Enforcing A Funded Award In An Anti-Funding Environment

This article was first published in Global Arbitration Review.

For third-party funders and those who use funding, the enforceability of their awards is a key concern. Ben Knowles, the London-based co-chair of international arbitration at Clyde & Co, and senior associate Paul Baker consider whether enforcement of an award could be challenged in a jurisdiction that does not permit funding on the public policy ground that the award creditor was funded.

The Irish Supreme Court decision in Persona Digital Telephony v Minister for Public Enterprise in 2015 reminds us that in some jurisdictions third-party funding of arbitration is not sanctioned and falls foul of the torts of champerty and maintenance.