Litigation funder jointly liable for indemnity costs, court rules

Litigation funder Therium should be jointly and severally liable for indemnity costs after a specialist currency debt management firm unsuccessfully sued HSBC, the UK High Court has ruled. The funder agreed to back the claim by ECU Group against a number of HSBC entities over allegations that traders used knowledge of ECU’s foreign exchange orders to make a profit between 2004 and 2006, in a practice known as ‘front running’. However, ECU’s claim was ruled to be time barred by Mrs Justice Moulder, who held that the company had ‘sufficient knowledge’ to plead its case in 2006.