Though 2003 brought three of the largest shareholder class action settlements of all time, researchers at NERA Economic Consulting have found that Sarbanes-Oxley has had "no statistically significant impact" on class action filings, settlement values or recovery rates.

Buckberg

According to the research, led by Dr. Elaine Buckberg, all those key metrics have remained flat or declined, despite some of the massive settlements. Instead, Buckberg's team found that the greatest potential impact of SOX may be found in the pace of class action dismissals.

Ironically, NERA is part of $11.6 billion Marsh & McLennan, which is the subject of at least one class action lawsuit charging the firm violated securities laws by disseminating false and misleading information about Putnam Investments' involvement in the recent mutual fund scandal.

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