The 10 new securities class actions filed in 2013 matched the number filed in 2012, according to this newly released edition of NERA’s ongoing study, Trends in Canadian Securities Class Actions: 2013 Update. As of 31 December 2013, a total of 54 securities class actions are pending, representing more than $19 billion in total claims.

The study’s co-authors, Vice President Bradley A. Heys, Consultant Jacob Dwhytie, and Affiliated Consultant Mark L. Berenblut, report that nine of the new filings in 2013 involved claims under the secondary market civil liability provisions of the provincial securities acts (“Bill 198” cases), continuing the pace of new filings seen in each of the past two years (eight in 2012 and nine in 2011). In total, 52 Bill 198 cases have been filed since the statutory amendments came into force in Ontario at the end of 2005. Of these, 31 cases (60%) representing more than $16 billion in total claims remain unresolved; 17 cases (33%) have fully settled. Including the partial settlement reached in the class action involving Sino-Forest, defendants in these cases have collectively agreed to pay more than $280 million to resolve these claims. Four Bill 198 cases have been dismissed.