PricewaterhouseCoopers has released its 2003 Securities Litigation Study, which contains a number of interesting statistics. A few highlights:
(1) Of the 175 securities class actions filed in 2003, 107 were accounting-related. The primary allegation in accounting-related cases continues to be revenue recognition issues, alleged in over 50% of these cases.
(2) The percentage of cases with union/public pension funds as lead plaintiffs has grown steadily from 1996 (less than 3% of cases) to 2003 (28% of cases).
(3) Average settlement values for all cases settled in 2003 was $23.2 million, up 20% from 2002. There were an increasing number of large settlements, including 6 settlements of more than $100 million.
(4) PwC has begun to track “triple jeopardy” cases, where companies are subject to securities class actions along with SEC and DOJ investigations. There was an all-time high of over 40 of these cases in 2002, but last year saw this number fall to 8 cases (closer to historic norms).
The 10b-5 Daily 