Seven of the 25 largest class-action settlements since passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 were approved in 2013, according to a report released by the Securities Class Action Services unit of Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

The Top 100 Class Action Settlements Semi-Annual Report also noted that 12 settlements from 2013 made the Top 100 list:

• Bank of America Corp., $2,425,000,000
• American International Group Inc., $1,009,500,000
• Citigroup Bonds, $730,000,000
• Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., $636,218,000
• Citigroup Inc., $590,000,000
• Countrywide Financial Corp., $500,000,000
• Adelphia Communications Corp., $478,725,000
• Schering-Plough Corp., $473,000,000
• Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, $219,857,694
• Merck & Co. Inc., $215,000,000
• Pharmacia Corp., $164,000,000
• Federal National Mortgage Association, $153,000,000

“Last year ranked as an active one for securities class-action settlements, with 12 making our Top 100 settlements list. This ties 2009 and 2006, which both saw 12 settlements added to the Top 100, as the biggest year for additions to the list since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,” said J. Scott Berniker, executive director and head of Securities Class Action Services at ISS.

The Top 100 Class Action Settlements Semi-Annual Report identifies the largest securities class-action settlements filed after the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, ranked by total value of the settlement fund.

Source:Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.