Shares in Burford Capital soar on key Washington win
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Tuesday 01 Jul 2025
(Sharecast News) - Shares in Burford Capital soared on Tuesday, boosted by a key legislative breakthrough in Washington and a favourable court ruling.
The AIM-listed firm, which specialises in financing complex legal disputes, said the US Senate Parliamentarian had ruled that proposed tax provisions were not eligible for inclusion in the Budget Reconciliation Bill.
Burford first flagged concerns about Donald Trump's so-called "one big beautiful bill" last month.
In particular, it cited provisions that aimed to increase the statutory tax rate on litigation finance transactions, which would have hit its core business.
At the time, it noted that the language used in the first versions of the bill was "not sufficiently precise" to fully assess any potential impact.
On Monday, it then noted that while the legislation was continuing to be debated, the proposed tax rate was 31.8%, and the withholding tax rate was 15.9% of gains.
However, on Tuesday, it confirmed that the provisions would now not be included in the bill, helping send the shares 18% higher at 1,007.3p by 1230 BST.
Further supporting the stock, Burford also confirmed that a US court on Monday had directed Argentina to transfer its 51% stake in oil and gas company YBF into a Bank of New York Mellon account within 14 days.
The South American government was also ordered to instruct BNYM to then transfer those shares to Petersen Energia Inversora and Eton Park Capital Management, the funds represented by Burford, within one working day.
The ruling is a milestone in ongoing attempts to enforce $16.1bn judgement in the funds' favour.
However, Burford acknowledged: "While this is a positive development in the enforcement campaign against Argentina, it is entirely possible that it will be the subject of further judicial proceedings."
Argentina president Javier Milei has already vowed on social media to appeal, to "defend national interests".
Argentina seized the stake held by Spain's Repsol in YBF in 2012, without tendering for shares held by minority investors Petersen and Eton Park.
Burford's Wall Street-listed shares closed up 22% on Monday, following the court's judgement.
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