Burford Capital, a litigation finance fund backed by Neil Woodford and Invesco, has been attacked by aggressive US short-seller Muddy Waters Research, sending its shares tumbling this morning.

In an August 7 statement on its website, Muddy Waters said Burford was a “perfect storm for an accounting fiasco” with “governance structures [that] are laughter-inducing”. The research house, which styles itself as an investigative analyst and takes short positions in the companies it probes, accused Burford of “egregiously misrepresenting” its rates of return.