Advisen Reports Q1 2009 Securities Litigation Filing Is Above 2008 Pace

More Class Actions and Non-US Filings; Large Settlements for Securities Fraud
Cases

Advisen and D&O Diary to Hold Joint Webinar Friday May 8th, Noon EST
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
The commercial insurance industry is exposed to a surge in securities litigation
filings in the first quarter of 2009, according to results of a quarterly review
of securities litigation by Advisen, the leading provider of market information
to the global commercial insurance industry. Advisen tracked 169 securities
cases in its Master Significant Case and Action Database (MSCAd), up from 125
cases in Q4 2008 and 134 suits a year earlier in Q1 2008.

Projecting this filing activity forward, 2009 would see 676 securities cases, an
increase of 38% over 2008. However, Advisen notes that Madoff-related cases were
responsible for 30% of all securities cases in the first quarter, so the brisk
pace of filings will likely abate through 2009.

The full report is available at no cost at
http://corner.advisen.com/reports_topical_securities_quarter1_purchase_cases.html

"The Ponzi schemes - Madoff and Stanford - were the big drivers of securities
suits filed in the first quarter," said David K. Bradford, EVP and Co-Founder of
Advisen. "Those suits, along with a large number of sub-prime and credit crisis
suits filed in the quarter, continue to pound the financial institution sector,
much as was the case in 2008. It`s shaping up to be another tough year for
financial institution D&O and E&O underwriters."

Sixty-Seven securities class action suits (SCAS) were filed in Q1 2009, up from
53 cases the quarter before and 56 suits a year earlier. This translates to an
annualized Q1 2009 figure of 268 cases filed, which would surpass the relatively
litigious year of 2004 with 263 suits and 23% higher than the 218 suits filed in
2008.

Lists of suits and filing details are available at the Advisen store online at
http://corner.advisen.com/reports_topical_securities_quarter1_purchase_cases.html
and available at no extra charge to Advisen subscription members through their
advisen.com logins. For more information please call +1.212.897.4800 or e-mail
corner@advisen.com.

After SCAS cases, securities fraud accounted for 34 suits filed in the first
quarter, up from 19 in Q4 2008, but down from 54 in Q3 2008. On an annualized
basis, securities fraud cases filed in Q1 2009 represented 136 cases, flat with
2008 but down from 175 in 2007. Other types of cases filed in Q1 2009 were:
breach of fiduciary duties (26), collective actions in non-US courts (20),
derivative shareholder actions and other derivative cases (14), and others (8).

"Advisen tracks all forms of securities litigation in MSCAd. In the past,
securities class actions were the most common type of securities suit, but with
the increase in breach of fiduciary liability, shareholder derivative and
securities fraud suits, securities class action suits now represent less than
40% of filings," continued Bradford. "We also are seeing a significant up-tick
in the number of securities suits filed outside the US, many of which were
triggered by the Madoff scandal."

MSCAd contains global filings and Advisen reports that the number of suits filed
against non-US companies in US courts is on the rise, and so is the number of
suits filed against both US and non-US companies in courts outside the US. Of
the 169 securities cases filed in Q1 2009, 47 were filed against non-US
companies, and 22 were in courts outside the US. A total of 27 suits were filed
outside of the US court system, including five against US companies.

The average securities settlement/award in the first quarter was similar to
recent year averages, but the quarter was unusual in that the largest awards all
were securities fraud suits. Securities fraud cases typically are filed by
regulatory agencies such as the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

"Q1 2009 saw 76 cases settled or awarded at an average amount of $27.9 million,
which is up slightly from the 2008 average of $25.5 million," noted John Molka
III, CFA, Senior Industry Analyst and author of the report. "Securities fraud
cases represented the largest five events totaling $951.8 million including one
case awarding $406.5 million to STMicroelectronics from Credit Suisse in an
auction-rate securities case."

Dave Bradford and Jim Blinn of Advisen will be joined by Kevin LaCroix, author
of the Internet weblog The D&O Diaryhttp://www.dandodiary.com, on a webinar on
Friday May 4th at Noon, EST, to review the findings of this quarterly report and
to discuss the implications on the liability insurance market. Kevin is also an
attorney and Partner in OakBridge Insurance Services, Beachwood, Ohio. To
register for the free webinar, visit
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/804065345.

As an additional service to readers, Advisen editors have identified five events
consisting of 16 lawsuits making up most of the settled/awarded amounts for Q1
2009, totaling $951.8 million. Advisen defines each company named as a defendant
in any event as a separate lawsuit, accounting for the 16 lawsuits. All were
securities fraud cases, and all but one was a result of a regulatory action.

Lists of suits and filing details are available at the Advisen store online at
http://corner.advisen.com/reports_topical_securities_quarter1_purchase_cases.html
and available at no extra charge to Advisen subscription members through their
advisen.com logins. For more information please call +1.212.897.4800 or e-mail
corner@advisen.com.

About Advisen

Advisen integrates business information and market data for the commercial
insurance industry and maintains critical risk analytics and time-saving
workflow tools for over 530 industry leading firms. Through its work for the
broadest customer base among information service providers, Advisen delivers
actionable information and risk models at a fraction of the cost to have them
built internally. Designed and evolved by risk and insurance experts, and used
daily by more than 100,000 professionals, Advisen combines the industry`s
deepest data sets with proprietary analytics and offers insight into risk and
insurance that is not available on any other system. Advisen is headquartered in
New York. For more information, visit http://www.advisen.com or call
+1.212.897.4800 in New York or +44(0)20.7929.5929 in London.

Advisen
Mason Power
+1-212-897-4796 w
+1-917-348-3998 m
General Manager
mpower@advisen.com

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