Award Monetization Gains Ground as a Strategic Tool for Arbitration Enforcement

The 11th edition of the Open de Arbitraje, an event conceived by Javier Íscar de Hoyos, President of Open de Arbitraje, officially kicked off yesterday, with a high-level panel addressing one of today’s major challenges: the complex intersection between the enforcement of arbitral awards and their monetization through Third-Party Funding (TPF).

The session was hosted by Ramco Litigation Funding, Global Sponsor of the event, and featured a panel of distinguished experts including Cristina Soler (CEO, Ramco Litigation Funding), Emma Morales (Partner, Arbitration Department, Simmons & Simmons), Lourdes Martínez de Victoria (Deputy State Lawyer, Kingdom of Spain), Carlos Iso (Head of Arbitration, SACYR), and Damián Vallejo (Partner, Dunning Rievman & Macdonald LLP, New York). The panel was moderated by Maribel Rodríguez, Legal Manager at ACCIONA.

Enforcement: Challenges and Strategic Planning

The panel opened with a discussion on the growing procedural and financial challenges associated with enforcing arbitral awards.

Opening the panel, Maribel Rodríguez outlined the growing complexity and strategic importance of award enforcement procedures. She emphasized the need for innovative tools like Third-Party Funding to help companies face the high costs, extended timelines, and execution risks inherent in arbitration.

Several companies expressed concern over the slow pace of arbitration proceedings, the high financial cost, and the need for instruments like Third-Party Funding to help navigate complex arbitrations with significant enforcement risks.

Representing the corporate perspective, Carlos Iso stressed the importance of proactive planning: “Companies must be prepared well in advance so that, once the award is issued, they are in a stronger position to execute it successfully.”

Legal & Jurisdictional Developments

Emma Morales (Simmons & Simmons) presented global trends impacting the enforceability of awards and the growing importance of selecting a funding partner aligned with the award holder’s goals. She also addressed new Spanish legislation requiring parties to pursue ADR before litigation or arbitration.

Lourdes Martínez de Victoria, from the Spanish State Attorney's Office, underlined the legal implications of the European Commission’s Decision of March 24, 2025, and the shifting stance of arbitral tribunals when assessing jurisdiction in intra-EU investor-state disputes. She noted that these developments are reshaping the enforcement landscape in Europe.

U.S. Legal Tools in Support of Enforcement

Damián Vallejo (Dunning Rievman & Macdonald LLP), speaking from a U.S. legal perspective, discussed the strategic use of U.S. courts to recognize and enforce arbitral awards and to support foreign enforcement efforts through discovery tools and judicial cooperation.

The Funders’ Perspective

Cristina Soler, CEO of Ramco Litigation Funding, explained that monetization is increasingly being used by claimants to unlock the value of a favorable award without waiting for the full enforcement timeline:“A funder offers more than flexible financial solutions—they bring specialized expertise in arbitration finance. Working with a seasoned financial partner adds significant value, particularly when it comes to strategy and execution of the award.”

Why Monetization Matters

The panel concluded with a focus on award monetization, one of the fastest-growing funding structures in international arbitration. Monetization involves selling part or all of an award to a funder, transferring the execution risk while gaining immediate liquidity—making it a powerful solution in complex enforcement scenarios.

This option gives claimants immediate access to liquidity following a favorable award while mitigating the risk of annulment or delayed enforcement. It is particularly relevant in cases involving sovereign states or sophisticated debtors, where enforcement is often multijurisdictional, prolonged, and highly complex.

In practice, a favorable arbitral award is rarely the final chapter. Claimants may require additional support through annulment and enforcement stages—and having an experienced funder on board can make all the difference in achieving successful recovery.

Conclusion

The session underscored the evolving landscape of post-award arbitration, where funding strategies like award monetization are becoming essential to maximize recovery. With rising complexity, enforcement is no longer a secondary concern—it is a critical phase requiring legal, financial, and strategic foresight and the involvement of an experienced funder can be crucial to ensuring the successful enforcement of the award.

 Marília Gradin