New Hampshire has retreated from an ambitious effort to regulate the litigation finance industry, ultimately enacting a narrowed law that targets foreign funders while abandoning the broad registration and oversight powers lawmakers had initially contemplated.

As reported by Intelligent Insurer, the state stepped back from provisions that would have given regulators expansive authority to register and supervise commercial litigation funders, leaving only the measures aimed at foreign financing intact.

The enacted statute, the Third-Party Litigation Funding Transparency Act — which originated as HB 1384 — prohibits commercial litigation financing tied, directly or indirectly, to foreign adversaries or sanctioned entities designated under federal law. It also requires claimants or their attorneys to disclose any commercial litigation funding agreement to all parties in a civil action when the case is filed and whenever the agreement is amended, with insurers that have a duty to defend or indemnify entitled to the same disclosure.

The law carves out nonprofits: an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3) that represents a claimant on a pro bono basis, along with its funders, falls outside the definition of a commercial litigation financier. Most provisions take effect on January 1, 2027.

New Hampshire's decision to prioritize foreign-funding restrictions over comprehensive registration mirrors a broader pattern among states, which have increasingly trained disclosure and transparency mandates on overseas capital rather than on the domestic funding market as a whole.

The Financial Conduct Authority has turned on a consumer campaign group in the escalating fight over Britain's £9.1 billion motor-finance redress scheme, questioning how the organization is funded and its ties to the law firm representing it.

As reported by The Guardian, the regulator has urged judges to dismiss a legal challenge brought by Consumer Voice, arguing the group failed to give "a full and frank explanation" of its own interest and that of its solicitors, Courmacs Legal. In court filings, the FCA suggested Consumer Voice had not been honest about its business model or its relationship with Courmacs, and had not disclosed details of its funding arrangements.

Consumer Voice contends the FCA's compensation scheme will low-ball victims of mis-sold car loans, who face an average payout of roughly £829 per agreement — higher than the £695 the regulator floated in its earlier consultation, but still, the group argues, well short of fair value. Lenders including Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, and the finance arms of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz are on the hook for the £9.1 billion the FCA expects the scheme to cost.

The clash places the funding and structure of claims-side campaign groups squarely in the regulator's sights, echoing a wider debate over transparency in third-party-backed consumer litigation. With millions of drivers due payouts this year, the dispute over who speaks for claimants — and who pays for that advocacy — is likely to intensify.