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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.

Burford Capital’s latest research trains a spotlight on an oft-overlooked revenue stream hiding in plain sight: opt-out commercial class actions.

A PR Newswire release reveals findings from an independent survey of 301 US in-house lawyers. More than half the corporates surveyed faced potential class-action recoveries topping $50 million over the past five years, yet 62 % habitually remained in the class. Asked why, 73 % pointed to litigation costs and 71 % flagged timing-and-outcome uncertainty—precisely the frictions legal finance is designed to absorb. Burford Vice-Chair David Perla framed the takeaway bluntly: “Value creation is being left on the table.”

Beyond headline stats, the report underscores a growing corporate appetite for monetisation structures: upfront capital in exchange for a slice of an eventual award. With treasury teams laser-focused on liquidity in a higher-for-longer rate environment, that message is likely to land.

For funders, the data provide fresh ammunition in boardroom pitches: opting out plus non-recourse financing can turbo-charge recoveries without budget hits.

Sen. Thom Tillis’s bid to tack the “Tackling Predatory Litigation Funding Act” onto the Senate’s broad tax package has jolted the litigation-finance community. The North Carolina Republican frames his proposal as consumer protection, but funders say it targets them for punitive treatment just as capital flows into the sector to help plaintiffs and contingency-fee firms square off against deep-pocketed defendants.

An opinion piece in The Washington Times warns that the measure would “weaponize” the Internal Revenue Code. The bill would slap a 40.8 percent levy on “qualified litigation proceeds,” collected at the funding-vehicle level regardless of investor tax status. Any arrangement that “creates a direct or collateralized interest” in case outcomes is swept in—including law-firm loans carrying interest above seven percent. Losses, NOLs and routine expenses could not offset gains, and the tax would reach back to deals inked before 2026 if profits are realized afterward.

Supporters such as former Treasury official James Carter claim the change would close what they see as a loophole allowing foreign investors to harvest U.S. judgments tax-free, projecting $3.5 billion in new revenue over ten years. Detractors—among them NYU tax scholar Gregg Polsky—call the bill a “kill shot” that ignores existing capital-gains rules, punishes pension funds and endowments, and sets a dangerous precedent for targeting disfavored industries through confiscatory rates.

Should the Tillis language survive conference, after-tax returns for U.S. funders could be cut nearly in half overnight, chilling new commitments and driving capital offshore. The industry’s response—mobilizing heavyweight lobbyists and building bipartisan coalitions—will test whether its growing economic footprint can translate into political clout on Capitol Hill.

Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has launched an aggressive hunt for wealth allegedly spirited offshore during Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year rule. Central-bank governor and former IMF economist Ahsan H. Mansur says the campaign could target “tens of billions” across multiple jurisdictions, and he is canvassing up to US $100 million in third-party capital to pay the legal bills.

An article in The Asian Age reports that global funder Omni Bridgeway has already held a series of meetings in Dhaka and London with Mansur and executives from sixteen domestic banks to structure a bespoke vehicle that would finance asset-tracing, judgment enforcement and recovery of non-performing loans. Omni’s enforcement managing director Wieger Wielinga confirmed interest, citing the firm’s recent sovereign-award collections and its appetite for emerging-market risk. Mansur’s London visit earlier this month also included briefings with UK regulators on evidence-gathering and potential freezing orders.

The proposed fund would complement eleven “high-priority” probes already under way and could operate on a contingency-fee basis, shielding taxpayers from upfront legal spend while granting funders a share of any recovered sums. Critics inside Bangladesh warn that cash settlements with so-called “financial rogues” risk undercutting the anti-corruption mandate that powered the July 2024 revolution, while political opponents liken the plan to “outsourcing justice.”

If finalized, this mandate would rank among the largest sovereign asset-recovery financings to date, signaling widening acceptance of public-sector litigation funding across the Global South.

Germany’s third-party funding market has evolved from a niche offshoot of insurance indemnity into a dynamic arena powered by collective-redress reforms and inbound capital. Practitioners say deal flow is rising as consumers leverage new opt-out mechanisms and corporates monetize dormant claims amid higher interest rates.

An article in CDR News chronicles how Deminor Litigation Funding, Latin-American entrant Loopa Finance and global heavyweight Omni Bridgeway are jockeying for market share while lawmakers debate caps on funder fees. Interviewees highlight a pivot toward portfolio deals and judgment-enforcement finance as Germany’s debtor-friendly regime forces sharper recoverability analytics. Law firms remain cautious after the Federal Court of Justice’s 2024 disclosure ruling left grey areas on privilege and control.

Observers foresee a surge in competition-damages and diesel-emissions claims once the EU’s Representative Actions Directive is fully transposed. Insurers—long the dominant capital providers—now face competition from specialist funds offering bespoke risk-sharing structures, while US and UK investors eye cross-border arbitration opportunities seated in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf.