国际商事仲裁中的第三方资助

This article discusses Third Party Funding (TPF), its function and challenges associated with its operation in international arbitration. Particular attention is paid to the practice and development of TPF in China.

本文讨论第三方资助、其作用和相关国际仲裁实务运作时的挑战。特别关注第三方资助在中国的的实践和发展。

I. What Is Third Party Funding in International Commercial Arbitration?

什么是国际商事仲裁中的第三方资助？

Third-party funding in international commercial arbitration refers to the financing of one party’s arbitration costs (which usually include the funded party's legal fees and expenses incurred in the arbitration ) by an external party in return for a share of the gains. If the funded party wins the case, the funder obtains the agreed share of the proceeds of the award or the settlement. In the opposite case, should the funded party lose the case, the funder’s investment will be lost.[1] 

国际商事仲裁中的第三方资助是指案外方对一方当事人仲裁成本提供资金支持(通常包括被资助方的法律费用和仲裁费用) 以获得收益。如果被资助方赢得此案，则出资者获得裁决或和解所得的约定份额。相反，如果受资助方失败，资助者的投资就付之东流。

From the perspective of impartiality and justice, the TPF’er is expected to involve no more than financially support of one party in respect of the costs of arbitration in an arbitration case.

从公平和正义的角度来看，第三方资助者仅被期待对仲裁案件中的一方当事人的仲裁成本给予资金上的支持。

II. How Third Party Funding May Benefit Relevant Parties?

第三方资助如何使相关当事方受益？

TPF is a way of investment in the field of international commercial arbitration. There are several reasons driving the development of third party funding, and these reasons also help explain how relevant parties may benefit from third party funding. Unlike other financial activities, the investment in legal cases is not dependent upon financial markets, stock prices, or company valuations.

第三方资助是国际商事仲裁领域的一种投资。诸多原因促使了第三方资助的发展，这些原因也有助于解释相关当事方是如何从第三方资助中受益的。与其他金融活动不同，法律案件的投资不依赖于金融市场，股票价格或公司估值。

Funders may help individuals, insolvent companies and small companies bring claims that they could not otherwise afford to bring or choose not to bring. Besides being financially supported, the funded party may also avoid potential losses and risks brought by information asymmetry.

资助者可以帮助个人，破产公司和小公司提出他们无法提起或选择不提起的索赔。除了获得财务支持外，受资助方还可能避免信息不对称带来的潜在损失和风险。

By signing an agreement with a TPF’er, the party can get more information from the third party funding company, since it usually has more legal resources than the party itself. Some third party funding companies can also help client find a qualified legal counsel at a more competitive price.

通过与第三方资助者签订协议，该当事方可以从第三方资助公司获得更多信息，因为第三方资助公司通常拥有比当事方拥有更多的法律资源。一些第三方融资公司也可以帮助客户以更具竞争力的价格找到合适的法律顾问。

III. Recent Development of Third Party Funding in Asia

第三方资助近期在亚洲的发展

Currently, the United Kingdom and Australia explicitly permit the practice of third-party funding.[2] Moreover, the practice of third-party funding is legal in almost every civil law jurisdiction in Europe, other than Portugal and Greece.[3] More and more third-party funding corporations are introducing themselves as willing to fund international arbitration claims.

目前，英国和澳大利亚明确允许实施第三方资助。此外，除葡萄牙和希腊之外，第三方资助在几乎所有欧洲普通法辖区内都是合法的。越来越多的第三方资助公司表示愿意在国际仲裁索赔中提供资助。

In January 2017, Singapore abolished the tort of champerty and maintenance via the Civil Law (Amendment) Act (2017). The proceedings in which third party funding is permissible include international arbitration proceedings, together with any ancillary court proceedings, mediation proceedings, and any enforcement proceedings relating to an international arbitration award. In Singapore, third party funding may only be provided by organizations whose principal business involves the provision of such funding.

2017年1月，新加坡通过“民法（修正）法”（2017）废除了包揽诉讼的侵权性。允许第三方资助的程序包括国际仲裁程序，任何辅助性法庭程序，调解程序以及与国际仲裁裁决有关的任何强制执行程序。在新加坡，第三方资助仅可以由主要业务涉及提供此类资金的组织提供。

In December 2018, the Hong Kong Department of Justice issued the Code of Practice for Third Party Funding of Arbitration, which came into force on 1 February 2019. In contrast to Singapore’s focus on international proceedings, Hong Kong allows third party funding for domestic, as well as international arbitration in Hong Kong. Please note that HongKong also permits third party funding in circumstances where legal services are being provided in Hong Kong for arbitrations which are seated elsewhere.

2018年12月，香港律政司发布了《仲裁第三方资助实务守则》，并于2019年2月1日生效。与新加坡对国际程序的关注点不同，香港在国内和国际仲裁中允许第三方资助。请注意，在仲裁地不是香港，但法律服务由香港提供的情况下也允许第三方资助。

The momentum of TPF development in mainland China is also strong and optimistic. As a pioneer to enter into this field in Chinese market, DS Legal Capital Co. Ltd., headquartered in Shenzhen, just celebrated the opening up of its subsidiary in Beijing this April, the third one after HK and Changsha. It is expected that Shanghai and Chongqing branch will also be open later of the year. 

