According to a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the total number of private securities class action cases filed in 2003 was 175, down from 218 the prior year and only 89 percent of the yearly average over the past six years.
Though the general trend is down from a high of 245 cases in 1998, the PwC study notes that “qualitative characteristics and environmental factors” like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act suggest the trend may be upward in the coming years.
