Want to sue Venezuela for millions? These
firms can help, for a price
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[December 21, 2018]
By Tom Hals
WILMINGTON, Del (Reuters) - As Venezuela
collapses, one little-known U.S. investment fund is poised to win big
from litigation against its socialist government: Tenor Capital
Management.
Since 2012, the New York firm has invested $76 million in Canadian
mining firm Crystallex International Corp, largely to fund a lawsuit
being waged against Venezuela for expropriating a gold mine.
Now, Tenor stands to claim around $800 million of a $1.4 billion
international arbitration award that Crystallex has been trying to
collect since 2016.
Tenor's cash allowed Crystallex to force Venezuela to pay up by
attempting a court-ordered seizure of Houston-based Citgo Petroleum
Corp, the country's overseas crown jewel.
The case is part of wave of lawsuits bankrolled by firms specializing in
so-called litigation finance, providing funding to plaintiffs in return
for a slice of any financial winnings.
While the practice dates back centuries, the business has boomed over
the past decade, fueled by favorable court rulings and investors seeking
juicy returns not correlated to stock markets. Between 2012 and 2016,
the money committed to cases grew 40 percent a year, and is expected to
top $2 billion annually by 2021, according to litigation financing firm
Vannin Capital.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Dec/21/images/ads/current/charrons_bch041713.png)
These companies have backed a slew of big-dollar corporate lawsuits,
including investor litigation in Volkswagen's emissions scandal and a
$213 million unjust enrichment case against U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert.
But foreign governments are emerging as popular targets as well, putting
taxpayers at risk for ever-larger claims. In addition to Tenor, firms
working this niche include London Stock Exchange-listed Burford Capital,
IMF Bentham Ltd of Australia and Therium Group Holdings Ltd of the UK.
Litigation finance companies typically seek returns of three to 10 times
their initial investment, industry players said. Now a market is
developing for these firms to begin cashing out before a suit concludes
by selling portions of their portfolios, or even slices of individual
cases, to other investors.
Burford, for example, scored a 736 percent return by selling for $107
million its entitlement in a case against Argentina over two
expropriated airlines. Burford said it invested $12.8 million in the
litigation.
Critics fear this financing will embolden companies to bring weaker
cases, and that developing countries will be more likely to be sued for
adopting regulations to protect public health or the environment.
Money from funders also discourages companies from sticking with
long-term commitments in foreign markets, according to Lise Johnson, the
head of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment at Columbia
University in New York.
"With third-party funding there is an incentive to sell a claim, extract
cash and leave," she said.
Litigation finance companies say they are helping the underdogs: small
companies wronged by governments.
"It’s an easy story to tell that these are rapacious hedge funds trying
to bring a struggling country to its knees," said Zachary Krug, senior
investment officer with funding firm Woodsford Litigation Funding in
London. "That's not what we do."
Eric Blinderman, who heads the North American business of funding firm
Therium, said funders guard against weak cases by providing a neutral
opinion on the strength of claims. He said his firm backs less than 5
percent of the cases brought to it, and requires a 70 percent chance of
success.
Otherwise, he said, "we'd lose a lot of cases we funded and Therium
would be out of business shortly."
LEGAL GOLD MINE
The Crystallex case started in 2011, when Caracas expropriated the
company's mining project at Las Cristinas, one of the world's largest
gold deposits located in southeastern Venezuela.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2016/Aug/26/images/ads/current/ldn_business_directory_small2_2016.png)
Crystallex sought compensation through what is known as investor-state
dispute settlement or ISDS, by bringing an arbitration case registered
with the World Bank. Effectively bankrupted by the loss of its Venezuela
project, Crystallex turned to Tenor.
Tenor and Crystallex declined to comment.
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![](../images/122118pics/news_o31.jpg)
The logo of PDVSA's U.S. unit Citgo Petroleum is seen at a gas
station in Stowell, Texas, U.S., June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan
Bachman/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
Court records show Tenor eventually provided $76 million to fund the
litigation. In return, Crystallex agreed to give Tenor at least 70
percent of any payments it could collect from Venezuela, once
Crystallex paid off Tenor's loan and other creditors, the documents
show. In 2016, the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement
of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, entered an award that has grown to
$1.4 billion with interest.
Crystallex said in November it had already received $500 million.
Just weeks later the company accused Venezuela of breaching the
agreement. It is not clear whether it will receive a full payout.
Venezuela's Information Ministry did not respond to a request for
comment.
Companies increasingly are taking on foreign governments in the
ICSID and other tribunals, including the International Chamber of
Commerce and the United Nations.
In the 2000s, there were typically around 40 cases per year, but
since 2013 the number has jumped to an average of 69 cases annually,
according to a United Nations report. The UN noted that figure could
be even higher as some cases remain entirely confidential.
Funding arrangements generally are not disclosed. The World Bank has
proposed changing that, in part to shed light on potential conflicts
of interest between arbitrators and funders. For now, it is unclear
how many companies are funding such cases using litigation
financing, also known third-party funding, but industry executives
and lawyers say the practice is common.
"In some respects, every claimant in ISDS cases has considered the
use of funding," said Krug of Woodsford Litigation Funding.
Tenor, for example, is financing two other arbitration cases for
Canadian companies with allegedly expropriated mining projects: a
$4.4 billion claim by Gabriel Resources Ltd against Romania, and a
$764 million claim by Eco Oro Minerals Corp against Colombia,
according to company records. The firm also invested in a case
against Uruguay over the demise of that nation's former flagship
airline, Pluna.
While payouts are potentially eye-popping, the risks are
considerable, industry veterans say.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2018/Dec/21/images/ads/current/stclara_lda_SPONSOR_112018.png)
Three of every 10 cases is a complete loss, said Mick Smith, the
co-founder of London-based litigation financing firm Calunius
Capital, speaking at an industry conference in Europe this year.
Even successful cases can tie up capital for years.
A Calunius client, Rusoro Mining Ltd of Canada, settled with
Venezuela in October on a $1.3 billion arbitration award, six years
after Calunius first extended the money, according to a statement
from Rusoro. Venezuela's final payment on the settlement is not due
for five years, Rusoro said.
Meanwhile, backlash against the investor-state arbitration system is
growing. South Africa, India, Indonesia and several Latin American
nations have terminated investment treaties containing ISDS clauses
with a number of countries.
Some clients, too, have been left disgruntled by financing terms
that leave them with pennies on the dollar from big settlements.
Crystallex shareholders sought to reduce Tenor's share of the
Venezuela arbitration settlement, alleging in court documents that
Tenor violated Canadian laws against excessive interest rates.
A Canadian judge rejected their argument this year. He said there
would have been no payout at all if not for Tenor's cash.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Noeleen
Walder and Marla Dickerson)
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