After-the-event insurance is an option for City litigants November 23, 2010 TROUBLED economic times are typically marked by a surge in litigation, even as companies’ budgets and their ability to fund litigation remain constrained. Given the imperative to continue delivering shareholder value in the face of uncertain market conditions and an increasingly litigious environment, it is hardly unexpected that litigation costs are fast rising to the [...]
The pioneers of third-party litigation look for a market November 9, 2010 IN his landmark Review of Civil Justice Costs published earlier this year Lord Jackson devoted a whole chapter to the nascent market in third-party litigation funding, the practice where funders are prepared to back legal claims in exchange for a share of the spoils. This has been historically regarded by courts as unlawful, but Jackson [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS November 7, 2010 Ruffer The investment management house has appointed Sir David Clementi, pictured, and Robin Hindle Fisher as non-executive directors. Clementi, a former Bank of England deputy governor and chairman of Prudential, will be Ruffer’s new deputy chairman. He is also currently chairman of King’s Cross Central. Fisher has spent over 25 years in institutional fund management [...]
Legal fallout from credit crunch will drag on for years November 4, 2010 PROSECUTIONS against banks, accountants and financial advisers resulting from the economic downturn will continue to be brought for years to come, says a City law firm. Cases at the High Court, where most financial services sector cases are heard, have jumped 16 per cent to 49,583 so far in 2009, up from 42,709 in 2008. [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING October 14, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES AIA CHIEF FAVOURS ORGANIC GROWTH AIA will address questions about its growth by increasing profitability and expanding organically rather than by pursuing acquisitions, according to the chief executive of the $30bn Asian life assurer about to list in Hong Kong. Mark Tucker told the Financial Times that AIA, which is being sold by [...]
Firms’ sanctions compliance must be tightened up August 31, 2010 FINANCIAL regulation reform is all the rage. Last week, President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled his programme of “action and ambition” for France’s forthcoming presidency of the G20. It puts global reform of financial markets and systems at the very top of the agenda. The US has already passed sweeping reform legislation and the coalition government has [...]
Feinberg takes over BP’s Gulf spill fund August 23, 2010 KENNETH Feinberg, the man appointed to independently run BP’s $20bn (£12.8bn) escrow fund, has pledged to ensure that individual claimants who have suffered financially from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill receive speedy payment in a bid to deter them from entering into lengthy litigation. Feinberg, who is nicknamed the “pay czar”, said his goal [...]
AstraZeneca pays $198m to drug victims August 9, 2010 AstraZeneca yesterday agreed to pay $198m (£124m) to settle 17,500 cases brought by patients claiming side effects from its anti-psychotic drug Seroquel. The Anglo-Swedish drugs giant faces ongoing litigation over claims its best-selling drug, which is used to treat schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder, also carries an increased risk of passing on diabetes. Seroquel, which last [...]
BP boss to say spill liabilities exceed $20bn July 21, 2010 embattled BP chief executive Tony Hayward is expected to tell shareholders that liabilities connected to the Gulf of Mexico spill have passed $20bn (£13.2bn) when he outlines a new business strategy alongside the oil major’s second quarter results next Tuesday. Hayward, who has recently been absent from the public eye, will tell shareholders that costs [...]
Despite its progress, BP is now a high-risk bet July 19, 2010 WITH BP’s temporary capping of the leaking Macondo well last week, investors piled back into the stock. Fidelity’s star fund manager Anthony Bolton declared that investors have “a classic once in-alifetime opportunity to buy BP” and even after the announcement on Sunday that gas is now leaking from the ocean floor, most investment notes yesterday [...]