Dispelling Myths About North American Securities Class Actions

Securities class actions serve an important role in protecting and enhancing shareholder value. However, recovering settlement proceeds can sometimes be overlooked due to the perceived complexity, limited resources, or lack of in-house expertise.

In particular, North America has one of the most extensive and developed class action frameworks in the world. But despite the system resulting in billions of dollars of recoveries annually, misconceptions often lead investors worldwide to miss out on their fair share of these settlements.

In fact, the US system relies on private methods of seeking redress, effectively operating as an opt-out system where shareholders are automatically included and can obtain redress without actively participating in litigation. As such, the claims filing process in North American is purely an administrative process and not a legal one, but it can require resources and time to do it in house.

This white paper seeks to dispel some of the myths surrounding North American claims filing and highlights the benefits of implementing a claims filing process. By reading this paper, you will learn:

• The critical differences between the administrative process of filing securities class actions and the legal advisory role played by U.S. law firms.
• Why the lack of internal resources to monitor and file in hundreds of cases should not prevent your firm from recovering settlements due.
• How to evaluate the true cost of claims filing, particularly if the service is currently bundled or offered ‘free of charge’ by a custodian.
• The benefits of leveraging specialist providers that offer access to robust reporting tools and dedicated analysts backed by a comprehensive database of over 14,000 cases stretching back three decades.