In the latest edition of NERA’s annual study, Recent Trends in Securities Class Action Litigation: 2016 Full-Year Review, we examine trends in securities class action filings and resolutions in the 2016 calendar year. New findings discussed in this year’s report include the role that merger-objection cases played in driving a record number of securities class action cases.

Highlights of the 2016 report include:

• A record 300 securities class actions were filed in US federal courts in 2016, a 32% increase over 2015. This growth was largely led by merger-objection filings, which totaled 88.
• 113 securities class actions settled in 2016, the highest number observed since 2011, and a near-record 149 cases were dismissed.
• The average settlement amount increased substantially for the second straight year, reaching $72 million in 2016, up by more than 35% compared to the 2015 figure.
• Firms in the Health Technology and Services sector saw the greatest number of class action cases filed against them, with a total of 85 class action cases, or 28% of total filings. Finance sector filings made up 16% of the total in 2016.
• Six out of the 10 largest settlements involved Finance sector defendants, as was the case in 2015.

This year’s report builds on our work in analyzing trends in securities class actions for more than 25 years, and underscores NERA’s commitment to offering advice in the economics of securities, finance, and commerce.

This article was cited by the US Supreme Court in California Public Employees’ Retirement System v. ANZ Securities, Inc., 582 U. S. ____ (2017).

Additional recent court citations of NERA’s Recent Trends publications:

• Beaver County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. The Tile Shop Holdings Inc. No. 0: 14-cv-00786-ADM-TNL (D. Minn. June 14, 2017).
• In Re Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 3: 14-CV-3799 (D.N.J. Nov. 15, 2016).
• New York State Teachers’ Retirement System v. General Motors Company, Civil Case No. 14-11191 (E.D. Mich. May 19, 2016).
• Phillips v. Triad Guarantee Inc, No. 1: 09CV71 (M.D.N.C. May 9, 2016).
• Medoff v. CVS Caremark Corp., Civil No. 09-cv-554-JNL (D.R.I. Feb. 17, 2016).
• Destefano v. Zynga, Inc., No. 12-cv-04007-JSC (N.D. Cal. Feb. 11, 2016).
• In Re Viropharma Inc. Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 12-2714 (E.D. Pa. Jan. 25, 2016).
• In Re Vivendi Universal, SA Securities Litig., 123 F. Supp. 3d 424 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 11, 2015).
• In Re Indymac Mortgage-backed Securities Lit., 94 F. Supp. 3d 517 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 24, 2015).