r/lastweektonight • u/Paris-onthe-Mon • 12d ago

How to buy a country? Finance a lawsuit against it! (Burford Capital and Argentina)

Hoping the LWT writers read this forum:

Links below are some recent (November) news stories, and some background on the concept of LITIGATION FINANCING. Basically, it's the wild west (no regulations to speak of), and one company, Burford, keeps pushing the polite, usual, and customary - to the point that they are now are potentially going to hold $1.1 BILLION of the sovereign debt of Argentina. Almost 2/tenths of a percent of the country's GDP. They also took over a bunch of lawsuits from a plaintiff and its shareholders: Sysco (the food company, not Cisco the computer systems).

https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/burford-capital-open-to-argentine-bonds-for-16-billion-judgment#:\~:text=Burford%20Capital%2C%20a%20litigation%20funder%20that%27s%20the,billion%20if%20the%20full%20judgment%20is%20paid.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-sides-with-argentina-dispute-over-16-billion-ypf-judgment-2024-11-07/#:\~:text=Argentina%20is%20appealing%20Preska%27s%20September,73%25%20of%20their%20respective%20damages.

https://business-law-review.law.miami.edu/the-darkside-of-litigation-finance-how-investors-can-influence-and-control-the-outcome-of-litigation/

https://www.lawdragon.com/guides/2024-03-28-the-2024-lawdragon-100-global-leaders-in-litigation-finance

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u/ZealousidealClub4119 12d ago

Is this investor state dispute settlements? They're a particularly undemocratic part of trade treaties. The "rights" of capital to maximise ROI apparently usurp national interest in terms of biosecurity and the human rights of subsistence farmers, for starters.

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u/ExistentialFread 12d ago

Step one: come from a family that profited off of the oppression of others/own satellites and rockets