Vol 15 (2018) - Issue 6

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Recent Irish Supreme Court Decision on Assignment Of Claims, Third Party Litigation Funding and Champerty: A Prelude to Real Progress

Synopsis
On 31 July 2018, Ireland’s highest court, the Supreme Court, delivered a 5-judge unanimous ruling in SPV Osus Limited v HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Ireland) Limited and Others1 in a case that examined the assignability of a cause of action under Irish law.

Background
The background to the proceedings has its origins in the Bernard L Madoff Investments LLC ('Madoff') Ponzi scheme fraud and the entitlement to make claims in the Madoff bankruptcy. As part of the Madoff bankruptcy, a company known as Optimal Strategic US Equity Limited ('Optimal') had a claim in the amount of US$1.5bn which carried with it an entitlement to be paid in priority to the liquidation, as well as an unsecured, non-priority claim in the amount of c. US$1.3bn.