Third-Party Funding Drives Wave of FTSE Shareholder Lawsuits Against Entain and BAT, City AM Reports
A surge in the availability of third-party funding has triggered a wave of speculative FTSE shareholder lawsuits as investors seek to cash in on claims of wrongdoing, City AM reported on 4 September 2026. Multiple blue-chip companies are named as targets, including gambling giant Entain and British American Tobacco (BAT). Fast fashion retailer Boohoo is also among the blue-chip names summoned before the High Court after a series of law firms launched group claims for institutional investors. The latest filing is against Entain, where Morgan, Lewis & Bockius issued proceedings this week under sections 90 and 90A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 over the company's deferred prosecution agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service, under which Entain agreed to pay a £585m penalty relating to historic bribery and corruption in its former Turkish business between 2011 and 2017. That trial is not expected to begin until 2029, because the civil court is waiting for related criminal trials involving former Entain executives to conclude.
Why this matters
Funded group actions against listed companies have become a live threat for UK blue-chips rather than a theoretical risk, with claims already before the High Court against Entain, BAT and Boohoo. Boards and general counsel at FTSE companies face growing exposure to shareholder litigation backed by well-capitalised funders with no downside risk.
On the Ground
The story activates securities litigation, group action, and third-party funding advisory work. Disputes teams would be instructed to assess exposure and litigation risk for listed-company clients; a trainee would pull the publicly available claim documentation and map the funder's standard terms against the company's shareholder register.
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