Attention Investors: Securities Fraud Is on The Rise in 2019

According to a new report, securities fraud is on the rise. In fact, nearly 200 fraud-related federal class-action lawsuits were filed in the first half of 2019 alone. This is consistent with a spike in fraud over the last several years, with more than 1,000 securities class action lawsuits being filed in the last two and a half years. The core filings in the first half of 2019 were just shy of the record set in the first half of 2017. In addition, six disclosure losses of at least $5 billion and 11 loss filings of at least $10 billion elevated aggregate market capitalization losses to among the highest ever recorded. Given these statistics, it’s clear that investors are at risk, perhaps more than ever, for fraud-related losses.

Issues Related To Securities Fraud

Additional recent issues related to the rise in securities fraud include: 

Foreign Companies

In the first half of 2019, core filings against foreign companies equaled approximately 25 percent of all filings, which is one of the highest numbers on record. And the number of core filings against European companies increased to its second-highest level ever.

Courts

In 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued an opinion in a case that allowed plaintiffs to assert 1933 Act claims in state court. Since this decision, over 50 new 1933 Act claims have been filed, including 12 filings in federal courts, 26 filings in state courts, and 23 filings in both state and federal courts. 

Industries

The sector with the greatest number of filings was the consumer non-cyclical sector. These included healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical healthcare companies. Filings in the communications sector were all against telecommunications and internet companies. 

Cryptocurrencies

There were several core filings involving cryptocurrencies in the first half of 2019. This is an increase over the second half of 2018, in which there was only one such filing. However, there were more cryptocurrency filings than this at the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018.  

Experienced Securities Fraud? Hire Our Fort Lauderdale Investor Representation Attorney! 

As you can see, financial fraud is rampant. Therefore, if you are a victim of investment fraud, you need an experienced investor representation attorney on your side. At Simms Law, P.A., one of our primary focuses is the representation of investors—including those investors who believe they’ve been the victims of financial fraud. At Simms Law, we always take the concerns of our clients seriously, and we’re aware of what is at stake when an investor suffers losses due to financial fraud. Therefore, if you suspect that any suspicious activity has occurred in any of your investment accounts, or if you believe that you have been misled about the nature and risks of any of your investments, please contact us today for a free consultation.