Forbes Ventures announces that Kirk Kashefi and Igor Zjalic have resigned as Non-executive Directors of the Company with immediate effect. Additionally, Igor Zjalic has resigned as a director of Forbes’ subsidiary, Forbes Ventures Investment Management Limited. The resignations of Kirk and Igor are by mutual consent and follow Forbes’ announcement of 2 March 2020, which confirmed that the Company’s future strategy would focus on the securitisation of litigation funding assets, via the establishment of a Securitisation Cell Company (SCC) in Malta.
Forbes expects to appoint additional directors to the Board as the Company’s strategy progresses.
Peter Moss, Chairman of Forbes, commented, “We would like to thank both Kirk and Igor for their service to Forbes over the last couple of years and wish them both the very best in their future endeavours. We at Forbes are extremely excited about our new direction and the establishment of our securitisation capability in Malta. The set-up of our Securitisation Cell Company is progressing well, and we do not foresee any delays in the process, despite the Covid-19 virus.
While global markets may remain volatile in the short term, we believe that securitised litigation funding assets, with appropriate credit support, will prove to be popular with institutional credit investors when the current market volatility subsides.
The Directors of Forbes accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
The NYC Bar Association's Working Group on Litigation Funding delivered a long-anticipated 90-page report concluding that funding agreements between lawyers and funders will benefit litigants, and recommending that the legal ethics rules explicitly permit such agreements. The report also rejected calls for mandatory disclosure of commercial litigation funding agreements in court proceedings. Join Validity's Chief Risk Officer, Dave Kerstein, Portfolio Counsel, Will Marra, along with litigation finance experts Brad Wendel, Ethics and Law Professor, Cornell Law School and Constantine Karides, Partner at Reed Smith for an upcoming webinar that will cover:Figures in A$ million unless otherwise stated | Six months ended 31 December 2019 | Six months ended 31 December 2018 |
Gross revenue | 24.1 | 11.7 |
Gross profit | 12.2 | 5.7 |
Adjusted profit before tax | 6.9 | 2.7 |
Adjusted basic EPS (cents per share) | 6.61 | 4.31 |
Statutory profit before tax | 6.7 | 1.0 |
Net cash | 34.7 | 52.6 |
Capital deployed on litigation investments | 18.4 | 12.8 |
Litigation investments | 34.0 | 20.7 |
Total equity | 80.4 | 70.3 |
Cash receipts from the completion of litigation investments | 9.2 | 11.0 |
CHICAGO – March 16, 2020 – Longford Capital today announced that Andrew A. Stulce joined the firm as Vice President. Mr. Stulce will assist with investment sourcing, due diligence, and monitoring of portfolio investments.
Mr. Stulce was a member of the litigation department at some of the most prestigious law firms in the country. Prior to joining Longford Capital, Mr. Stulce was with McGuireWoods LLP; prior to McGuireWoods, he was with Hunton & Williams LLP (now Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP).
Mr. Stulce has significant experience litigating complex antitrust and insurance recovery cases. He has also represented corporate clients in a range of commercial litigation matters, including fraud, breach of contract, and breach of fiduciary duty matters.
Before entering private practice, Mr. Stulce clerked for the Honorable Charles A. Pannell, Jr., of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Andrew has joined our team of experienced litigators and trial lawyers to assist in addressing the growing demand for litigation finance from leading law firms and corporate claimants,” said William P. Farrell, Jr., Managing Director and General Counsel of Longford Capital. “Andrew is an experienced litigator and trial lawyer. His work at two fine law firms and experience clerking in the federal trial court has prepared him to make an important contribution to Longford Capital. We are excited to welcome Andrew to the firm.”
Mr. Stulce is a member of the state bars of Illinois, Georgia, and Tennessee. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
He graduated, cum laude, from the University of Georgia School of Law and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and Romance Languages from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
About Longford Capital
Longford Capital is a leading private investment company that provides capital to leading law firms, public and private companies, universities, government agencies, and other entities involved in large-scale, commercial legal disputes. Typically, Longford Capital funds attorneys' fees and other costs necessary to pursue meritorious legal claims in return for a share of a favorable settlement or award. The firm manages a diversified portfolio, and considers investments in subject matter areas where it has developed considerable expertise, including, business-to-business contract claims, antitrust and trade regulation claims, intellectual property claims (including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret), fiduciary duty claims, fraud claims, claims in bankruptcy and liquidation, domestic and international arbitrations, and a variety of others. For additional information about Longford Capital, please visit www.longfordcapital.com.
"BridgePoint is a leader in Canada's litigation finance industry and their long track record of high performance makes them an outstanding partner," said Andrew Moor , President & CEO of Equitable Bank. "As Canada's Challenger Bank this credit facility was attractive to us as it is non-market correlated and includes a diverse portfolio of secured assets in an area not typically well-served in Canada ."
"We are very excited to partner with Equitable," said John Rossos , Co-Founder & Principal of Bridgepoint. "Our business is not a traditional lending business and it is difficult for conventional banks to understand what we do and how we do it. Equitable has a dynamic view of the market and has demonstrated its ability to offer innovative solutions. This partnership will enhance our ability to facilitate access to justice for our clients."
This partnership highlights Equitable Bank's latest achievement by its growing Specialized Finance group and demonstrates how it continues to challenge traditional banking. In the spirit of creating unique opportunities that generate value for Canadian businesses, Equitable Bank's Specialized Finance group focuses on offering secured financing solutions to specialty lenders to finance their growth.
About Equitable Bank
Equitable Bank is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Equitable Group Inc. (TSX:EQB and EQB.PR.C) (Schedule I Bank regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institution) with total Assets Under Management of over $33 billion . The Bank serves retail and commercial customers across Canada with a range of savings and lending solutions, offered under the Equitable Bank, EQ Bank, and Equitable Trust brands.
The Bank's commercial lending business consists of Conventional Commercial, Insured Multi-unit Residential, Specialized Financing, and Equipment Leasing assets.
The Bank's retail lending business consists of Alternative Single Family Lending, Prime Single Family Residential, and its decumulation businesses.
To learn more, please visit equitablebank.ca.
About BridgePoint Financial Services
BridgePoint Financial Services Inc. is Canada's leading provider of litigation financing solutions designed to meet the specialized needs of plaintiffs, lawyers and the experts involved in advancing legal claims. BridgePoint's goal is to level the litigation playing field and to protect its clients' rights to full and fair access to justice.
SOURCE Equitable Bank