Dane pursued investment roles focused on equities, private debt, and legal finance, deepening his expertise across both traditional and alternative asset classes. This diverse background positioned him perfectly for the litigation finance space, where legal strategy and capital management intersect. In 2024, he joined Juris Capital as Managing Director, where he helps shape the firm’s approach to funding commercial litigation.

At the core of Dane’s investment philosophy is a simple yet powerful belief: “Patient capital wins.”

For Dane, this isn’t just a tagline—it’s the guiding principle. Litigation is inherently unpredictable, often requiring strategic persistence and disciplined, long-term thinking to achieve the best outcomes. In an industry where quick returns are rare, Dane emphasizes that success comes from having the foresight to invest thoughtfully and the patience to see cases through to their full potential.

“We’re experiencing a sea change in how law is practiced,” says Dane. “Legal finance isn’t just a funding mechanism—it’s a catalyst for innovation within the legal sector.”

Company Name and Description: Juris Capital provides funding for commercial litigation claims. The firm collaborates with businesses and law firms to support the financial aspects of pursuing complex legal matters. Dane notes that Juris’s approach is shaped by its understanding of legal processes and the financial considerations involved in managing long-term investments. Its focus spans a variety of case types, including breach of contract disputes, corporate governance issues, and antitrust matters.

Website: https://www.juriscapitalcorp.com/

Founded: 2009

Headquarters: Chicago

Member Quote: “Legal finance is expanding beyond traditional litigation into areas like legal tech, contingent risk management, and law firm operations. It’s not just about funding cases anymore—it’s about unlocking value in legal assets that were previously considered illiquid or inaccessible. That’s where the future lies.”

Past Event

Spotlight on AI and Technology

If you're in legal finance, litigation funding, or legal tech, this discussion provides insider insights into how AI is reshaping the industry. Learn from real-world examples, emerging trends, and the strategic role of AI in legal decision-making. Key Discussion Points Include:
  • AI-Powered Underwriting & Case Selection: AI helps funders assess legal risk, improve case selection, and predict litigation outcomes with greater accuracy.
  • Enhancing Efficiency in Litigation Finance: From scanning thousands of lawsuits to streamlining due diligence, AI is saving time and improving case success rates.
  • Predicting Settlements & Case Duration: AI models are increasingly used to analyze historical data and forecast lawsuit duration, a critical factor for funders.
  • AI vs. Human Expertise: AI is a tool to complement—rather than replace—legal expertise, ensuring better investment decisions and case strategies.
  • The Future of AI in Litigation: Will we see fully AI-driven litigation funding? 
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