In addition to statements of historical fact, this annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2023 (this “Annual Report”) contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the US Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). The disclosure and analysis set forth in this Annual Report include assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs about future events in a number of instances, particularly in relation to our operations, cash flows, financial position, plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in our business and the markets in which we operate. These statements are intended as “forward-looking statements”. In some cases, predictive, future-tense or forward-looking words such as “aim”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “continue”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecast”, “guidance”, “intend”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “predict”, “projected”, “should” or “will” or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. In addition, we and our representatives may from time to time make other oral or written statements that are forward-looking, including in our other periodic reports that we file with, or furnish to, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), other information made available to our security holders and other written materials. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. We caution that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are based on numerous assumptions, expectations, projections, intentions and beliefs and that our actual results of operations, including our financial position and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate may differ materially from (and be more negative than) those made in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report. In addition, even if our results of operations, including our financial position and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which we operate are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report, those results of operations or developments may not be indicative of results of operations or developments in subsequent periods.
Factors that might cause future results of operations or developments to differ include, among others, the following:
| ▪ | Adverse litigation outcomes and timing of resolution of litigation matters |
| ▪ | Our ability to identify and select suitable legal finance assets |
| ▪ | Improper use or disclosure of, or access to, privileged information under our control due to cybersecurity breaches, unauthorized use or theft |
| ▪ | Inaccuracy or failure of the probabilistic model and decision science tools, including artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools, we use to predict the returns on our legal finance assets and in our operations |
| ▪ | Changes and uncertainty in laws, regulations and rules relating to the legal finance industry, including those relating to privileged information and/or disclosure and enforceability of legal finance arrangements |
| ▪ | Inadequacies in our due diligence process or unforeseen developments |
| ▪ | Credit risk and concentration risk relating to our legal finance assets |
| ▪ | Lack of liquidity of our legal finance assets and commitments that are in excess of our available capital |
| ▪ | Our ability to obtain attractive external capital or to refinance our outstanding indebtedness and our ability to raise capital to meet our liquidity needs |
| ▪ | Competitive factors and demand for our services and capital |
| ▪ | Negative publicity or public perception of the legal finance industry or us |
| ▪ | Valuation uncertainty with respect to the fair value of our capital provision assets |
| ▪ | Current and future legal, political and economic forces, including uncertainty surrounding the effects, severity and duration of public health threats and/or military actions |
| ▪ | Potential liability from litigation and legal proceedings against us |
| ▪ | Our ability to retain key personnel |
| ▪ | Improper functioning of our information systems or those of our third-party service providers |
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| ▪ | Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting or effective disclosure controls and procedures |
| ▪ | Other factors discussed under “Risk factors” |
These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements contained in this Annual Report and other periodic reports that we file with, or furnish to, the SEC. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. Further, we cannot assess the impact of each such factor on our business or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.
The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Annual Report and, except as required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
