ILFA Comments on UNCITRAL Working Group TPF Reform Proposals
The International Legal Finance Association (ILFA), founded in 2020, is a global association of third-party legal funders committed to self-regulation and promoting high industry standards. The ILFA has provided commentary on the proposed new regulation, as well as context around the concerns purportedly being addressed. The ILFA explains that in developing new proposals, the Working Group did not liaise effectively with ILFA members or the funding market as a whole. Also, the proposals appear to stem from a biased narrative emanating from academic (rather than hands-on) experience, deliberately casting doubt on the legitimacy of the funding industry. There’s also a rather stunning lack of supporting data. The proposals were ostensibly made to address some rather spurious concerns, according to ILFA. Among these are:
- That funding increases the total number of frivolous claims
- That funding leads to more investor-state arbitration claims
- Funding increases the number of cases in which states are unable to recover costs.