Director Bradley A. Heys and Associate Director Robert Patton have released their annual report, “Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2018 Update.” The report uses NERA’s proprietary database of information on Canadian securities class actions to analyze trends in filings and resolutions. The authors’ findings include the following:

• Eight new securities class actions were filed in Canada during 2018, one more than in 2017, and one fewer than in 2016.
• Six of the eight new filings are shareholder class actions involving companies with shares listed on a public stock exchange, five of which include claims pursuant to the statutory secondary market civil liability provisions of the provincial securities acts (i.e., “Statutory Secondary Market” cases).
• A sixth Statutory Secondary Market case involves claims brought against the manager of an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
• 2018 also witnessed a jump in Health Technology and Services cases, and eight settlements with an average settlement value of $21.7 million.

The full report contains further analysis and explanation. The authors invite interested readers or those seeking more information to contact them directly.