Yesterday, Cornerstone Research published its annual report titled Securities Class Action Settlements–2010 Review and Analysis. Among the findings in this year’s report:
- The number of approved securities class action settlements was at a 10-year low
- The total dollar value of settlements decreased 17% from 2009 to 2010,
- The median settlement amount was up 40%, but the average settlement was down slightly, reportedly a result of a decline in “very large” settlements.
- The percentage of settled cases with a related SEC settlement was up to 30% in 2010 as compared to 20% in 2009.
- The participation of institutional investors in class actions continued to increase, continuing a trend since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995.
- Settlements of cases involving alleged violations of generally accepted accounting principles were up over 2009.
The report on settlements follows a similar report on securities class action filings, published in January. Both reports are worth a close read.
The links above are to the Cornerstone summaries of the reports. The reports themselves are available for download here.
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