Interactive Data has launched its class actions service mapped to the ISO 15022 format as an optional module of FTS, Interactive Data’s securities administration tool. The service is part of the vendor’s Pricing and Reference Data business and is designed to help institutions track, monitor and recover funds resulting from securities class action litigation
The service builds on Interactive Data’s web-based Xcitek Class Actions service, which provides a detailed database of securities class action litigation filed in the US court system. The new ISO 15022 mapping took just over three months to complete and it includes critical dates and security codes relating to the defendant, explains Charles Price, senior director, entity data products, Interactive Data Pricing and Reference Data.
“Each message will include an embedded link that will bring the user directly to additional data about the case in question and provide them with the full textual details of the case, together with pertinent documents,” adds Price. A link to the web-based platform, www.xca.xcitek.com, is therefore included in the ISO 15022 messages.
The number of class action filings is expected to increase dramatically over the next year as a result of last year’s sub-prime crisis. Federal filings of US class actions in 2007 increased by 58% from the previous year, from 131 to 207 by the year end. Over the course of last year, a total of 32 subprime class actions were filed, mainly against mortgage companies and lenders that had allegedly improperly inflated the value of their mortgage books.
But the impact of this increase in litigation has not been restricted to the US alone, it is estimated that around 59% of sub-prime securities have found their way into Europe. US attorneys are therefore increasingly seeking to recruit European-based plaintiffs to bolster their cases.
Interactive Data believes that this trend will continue and volume increases will necessitate greater levels of automation. “We believe that we will see a good level of demand for the ISO 15022-formatted module based on how the industry has been moving to this standard in the corporate actions field, especially in the non-North American markets,” Price concludes.
