Shortly after Singapore paved the way for third-party funding in arbitration, the city-state has seen two international disputes funders open, namely New York-headquartered Burford Capital and the the UK’s Woodsford Litigation Funding.

Burford and Woodsford join Australia's largest litigation funder IMF Bentham, which opened an office in Singapore early this year.

Burford has hired former Allen & Overy lawyer Quentin Pak as director of its operations in Singapore. Pak was most recently with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he was the head of commodities in Asia.

Meanwhile, Woodsford has appointed senior investment officer Charlie Morris as the managing director of its APAC business. Morris, who is based in London, will spend a significant amount of his time in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Woodsford anticipates a steady growth in the Asian region. “We will deploy at least $150 million in litigation and arbitration related investments over the next two years,” said CEO Steven Friel.