第三方资助在中国的发展势头也是乐观强劲的。作为该领域进入中国市场的先驱，总部位于深圳的鼎颂投资有限公司在2019年4月庆祝了其北京子公司的开业，这是继香港和长沙之后的第三个分支机构。上海和重庆子公司也预期会在今年晚些时候正式开业。

IV. Challenges and Concerns of Third Party Funding

第三方资助面临的挑战和担忧

1. Potential Conflict of Interest

潜在的利益冲突

Impartiality and independence of arbitrator in international commercial arbitration is unanimously accepted. Therefore，one concern raised by the involvement of TPF’er in international commercial arbitration proceedings is arbitrator conflict of interest due to non-disclosure of the involvement of the TPF’er in the process. The specific terms between the funded party and the third party funding company may not necessarily be disclosed, but the identity of the TPF’er must be disclosed.

在国际商事仲裁中仲裁员的公正性和独立性是被一致认同的。因此，第三方资助者参与国际商事仲裁程序引发的担忧之一是第三方资助未被披露而引发的仲裁员利益冲突。受资助方与第三方资助公司之间的具体条款可能没有必要被披露，但必须披露第三方资助者的身份。

In Singapore, the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 have been amended to impose a duty upon practitioners to notify all parties as soon as practicable that their client is being funded by a third party and also to disclose the identity of the TPF’er .

在新加坡，“2015年法律职业（专业操守）规则”被修订，规定从业人员有责任在可行的情况下尽快通知各方其客户由第三方提供资助，并披露第三方资助者的身份。

Article 2.10 of the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance (Chapter 609) also imposes a statutory requirement that the TPF’er must remind the funded party of its obligation to disclose information about the third party funding.

“香港仲裁条例”（第609章）第2.10条也规定了一项法定要求，即第三方资助者必须提醒被资助方有义务披露有关第三方资助的信息。

Article 44 of the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (2018) also has provisions regulating the disclosure of TPF.[4]

2018香港国际仲裁中心仲裁规则第44条也对第三方资助的披露做出了规定。

2. Procedural Consensus

程序性协议

As the third party is not a party to the arbitration agreement between the parties to the arbitration procedure, it is likely that a challenge to the TPF’er may be available to the party who opposes such involvement, based on the lack of consent under the arbitration agreement.

由于第三方不是仲裁程序当事方之间仲裁协议的当事方，因此反对此类参与的一方可能以仲裁协议缺乏该安排为由提出对第三方资助的异议。

It is best practice that party autonomy is to be observed in proceedings where TPF may be used. In the first place, consensus can be reached as to the use of third party funding in the arbitration agreement at the outset. If the arbitration agreement is silent on the use of TPF, the parties should be given opportunities to comment on the use of TPF when this fact of TPF is disclosed and consent is obtained from the opponent party to the arbitration proceedings, so as to avoid the challenges in the future at the stage of enforcement of the arbitral awards under the New York Convention. The country where the award is to be recognized and enforced, in case the Claimant wins the case, may have a law that does not support TPF. The level of costs of arbitration may vary depending on the complexity of the case in discovery and other matters. TPF may arise in the midst of the arbitration proceedings. Consensus reached by the parties will avoid risks of future challenges as to whether the procedure complies with the arbitration agreement at the very beginning.

最佳做法是在可能使用第三方资助的程序中遵守当事人意思自治。首先，可以一开始便在仲裁协议中就第三方资助事宜达成共识。如果仲裁协议没有关于第三方资助的安排，当第三方资助这一事实被披露时，各方应有机会对第三方资助的使用发表评论，并且应当获得仲裁程序的相对方的同意，以避免根据《纽约公约》在仲裁裁决执行阶段受到异议。如果申请方胜诉，申请承认和执行裁决的国家的法律可能不支持第三方资助。国际仲裁的成本会因为程序中的文件披露和其他事项的复杂性而变化，第三方资助也可能发生在仲裁程序的中段。各方达成的共识将避免未来被提出异议的风险，即程序是否在一开始就符合仲裁协议。

V. Conclusion

结语

Third-party funding can amplify the development of international arbitration if its use is regulated to well fit the current practice of international commercial arbitration. To date, there is no unanimously accepted definition or regulation of third party funding. We believe that it will be of interest to the arbitration community to follow its latest development in international commercial arbitration.

如果对第三方资助的适用进行适当的监管，以适应当前国际商事仲裁的做法，则第三方资助有助于推进国际仲裁的发展。迄今为止，仍没有对于第三方资助的统一定义或规制。相信仲裁界会有兴趣关注第三方资助在国际商事仲裁方面的最新发展。

[1]Caroline Dos Santos，Third-Party Funding in International Commercial Arbitration: a Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? 35 ASA Bulletin, Issue 4 (2017), p.936.

[2]Burcu Osmanoglu, Third-Party Funding in International Commercial Arbitration and Arbitrator Conflict of Interest, Journal of International Arbitration 32, No. 3 (2015)， p. 329.

[3]Ibid.

[4]HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (2018).