Litigation backer believes Brexit bodes business boon

While some fields are predicted to lose business because of the Brexit, one firm expects a boost from it.

A top litigation funding firm is expecting a boost in business as the UK bides it time in officially leaving the European Union.
 
In its annual report, Burford Capital argued that volatility in the business sector often leads to increased litigation, which is why it is already seeing benefit to its business because of the Brexit.
 
“Substantively, Brexit will give rise to significant uncertainty for businesses, and demand for legal services tends to flourish during periods of uncertainty, boosting our business collaterally,” the report read, according to The Law Society Gazette.
 
The predicted boon comes as other sectors are expected to be negatively impacted by the Brexit. International legal firm Baker & McKenzie forecast in a recent study that a “disorderly” exit from the EU could cost the global M&A market by as much as $1.6 trillion.
 
Burford said that the weakened Sterling could actually have a “substantive positive” effect on their business as this “makes UK courts and arbitral institutions (and the UK lawyers who practise in them) somewhat more economically competitive globally.”
 
Over the first half of 2016, Burford Capital saw US$76 million (£58 million) in total income, up a significant 88 percent from US $40 million (£30.5 million) from the comparable 2015 period. The outfit also reported US$55.8 million (£42.5 million) in profit before tax for the first half of 2016, up from US$23.7 million (£18 million) in the first half of 2015.
 

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