Number of Accounting Case Filings

Plaintiffs filed 169 accounting cases in 2019, the highest number on record.

Accounting case filings increased by 18 percent over 2018, driven by increases in both core accounting case filings (5 percent) and M&A-related accounting case filings (29 percent).

The proportion of accounting case filings to total case filings (42 percent) was the second highest over the last 10 years.

The total number of accounting case filings in 2019 was nearly double the 2010–2018 average of 86.

Total accounting case filings increased to the highest level on record

Figure 2: Accounting Case Filings as a Percentage of Total Filings 2019-2019

Semiannual Accounting Case Filings

Total accounting case filing activity increased by:

32 percent in the second half of 2019 compared to the first half of the year.

More M&A accounting cases were filed in the second half of 2019 than in any other semiannual period in the last five years.

For the third consecutive year, the pace of core accounting case filings slowed in the second half of the year.

The pace of M&A accounting case filings increased significantly in the second half of 2019.

M&A accounting cases constituted 75 percent of all M&A cases in the second half of 2019 compared to approximately 50 percent in the first half of the year. This is the highest proportion for any half-year period.

Figure 3: Semiannual Accounting Case Filings 2015–2019

Read the highlights of Accounting Securities Class Action Filings Reach Record Levels in 2019.

Read the report: Accounting Class Action Filings and Settlements—2019 Review and Analysis.