A recent report reveals some interesting trends in US securities class actions.  "Securities Class Action Filings – 2013 Year in Review", a report by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse (available HERE) notes that although plaintiffs filed 9% more securities class actions in 2013 than were filed in 2012, the 2013 total is still 13% lower than the average from 1997 to 2012.

The report's authors look at a variety of related statistics:

  • There are now fewer listed companies to sue, given the decline in the number of companies listed on the NYSE and NASDAQ (down 46% since 1998);
  • There is a recent increase in initial public offerings on major US exchanges (more in 2013 than in the five years previous); and
  • There is an increase in larger companies undertaking initial public offerings.

And more changes may be coming.  The report notes that if Haliburton prevails in the US Supreme Court case of Haliburton v. Eric P. John Fund, scheduled for oral argument in May, "the entire market for class action securities fraud litigation may be disrupted".

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