TMCnet News

Therium Appoints Stephen Akers to Lead Its Global Insolvency Practice
[November 21, 2018]

Therium Appoints Stephen Akers to Lead Its Global Insolvency Practice


Therium Group Holdings Ltd., a leading provider of litigation finance globally with over $800 million of assets under management, has appointed Stephen Akers to lead its insolvency funding practice, based in London.

Stephen is one of the world's leading insolvency practitioners, with a career stretching more than three decades, in which he has worked on some of the most complex, multi-jurisdictional insolvency cases involving substantial litigation. He has considerable experience of litigating in not just the UK but also in New York, Paris, Cayman Islands, BVI, Bermuda, Jersey and Guernsey, involving cases that have successfully recovered or defended many billions of dollars.

Stephen joins Therium from Grant Thornton (News - Alert) where he was a partner for 16 years, following 15 years as a partner at Deloitte.

Neil Purslow, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Therium, said: "Stephen is one of the world's preeminent insolvency professionals and we are delighted that he has joined Therium to lead our global insolvency litigation funding practice, which is a strong area of focus for the firm. He has tremendous global experience, having worked on some of the most high profile, multi-jurisdiction insolvency matters. We look forward to him leading our growing insolvency litigation funding practice, where we see huge opportunity."

Stephen Akers said: "Therium has always been a leading innovator in litigation finance. The firm already has a very strong track record in funding insolvency cases, as recognised by its recent 'Insolvency Litigation Funder of the Year' accolade at this year's Turnaround Restructuring and Insolvency awards, and I am very excited to have the opportunity to build on Therium's success in this area. The breadth and flexibility of Therium's litigation finance offering provides a huge opportunity for office holders to deliver better financial outcomes to creditors."

Stephen's high profile insolvency cases include:

  • Saad Group of Companies. Liquidator regarding the winding up of mainly Cayman Islands companies within the Saudi Saad Group that in 2009 defaulted on a $2.8bn revolving credit facility advance by a syndicate of banks led by Barclays. After seven years, including a lengthy trial in Cayman, interlocutor applications, and a huge investigatory and forensic analysis, the liquidation group convinced the Cayman Court that the companies' owners and controllers had carried out the world's largest Ponzi scheme, with loans of $330bn being churned over nearly three decades, impacting over 100 banks.
  • Bank of Credit and Commerce International SA. Liquidation of BCCI, once the world's seventh largest bank, which failed in 1991. The bank was riddled with fraud and money laundering and was closed following coordinated action by the UK, US and Luxembourg regulators. It was the largest bank failure of its time, involving $10bn of liabilities worldwide. Stephen was a liquidator of the UK business, which represented the largest part of the group balance sheet.
  • Madoff Securities Limited. UK liquidation of the only Madoff entity outside of the US, used to wash funds through London as part of the $68bn Ponzi scheme.
  • Kaupthing Bank hf. Roles for Icelandic bank Kaupthing's Winding-Up Committee, including matters involving Vincent Tchinguiz's and Robert Tchenguiz's family trusts, and liquidations of BVI companies involved with credit default swaps with Deutsche Bank.



Therium is one of world's leading litigation financing firms. The firm has funded claims valued at $36 billion and has operations across Europe, including in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia, and in the US. Therium was the first commercial litigation funder to be have operations on the ground in Germany and Scandinavia and it was the first European firm to launch a full service business in the US. In October, Therium announced that it plans to launch operations in Australia in January 2019.

In Chambers and Partners' inaugural litigation support directory this year, Therium was ranked as a Tier 1 litigation funder.


Litigation funding allows individuals and companies to take on litigation and arbitration cases that they might not otherwise be able to afford, to hedge the costs and risks involved in such matters and to monetise the value of claims.

ENDS

About Therium

Founded in 2009, Therium is a leading global litigation financing firm with a market-leading track record of generating superior returns for its investors. The firm works across all forms of commercial litigation and arbitration and invests in a broad range of complex commercial disputes, from securities and shareholder actions, international arbitration, competition and antitrust cases, through to intellectual property, insolvency and class actions. In February 2018, Therium announced its latest fund of £200m, which the company is now actively deploying, and Therium has now raised nearly $800 million since its foundation. To date, the firm globally has funded claims valued at $36 billion. Therium has consistently been at the forefront of innovation in litigation finance, pioneering the combined use of insurance tools alongside funding vehicles, and introducing portfolio funding products into the UK.

The firm's ability to develop innovative funding arrangements and bespoke financial solutions for litigants and law firms complements its unmatched experience and rigorous approach to funding a wide range of commercial disputes in varying jurisdictions throughout the world. In Chambers and Partners' inaugural litigation support directory this year, Therium was ranked as a Tier 1 litigation funder. Therium is a founder member of the Association of Litigation Funders.

www.therium.com


[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]