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Securities Class Action Trends Reports

NERA has been analyzing trends in shareholder class actions for more than 15 years. Two reports analyzing US trends are published each year: one at mid-year and a second, annual review published at year end. We are also studying litigation trends around the world, as the below reports on Australia, Japan, Italy, and Canada illustrate.

Current Reports

	Federal securities class action lawsuits in the first half of 2011 were filed at the second highest semi-annual rate in the last eight years, according to this edition of NERA's biannual study, Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2011 Mid-Year Review. Co-authored by Senior Consultants Dr. Jordan Milev, Robert Patton, and Svetlana Starykh, the latest edition shows that there were 130 filings of securities class actions from January to June of this year. If this pace of filings is maintained, there will be 260 fillings by year-end in 2011 -- the highest level since 2002 and the fourth highest in the 16 years since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSLRA). While filings have been brisk, average settlement size in the first half of 2011 has fallen sharply to $23 million, down from $108 million in 2010. The median settlement also fell substantially, to $6.3 million from an all-time high in 2010 of $11 million.
	The total number of judgments in securities litigation in Japan increased to a record 56 cases in 2010, up from 39 in 2009, according to NERA's new report, Trends in Securities Litigation in Japan: 2010 Update. Despite the record total, the number of cases involving "misstatement" allegations in Japan decreased substantially to seven in 2010, from 14 in 2009. In their report, NERA Vice President Makoto Ikeya and Consultant Satoru Kishitani note that the decline in misstatement judgments can largely be attributed to the resolution of several important cases that involved numerous institutional and individual investors -- including Livedoor and Seibu Railway. In addition, although the number of misstatement judgments declined, the number of regulatory actions by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission (SESC) regarding monetary penalties for misstatements increased to a record high of 12, suggesting that the number of misstatement cases is expected to rise again in the future, as SESC decisions are early indicators of misstatements litigation.
We invite you to browse through the archived reports below. In addition, you can always find the latest report on NERA's global website at www.nera.com/recenttrends.

Archived Reports

Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2010 Update
By Mark L. Berenblut, Bradley A. Heys, and Tara K. Singh
31 January 2011

Trends 2010 Year-End Update: Securities Class Action Filings Accelerate in Second Half of 2010; Median Settlement Value at an All-Time High
By Dr. Jordan Milev, Robert Patton, and Svetlana Starykh
14 December 2010

Italian Class Actions Eight Months In: The Driving Forces
By Dr. Renzo Comolli, Dr. Massimiliano De Santis, and Dr. Francesco Lo Passo
16 September 2010

Trends in Securities Litigation in Japan: 2009 Update
By Makoto Ikeya and Satoru Kishitani
2 August 2010

Trends 2010 Mid-Year Study: Filings Decline as the Wave of Credit Crisis Cases Subsides, Median Settlement at Record High
By Dr. Jordan Milev, Robert Patton, Dr. Stephanie Plancich, and Svetlana Starykh
27 July 2010

Trends in Australian Securities Class Actions: 1 January 1993 - 31 December 2009
By Greg Houston, Svetlana Starykh, Astrid Dahl, and Shane Anderson
7 May 2010

Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2009 Update
By Mark Berenblut and Bradley Heys
27 January 2010

Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2009 Year End Update
By Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh
15 December 2009

Trends in Securities Class Actions Litigation: 2009 Mid-Year Update
By Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh
27 July 2009

Trends in Securities Litigation in Japan: 1998-2008
By Makoto Ikeya and Satoru Kishitani
15 July 2009

Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 1997-2008, Canada Strikes its Own Course
By Mark L. Berenblut, Bradley A. Heys, and Svetlana Starykh
30 January 2009

2008 Trends in Securities Class Actions: Annual Filings Are at the Highest Level in Six Years, Driven by the Credit Crisis, While Median Settlement Values Stay Steady
By Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh
18 December 2008

2008 Trends: Subprime and Auction-Rate Cases Continue to Drive Filings, and Large Settlements Keep Averages High
By Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh
29 July 2008

Recent Trends in Shareholder Class Actions: Filings Return to 2005 Levels as Subprime Cases Take Off; Average Settlements Hit New High
By Dr. Stephanie Plancich and Svetlana Starykh with former NERA Consultant Brian Saxton
21 December 2007

Recent Trends in Shareholder Class Action Litigation: Filings Stay Low and Average Settlements Stay High -- But Are These Trends Reversing?
By Todd Foster, Dr. Ronald I. Miller, Dr. Stephanie Plancich, and Svetlana Starykh with former NERA Consultant Brian Saxton
13 September 2007

Recent Trends in Shareholder Class Action Litigation: Filings Plummet, Settlements Soar
By Todd Foster, Dr. Ronald I. Miller, and Dr. Stephanie Plancich
2 January 2007
 
Recent Trends in Shareholder Class Action Litigation: Beyond the Mega-Settlements, is Stabilization Ahead?
By Dr. Ronald I. Miller, Todd Foster, and Dr. Elaine Buckberg
20 April 2006

For additional archived reports, please contact Jake George at Jake.George@nera.com