Tijana Brien, Brett De Jarnette, and Brian French are Partners at Cooley LLP. This post is based on a Cooley memorandum by Ms. Brien, Mr. De Jarnette, Mr. French, and Bingxin Wu, all at Cooley LLP.
Two leading consulting and expert firms – Cornerstone Research and NERA – recently released reports on securities class action filings and settlements in the first half of 2026. Both reported a notable upturn in filing activity and meaningful increases in alleged investor losses and settlement values.
Cornerstone’s reports observed a significant rise in the number of filings and potential investor losses compared to H2 2025, driven by filings related to AI, as well as an increase in both the number and value of settlements. NERA’s report – which covers both case filings and resolutions – observed a slight decline in securities class action dismissals. Both firms also identified new filing trends involving tariff-related allegations and pump-and-dump market manipulation, discussed further below.


Comment Letter on the SEC’s Proposal to Modify Emerging Growth Company Accommodations and Filer Status Classifications
More from: Maureen McNichols
Maureen McNichols is the Marriner S. Eccles Professor of Accounting and Public and Private Management at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB). This post is based on a comment letter by a group of professors, former regulators, and accounting and audit practitioners, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the SEC’s proposal on Enhancement of Emerging Growth Company Accommodations and Simplification of Filer Status for Reporting Companies.
This post is based on a comment letter submitted to the SEC regarding the SEC’s proposal on Enhancement of Emerging Growth Company Accommodations and Simplification of Filer Status for Reporting Companies, by 115 signatories, including professors, former regulators, and accounting and audit practitioners. Below is the text of the letter with minor adjustments to eliminate the correspondence-related parts, followed by the full list of signatories.
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