Oligarch’s Yacht Leaves Questions About Burford in Its Wake

A $490 million yacht at the center of London’s largest divorce doesn’t jump out from the sea of financial figures produced by Burford Capital Ltd. but it can illustrate why the embattled litigation funder’s accounting has become a key question for investors -- both long and short.

The 115-meter (380-foot) MV Luna has been holed up in a Dubai port as Russian oligarch Farkhad Akhmedov fights a U.K. court order that transfers it to his ex-wife. Behind the scenes, Burford has provided Tatiana Akhmedova with 18 million pounds ($21.8 million) in exchange for a potential share.

MV Luna

Photographer: Ali Balli/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Now the company ...