Third Party Funding, Class Actions, and the Question of Regulation:

With third party funding of litigation becoming more prevalent in Europe, the European Parliament issued a report in June 2021 which calls for greater regulation of the participants in the industry. Meanwhile, third party funding has long been the subject of self-regulation in the United Kingdom, and has received considerable judicial support for the access to justice which the funding stream facilitates. However, the class action regime introduced into the law of the United Kingdom in 2015 arguably casts new light upon whether a more robust form of regulation may be appropriate for third party funders, at least when funding that type of litigation. The interesting question of the extent of cover required for a defendant's adverse costs has also arisen under the class action regime, with potential ramifications for both after-the-event (ATE) insurers and third party funders whose financial support has been so integral to the regime to date.