Uptick In Big Class Action Settlements

AIG and Bear Stearns top a list of defendants that took major hits in class action settlements last year. The listing, compiled by Securities Class Action Services, a subsidiary of Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), ranks class actions settlements since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, noting that 12 settlements from 2015 made the top 100. “We expect last year’s trend of large settlements to continue in 2016, with nearly $800 million in the books from just three class actions already approved this year,” said Andy Cottrell, Head of Class Action Client Service at ISS. “Moreover, we’re forecasting for 2016 an uptick in settlements outside North America, which we believe will mark the start of an upward spiral in global class action settlements.”